60 Seconds With…

GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar?

DB: Eric Clapton was the first guitarist I was aware of. I remember seeing him on TV when I was about 12 years old.

GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after?

BB: A late '60s Olympic White Strat with a maple neck, just like Hendrix at Woodstock.

GT: What was the best gig you ever did?

DB: Pistoia Blues Festival in Italy: it had the greatest atmosphere, and a who's who list of legends has played there, from Muddy Waters to SRV.

GT: And your worst playing nightmare?

DB: Splitting my jeans in the opening song of a gig in Holland!

GT: What's the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?

DB: Play it with feeling!

GT: Do you still practise?

DB: Yes, I still play along with my musical heroes on CD every day.

GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?

DB: Not really, just a quick 5 minutes playing before the gig, and make sure I have a wee before I go on stage!

GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be (dead or alive)?

DB: Howlin' Wolf on vocals, Albert Collins and BB King on guitars, Willie Dixon on bass, Sam Lay on drums and me as guitar tech. Ha!

GT: Who's the single greatest guitarist that's ever lived?

DB: BB King for that vibrato he seemed to invent from nowhere.

GT: Is there a solo you really wish you had played?

DB: Albert King Born Under A Bad Sign - it's a killer

GT: What's the solo/song of your own that you're most proud of?

DB: Alone In The Dark from my new CD, Just As I Am.

GT: What would you most like to be remembered for?

DB: Always playing and singing with feeling and always giving everything I have to every gig.