On solo album, Trout goes back to his roots

By John Benson

Forget the various names — Trout’s tired of changing them.

Blues guitarist Walter Trout may not have the same mainstream appeal as, say, a Stevie Ray Vaughan or Jimi Hendrix, but the New Jersey native has put together quite an impressive career.

Not only did he get his start in the same Garden State music scene that included Bruce Springsteen, but he eventually became a key band member for Percy Mayfield and John Lee Hooker in the ’70s, before joining Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in the ’80s.

A solo career followed in the ’90s with the guitarist releasing various albums under The Walter Trout Band, Walter Trout and The Free Radicals and then Walter Trout and the Radicals. His latest studio effort is solo album “The Outsider,” which finds the music veteran returning to his roots in hopes of expanding his musical universe.

“I was just really trying to concentrate more on the songwriting,” Trout said. “After my last album, ‘Full Circle,’ which was really like a jam-session album where I brought in guests and recorded a jam session, this was more an effort to get back into being a songwriter and trying to grow in that aspect.”

He added, “To be an artist, you have to be able to create something and then look in the mirror. I felt like I had some things I wanted to say and write about, and instead of just being a guitar-jam session, I sort of wanted maybe to get a few things off my chest and try to make some songs that stand on their own. And not just be a vehicle for a guitar solo, which is really what ‘Full Circle’ was about.”

One of Trout’s favorite new tracks is “Child of Another Day,” which is rock-based with a blues sound. In fact, he feels that song not only provides a great vehicle for soloing, but he hopes other artists may cover it in the future.

Fans can expect to hear plenty of Trout’s new tracks at his upcoming Youngstown debut Friday at Michael O’Malley’s.

“It’s going to be a pretty high-energy show that’ll take people places emotionally if they’re open to it,” Trout said. “It’ll take them on a little bit of a roller-coaster ride.”

Some fans of Trout’s, familiar with his various band names over the years, may be questioning why the guitarist has come full circle recording and touring under his given moniker.

“We were the Free Radicals, and I liked the name, and then there was a band in Texas that copyrighted the name and they were going to sue me so I had to change it to The Radicals,” Trout said. “So we changed it to The Radicals, but after 9/11, the FBI started visiting my Web site. In fact, in one six-month period they were on that site over 80 times, so I just decided I’m going to be Walter Trout because every time I try to name my band, some [expletive] has happened that has made me change the name of the band.”

He added, “So I’ll just be Walter Trout. I don’t have to copyright it. It’s just who I am.”

Perhaps, but if God forbid we’re ever attacked with trout by anti-American aggressors, Trout could once again be in name trouble.

“We’re trying to steer clear of those terrorist fish jabs when we play a good set,” Trout laughed. “We don’t want people to think we’re Islamic terrorists, but with Fox News, you never know.”