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The Prague Post Stage item, TEARING IT UP By Courtney Powell "I'm not supposed to be like my dad," says Bernard Allison of the late blues guitar legend Luther Allison. "A large part of him is me. It just comes naturally, and it's a compliment when people compare my music to his. But I'm in that next generation of musicians." Allison and several other members of the generation in question -- young American blues musicians like Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Susan Tedeschi -- are catalysts for a new revolution in blues. Drawing on a wider range of influences than their forebears, they tease the boundaries of blues fusion and incorporate rock, funk and electronic influences more than ever before. The results are sometimes spectacular, if occasionally irksome to purist blues fans. Lines between genres of music continue to blur, though, and the smart kids are perfectly aware that those who mix it up will stay in the game while artists afraid to take risks are left behind. "What we're all doing is not forgetting about the blues we grew up on," says Allison, "but taking it and renewing and expanding it so we can attract a younger audience beyond blues fans." Allison's new album Storms of Life debuted in the top five of Billboard's blues chart in August 2002. On the opening track, "Slip Slidin'," he showcases his astounding slide-guitar skills and tears some fierce blues runs up and down the neck for about a minute and a half -- solo. It's said that the younger Allison taught his father some slide-guitar techniques and open tunings after he picked them up years ago from Johnny Winter, another blues guitar legend of his father's generation. Though he firmly reminds the blues community that he has his own style, Allison is clearly carrying on his father's legacy -- and that of his father's peers as well. He picked up a guitar for the first time when he was 10, inspired by performances at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, and Luther Allison's album Love Me Mama became his template. Young Bernard practiced playing along with it until his father, suitably impressed, decided to feature him on two tracks of his subsequent album, Gonna Be a Live One. Word of the talented youngster got out quickly. By the time he was 16, Allison was jamming with, and getting pointers from, the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan. He became bandleader for vocalist Koko Taylor immediately after graduating from high school and gained three years of valuable stage experience and contacts. Ten years living and touring in Europe with his father followed, during which Luther gave him a life-changing Christmas present: funding to record his first solo album. "Don't be afraid to go outside of blues," his father told him before he went into the studio. "Don't let them label you like they did me." The diversity of Allison's body of work indicates how well these words of wisdom were heeded. "I tell everyone I'm not a blues man," he says. "I'm a musician." His albums are diverse -- firmly rooted in blues but drawing on funk, rock and reggae influences. Storms of Life includes covers of songs by guitar greats Mark Knopfler, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Anders Osborn and, of course, Luther Allison. Bernard Allison is a dedicated touring musician, and his live shows are reputed to be incendiary and geared toward a wide array of listeners. "This is what I love to do, and whatever it takes to present my style of music, I'll do that," he says. |
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