Chris Whitley, who is that? That’s what I wondered when I first heard his name at the conservatory a few years ago. I didn’t expect any surprises in the “Blues” module classes. But my teacher played this record in guitar class and I didn’t know what I was hearing. So raw, so rootsy, yet so refreshing! He immediately reminded me of the blues fathers: Lead Belly, Son House, Charlie Patton… The songs often contain the same trance-like groove with an atypical vocal melody. The recordings are also primitive: one man, one resonator guitar, recorded with one microphone in an old barn. He wasn’t very well known in Europe, but he was in America! There, he even played in arenas with his band in the 1990s. His biggest hit, “Big Sky Country,” from the album Living With The Law, was produced by Daniel Lanois. But the success didn’t feel right to him. He went back to his roots, as a rough diamond. The record company dropped him, so he went back to playing in small clubs. Chris Whitley is a huge inspiration for my own songs, and we also cover the song ‘Ball Peen Hammer’. Sadly, he passed away in 2005, but if you want to experience his vibe live, you can always go and see/listen to his daughter. Belgian singer Trixie Whitley’s music is more alternative, but you can clearly hear who her father is!
