PipemanRadio Interviews Pat Travers About Cactus

0:04 Hey, you have done too, that's sure fee Wow crazy young, Wake up America. It's time for the Adventures of Pipe Man on W four C Hyde. I'm cown wiz pond Beats is number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the fight Man. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm very excited about our next guest because not only is he a killer musician, but there's a great project that we've already talked about. We talked about the new Cactus album and he is on it. And so let's welcome to the show. Pat Travers, how are you, hey, brother, how's it going today? Oh man, it's going great. And uh, you know, I'm really pumped to talk to you about you know, what you're doing. But most importantly, like I already talked to Carmine about Cactus Temple Blues, and you happen to be on that album. And I know you've known Carmine for a long time, So tell me what was like, you know, for after all these years, you play on a Cactus album today in twenty twenty four, it felt excuse me, it felt just fine. It felt totally normal, Like you say, I've known Carmine for wow forty plus years now, and

1:38 we've worked on a number of projects together. So you know, for me working with Carmine, it's always easy. And in this case, you know, they sent me a pretty stripped down MP three of the track and then I just played some guitar over it, and it sounded great when I heard everything on there, because, as I said, the version I had was pretty I'm not even sure if there was a bass guitar on it at that point. Well, you're a pro, so I'm sure that was second nature to you. And I love hearing artists can work together, because sometimes that's not the case. So after over forty years, to still be able to work with somebody, to me, that's amazing. I think so too.

2:35 I still remember when I first met Carmine, which was back in nineteen eighty one, and he was playing with Ted Nugent at the time, and we did a string of shows in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma all around there. And I was a huge Vanilla Foage fan. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I wanted to play keyboards, you know, I wanted to be Mark Stein. But so I always felt a strong connection musically to Carmine, and then he's just like the he's like my big brother. He's like just the greatest guy. So yes, it's always fun to do anything with Carmine, you know. See I love hearing stuff like that, and you know, you are an amazing musician. So it definitely, you know, it makes for this song and the album to be just that much better with this all star cast as I would put it, you know. But oh yeah, the song, the album is great, and the list of characters is you know, amazing, And I've seen one videos that they did with Ted Nugent and Doug from The King's X and Carmine and it just looks awesome and it

4:11 sounds awesome. So I'm very policed that Carmine put this together. You know, he's amazing. And you know, it's amazing that you said about Vanilla Fudge because they basically, you know, he said in the interview. He was talking in the interview how surprised he was how many of his friends that were musicians were all fans of Cactus, fans of Vanilla Fudge, Like it kind of blew his mind that he didn't know everybody. All these people that he's worked with and knew that were just big fans. Isn't that something, right? Yeah? I don't know, Yeah, I mean, well, yeah, I mean I guess I get that. I some times I don't sort of think of myself as the way other people, you know, fans or whatever do, and so I get that. But no, I was a huge fan still at and you know, I get to play the Sea Mark Stein every now and then and he's just so still incredible, you know, both of those guys, it's amazing. Well, and you know, to me, that's the difference between somebody playing an instrument and somebody be a musician, because to me, most musicians they don't really, like we were

5:41 talking about, they don't really know that all these people are fans because they don't think that way. Their head isn't that big. They just want to play music and that's all they think about and perfect their creation. You know, you're absolutely right in my case for sure, And I'll usually in carmines too. Yeah, I don't really. You know, I'm happy and proud when I create something musically and it comes together and all that, but you know, I'm not It's what I'm supposed to do. So you know that it's you kind of look at it a different way. You know, of course you want to impress everybody, but you know you want to craft something too, yes, you know. So what do you think it is that was that moment in time, way back when when you first started music, that that made you realize that this was what you were meant to do.

6:47 Well, I think it goes back all the way to when I was about nine years old and seeing the Beatles on the Ed's Elevant show. I mean, it was just there was nothing like that, you know, it was it appealed to me on so many different levels. And I didn't know, you know, I wasn't sophisticated enough to know anything about the mechanics of how the Beatles, you know, were the Beatles and recorded and played, But I instinctively knew that that was something I wanted to do. Yeah, And that's usually how it happens. There's that moment that just really like touches you and that's it, you know, And yeah, true. And then as you know, as time passed a bit, and uh, you know, we had guys like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton and Johnny Winner and d V King and Jeff Beck just these incredible unique Carlos Santana, every one of these guys you could identify if you just heard them play two notes. You know.

8:07 It is so true cool because people freak out, like friends of mine when we're in the car and I just hear a note of a song and I know who it is. Yeah, that just proves the point of what you're saying, you know, yep, Yeah, What would you say is your favorite story of something with you and Carmine? Ah well, I used to when we first met and he was playing with Nugent and and you know, we do show and then we were all staying at the same holiday in or Marriott or whatever. And in those days they usually had a band, you know that played in the bar, so we would get up on jam and stuff. That was just the best because Carman was so funny. I mean, it was just great playing with him. I just I really had a ball. You know. That's key right there. You know, if you're going to be in this business, you gotta be having fun. That's why I always say all the time, because if you're not having fun, what you know, why be in this business? And people can tell too.

9:26 The listeners. Yeah, yeah, you know, yes, So you guys also had a show this month in the beginning of month in clear Water where I'm in South Florida at Ruth Eckert Hall. It was pre iconic show. Can you tell us a little bit about that show for the people that missed it. Well, first of all, Ruth Eckert Hall is probably one of the best venues in the world. It's so comfortable to perform and play in, the people that run it, and the way the building is and it's just it's so comfortable. I wish I could play there every night.

10:09 Well, and it was us and Cactus and fog Cat and we had a great crowd from beginning to end. It was a ton of fun. Yeah, see again, fun the most important thing. And what a lineup between the three of you. That's uh yeah, that's an epic show right there. Yeah. Tony Franklin was playing bass with Cactus, so that was cool. I love Tony, very cool. Is there anything else you want to share about what you have going on that the listeners need to know to check out or because you're still really really busy and I think that's amazing. Yeah, Well, we just started to work on a new album as well.

10:58 I mean we have it's pretty much starting in August. I got a couple next months, but I'm going to spend the next six weeks or so trying to get this album together for Cleopatra Records. And so I'm excited about that because I've got some cool ideas musically. It's going to be some added instrumentation here and there, and it's going to be cool, nice. And then we're like I said, then starting in August, we have you know, about ten shows a month till the end of the year, so yeah, we'll be busy. Well. And so I always ask ours, like yourself, I've been doing this so long, you know, how is it to create new music after you've been doing it for so long? To me, it's like, wow, how much more creativity can come out? Yeah, that's interesting after the you know, we put on an album three years ago, two years ago, and I worked really hard on that record and it was great. The material was really strong, playing the production. But you know, after I was done with that album finished, because it took me

12:28 about a year to make it, I just wasn't really interested in trying to be creative too much, you know, but inevitably stuff just shows up. And so I have, you know, about four or five sketches for songs, so that's enough to get started. And yeah, it wasn't like I was going, hey, I got to get to work. It was just this music just came up as I was, you know, warming up or tuning up or something. So yeah, it's kind of it's kind of like secondhand at this point, right, like you know, which you don't even think about. It just happens. Yeah, that really seems it comes unbidden.

13:22 Well, you are still epic and glad you're still playing live shows. And man, it's really great having you on that Cactus album. And I hope we see it still keep seeing a lot. We'll talk again when I have my new album. Absolutely I'll be glad to promote it for sure. All right, my brother, Well, thanks a lot for being on The Adventures pipe Man. Pat you got it. Cheers, cheers, Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man W four c u I radioh