Pete Herzog: Press

July 02, 2010
Byline

Blues guitarist Pete Herzog of Trail will debut his second album, a blues opera titled "Steel Guitar," at 7 p.m. Friday, July 2, at Headwaters Gallery, 84 Fourth St., Ashland, and Friday, July 9, at Guitar Warehouse, 1103 N. Riverside Ave., Medford.

Herzog's one-man show will spotlight about 20 of original songs that link the story of a guitar and some of the people who have played it with a love story and a story about a search for happiness.

"The connecting element is the guitar as it changes hands," Herzog states on his website. "I ... think about vintage instruments I have played and have wondered at their history, and if all those who had played them before me had colored their sound in some way."

Herzog's style is influenced by the blues traditions of Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt, along with the folk styles of songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Greg Brown. He's also inspired by Blind Willie Johnson, a musician who combined blues with spirituals.

"Steel Guitar" will run for about an hour and 45 minutes with an intermission.

Herzog's 2008 album, "Homestyle," is a collection of down-home blues highlighted by the guitarist's flat-picking and slide style.

Admission to the shows will be $5. Call 541-772-1994 to reach Tom's Guitar Warehouse or visit www.peteherzogmusic.com.

By Mike Oxendine
Ashland Daily Tidings
September 25, 2009

Pete Herzog is finally living the life he dreamed of when he was in high school — except the part about the money rolling in.

Since he recorded "Homestyle," his debut album, in June 2008, the solo acoustic blues artist who lives in Trail has been up and down the West Coast playing at venues familiar but mostly strange, meeting lots of new friends and sharing memorable moments with old ones — then loading up and doing it again and again. This summer had a particularly busy schedule, which he dubbed The Bad Decisions Tour because of its spur-of-the-moment planning.

It's mostly been the man and his music, full-time, with many friends and admirers, new and old, to meet and greet along the way. "I didn't really want to come home," he said.

Live performance is the origin of the blues, Herzog said, a tradition that inspires his music.

"If you play by yourself, it almost seems sinful," he said. "You get a reaction from your audience and you feed off that, and that sort of colors the way you play.

"You go back to the tradition — I love busking. I love playing on the street corners. It's not the money, it's kind of keeping score."

So when Herzog sat in Wednesday with his shiny, metal resonance guitar to play three songs at the Tidings Café in front of a handful of enthusiastic listeners, he was plenty accustomed to the small setting. He graciously accepted turkey and Swiss on wheat and video clips on dailytidings.com and connectashland.com (where his performance can be viewed) as his "tip."

He played "Woman That I love," the lead track from "Homestyle," and a pair of new tunes, "Gamblin and Ramblin," based on one of the characters in Herzog's next recording project, a blues opera, and "One-Eyed Jack," a folk-influenced blues he recently put together.

"Homestyle" is exactly what the title promises. It was recorded live "among friends, to insure that homestyle, back porch feeling" at Hartkop Studios in Central Point. It has 18 tracks, including 15 originals and a unique take on "House of the Rising Sun."

"About half the songs that are on it, once I found out, I wrote those in about a month's time," he said. "Some I'd been kicking around longer, but a lot of them I got real inspired — (the opportunity to record) opened up the faucet."

Herzog's down-home blues is rooted in the tradition of Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt — he is masterful in his use of the glass bottleneck slide — and at the same time he subtly twists in the folk styles of singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Greg Brown.

He is also heavily influenced by Blind Willie Johnson, an early 20th century musician who combined blues with spirituals. Of this not-often-heard form of 20s and 30s, a blending of American and European styles and played in minor keys, Herzog said: "The blues I listen to are a lot more than the standard 12-bar, three chords."

His fondness for spirituals goes back to childhood, when he learned guitar playing on Hawaiian steel lap. Even though it would seem very different, the philosophy of Hawaiian slack key guitar is similar to blues in that it tries to mimic the voice of the singer, Herzog said, adding: "It's sort of my musical touch stone."

His flat-pick style is unique because the types of guitar music he plays are normally performed finger-style: using a thumb for the bass line and the other four fingers to pluck the strings. "So I pick really fast because I'm trying to get all those notes that you would get playing with four fingers," he said.

He also spends a lot of time working off the different harmonics, trying to get a full sound and fit all the different notes he can into a space, and in that way, his guitar playing is heavily influenced by Leo Kottke, he said.

Of "Woman That I Love," one of his slide-heavy, traditional blues tunes, Herzog said: "I just kind of liked that galloping bass line, so then I needed to think up some words to go along with it. And I'm partial to blues love songs. Blues doesn't always have to be about hurting and crying. It can be about all kinds of things."

"Gamblin' and Ramblin'" was written from the standpoint of a mythical bluesman who does a lot of, well, you guessed it, gambling and rambling. The blues opera project was inspired by a one-man show, with Guy Davis, son of the late actor Ossie Davis, Herzog saw at the Unitarian Center in Ashland.

"I wanted to play venues where people would listen to me," Herzog said. "I'm not really the kind of musician that plays at a bar. I'm happy to, but most bars don't want to hire solo musicians. I'm trying to expand my career, and that was sort of a vehicle to do it. It was just sort of a project that would be fun to do."

"One-Eyed Jack," with its poetic lyrical imagery, is typical of Herzog's singer-songwriter influenced blues. He'd never had to write down a title, so he didn't have one before he played it Wednesday, he said.

"More often than not, I will develop the music first and then say, 'Well, that sounds good, now I need some words,'" he said.

Mike Oxendine is the Daily Tidings page design editor. He can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 229 or moxendine@dailytidings.com.

Now, if I can pull you away to meet one last artist. Over here where all of the commotion is, Pete’s telling stories again. I want to introduce you to bluesman Pete Herzog from Trail, Oregon.

I have to confess this artist has stolen my heart with his back porch blues and honest vocals. (Plus I’ve always been a pushover for a full beard!). His “Pretty Mama Take Me Home” may not have the polish of my husband, Ron Franz’s “Mama, Put a Slow Record On” (a tune that keeps me happily married to this singer/songwriter), Pete Herzog’s song has a tender honesty and delicate guitar that just grabs me. But even his slide blues tune, “Jump On Blues,” has my foot tapping and, though written about the Pacific Northwest, have the feel of the Delta.

Pete picked up the lap steel when he was eight and changed to guitar as a teenager, learning blues, bluegrass, and all manner of roots music, not with finger-style techniques but with a flat pick. He soon discovered harmonics and open tunings and, of course, slide. Pete worked on the railroad earlier in his life and soon picked up a lot of steel driving songs, including call and response styles. This helped color his musical life and soon began to influence his own songwriting. He once said, “I’ve lived most of my life in the country on a dirt road and spent countless hours pickin’ guitar on the back porch. To me the blues have always been more than three chords and twelve bars, sometimes one chord is plenty to tell the story and convey the feeling I’m trying to put out. The blues is mostly about a man and woman, the yin and yang, the light and dark, the tension and release, but it doesn’t always have to be sad.”

Though Pete has played in a lot of bands over the years and even did some solo work, he spent a number of years just picking on his porch, making music for himself and his friends. Today, he’s back touring in support of his new CD, Homestyle, a sweet collection of roots blues from the real deal!
[See his exclusive Q&A on the Skope SonicBids page.]

Well, that’s the lot this month. They’re all great talents. Why don’t you check out some of their websites and have a listen to some of their CDs. For me, I’m going to sit with Pete Herzog a little longer. And, don’t worry, Ron, I’m be home where that slow record is playing real soon!

By Janie Franz – jfranz@skopemag.com

Pete Herzog - Homestyle
2008, Hartkop Productions

Pete Herzog is an old-school, back porch picker, blending folk and blues in a fashion not common since the 1960's urban folk movement was co-opted by the major labels. Using open tunings, ala Bruce Cockburn, and a self-developed flat picking style, Herzog is a treat for the ears, offering up a mix of Mississippi Delta Blues and Appalachian Folk that is, if not wholly originally, indeed rarely found. Herzog's latest CD, Homestyle, contains 18 tracks (15 originals) that were recorded in one take, without overdubbing using an old Gibson guitar and a 1930's Kay arch guitar for slide work. Listening to Homestyle you'll swear there is more than one guitarist involved, but it's all Herzog, all the time.

Homestyle opens with Woman That I Love, a happy and hopeful blues tune featuring some very intricate guitar work and Herzog's strong, clear voice. Herzog is so authentic and organic in sound you can close your eyes and picture him playing some club back in the 1930s or 1940s without any reservations. Coqui Blues features very strong guitar work and is a very memorable tune. Big Island Woman is the sort of Blues that inspired bands like Led Zeppelin; Herzog has an easy delivery that works perfectly here. Pretty Mama Take Me Home is a touching song that is the sort you build mix tapes around and Herzog sounds particularly emotionally connected to this one. Other highlights include Jump On Blues; Whole Hog; My Baby, Um Huh; Murphy's Cabin and Herzog's cover of House Of The Rising Sun.

Pete Herzog mixes Blues and Folk styles like they were born together. Homestyle is as down home as it gets. Folk and Blues fans will sing the praises of Pete Herzog.

Peter Herzog
www.sonicbids.com/PeteHerzog

Skope: How does it feel to be chosen as an A2W artist on Skopemag.com?
Peter Herzog: I’m happy to get some more publicity. especially being an older more traditional bluesman.

Skope: What have you been working on and promoting recently?
Peter Herzog: I’ve spent most of the summer promoting my live CD “Homestyle”, traveling the blues highway up and down the West Coast of the US playing nice venues, dive bars, art galleries, restaurants, coffee shops, street corners, pretty much everywhere I can. I called it the “Bad Decisions” tour, all conceived in about a 30 second period. Making new friends, re-connecting with old friends, sleeping on couches, campgrounds, the back of the truck, having the kind of experiences you can’t put a price on, but still making gas money to get to the next show. Of course being on the road generates it’s share of song ideas but music seems to fill my head most times anyway.

Skope: What about your music do you feel sets it apart?
Peter Herzog: I try to reach deep, my music is about being human, I try to touch those places we all relate to, blues/roots music is the medium I use. I often hear folk say at the end of a show “I don’t like blues but I really like your stuff”, that’s because I’m not playing the endless blues shuffle in A that most folk know as the blues. There is a diverse range and mix of blues/roots music, many of the songs I play have an European background that came to America and was mixed with African music, all music that has endured because it touches those quintessentially human places.

Skope: How did you start creating music and what are your long term plans with your band?
Peter Herzog: I started playing Hawaiian lap steel when I was 8, I still have a strong connection to the concept of open tunings and slide, using the guitar as a vocal instrument. I’m compelled to make music, to write, to play, to perform, that’s my long term goal, just to play as much as I can.

Skope: When you are creating music what do you use as inspiration for lyrics & instrumentals?
Peter Herzog: Lately I’ve been thinking of some of the earliest folk and spiritual songs I remember learning as a child, “Shenandoah”, “Go Down Moses”, “John Henry”, and of course later as I matured of Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt. I write songs in different ways sometimes from a personal viewpoint but often from the view of a mythical, archetypal gamblin and ramblin hard drinking womanizing bluseman, and often a combination of the two. Blues often deals with relationships, but that can include love and happy things too, along with heartache. And of course sorrow, loss, death, all the emotions that we feel.

Skope: What is the most exciting aspect of being a musician in the digital age?
Peter Herzog: Well of course I can release an album without asking “Mother May I” from any corporation, but then again I don’t have any of that support, there is a lot of work making all the decisions, but also a lot of freedom. At this point I’m doing all my own booking, promoting, driving the car, but I also pick and chose where and when I go. I’m happy to reach all the folk I can digitally out there on the net, but it’s no substitute for keeping the blues tradition of live performance.

Skope: What can we look forward to that our readers should know about?
Peter Herzog: Besides having another CD’s worth of material that I will record sometime next year, and performing both solo and with my “acoustic power trio”, I am working on a blues opera/one man show that should be completed by spring. It’s a project I am enjoying and I hope that it will open some doors and some venues for me. Keep updated on my website, http://peteherzogmusic.com and of course it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you went to CD baby and bought a copy of “Homestyle”

Mail Tribune
by Dawn Hatchard, June 19, 2009

Southern Oregon singer and songwriter Pete Herzog has added a couple of instrumental ingredients to create a new danceable mix, Pete Herzog's Gumbo.

Herzog didn't spend years trying to be the lead man in bands. Instead, he spent a decade sitting on his porch singing to his wife and dogs in Shady Cove, says bassist Terry Erdmann, a transplant to Jacksonville by way of Los Angeles.

"He made himself into a great solo artist," said Erdmann, adding, "I feel honored to sit in with him."

A percussion addition also has made its way into the mix with Brian Scalise, a recent transplant from New Orleans. Initially intended to include a snare, inspired from a song in the movie "The Great Debaters," the percussion section has expanded to include a high-hat cymbal and bass drum.

"Everything is different — sometimes from my standpoint and sometimes from the mythical blues guys who say things I wouldn't normally say," says Herzog of his lyrical content full of influences from the 15th century to 1930s-era music, before blues was standardized.

While it seems being a solo performer naturally suits Herzog, he's been wanting to see more people up and dancing to his music. Solo performances aren't known for a danceable atmosphere.

The new additions aren't changing the Herzog flavor. It's similar to the solo, Herzog says.

Erdmann has shared the stage with names such as the Everly Brothers and Conway Twitty (before Loretta) during his time in the Midwest. Scalise teaches drum lessons and works at Tom's Guitar Warehouse in Medford. Each member of the trio brings a regional flavor and attitude to the table.

"Dirt road blues" is the newly coined genre for Herzog and his Gumbo. You can't pin it as standard blues, folk or rock music with Herzog's oddly tuned guitars and healthy disregard for the standard three-chord, 12-bar recipe common in the blues style.

It's shaping up to be a busy summer for Herzog's solo and Gumbo acts.

"All of a sudden I'm playing nine gigs in nine days," Herzog said.

Herzog's Gumbo has two performances coming up: 10 a.m. Sunday, June 21, at the Downtowne Coffeehouse, Talent, and 10 p.m. Thursday, June 25, at Tabu, Ashland. Herzog's solo performances are slated for 8 p.m. Monday, June 22, at Tease, Ashland, and 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, at Stillwater, Ashland.

Music samples, a calendar of events and CDs are available at peteherzogmusic.com.

Reach freelance writer Dawn Hatchard at 621-8619.

By Laurie Heuston
Mail Tribune

Open guitar tunings, flat picking and bottlenecking fill "Homestyle," a new collection of acoustic blues by Rogue Valley guitarist Pete Herzog. The CD was digitally recorded live at Hartkop Productions in Central Point and released late this year.

Herzog's often uses alternate tunings on his guitars. He used an old Gibson and older arch top Kay to create the harmonics for "Homestyle."

"One is tuned oddly," Herzog says. "And the other is tuned even more oddly. Early blues players tuned their guitars in a style compared to Leo Kottke — he plays in a lot of open tunings. Even though Kottke isn't a blues guy, he's been a big influence on me."

Herzog will perform at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 26, at Paschal Winery, 1122 Suncrest Road, Talent. He'll also perform at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, at Key of C Coffee House, 116 Lithia Way, and at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 27, at T's Restaurant, 303 E. Main St., Ashland.

Of the 18 tracks on the album, all but three were written by Herzog. One of the covers, "Last Kind Words," was recorded in 1930 by blues singer and guitarist Geeshie Wylie for Paramount Records.

"The song goes back to a time after World War I when there was no set style for the blues," Herzog says. "It was a mix of roots, African and European influences. It reflects the kind of music that I try to play."

Another cover, "House of the Rising Sun," dates back as early as 1932 with uncertain authorship. Also known as "Rising Sun Blues," Eric Burdon and the Animals, an English pop group, made the song a hit in 1964.

"I've also developed my own style of picking without meaning to," Herzgog says.

When Herzog discovered blues and roots music as a teenager, he wasn't aware that most of it was played finger-style.

"It's a style where you use your thumb to create an alternating bass line while the melody is picked with the fingers," Herzog says. "It was a way that blues players in early juke joints could sound larger."

Herzog learned to play this style with a flat pick. It gives his music a different sound. He uses the Kay for slide. The guitar is from the '30s, and a friend of Herzog's bought it in the '40s in a Chicago pawn shop, Herzog says.

"I can sort of feel the history of all that have played it before me," Herzog says.

Herzog was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Trail in 1967. He started playing Hawaiian lap steel guitar as a youngster, but picked up a six-string when the Beatles became famous. He relates strongly with rural music, delta and country blues, bluegrass, roots and jug band styles.

"I've lived most of my life in the country and spent countless hours pickin' guitar on the back porch," Herzog states in his bio. "To me the blues have always been more than three chords and twelve bars. Sometimes one chord is plenty to tell a story and convey a feeling. The blues is mostly about a man and woman, the yin and yang, the light and dark, the tension and release, but it doesn't always have to be sad. Some of my favorite blues are more about being happy and doing something about it."

"Homestyle" is available at Musichead in Medford, the Music Coop in Ashland, Off the Wall Music in Central Point and at cdbaby.com and other digital stores.

There is no cover for the show at Paschal Winery, and there will be free wine-tasting. Call 535-7957.

"Homestyle" features Pete's acoustic blues and slide playing, reminding one of that distinctive blend of folk and blues heard in the smoky urban basement clubs of the 60's.

Out of Trail, Oregon comes a guitarist/songwriter/troubadour - Pete Herzog.His carrear is mostly unknown, but there's no doubt that his performing style and general musical background, posses evident experience. During the years, he has performed solo, as same as with the bands, but one day, he decided that best solution for him is to perform alone with his instrument. He is faithfull to blues and roots music, even that most of his materials he has penned as a author. Pete uses bootleneck technique, but in my opinion a key element of his performing capabilities lays in specific vocalization, full of atmospheric and mood changes.So, as a result we can oportunitty to hear, that each song from album has sounded specifically, and different among them, judging by various emotional statements. "Homestyle" are consists of 18 themes, where three of them are traditional covers.
Most of listeners will surelly accept Pete's version of song "House Of The Rising Sun". As a album, "Homestyle" is full of pleasent moments, unexpecting atmospheres, and without any weacker places.

G'Day Pete.
Just recieved your new cd,thanks heaps mate. I must say right off the
bat" you are a "Real Dealer" in the "One Man Acoustic' Blues
machine.Blues being by its very nature, a varied genre' of music.and
you're in one of the crafts that's slowly being pushed aside.
But real Blues for me,is all of those types ,and I love putting as many
as of the (Blues) in my program.
I'll start giving the album airplay as of next weeks program.Tracks that
I dig are: 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-13-14-15.
So,That's it mate.I got into your stuff really from the first track,and
I'm sure we'll be playing many of them in upcoming programs in the future.
Thanks again for the album,and all the best for the rest of 2008,and beyond.
Bluest Regards.
"TECKA..Terry Iredale/Tecka's Tracks.HOTFM 106.7FM in Victoria,Australia
(OZ).

....Bottleneck, open tuning and discovering the blues in all it diversity. We can hear all this on his album ‘Homestyle’, a cd that contains no less then eighteen songs. A ‘live’ album, no overdubbing, all songs recorded in one take. Pete is using a slide guitar and an old Gibson with one pickup for these recordings. ‘Woman That I Love’ is the first song on this cd. We hear a slide passing by and know it is Pete playing all by himself, but it sounds like there is a second guitar player. In the song ‘Coqui Blues’, we hear a pick touch the strings, not really in the tradition of the acoustic blues, but because of the use of the slide licks, he gets away with it. Eighteen songs, of which also the ‘traditionals’ get his own interpretation. ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, we recognize the famous intro. Pete sings and plays the song sober way. All in his own style, as we heard it in the previous songs. ‘November First’, a song he wrote on October 1, 2004, in America, when the news broke that John Kerry was beaten with a difference of two votes by G.W. Bush. Robert Johnson wrote the song ‘Hellhound On My Trail’, Skip James wrote ‘Devil Got My Woman’, also about danger. That’s is exactly the message Pete likes to spreads with the song ‘November First’. With a voice, oiled in a good Gin, we are dealing with an artist, who knows very well how it must have been in the Mississippi Delta. No, no foot stomping beats, no bass and drums. A unique style, strong vocals en ditto lyrics, who are breathing the past, the present and the future.

Translation by: Ton Kok

A portion of the English translation, the rest is in Dutch.

"Pretty Mama Take Me Home" is melancholy. 'Jump On Blues "is pep. "We All Fall Down" is Squeezed tightly in painful sadness. And always there is the resonant echo of his guitars that skin and soul stirs. Pete has a handful of road with his warm voice and skilled guitar technique to introduce you to his private blue kingdom.

Click on the link to get the original review in Dutch.

He plays amazing guitar and the kind I really like, old style…..His music is really entertaining, make you laugh, make you cry, make you think about the past, the present, and the future.

review of "Gray Cat":
This is classic southern cotton belt blues sound. This instrumentation appears to be simple with its one man, one instrument, and one voice style. This voice has lived enough of life and been short-changed enough to be believable in his blues performance. This is the kind of sound you would expect to hear on many a back porch in the south. I am not positive of which stringed instrument is being played ….. But the person playing it does an incredible job of expressing the raw emotion in the mood of this song. I am not completely sure if this is one person or more performing this piece. If it is one person they sure can play and have a very interesting technique. The lyrics to this song are timeless and very well performed

very cool and stylish. i could see an old guy playing this on the porch of an old hardware store in the deep south. strong playing abounds!

Mix solid slide open chord tuning steel guitar with a rasping, gin-soaked voice and what do you get? Something that jumps out at you like a Library of Congress recording minus the hiss and pops of the old wax recordings. There's been many a time I've wished I could have poked my head into some old 1930s Mississippi Delta shanty after the work was done and all the folks came around to blow off steam, dancing and drinking to the sounds of some drifter guitarist. Listening to this, I close my eyes and I can swear I hear the sfuffle of bare feet on a packed mud floor...

I like this, acoustic blues with slide, footstompin beat, rough bluesy voice, the whole 9 yards. The guitar sounded great, a nice combination of rythym and slide licks. It didn't even sound like there was any overdubbing. The voice was rough (good rough), with loose phrasing and the lyrics fit the style. This could have been a guy on a street corner in New Orleans. The recording sounded good and the song itself had a classic blues structure. It even had a few stops near the end to give it a little variety. Cool!

this reminds me of hard time killing floor blues. i love it. that guitar sounds like an old soul come back from the grave to haunt me. Those vocals are even like the old flooded river, swollen with intergrity. The chills this song gives me can be got from no air conditioner. this is the kind of song you have to sweat to. Like a good hot sauce. it's like I'm asleep when i'm awake.

Pete Herzog plays dirt road country blues in a style uniquely his own, his sound reaches back to an ancient place. Stellar guitar work combined with strong vocals and expressive lyrics. “I’ve always been attracted to a common sound that reaches back through the ages and touches all people at a basic level. Even when composing a contemporary song I strive to make connections with those older places and feelings.” Pete plays a variety of blues way beyond the standard 12 bars and 3 chords, roots music back to the times when European and African rhythms were combined. He plays fingerstyle guitar with a flat pick in an exciting, expressive and unusual manner.

Pete has spent years learning his craft not only from other musicians and recordings but from life. “I spent time working on the railroad as a gandydancer on a traveling steel gang, learning arhoolies and steel driving songs sung as they were originally given voice. I learned “Linin Track” while lining track. I learned call and response style songs while driving rail road spikes into hard wood ties. I use several different guitars often tuned in several different modal tunings. One of my favorites is a Kay arch top from the 30’s that I use for slide. A friend bought it in the 40’s in a Chicago pawn shop and gave it to me before he passed on. I’d clean it up but the essence of all those before me who have played it colors the tone, sometime I think it knows more about the blues than I do.”