DJ: Eddie Angel heard Elvis Presley records when he was a kid, and he wanted to play like Scotty Moore when he picked up a guitar at age 12. He got his hands on a copy of Play Guitar with the Ventures. He loved The Beatles. As time went on he discovered Link Wray and Dick Dale.  Eddie honed his rockabilly guitar chops playing in the Washington DC club scene...Link Wray’s old stompin’ grounds. These days, Eddie tours the world with Los Straitjackets, who have spent the last 5 years touring and recording with Nick Lowe. Stay tuned for my talk with Eddie Angel. [00:00:00] Eddie Angel, thanks so much for taking the time to talk today.

Eddie: Well, thank you, Dave. Appreciate you, uh, you, uh, talking to me.

DJ: I assume you're calling from Nashville?

Eddie: Yes, I am. I'm home. It's a very hot day out today.

DJ: Yeah, hot everywhere it seems like.

Eddie: Yeah, man. Summertime.

DJ: Well, I'd love to go back in time and talk about your early life long before the move to Nashville. I think you're originally from Upstate New York?

Eddie: Yes. Yeah, I grew up in, Upstate New York, Albany, New York, and, uh, sort of learned how to play rock and roll up there, you know? Just always started playing in bands since I was, like, 13,

DJ: What kind of music do you remember hearing and liking or responding to when you were just a kid?

Eddie: Um, that's a great question. And, um, I had ... I was the youngest of five, I was youngest by a lot, and my next sibling was eight years older than me, my sister. And so I heard a lot of rock and roll, you know, uh, '50s rock and roll. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis. and then [00:01:00] of course in the '60s growing up, uh, you know, on the radio, The Beatles, you know, were a huge influence on me. and I'd say, yeah, so I would say definitely The Beatles. And but, you know, but there was instrumental music everybody knew back then. Everybody knew “Wipe Out” and, “Pipeline”, “Walk Don't Run”, and you know. And, um, I remember my, the first song I learned on guitar was “Walk Don't Run” by The Ventures.

And I had the record, Learn To Play Guitar With The Ventures.

DJ: I have that too. I've got it on vinyl, yeah.

Eddie: You had that, too? That's funny. so that was probably my, the biggest influence. But I gotta say, and I always liked, and looking back on it, I always liked, country guitar playing. You know, the country ... And by that I mean, like, that's why I love George Harrison of The Beatles.

You know, like, in the middle of a song, a pop song, like All My Loving, he would put this total country Chet Atkins solo, you know. And I, that would drive me nuts. You know, I loved that. And that same with Lovin' Spoonful with Zal Yanovsky, the [00:02:00] guitar player. I loved that. So I, was really drawn to that kind of guitar playing as opposed to the Jimi Hendrix and, and Jimmy Page stuff.

Um, that, that stuff, I liked J- I liked it. I liked Jimi Hendrix, but, uh, 'cause my brain was wired differently, I couldn't play like that. So it made me kind of an o- oddball, you know, uh, as, as years went by. You know, like I, I, I, I'd be in the band and, um, I'd do, you know, or I'd get together with people to jam, and then they'd be jamming on Cream or something.

And I, and I would, I would play “Blue Suede Shoes”, you know? But  it worked out, working in my favor, you know? And so, and, and as years went by, you know?

DJ: I usually ask guitarists if guitar was the first instrument they learned, but I think I read somewhere that you learned clarinet, like maybe in

Eddie: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, my funny story. See, I, my, my, so I loved, I remember just always loving music so, uh, so much. I, when I would hear like, there was a, a drum and bugle [00:03:00] band that used to rehearse by my house in the baseball field, and I would go running and listen to it. But, but so anyway, I wanted to be in, when I was in school, in fifth grade, they, they, uh, that's when you could join the band.

And, uh, but you had, but they gave a, uh, they had to give you a, like a musical aptitude test to kind of weed out the, the people with no musical talent, you know? 'Cause they only had a certain, they only had a certain amount of instruments, you know? For, and I failed the test. So, uh, I really did. But, um, but I was wanting to be in the band so badly that I had my mother buy me a clarinet, and I, I took lessons and, um, I got in the school band.

And, uh, I wound up taking lessons from a guy who was probably the most famous musician in Albany. Uh, he was a jazz saxophone player named Nick Brignola. I didn't know it at the time. I mean, I was 10 years old. But that's who I was taking lessons from. He took, he gave lessons at the music, uh, at the g- shop, you know?

But anyway, I got in the school [00:04:00] band that way and, um, I was playing clarinet. And then I heard The Beatles, you know? And the clarinet went under the bed and I got a guitar, and yeah.

DJ: If it makes you feel any better, in, in fourth grade I attempted to play the trumpet in the school band. I, I was, I was not good at all. It was... I didn't stick with that very long at all. But,

Eddie: Yeah. I wish I had that clarinet, man. I, I wish I still had that. But I have the guitar. I got my first guitar. I'm looking at it right now. It's hanging on my bedroom wall, and it's an Airline. You remember, you know

DJ: Oh, is that the Montgomery Ward, like, catalog?

Eddie: Yeah. Yeah. They're actually made by probably Kay or Harmony or something.

DJ: Yeah. Jack White plays one, I believe. Mm-hmm. I think, I'm pretty sure, uh, that he pl- and I think Eastwood Guitars, like, acquired the old

Eddie: I think you're right.

DJ: I think.

Eddie: Yeah.

DJ: that's cool, and you still have that. That's, that's awesome.

Eddie: I know, man. I know.

DJ: Wow.

Eddie: Got that in the air, but,

DJ: I wish I would've kept, I wish I would've kept all [00:05:00] my original guitars but I didn't.

But anyway

Eddie: Yeah. Hey, listen, man, I wish I had, I kept all my guitars. I, I had a '59 Strat that I sold years and years ago. That's probably worth... Could buy a, a, a down payment on a house, you know? Or maybe buy a house. Anyway

DJ: All right, so you get the airline. Um, did you have lessons or were you self-taught or…?

Eddie: I took a few lessons, uh, from a g- guy and, um, then he moved away. I remember he was a little older than me and my ... And he showed me walk, don't run, and then he moved, he moved to California. And so from that point on I was self-taught. And so I would just put records on, you know? That's, uh, you had no

That's the only way you could learn, you know? Play it over and over again, the record, you know? And, um, and, uh, I remember one of my favorite records was, uh, the Rolling Stones record “The Last Time”. You know that record? I love that record, and I remember playing that record on over and over. But then, then I had The Ventures.

So I just learned little by little and, uh, and I got in a band [00:06:00] right away, you know? And I s- we had a band and w- everybody had a band then. You probably re- and, you know, everybody was in a band.

DJ: Yeah.

Eddie: Every, you know, go up and down the street, every garage had a couple kids in it with a band. And we, we would play, like, you know, I called it a Louie Louie band, you know, 'cause that, that's what, that's what we did, that kinda stuff, you know?

“Hang On Sloopy” and “Wipe Out”. So the ... And it was called The Kreases with a K.

The Kreases, you know? The ... And then few year ... And then after a little while, you know, when like, um, records like “Psychotic Reaction” came out and we changed the name of the band to the Upper Stage of Lower Life. You know? Got psychedelic, huh?

And then we'd do songs like, we'd do “Shapes of Things” by The Yardbirds and…

DJ: Aww, love that.

Eddie: Yeah. But that was my first band, you know, and when I was, you know, 13. We just played at the, the, you know, firehouse for uh, somebody's birthday party or something. And then, uh, uh, you know, and then in high school, I, I was in a band for a little bit.

And as a [00:07:00] freshman I was in uh, called The Motivations, and, uh, the, the ... I forget what we did. We, we ... Some songs we did. We ... I remember, oh, we did, oh, we did “Ode to Billie Joe”. I remember that was one of the songs we did.

DJ: Wow.

Eddie: But, and then, so I didn't do ... So, and after high school, um, oh, I'm trying to think. I was, I was in a, um, I got into a local band.

Uh, I, I started ... I remember, well, I remember one time a friend of mine who's, uh, I had a friend a little, couple years older, who was always better than me. He was always ... I'd go to his house and he would learn, he would be showing me stuff. And, um, he, he had a really good ear. And, but I remember one time going, and he's playing me the stuff off the first Led Zeppelin record.

I'm like, " Nah, I don't like that, man." I wasn't crazy about it anyway. That's just, that's one of my memories. but he told me about some guys he had met, some college guys, you know? , , And, um, they were like, they were great. They had, this guy was a great guitar player, whatever. And, and so we went to meet this guy, and, and they were like college guys, y- you know, [00:08:00] um, hippies, you know?

And we were like g- greasers from the wrong side of, other side of the track. And we show up at this, you know, uh, you know, hippie pad, you know, like the late '60s, you know? And, uh, we get together to jam, and that's the one time when we were jamming and I, I started playing “Blue Suede Shoes”, you know? These guys are like, "Where'd this kid come from?"

But you know, they liked it 'cause I could do it, you know? Even though it was like, you know, it was weird for that, for ... Nobody was doing that. They're, they were playing like, you know, Jimi Hendrix stuff. So anyway, um, but, uh, one thing led to the next, man. I just, all's I ever wanted to do was play guitar in a band, you know?

And that's what I I was gonna say, I wound up playing with, in a local omni band that kinda was pretty, um, successful. They, they were called the Star-Spangled Washboard Band. And they, they later morphed into Blotto. I don't know if you ever heard of Blotto.

Blotto had, sorta had some success. But that was the band I toured, you know, first time I toured, you know? We, pretty much all over the [00:09:00] East Coast we toured. And, um, we would, we went ... I remember one time we went on tour in the Midwest one time with, um, Sha Na Na, and ano- another time we went on tour with, uh, Bob Seger and Freddie King, believe it or not, man.

DJ: I love that early Bob Seger stuff. Oh, he's great in general, but, uh, the early stuff is something.

Eddie: this was early, man. This was before, you know, his, his big r- you know, hits.

DJ: yeah

Eddie: Um, um, but I was too dumb to pay attention. I can't believe it. I, I don't have any memories of Freddie King. I just know he was a... But I know where he at, so.

DJ: Well, you lived several places, quite a few places between your time in New York and the eventual move to Nashville. But the first move was to the Washington, DC area playing in bands, right?

Eddie: Well, no, uh, no, that wasn't the first one. The very first one, no, no. I, I, I moved to California like…

DJ: Oh, you went out to LA? Okay.

Eddie: I went to LA 'cause I met... I was in a, I was in a band, and this is the summer of 1972, in a band in Omni, [00:10:00] and, uh, it's called Swamp Road. We were kinda like a g- it was sorta like a Grateful Dead type band.

I don't know, sort of the, like, um, acoustic kind of band, folky. But anyway, we went to California and it, it was our big cross-country trip, you know, like J- Jack Kerouac On the Road. And we get to California, and, "Well, what do they do now?" You know? So we went through The Troubadour, you know, and, and we, we got to, we showed up in f- uh, in, pulled up in front of The Troubadour in, in the middle of the afternoon.

There was a kid standing there about our age, and he- And we said, "What is going on?" He said, "Well, tonight's Hoot Night, and so the first five or six people in line get to play on stage." So we said, "Okay, great." So we, we, we wound up getting in line with him and, um, playing at The Troubadour that night. But...

And then we stayed at his house, his, well, his family's house. They were out of town. and I, I just hit it off with this guy. We were like, uh, kindred spirits, and his name is Dave Bloom, and he wound up t- making the trip back to New York with us, and we stayed, we, we just [00:11:00] stayed friends. And then when, when the, when the band Swamp Road broke up, I, uh, you know, six months later, I flew out to LA, right?

And, um, so we were gonna be songwriters, me and this guy, Dave Bloom. And, um, and we rented an apartment in Venice Beach and, um, I remember, um- Um, one day he said to me, uh, "Hey, I, I got a gig with a guy named Link Wray." And I said, "Really?" I said ... I had never heard of Link Wray at that time. I'm, I'm 19 years old, I'm 20 years old, and I guess I had never heard Rumble at that point.

And I said, "Well, get me in the band. I play rhythm guitar." He said, "Oh." And next thing I know, uh, I went to ... I was in Link Wray's apartment talking to him, hanging out with him. And, and then we, we got, we got together and jammed in a garage in North Hollywood. And, and, uh, so but then I, uh, he had just put out a record on Polydor called, uh, “Be What You Wanna Be”, and, um, he's, you know, he was putting a band together to tour.

And, uh, but anyway, I wound up moving back [00:12:00] east before , anything materialized. But my friend Dave wound up playing a few gigs with him. But anyway, that was my Dave, uh, my, my Link Wray connection. But also that same time period, uh, with Dave Bloom, I had this one connection that I had had back in New York with this company, a publisher called Leeds Music, and they had an office in Hollywood.

And me and Dave, uh, went down there, and I played some songs, and they said, "Yeah, we love your songs. We want you guys to come in whenever you want every day and use the studio," and whatever, blah, blah, blah. So, so it's me and Dave and this friend of his from school, this girl named Deed. She would sing our demos.

And we were doing this for about a month or two, and then Deed says to me, "Hey, guess who they hired at the publishing company? Duane Eddy." So now Duane Eddy, yeah. And so I'm like, "Now I gotta play my songs for Duane Eddy." And, uh, s- he's sitting there. Anyway, Then Duane Eddy and this girl, our friend Deed, fall in love and elope.

They just l- they take off, right? Never heard from them again until they [00:13:00] moved to Nashville years later, and they ... And D- Duane Eddy lives in Nashville and still married to this girl Deed. Anyway, that's, that's, um, a few of my s- my story. Anyway, look, point being, I was in LA when I was 19 or 20, then I moved back home, then, then I moved to DC in 1980.

And here's the funny thing. When I, when I moved to DC in 1980 to play with Tex Rabinowitz, his two favorite guitar players were Ivy Rorschach from The Cramps and Link Wray. now, uh, you know, uh, he used to ... And this is 1980, and, and, um, Link Wray's still not like a household name like he is now, but- But Tex used to always, before our, when we were setting up for the show, he would play a tape, you know, a Link Wray, you know, tape, uh, a pre-show tape.

And so one day he said, "Hey, Eddie, I think, I think we should work up some instrumentals for the set for our show." And I remember thinking, "Oh, man, that's a terrible idea. No one wants to hear guitar instrumentals." And, uh, but m- but the, I, looking back, [00:14:00] the reason I felt that way was because, um, that's what I first played when I was 13, you know, was “Walk Don't Run”.

And so I thought, "That can't be cool." You know, I just did that when I was 12 or 13. But anyway, we started doing some Link Wray songs, and we started doing “Jack the Ripper” and, um, “Rawhide”, and we did “He Never Came Back” by Ventures. We did ”Baja”. And, you know, I, I took to it like a duck to water, you know. And I started, that's when I started writing instrumentals.

And, uh, it's so weird, man, that that's what I do now. he was like a visionary for me. Put me on that path, you know? And, and that band, his band, Tex Rabinowitz and the Bad Boys, 1980, we were the most popular band in DC. What... And it was great, man. I mean, we always played the packed club.

We would play in New York, you know, and like, and The Cramps would come to a show. He was good friends with The Cramps. They were fans. Brian Setzer came to a show before. He was in the Stray Cats. So it was really a cool scene, you know? And, um, that was really where I [00:15:00] kind of, evolved into Eddie Angel, you know, the, the guitar slinger.

Because now, now what, whatever used to work against me was working for me. You know, now I could, playing like Chuck Berry, you know, and that. This stuff I could do, you know? And this primitive Link Wray kind of thing, that's, that's me, you know? I mean, uh, I mean, this, I'm like kindred spirits with Link Wray, for sure, you know? And it's so odd because when, at 19, I didn't even know who he was, you know, when I first met him.

DJ: Huh. 

Eddie: Yeah. 

DJ: I think you were still in DC when you wrote and recorded the instrumental “Rampage”, which was a 45 backed with ”Lynx Tail”. I'd love to hear about that experience, like you

Getting in the studio.

Eddie: That's right. Um, well, that's because, you know, like I said, we started doing instrumentals and, I just wrote those songs at this time period, 1980, and they were both kind of like an homage to Link Wray on “Lynx Tail”, for instance. And, um, so when bands from New York would come to town, they would open for us, you know?

Like, [00:16:00] so, like, they're rockabilly bands like, the Rock Cats and, um, , there's another one called The A-Bones and The R- and there was one called Buzz and the Flyers, and, uh, a band called, and Ronnie and the Jitters was one. So Ronnie and the Jitters was a band from New York, and they would come to town o- and open for us.

And, the bass player from that band said, "Hey, man, I really, I wanna do a 45 with you, you know? I wanna do like a Duane Eddy type 45." so he brought me up to, to New York and to, to record with the band, with his band, Ronnie and the Jitters, as my backup band. And, uh, so we recorded it there, and actually, actually in New Jersey.

But, um, and, uh, that, that was my first 45. And, uh, I've heard stories from people who, who know the, um, who are friends with The Cramps and they said that when they, hear- when Lux Interior heard it, he really dug it. He really liked that 45. He said, "There's a guy who knows rock, this guy knows rock and roll."

And I heard from, from another source that they were thinking about me, asking me to join the band. I don't know if that's true uh, if  that [00:17:00] ever happened, but, yeah. So that's where that, that record came from, but I just kept writing instrumentals, you know? And, um, I didn't really think that much about it, you know?

But I, I moved back in New York, upstate New York, like in '81 or '82, and I was playing up there and, um, well, anyway, y- I, I, I could ... I'll, I'll fill that you in, but maybe you have another question, so before I jump ahead.

DJ: My first one is just a comment. I know you can, uh, listen to it online, uh, “Rampage”, the 45. but I was recently looking, there's some available at Discogs. At so- at some point I need to have a physical copy of it, so I'm gonna get that. So, uh, I gotta, I gotta have it. I'm building back up my record collection, 

Eddie: Yeah.

DJ: Okay, so you did move back to New York for a while, before... Well then, how long of a period, like, before you made the decision to head down to Nashville?

Eddie: Well, okay. So I'm saying, you know, so back up in New York about '81 or '82, and around, uh... Like, I moved to Nashville in '86. [00:18:00] So I, I grew up in up- upstate New York and, you know, we were s- kind of spinning our wheels, you know, and... But we were getting interest, like, we were getting interest from New York City, like a manager, and we had a m- we had this, uh...

You, you've heard of Marshall Crenshaw? Of course. So his manager managed us for a while, but one day, the drummer in the band, Dave Durocher, said, " Hey, I think, what do you, what would you think of moving to Nashville?" And I'm like, "Yeah, let's go." 'Cause I w- I was, like, burnt out on playing the clubs in Albany, you know?

It was, it would... It just seemed like it wasn't going anywhere. And, um, I, I was up for, for leaving. And so, so it was me, him, and his wife was the lead singer, Jeannie, and we, we packed all our sh- things in a U-Haul and, and a car trailer, we, we left in February, early February, and it's freezing cold.

We had to push the car out of a snowbank, and, uh, and I... That's the last time I had to push a car out of a snowbank. February 1986. Anyway, we showed up in [00:19:00] Nashville. We didn't really know a soul, you know? But we had one contact, because we had a friend, in, uh, New York, uh, upst- uh, John Tichy, who had been in Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen.

And he said, "Well, you know, I have a contact, uh, within Nashville. Bug Music. my songs are published by Bug Music." So we got in touch with Bug Music and, um, I guess the... Unbeknownst to me, the drummer, Dave, had been corresponding with, the guy at Bug Music, Gary Valeche. And Gary had, had, had said, "Yeah, you guys should come to Nashville."

So we show up at his door one day in February, and he said, " Holy shit." He said, "I didn't think you guys were gonna move here." You know? We just showed up l- lock, stock, and barrel, man. We made the move. And, um, so here's the funniest thing. Like, ... It turns out this Gary Valeche, who was the, the, the head guy at Bug Music, he, he had had my 45 of  “Rampage”, and he's like, "Holy mackerel."

He said, "I of- I used to wonder what happened to this, what, what happened to this guy. You know, here [00:20:00] you are. You showed up at my door." So that was, that, that was our in. So Bug Music was... was a good company. I mean, it represented p- a lot of big people, you know, like, uh, I don't know, Johnny Cash and, um- A lot of songwriters.

I think, um, I think John Hiatt maybe and people like that. Um, so we're, we're pretty well connected, you know? And, um, he, he got us, uh, people out to see us, and we got, within a year we got a record deal with CBS Records. And, um, but I got, before I w- I got s- step, wind back a little bit. When our first gig we played in Nashville, one of our first gigs, we opened for Webb Wilder, you might have heard of

DJ: Oh, 

Eddie: And that night I met Jimmy Lester was playing drums for him, who later became Los Straitjackets' drummer. And a girl named Marshall Chapman was in the audience who, who I'll, I'll tell you about. And then Danny Amis.

DJ: Yeah.

Eddie: The, um... So after we got done playing the set, Danny Amis come up to me and said, he introduced himself.

He said, "My name's Danny Amis. I used to play in the r- in the back of the Raybeats, and I re- I [00:21:00] never thought I'd hear anyone play a Link Wray song in Nashville." ' Cause I would always, at this point I was always playing like ”Run Chicken Run” or some Link Wray song in the set. And so we became instant friends because, I mean, The Raybeats were like a big deal in my you know, in the Northeast in uh, my world.

Um, so I thought that was really cool. So we became friends and, um, and then, uh, s- so the band I was in, Jeannie and the Hurricanes, got signed to CBS Records, and then it took a whole year to like, you know, make the record and it was agony really. The whole thing was just like being put through a meat grinder.

And at the end of it all, CBS said, "We're not putting the record out. It's not, not country enough." So we got, the band broke up and, um, 'cause we were just frustrated at this point and um, and so my first instinct was to start a, a g- an instrumental band. This is 198- 1988 in Nashville, and it was suicide.

I mean, it was, uh, um, [00:22:00] For, for anybody to do that. I mean, uh, career suicide. And I remember the look of pity on my friends' faces. You know, "You guys what?" But anyways, but that was my really gut instinct. So, who am I gonna ask? So I knew Danny Amis, you know, ' cause I knew he'd been in the Raybeats, but Danny had, he had a really good job.

He was working he was working for the Nashville Now network, which was a TV thing. Um, and, uh, he was like a stage manager and it was a really good job, you know? And, um, but we got together, me, him, and we said, "Well, we need a drummer." So we got, uh, Jimmy Lester to play drums, and the three of us started, uh, w- The Straitjackets, just the three of us.

And, you know, we just were doing instrumentals and we were doing okay, you know, in Nashville in, like in the late '80s. but then Jimmy, Lester was in... He's actually, his main gig was playing with Webb Wilder, so he had, he wound up having to go on the road and, uh, the, the band sort of, that just evaporated.

And, uh, and from there, I, I, I, uh, I did a rockabilly band called The [00:23:00] Planet Rockers. I don't know if you've ever heard of The Planet Rockers. So I did that for a little while And, um, so, and, and, uh, with a guy named Sonny George and Mark Winchester on bass. Um, I don't know how much you wanna know about all this, but uh, I mean, it's a long, it's a long, heartbreaking story, but it winds…

DJ: I'm loving it.

Eddie: It winds up...

I'll tell you. I mean, um, so the Planet Rockers wind up breaking up, and me, me and Sonny, 'cause me and Sonny the singer joined a band in Chicago called Big Guitars from Memphis. And then, um, we both, uh, get kicked out of that band. And this is around in the early '90s, and I wound up, uh, going to Austin, Texas to check that out.

And, finally, like, this is 199- early 1994. I'm like, and I'm with my wife Melanie. I'm like, "Well, this is not working out. We should, let's just move back to New York," you know? so my wife's from Long Island. So we're thinking, "Okay, let's, let's, we'll move. [00:24:00] We'll get all our shit," you know?

We're like homeless people really. And, um, we said, "Well, on the way out of town, we wanna go see our friend Herman the German. he's doing a, a record in store, a records shop, and we'll, we'll, we'll see him." So we went to see him, and we leave, get in our cars. And like, I don't know which one said it first, but, uh, I, I might've said to my wife, uh, she, I think she said to me, "I think we should move back to Nashville one more time."

And I said, "Oh my God, I was thinking the same thing, but I was afraid to say it, you know? I didn't wanna freak you out, you know?" So we said, "Okay, let's move back to Nashville one more time," you know? And, um, but we need a place to stay, so the only person I could think of who had a house big enough and didn't have a family was Danny Amis, you know?

So I called Danny, and he said, "Yeah, sure. You guys can stay with me." So we moved back, you know? We stayed with Danny for a month. We both got jobs , at my friend's record store, Phonolux Records. And [00:25:00] meanwhile- I was just going like blue blazes trying to book everything I could, man. I mean, I was just, I was booking things with, uh, my, and my wife with, Ronnie Dawson, a friend, a guy from Texas and the Planet Rockers.

And, um, and then so, so I was staying at Danny's house, and really s- literally, uh, no, no, no kidding, just sort of favor to him, I said, "Let's, let's get Jimmy Lester back over here, you know, and, and play, and, you know, play the old songs we did with the Straitjackets," you know? I was just thinking, uh, uh, you know, as a favor for letting us stay there 'cause from, in my mind, Danny had a good job.

He didn't, he wasn't looking to be in the music business. But, um, but and my main thing was at this point now, I, I didn't wanna be in a band anymore. I said, "I'm, I'm..." I said, "Well, I'm moving back to Nashville, and I just wanna get a job as a guitar player in a band, in a country band. Maybe some country band I can, you know, fit in, you know?

I don't wanna be in a band." I, everything had crashed and burned or, you know, [00:26:00] heartache e- e- every mile, you know? So, um and that's kinda how we met our, our first bass player, Scott Esbeck, was, um, I, I wanted... I found this country singer that I thought would- I could play guitar for. His name is Marty Brown.

And, um, I found out, that, uh, he was doing a dem- he was m- he was making a d- uh, a video. So I went down to video, and his bass player was, um, was Scott Esbeck. And Scott, uh, I was with Danny and Jimmy, and they knew Scott, and they... And he's like, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" I said, "Well, we're starting this band playing all instrumentals."

He says, "I wanna do that." So he's in our band. So this is 1994. It's me, Danny Amis, Jimmy Lester, and now we got Scott Esbeck on bass, and we used to rehearse a couple of times a week at Danny's, garage. And, he had a big box of... Danny, now, um, he was going to Mexico City w- uh, like a few times a year, four times a year.

He was in love with going to Mexico, and, and he would go to the wrestling matches, and he would buy the r- the, the luchador masks, [00:27:00] uh, outside. Buy them for a couple bucks. So he had a big box of these luchador masks- where we were h- in the room we rehearsed in and we s- I remember thinking like, "Those look cool, man.

We all just-- Let's wear those," you know? And, and, and, um, so our very first gig, was opening for a band called Man or Astroman.

DJ: Oh, yeah!

Eddie: At a record store in Nashville called Lucy's, which is no longer. And I remember w- we're getting ready to go on stage, and you're like, "Hey, man, are we gonna wear them or not?"

You know? We're, we almost chickened out, you know? I said, "I don't know if we sh- You know, our friends are gonna laugh at us," you know? But, um, but my wife said, "Nah, you guys should wear them." So we put them on, we wore them, and it was instant. We knew we had a winner. We had people loved it, you know? So, okay, we haven't taken them off ever since. Uh, but that was, uh... So then, um, Danny, um- Danny had a, a friend, named Ben Vaughn. Have you ever heard of Ben So he asked Ben to produ- He said, "Let's, let's, let's go and [00:28:00] record this stuff." And, and he asked Ben to produce it. I, and I didn't even know this till years later that he finagled this.

He just told me that Ben was gonna be passing through town. Did I mind if he re- produced us? I said, "I don't care." You know? 'Cause, I mean, honestly, so the whole time when the band, when I'm thinking to myself, " Well, this is just for fun." I, I mean, I, I, I mean, I don't wanna be in a band.

We're not... This is, you know, we're not, um, you know. But this is, um, you know, this is something maybe we'll do. Maybe we'll play a coup- uh, once a month, you know, for our friends, you know? This is r- honestly what I was thinking. And, um, so whenever Dan, Dan said, "Well, my friend Ben Vaughn is in town, he'll produce it."

I said, "Okay, whatever. I don't care." And, um, and we went and we ma- we went in and recorded the whole thing in one day. ' Cause we'd been playing these songs and rehearsing over and over, you know, for no good... I don't know why. We're just doing it for fun. But, um, so we went in and knocked them out in a day, you know.

But then there was another [00:29:00] day of, like, you know, mixing and all that shit. But, so- I, so all this stuff is happening while I'm like, unbeknownst to me 'cause I'm doing all this other stuff, going crazy trying to book tours with, with whatever I could do. And so Ben Vaughn I guess took the tape and, and he got us a record deal, you know, somehow with, with a little label in Boston called Upstart Records.

And Upstart Records was part of, uh, Rounder Records, which was pretty, you know, uh, sizable label, respectable. But, but Upstart was three guys who worked for Rounder. They gave them their own, little record label. The, and the three guys were J- Jake Guralnick, Chris Cody, and, uh, Glenn Dicker.

And just so today now of those three people, um, Glenn Dicker owns Yep Roc Records, the record label we, we're on, and Jake Guralnick's been our manager for 30 years. So , but that's getting ahead of the story. Now that they're just, , they're the owners of this label who [00:30:00] signed us, and they told me later, said, "You know, we weren't gonna sign any more instrumental bands.

We had all these instrumental band records, you know, and we said no more. But then we got your tape, and then we say, 'Oh, wow. This is ... We gotta sign these guys.'" so now we got a record label, and, they put it out and, and we did a tour, our first tour. was, this would've been, um, I think '95.

And, um, uh, we did our first tour. And so we, the very first gig on the tour was in Atlanta, and they, they, we were doing, the record labels got us an in-store at a, at a record store in suburban Atlanta, you know, in a mall, and in the middle of the afternoon. We're like, and so we gotta lug our shit through the mall, you know, in the middle of the afternoon to set it up and play for nobody, right?

There was a couple people. There was a couple kids looking at rap records. But, but there, heh, but there was one guy, uh, uh, with, there with his girlfriend paying attention, digging it. And when we were done he, he's like, "Man, that's great." He said, [00:31:00] my name's Pete Droge, and I'm on tour opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."

And he said, "We're playing in Atlanta tonight." And we're, and we're like, "Yeah, we're playing Atlanta too, you know? We're playing at the Star Bar." You know, they're playing at the Omni Dome, but or wherever. So that night, we didn't know this, he brings the whole band down to our gig. Pete Droge, he, except Tom.

Tom didn't come, but the, The Heartbreakers came to our gig, and we met, um, Mike Campbell, who like, Mike Campbell, the guitar player for The Heartbreakers, and he like flipped out over us, man. He loved us. And he said, "When you guys get to LA, get, get in touch with me." So we did, and then that part of that tour, I mean, it started in Atlanta, went all the way to Florida, went to Texas, went to New Mexico.

And, um, each day got worse. You know, like, you, but, on the tour. What I mean by that is by the time we got to Albuquerque, it was like the Fourth of July and nobody was at the show. We were, the guy canceled the [00:32:00] show. And, but so our bass player, Scott, was ready to quit, and he was calling back to Nashville looking for a gig.

but we get to LA and all, and this, and we didn't know this, but we had gotten a pick in the, in the LA Weekly of the cool, this is the cool show to go see. And our show was like gangbusters, man. We're like we're like the flavor of the month for one day.

DJ: That's great.

Eddie: So it, that totally revived our spirits.

And Mike Campbell was there, and he brought Jackson Browne and, you know. And, um, and we wound up going to his house and recording. We, uh, we, we did a bunch of recording with him in his house. Uh, and he became, and then he wound up getting us gigs opening for Tom Petty, and we, we were on those gigs, uh, at the Fillmore that later became, like there was a whole big hubbub about it this past year, the 25th anniversary or something.

So anyway, that was the beginning of it, you know? And we just, we never looked back, man. We just, we got in the van, we just kept touring. We toured so [00:33:00] much that I was, for, I felt like for three years I was never home. And, um- But I remember, at one point thinking, "Wow, I'm, I think I'm making a living doing this," you know?

This is, I'm really doing this. And, um, so that's, that's, that, and like I said, it's just, and it's just always been like s- a slow upward trajectory, you know? We never had like great big success or big failure, but it, it was slow and steady, and it was, been great, you know? And next thing I, you know, one thing after the next, you know?

Like, like little things along the way, like getting a song in a movie for the first time, you know, and getting this big check. I'm like, "Holy cow." Or getting nominated for a Grammy for a record we did with Eddie Clearwater. And stuff just happened little by little, and then finally getting the, to back up Nick Lowe, and that's what we're doing.

I'm going up…

DJ: Yeah. I've seen you, uh, with Nick Lowe twice in St. Louis at Delmar Hall. But…

Eddie: Yeah. I'm, so I'm about to go on tour with them in 10, in a few days, in a week. [00:34:00] And, um, so it's been great, you know? It's really been awesome. 

DJ: Yeah. That's so…

Eddie: It's, um, yeah.

DJ: I, uh, we were talking about Ben Vaughn. Ben's great. Hey, Ben's been on twice now on the show, and, uh, and actually just recently, the last time he was on, we were talking about his newer show, uh, Straight from the Hat, and I'm g- I'm guessing you may have heard it by now, but , a couple weeks ago there was a segment on Ben's new show about, you know, you and Danny and, and him, you know, being involved in producing the first album and everything.

Eddie: Yeah, I heard that. Yeah, I heard, I did hear it. Yeah, that's, that's great. Yeah, Ben's, he's... Yeah, he's stayed, he's stayed a good friend. And, and Pete Curry, , our bass player who was recently retired, he, he and Ben have a band now called Everglades that play once in a while. Yeah. So yeah.

DJ: . Yes, I have seen you guys backed with Nick Lowe, and I've been a fan of Nick Lowe since I discovered Brinsley Schwarz in my teens. I’ve seen you guys at Delmar Hall.

Oh, you know, you mentioned earlier too, I just [00:35:00] wanna, if we have time to talk about this. You mentioned Man or Astro-man. I was really into them back in, I think it was the '90s. I saw them in this basement bar called The Gargoyle. It's on the campus of, uh, Wash U here in St. Louis. It's just one of those little bar- You feel like you're going in somebody's basement at this place, and they didn't have any kind of bar or anything, but they were fine with you bringing, you know, like a six-pack or a 12-pack and putting it at your feet.

So yeah, Man or Astro-man, they were fun.

Eddie: Yeah. no, they were going great guns for a while, you know?

DJ: Eh?

Eddie: Because they, they were appealing to, like, punk rock kids and stuff. I, I remember they were selling out, like, The Troubadour back when we were just starting out, you know?

DJ: Yeah. Oh, I gotta ask you about this too. Uh, you know, last year saw the release of, uh, Somos Los Straitjackets, another fantastic record. I noticed, uh, Tom Kenny's voice appears on it. I'm just curious about the story behind that.

Eddie: Oh, that's right, man. Tom, well Tom's a good friend of ours. He's the [00:36:00] voi- the, the, your listeners probably know as the voice of SpongeBob. But, uh, just I don't know how we met. We've known each other... He's, he's a, he's a big music fan, a real aficionado, man. He knows a lot about music and, um, he's got his own band in, in LA called the, uh, The High…

DJ: Th High Seas. That's right.

Eddie: And, um, so we try to see him every t- whenever I'm in LA we try to get together and hang out, and I just saw him a couple weeks ago in Chicago 'cause he's spending, he's got a place there now too 'cause his wife's from Chicago and his daughter's living there now. But, um, and she's, his daughter's, um, is, is, uh, has, is starting out in music.

Her, her name's Nora Kenney. You might wanna get her on this…

DJ: Yeah, we'll see. 

Eddie: Check her out, Nora Kenney.

Yeah. 

DJ: I was lucky, very fortunate early… was it early last year? I don't know, a while back, but, um, I was out in LA for a week, and I sent a message to Deke Dickerson. I was like, "Hey, I, it doesn't look like you're currently on tour. Are you, or are you, like, playing anywhere, you know, around LA while I'm [00:37:00] there?"

And he's like, "Oh, man, my, I've got my kid Saturday night, but here's what you should do. You should go to the Sassafrass Saloon, and, uh, Tom Kenny and the High Cs are playing." And we, my buddies and I got there really early, and, uh, cool little place, and yeah, we, and got to talk to Tom, and he was so cool, and his band was great.

So that was…

Eddie: Yeah. Oh, he's super nice, man. Yeah, he's super nice. Yeah. And then real- like I said, he's a he knows his stuff, man, about music. he's no dilettante, you know?

This is Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets, and you're listening to DJ Fey on Frets. [00:41:00]  ¡Vamos a rock!

DJ: Well, you keep a very busy schedule, and I see that you'll be back in both, uh, New York and DC I think later this month, right?

Eddie: Yeah, Yeah, we're hitting the road on the 11th, starting in Chicago, and, um, winding up in, uh, yeah, Jersey City, New York. So yeah, and then we'll be doing, um, some more, Well, I'm doing s- we're doing Surf Guitar 101 this summer. Do, are you familiar with that convention? Oh, check it out, Surf Guitar 101.

It's a, it's a all guitar, you know, guitar centric, festival in, in, um, Southern California.[00:38:00]

DJ: Nice.

Eddie: It's in, uh, the first week of August. then we're doing a few dates around that, like in the Southwest, like Phoenix and Tucson. Then in September, October, uh, we're doing another Nick Lowe tour. we're, and we're gonna be opening for, uh, Roxette.

Do you, do you remember a band called Roxette?

DJ: Yeah, yeah.

Eddie: '80s band? So yeah, so keep an eye on that. I'm not sure if we're gonna be in St. Louis, but, we're... It's all over the place. It might, maybe.

DJ: I'll be looking.

Eddie: Yeah.

DJ: Well, I'm glad I caught you before the busy tour schedule.

Eddie: Yeah, exactly. I know it's gonna, it'll be gone in, uh, uh, in a few days,

DJ: Well, Eddie Angel, I have been a fan of instrumental guitar for many years and also a big, big fan of Los Straitjackets for quite a while. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk today. This has been very cool.

Eddie: Well, thanks so much, dude. Uh, this, it's been a real, real, it's been real fun talking to you, and, I'm hoping, yeah, I told you some interesting things. I don't know.

DJ: I loved it.

Eddie: If [00:39:00] it's... Yeah. Well, I, I, I look forward to seeing you down the road, man. I hope we, uh, get to say hello in person sometime.

DJ: Yeah, I’d love that.

Eddie: Cool, man.

DJ: All right. Well, thanks again.

Eddie: All right.

Thanks, Dave. Talk to you later, okay? Okay, bye.