Lindsay Beaver. 15 years of hard work beginning to pay off.
Lindsay Beaver. 15 years of work beginning to pay off.
November 2018
Lindsay Beaver is a rhythm and blues singer songwriter and stand-up drummer and bandleader from Halifax, living in Austin, who sings like mash up of Howlin’ Wolf and Amy Winehouse. The 33-year-old just released her latest album, Tough As Love, produced by the blues legend Bruce Iglauer for his Chicago label Alligator records, an dis on the road with her own trio. Live, her voice and drums are front and center as she bares her soul, singing her signature mix of originals and covers of songs by artists as diverse as Little Willie John and The Detroit Cobras. I spoke to her about her roots, new album and how she got those tremendous vocal and drumming chops.
Rick J Bowen: Congratulation on you debut on Alligator. How did it happen?
Lindsay Beaver: A lot happened all at once for me. I had the same band for six or seven years. It broke up and me and the bass player got a divorce, so I moved to Austin Texas. I knew I had to make a new record to keep going. I knew I had to really be out front. My guitarist Brad (Stivers) convinced me to send a demo to Bruce at Alligator and he loved the music. He came down to Austin to see me live and check us out. He wasn’t totally convinced until then. But he didn’t make it easy for me. He sent me into the studio for 2 days Stewart Sullivan, who is a genius and is well known for a bunch of early 90’s punk and ska. records, which was good for me because my music is a bit different and a little out of the box.
RJB: He captured that raw energy of you and the band
LB: Exactly! Most of the record was done in two days, first instrumental beds then a day of vocals.
RJB: Wow no wonder it has that frantic energy. Its old school meets new school, live off the floor recording.
LB: Yes. It worked out great thankfully. If it hadn’t I would have had to pay for it all myself. We had an agreement with Bruce and Alligator that we will work hard together. We have a great open dialog on how to create a successful product. He is a very careful businessman so his investment in me is huge.
LB: You are the primary songwriter or is it a collaborative effort with the guys.
LB: I write alone. I really can’t do it with other people. I play guitar well enough to create the ideas and then Brad makes the voicing better. The chords changes melody I figure out then bring to the guys. I also play enough piano to get whatever is in my head out, I couldn’t do a jazz gig, but I can play. I really love playing guitar, but I haven’t had time to devote to playing well enough to take it out live. Someday I’ll get up and play. It’s tough to be a band leader from the drums because you don’t have control over the chord changes. Thank god for brad he is such a strong player and knows what to do. I have always had a good ear for changes and melodies from an early age, so it helps
RJB: You in a select group being female drummer, singer and bandleader. That is very special. Do you feel like your breaking new ground or do you just do your thing?
LB: Well I kind of did it out of necessity at first. I could find a drummer that I liked or a singer that I liked for my first band. So, I did it myself. It did not come naturally, I had to work hard at it. I went to jams back in the day at home and people were really kind to me. I ‘d say I can’t play that much but I am getting it, and they’d let me play. As far as Women in music, there are not enough of us being represented. I think of someone like Laura Chavez, she’s one of the best guitar players on the planet and but she doesn’t try to fit herself into the “mold of what a female musician is supposed to look and sound like,” she is her own person. It is so great to see someone with such strong musicianship and that’s what I am trying to do.
Like the cover shot for example; I had to think hard about that. and how I wanted to represent myself. I don’t want to just be a girl holding an instrument and be overly sexual. I’ve got to be what I am. That’s not a slight on other women who do that, but I gotta be me. I am wanting to project the image of what a women player is. I want to look good, but I am more than that. It may hold me back in some regards but it’s who I am
RJB: I think you look bad ass on the cover shots. The Album has great shots of you and your kit. That’s a win for drummers to have you on the cover
LB: We had to do that right to make it clear to everyone that I am not just a singer but a drummer too! We did that shoot late one night after the recording sessions, and I was so tired. Thank god for Barb who did that right
RJB: Tell us about the theme of the album Tough as Love. It has a bunch of “You done me wrong” songs about heartbreak and betrayal.
LB: That’s kind of funny, I didn’t mean to do that, I just like the songs. ‘You Hurt Me,’ is one of my favorites on the album, I just wanted to sing a Little Willy John tune. Yeah, they are very personal songs. like ‘Too Cold To Cry,’ it came out of my personal life. You write from what you know, and, in the moments, you live in. I lost my partner who wasn’t good to me and I went through a serious change in my music and had to decide if I was going to keep going and that was how I was feeling. I had to get my shit together. It was sink or swim. I think the record reflects that and that period in my life. I don’t want my music to always be that way. Bruce told that ballad singing is the strongest thing I do. I know I need to do more of that and write more of them.
RJB: Let’s talk about you singing influences. Few female vocalists sing with the power you have. Where did that come from?
LB: I listened to a lot of male vocalist, you know like, Little Willie John, Little Richard, Howling Wolf. But some women too. Laverne baker is one I take from, she was a big old bear. Angela Strehli is another one I think is different than most female singers, she had large voice. Louanne Barton is another one. When I go to the Continental club to hear Louanne sing ‘Rocket In My Pocket,’ all I can think is she belongs in a punk rock band. For me I like singers that have a desperation. Not a desperation of “oh please help me,” just a need to get their stories out. I get the term vintage thrown at me, but you can talk about all these different eras of music, but the chords changes have changed and the need to sell your story out
RJB: Ok on to Drumming. When did you start playing drums?
LB: I went out to see shows and go to jam in college and began to get the bigger picture. I got my first jazz gig at 19. I got a drum set for rehearsal it just started to click. My teacher told I should go to jazz school. I enrolled at Humber Collage in Toronto at 21. I got in because in knew how to play songs and the right beats, a shuffle, a rhumba, and the core important drummers to study. I had spent years listening. I then spent 12 hours a day practicing, I never left the practice room. After the first year I lost a bunch of weight, and when I came home my was dad was like “you’re on drugs,” but it was because I spent all my time in the practice room, and the dorm food sucked. I was the only girl in my year and of one only three women drummers at school. I wanted to be first in my master classes and I was out numbered big time, so I had to practice hard. I wanted to be the best player I could be when I left.
RJB: Some of the shuffles you play are sophisticated. Guys who’ve been playing for 20 years can’t do them. How did learn all those styles and techniques?
LB: I got the chops form jazz school and I drowned myself in all the great music. I was listening to T Bone and Howling Wolf and practicing R&B and Roots music as well. I came into Jazz school a Blues Soul and R&B drummer but came out with more fancy stuff.
RJB: Are you left handed? You have killer left hand chops.
LB: I worked hard on balance. One of my teachers told me the goal is so you can close your eyes and can’t tell which hand I am using, I am fairly ambidextrous and when I started I played open handed but the jazz teachers tried to get me away from that.
RJB: When did you decide to stand up and play?
LB: Before my last band broke up I had seen video of slim Jim phantom doing it and I thought “why didn’t I think of that before?” And if I am gonna front the band I need to do that. It was always an issue of where are you going to put me. First of all I am short, I’m 5 foot one on my best day. We tried where Levon Helm was and that didn’t work, and then the other side of the stage and it didn’t work and being behind everyone definitely didn’t work. I saw Doyle Brahmall Sr, video and he was up front with the band behind him, I thought it was really cool. So, we set up in a line across the front. Plus standing helps with singing, it gives me full range of breath. I need as much air as I can get. I had to get used to switching my feet as well. The hi hats are left a little open, as I don’t use the pedal and then my feet can switch. People began to respond to the music better because they could see me.
RJB: Its striking visually to have you and the drums up front. Your fun to watch.
LB: All the jazz independence stuff I worked on has paid off. So many things I do I just try out ideas and if they work I keep them.
RJB: tell us about your Drum gear. It looks vintage.
LB: I have a 60’s Rogers Holiday kit and a Ludwig Supraphonic chrome over brass pre-serial number snare, I’ll be buried with it. it’s a great drum. I was using an Anton Fig snare with wood hoops a cool drum but when I found the Supraphonic, it was like “well I’m never gonna use anything else.” The chrome over steel ones are great, but I wanted the warmth of the brass, it’s beat up as shit, but it sure sounds good.
RJB: Tell us about you drumming influences.
LB: Doyle Bramhall Sr and the way he set and was the lead singer. He is the closest thing to what I do. I wish he had more notoriety, he is well known here in Austin but not much past that.
RJB: You sight Earl Palmer as an influence in your bio.
LB: Have you read his book? It has his discography in it and it contains everything you need to know about playing drums, it’s fucking perfect. Earl palmer, yes then Elvin Jones, while I was in jazz school there was a saxophone teacher who played with him and Buddy Rich and I took his improv class. But I was afraid to play because I felt I wasn’t cutting it. He pulled me aside and said, “You know that happened to me once, and then I got the Buddy Rich gig, so you never can tell, you just gotta play.” He got me into Elvin and it changed my playing, everybody loves John Bonham and Ginger Baker and Mitch Michelle. All the guys I like can do more than one thing. Bonham was a rock drummer, but he could have done fine in a jazz situation. Oh, and Art Blakey. I credit my shuffle to Art Blakey. I spent a lot of time playing to his records. I so wanted to sound like Art Blakey. I do love what I do, and I want to be successful, I’m working my but off the be successful I want to build a fan base that will last. You can’t do that by staying home you’ve got to hit the road and work hard.
Rick J Bowen
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