Interview with U.K. Blues Sensation Clare Free

By: Dr. Matt Warnock

Blues Guitarist Clare Free

In my job as Editor for Guitar International I get a ton of emails from guitarists all over the world who want me to check out their site, album, YouTube channel or ebook. While many of these guitarists are, how do I say this, still in the development stage of their careers, once in a while I get an email from a guitarist like Clare Free.

Clare is the real deal. A singer, songwriter and killer blues guitarist, Clare has been taking the U.K. music scene by storm in recent years. Check out her tour schedule, geez does this woman ever sleep?! In between touring and raising a young family, Clare somehow found the time to release her debut album Be Who You Are, as well as a new E.P. titled How it Is, which you can download for free from her website.

It’s not often that a guitarist from today’s endless sea of players can really grab my attention and hold it long enough to listen to their album, dig into their website and then feature them on GI, but Clare Free is one of those rare guitarists. A player who has soul, a knack for melody and enough emotion in her blues-guitar work to grab your ears and drag you into her musical world.

Clare Free recently sat down with Guitar International to talk about her first full-length album, being a woman in a male dominated job and her new E.P.

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Matt Warnock: Looks like you’re constantly on the road, how is the blues scene doing these days in the U.K.?

Clare Free: The UK blues scene is very much alive and well. There have been a number of new venues opening in the last couple of years, which is great. There’s a very active festival scene here as well.

Matt: You perform in both groups and in a solo acoustic setting. Do you have a preference for either musical situation?

Clare: I enjoy both, but I have to say my preference, and focus, is on the electric work with the full band. I get a real buzz out of playing the electric guitar in a band situation and always write with this setting in mind.

Acoustic gigs are very intimate and I love trying out my new songs at acoustic gigs before using them in the electric set with the band.

Matt: You’ve performed for thousands of people at festivals and in small, intimate blues clubs. Do you prefer the grand spectacle of a huge show or the connectedness that comes from playing in a small club, or both?

Clare: Oh, that’s a hard one. The bigger shows are a real kick and are always great fun but the smaller gigs are so much more personal. I guess if I had to choose I’d go for the bigger shows because the buzz is amazing.

Matt: Do you have to have the blues to play the blues?

Clare: No way! Blues is all about feel and emotion, but it’s not all “down,” who’d want to listen to that? Life experience certainly helps develop that feel. I suppose there are some people out there who haven’t heard much blues who assume it’s all about feeling “low,” but it’s not at all.

Matt: Being a woman musician have you experienced the “glass ceiling” in the music industry, or have we gotten past that as an industry and as a society?

Clare: There are a lot more women in blues than there were before, especially as guitar players. I try not to make a big thing of it, quite a few women players make a real feature of being a “woman guitarist,” sometimes I think they forget that it’s more important to be good at what you do.

If anything I suppose it’s an advantage being a woman because people are interested to hear how you play and what you have to say through your music. I can only speak from my own experience, but I haven’t found it to be a problem at all.

A few people find it hard to believe that a woman can play the guitar well. Loads of times I’ve had people say to me ‘’Wow, I didn’t think you were going to be very good… I’ve never heard a woman play the electric guitar like that before.” But that’s happening less and less.

U.K. Blues Guitarist Clare Free

Matt: What guitars are you playing these days?

Clare: I usually use a Fender Stratocaster Plus which I really love, it has just the right tone and I love the neck on this guitar. My Strat’s been everywhere with me. It’s like a friend and I use it when I write my songs too.

When I’m not using that I usually opt for my Patrick Eggle Berlin (which is a UK guitar brand) it’s similar to a PRS and has a really warm tone. It’s very light and its small bodied, which makes it a great choice for me, something like a Les Paul would be too heavy for long shows.

Matt: What amps and pedals do you prefer to use to get that nice, warm tone that you have?

Clare: My amp’s a Laney LC50 which is a valve amp. It’s a great little amp. It compliments both my main guitars very well and has a lovely tone. I use very little in the way of effect pedals tending to only use an Ibanez Tube Screamer and occasionally a Vox Wah Wah.

The tube screamer is great. It’s got a great bluesy tone and lifts the guitar sound nicely. I don’t use many effects as it’s easy to hide behind them. I believe great music comes from great playing, not stomp boxes.

Matt: Guys like SRV used very thick strings to define the modern blues tone, where do you stand on how important strings are to a person’s tone?

Clare: The thicker the string, the better the tone that’s for sure. I don’t think I could play with strings as thick as Stevie’s, but I always tend to go for the thickest strings my guitar can take.

The Strat Plus has a roller nut on it which is the only thing I’d change about it, I’d like to have 11’s on the guitar but the nut won’t accommodate them. I’ve tried most types of strings and always come back to Ernie Balls. Cheap strings are rubbish and they sound thin and horrible. When I’ve tried the more expensive strings I’ve never thought they lived up to their claims. But you won’t ever find me putting a set of 8’s on my guitars.

Matt: You recently released your first full length album, was that experience everything you thought it would be?

Clare: It’s been an amazing experience. I had always wanted to do an album which was not pure blues but that brought in aspects of country and rock too so writing it was very liberating. I guess it was more work than I had expected in some ways, but it was 100% worth it.

It’s been getting very good reviews here and in Europe, which is great. I’d been a bit nervous that the blues guys wouldn’t like it because it’s not pure blues. Luckily, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s wonderful to work with songs from the writing in the bedroom stage right to album level completion. This was the first time I had heard my songs being everything they could be. I love it.

Songwriting is one of my main musical passions. I think it should always be done well, so the album was a great opportunity for me to write the songs I had always wanted to write.

In fact, I’ve been back in the studio since the album came out recording a new EP called How It Is, which sees me go back to my blues roots a bit more. I think of the new tracks as being pure blues, but I’m sure that people will say “no they aren’t pure blues.” At the end of the day I don’t really mind as long as people like them.

I’d rather mix it up a bit and add in stuff from other genres that I like. The new recording is very clean. I decided to not use any overdubs or effects etc. There aren’t even any backing vocals. The idea was to record what my band and I sound like live and the tracks sound awesome.

I’m really keen that people should be able to hear the new EP so it’s available as a free MP3 download from my website (www.clarefree.co.uk).

Matt: Besides being a musician you are also a mom, how do you find time to balance the two careers?

Clare: I’m lucky because Dave, my husband, is very supportive of my music and is happy to care for the kids when I’m away. He’s great. Everyone needs someone who believes in them and I’m blessed to have him in my life.

Being a Mom is tough and rewarding. I guess it would be easier if I was a stay at home Mom, but that’s not for me, although I do spend as much time as possible with the children and love going to do stuff like picnics, bike riding, you know all the family things.

I tend to write songs when the kids are in bed, but this works best for me as I focus better at night anyway.

Besides, the kids think it’s really cool having a Mom who’s a musician!