By: Rick Landers
Rocker, balladeer, crooner with a psychedelic twist…you name it and singer-songwriter-producer, Tom Guerra nails ’em down smartly on all of his albums. He’s worked with some of the legends of rock and blues guitar, as well as interviewed a slug of them as one of the more prolific rock journalists of our day. And, his new album, Sentimental Junk, doesn’t disappoint.
Tom Guerra
Follow Tom on social media and you’ll soon realize that he lives and breathes music, and has been at it since his teens. He’s not only paid his dues in that regard, but he’s earned his stripes, performing and rocking in dives, clubs and on some of the best stages on the Eastern Seaboard.
As a working musician he’s worked with his friends from The Mambo Sons for years, but more recently Tom’s released a series of solo albums, and his many heavy duty collaborators over the course of his career include: Hilton Valentine (The Animals), Rick Derringer (The McCoys), G.E. Smith (Hall & Oats), Jeff Pevar (Crosby Stills and Nash), Jon Butcher (J. Geils Band), Kenny Aaronson (Bob Dylan) and many more.
In March of 2022, “Sentimental Junk,” was released as Tom’s fifth solo album (Thin Man Music label), featuring the single “California’s Got to My Girl” with a duet with Jon Butcher, Mike Kosacek (drums), Morgan Fisher and Matt Zeiner (keys), and Kenny Aaronson on bass.
We caught up with Tom recently to talk about Sentimental Junk, the work involved and the creative juice needed to not only craft great songs, but to properly dress them up with the right instrumentation, vocals that suit them and his collaboration with his many musicians friends; friends who help supercharge his songs into fun romps that hit on all cylinders
Having checked out his earlier albums, it’s self-evident that Guerra has a strong affection for the gritty magnetism of old school rock and blues, sometimes mixed with the optimism of pop tunes. And, on Sentimental Junk, Tom gifts his fans with a mix of tunes that give nods to all of the various song styles, sometimes fusing more than one…
Guitar International is pleased to offer up another smart and informative interview with singer-songwriter-producer-rock journalist, friend, Tom Guerra.
******
Rick Landers: Right off, it seems you’ve made a play on McCartney’s music in the title of your new release, Sentimental Junk, conjoining Sir Paul’s penchant for “silly love songs” and a pointer to his song, “Junk” or am I just making up stuff?
Tom Guerra: It is interesting that you came up with that, I do love Macca and all of his music and someone else actually asked me if the “junk” was some type of drug reference.
That being said, the album title is taken from a line in the second track, “She Don’t Believe in Memories” which is about a lady that doesn’t live in the past. “She will never talk of yesterday, No sentimental junk gets in the way.” It’s all about living in the “now.”
Rick: Now that you’ve developed a few albums, what kinds of lessons learned have you gathered and how have you changed your approach to recording and working with others to get better results as you move forward?
Tom Guerra: This is actually my fifth solo album that I’ve produced, and before that I also produced the four Mambo Sons albums, as well as several others. After a song is written, I aim to get the best tones possible for each instrument, so I guess that’s what we all try to do in the studio.
I do experiment with different mic combinations and will use a blending of close mics and room mics depending on the space I want the guitar to take up in the mix. Arrangements are key, even though digital editing is so much easier to work with than razor and tape, it helps if you get the song structure down first.
Tom Guerra: A lot of what I write is straight forward, blues based rock and roll music, so for those tunes, I want to capture the elements that make for a great rock and roll tune, like guitar, bass, drums and keys, to honor the art form. Thanks to a great R&B type of horn and string arrangement by Kenny Aaronson, we were able to supplement the single “California’s Got to My Girl” with some interesting parts that totally make that track. There’s even some bells after the bridge.
Also, on every album I try to at least have one more “out there” experimental track where I can stretch out and incorporate some additional instruments. On this record, “Where’s the New Rock and Roll?” is that tune, which features some stacked vocals and some very interesting clavinet playing by Morgan Fisher, formerly of Mott the Hoople.
That’s a bit of a strange tune written about the many ways to get screwed in the rock and roll business, and Morgan added some funky and inventive parts that fit perfectly, while taking the song in another direction.
Rick: Who else joined you in the making of Sentimental Junk and what did they bring to the party beyond their musical talents, in the vein of working with you and others?
Tom Guerra: All five of my solo records have the same core musicians, Kenny Aaronson (bass), Mike Kosacek (drums) and Matt Zeiner and Morgan Fisher (keys). I think we work really well together. In terms of collaboration, I tend to rely on the expertise of musicians I respect and understand, to bring my songs something special. I could play all the instruments on my records, but it would bore the hell out of me and the listener, as the richness in these tunes come from the chops and ideas that these others bring to the party.
Vocally, we have two special guests on this record. Jon Butcher (of Jon Butcher Axis fame) sings the majority of the single “California’s Got to My Girl.” Jon’s a great friend who I’ve worked closely with over the past few years and everyone knows how great a guitar player he is, but this tune really highlights his prowess as a singer.
Also appearing on the album is Mambo Sons lead singer, Scott Lawson Pomeroy. I had just written a sort of tribute track to the great Leslie West (Mountain), who’d just passed away, called “Eyes of the World.” We recorded it with my vocal as a demo, but I felt it needed something more and I kept thinking “How would Scotty Mambo approach this?” So, I asked him if he’d be up for it and he nailed it in one take.
His vocal track is a bit experimental in that it employs the sound of a mic’d room which gives it a sort of a mysterious vibe. It is by far the heaviest thing on this album and it makes me smile, as it is pure “big, dumb rock!” [Laughs]
Rick: In the liner notes you talk of falling in love with a ’57 Stratocaster that ended up all over the album, yet I can hear different guitars as well. What else did you end up playing?
Tom Guerra: That Strat is a great guitar that spent its entire life in Texas roadhouses, so it is well worn and fits like a glove and is by far the predominant guitar on the album. But you’re right, I played a few others as well. For the Leslie West tribute song, I had to use an old P-90 pickup equipped Les Paul to try to emulate that great thick tone he is known for and you can really tell in the solos that is what I was going for.
On “Sat-O-Lite,” which is in open E tuning, I used my Zemaitis for a real Stonesy type of sound and on “All Love is Pain,” I used two twelve string electrics, a Fender and a Rickenbacker, to give it a bit of chimeyness. I used the ’57 Strat on that for the slide solo, which I double tracked to give a sort of George Harrison feel, although the track references Johnny Thunders.
Rick: How about telling us about the most interesting songs on the album, as far as structure, instrumentation and how a song evolved that you found most unlike how others tend to come together?
Tom Guerra: I think the most interesting song on the album based on the texture and instrumentation is the single, “California’s Got to My Girl.” I wrote that in sort of a Stax tradition, something that Otis Redding and Steve Cropper might have put together in Memphis in the Sixties, but with a slightly bigger chorus.
I then spent a lot of time discussing the tune with Kenny Aaronson, who besides laying down a killer bass groove had some great ideas for embellishments including strings, horns and even church bells at the end of the bridge, kind of giving it the Phil Spector Wall of Sound treatment.
When I played it for Jon (Butcher) he also had some interesting ideas for additional background vocal parts. That tune had so many parts to it, I think something like forty tracks, that it was incredibly challenging and time consuming to mix it, but it came out exactly like I wanted.
It’s a “summer top down song” and I hope someone uses it for a movie.
Rick: I think a lot of the time a cool album cover is just that cool, fun to look at and oftentimes tells its own story or analogy. Tell us about the graphics, images on the new album, as well as who pulled it together to get to what you felt they got to a “Yes!” for you.
Tom Guerra: Once I had the title together, I knew I wanted to show a collection of mementos, stuff people might have accumulated over the years. There are a couple Easter eggs in that pile of sentimental junk, including the ’57 Strat, the number 5 representing the fifth solo album and the record which has the label of this.
John Kallio did the artwork, he’s a great graphic artist I have known for over 20 years and he’s done the covers for all my solo stuff as well as many of my prior releases. I had discussed my concept for a junk drawer or junk pile with him and he came up with the Dymo label font, which I thought was perfect.
Tom Guerra’s 1957 vintage Fender Stratocaster – Image courtesy of Tom Guerra
Rick: There’s the notion that releasing a single song at a time is a smart strategy for a number of reasons, but do you find that getting media outlets to spend the time to publish your press releases work better with albums, rather than maybe pummel them with around 12 press releases rather than one for an album, that you can use to promote on your own?
Tom Guerra: I know many artists who are employing that strategy and I did think of doing that here, as I could have stretched these songs out for one or two years. The whole concept of having an actual hardcopy “product” might also seem antiquated, but based on the response, having an actual physical cd still makes sense for me. I suppose at some point, nobody will release any physical product and only do it live, but I really enjoy the graphics, the cover art, etcetera.
Rick: What about guerrilla marketing strategies to leverage other ways to promote your work?
Tom Guerra: I am up for anything to get the word out on this album, but also am realistic about the fact that rock and roll hasn’t been the darling of the markets for many, many years. My best hope is to continue to seek out those tribes of people who like guitar based rock and roll, and get this in front of them.
Rick: As a music writer with Vintage Guitar and others, what perspectives have you gained that help you think in terms of say an interviewee, as opposed to being an interviewer?
Tom Guerra: I think it has helped me crystalize my thoughts a bit in thinking through your questions. Making an album is truly like making sausage, it’s a long and often disgusting process [Laughs] and there are many things that go into it, way more than meets the eye, but for the most part nobody wants to know about that, they just want the tasty end result.
Tom Guerra: I am constantly writing and working on songs because I love doing it and find it therapeutic, and I look at the thought that my music might move someone as an added bonus.
I’m not really concerned about a legacy or anything like that. If people want to know what I’m all about musically as a writer, most of my stuff that I’ve released over the past couple decades is available on all the streaming sites. I do think that there are many, many people who are fans of rock and roll music, and its all about getting this to them.
Rick: What’s next for you as far as music projects or other endeavors you’re working on that will be of interest to your friends and fans?
Tom Guerra: I plan on spending the next several months promoting Sentimental Junk, and will continue to do what I’ve always done – writing, playing and recording.
I will try to keep developing on all three of those fronts, while learning more about other guitarists while exploring other types of music. All that good stuff!
BONUS VIDEO FROM TOM’S EARLIER “SUDDEN SIGNS OF GRACE” ALBUM!
