Me, Jeff Healey,and Bassist Joe Rockman
GB - It's been five years since you have released a new album why the long break?
JH- Well it's not been a break. We've been very busy of course, traveling behind the last album and doing a ton of traveling in general. Just taking our time at recording this record over a long period of time, with various co-producers and that sort of thing, so we're always busy.
GB - How did you Joe and Tom and first hook up?
JH - Just in short through the local music scene in Toronto. Particulary the open jam scene in the mid 80's, which was very hectic at that point. Not a lot of open jams anymore there, which is too bad. We hooked up through that, and we had a three piece band exclusively. Certainly for traveling, up until all the touring for the second album. Since then we've used various people, keyboard players, guitar players and background vocalists, at any given time.
GB - How is this tour going so far?
JH - This is the rap of the Canadian side of it for a while. We've been all the way out to Vancouver and back out to here. We've got a couple of US dates, and we have a couple or European things coming up as well. The cd is about to be released in Europe.
GB - You have received some great compliments by legendary guitarists like Albert Collins, BB King and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. How do you feel about all the praise?
JH - It was very nice. To be complimented by anybody must mean your doing something right and being appreciated. It means as much to me to get complimented from the general public, the people who are buying the concert tickets and albums and things like that.
GB - What do you think of new hotshot blues- rock guitar players like Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepard?
JH- Their doing their thing. I'm not here to slag anybody, so as long as they are enjoying what they are doing.
GB - How do you feel about the stuff that critics write about the band?
JH - Well critics don't generally buy tickets to the things that they critique, but once again it comes right down to the general public as I said before, who are laying out the money for things, cause that's the people your really there to entertain.
GB - I read once you collect old 78 speed vinyl records. How many do you have now?
JH- About 24,000 give or take. We are back on CBC with a new series of shows. I did take a little break, or forced break I should say from the that, as nobody knew what was going on around CBC. Anyway, that's back up and running again this year.
GB- A while back you put out a cd of covers. What prompted that?
JH - It was an ideal of the record company, which we are no longer with at this point.
GB - What do you have coming up in the near future?
JH - Well past the European stuff time will tell. We just see where our presence is required. It's sort of the how we've been working over the last few years. You plan to a degree, but you leave yourself open for opportunities that come along, so we will just see.
Interview conducted in May of 2000
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