Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 29, 1995 TAG: 9508010001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GENE STOUT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Among his collection of photos is a promotional shot of a disco band he performed with in the '70s. Everyone is wearing leisure suits.
The singer-pianist doesn't miss those years, but he does miss the intimacy of the clubs. Hornsby decided to introduce his new album, ``Hot House'' (RCA Records), with a series of free solo shows at book and music stores.
Hornsby will play songs from ``Hot House,'' which was released to stores nationwide last week. He may also take requests from the audience.
``Somebody said to me, `This sounds like something a new artist would do. Why are you doing it?''' Hornsby said in a phone interview.
``I hate to lose that close relationship with people who are into my music, and I think this is a good way to get close to people. I'm not only going to be sitting there playing tunes, I'm going to be answering questions and having conversations with whoever wants to come.
``I like the venue because, frankly, the only stores I go into are bookstores or record stores. It seemed like a good fit.''
Among the songs on ``Hot House'' are ``Changes,'' ``Tango King'' and ``Spider Fingers,'' a catchy, bittersweet tune about his former career as a lounge entertainer:
``So nice to be here/ With all you good people/ Is anybody listening/ To what we're doing tonight?/ Could you give us a chance/ While you hit the sauce?''
``On this CD, there's a lot of focus on my experiences as a lounge musician,'' Hornsby said. ``I've never dealt with my sordid musical life in songs before.''
Hornsby moved back to his hometown of Williamsburg about five years ago after living for 10 years in Los Angeles. He gets a lot of his ideas for songs from the lives of those around him.
``I get more ideas for songs from just being here,'' he said. ``Like riding around with friends and hearing some gossipy little story. Stories like that are fodder for lots of old Southern short stories. I've always been inspired by that kind of fiction. And I've always wanted my music and songs to be a musical version of that.''
Hornsby looks at the underbelly of small-town life with songs about a high school reunion (``Longest Night''), a doctor who poisons his wife (``Country Doctor'') and a groom who gets caught with another woman on his wedding day (``White Wheeled Limousine'').
Hornsby, who has played on so many other artists' records that he has lost count, enlisted Pat Metheny, Chaka Khan, Bela Fleck, Jerry Garcia and other guest musicians for ``Hot House.''
``Harbor Lights,'' Hornsby's last solo album, also featured Metheny and Garcia, as well as Bonnie Raitt, Branford Marsalis, Jeff Lorber and others. But ``Hot House'' is more uptempo than ``Harbor Lights.''
``I basically wanted the album coming from the last record in the sense that there's still a lot of stretching out, a lot of jamming, and a lot of jazz influences,'' he said.
``There was a time when jazz was party music. And I wanted to see if I could create that same balance, find that same area where there was some depth to the music and a lot of blowing, but still have enough of a groove that it was sort of festive and almost a party record.''
by CNB