Guitar Shorty: "I liked California, but it wasn't great for the business I am in."

courtesy of alligator records

More Photos (1):

Other articles by Gerald M. Gay:

Remote Controlled by Gerald M. Gay : Pressure couldn't prevent Tucsonan's 'Dancing' win Vocalist Cara Dillon joins Téada for an 'Irish Christmas in America' Dine like an Afghan, from the floor up Get your bangers and mash here This is your 'Nutcracker'Remote Controlled: StoryCorps wants to record oral histories of Tucsonans for NPRWomen highlight KXCI 'Local Folk' show Sopa de Tortilla rules Puzzle-master gets animated on 'Simpsons' Popcorn and porn, plus FBI raid in '73

Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor

Guitar Shorty was hearing the same thing from just about everyone he knew, including his management, record label and booking agents.

Their message: Get out of California.

"Promoters would call and tell me, 'Shorty, we love you, but we have to bring you from hell and back to get you here,' " the blues musician said in a phone interview last week. "I liked California, but it wasn't great for the business I am in. I needed to move if I wanted to keep busy."

Shorty now resides in Harlingen, Texas, an area of the country more conducive to his raw guitar play, regular touring and his roadhouse blues-rock lifestyle.

He makes the trip out to Tucson for a Rhythm & Roots show at Old Town Artisans Friday with his brand-new band, We the People.

The artist brought on his new players after making the move to Texas and named them after his latest album, released last fall on Alligator Records.

Shorty said the lion's share of his show in Tucson will be dedicated to the recording, a powerful one-two punch of blues with sizzling rhythms and an impressive helping of thought-provoking lyrical content.

Songs like the title track are strong in both arenas as Shorty rails against the government and inequality in America.

"The past eight years have been tough," he said. "Artists can't go on the road anymore with the high gas costs and the skyrocketing price of living. Guys don't have a choice when they can't make a nice, honest living. They are taking the left road instead of the right one because they can't survive. 'We the People' says it sure ain't fair."

Most of the album's 12 tracks are not Shorty originals but hold on to the same themes, much to the delight of blues fans and critics.

The release took home Contemporary Blues Album of the Year from the annual Blues Foundation Awards in May.

"I like for a song to have a good story around it," he said. "A good, strong story. There are a lot of guys writing material about some girl they met. That is fine and dandy, but in the end it is about what is happening in everyday life. That is what I would like to have. Something that is happening day-to-day."

The recognition has driven Guitar Shorty even harder to succeed.

"I want to take it to the limit," he said. "I'm going to keep pushing to get there."