Interview by Jamison Harvey
Name, Location, What You Do
We're GA-20! (Matt Stubbs - guitar / Pat Faherty - guitar & vocals / Tim Carman - drums) We're out of Boston MA & Providence RI, and we write, record and play traditional Blues.
Tell us about your relationship with coffee. Where do you buy it, how do you prepare it, and where is your go-to spot?
Oh man. We all love coffee. Big coffee guys. That said, when you're a band on the road sometimes you've gotta take what you can get. Sometimes it's from the motel lobby. Sometimes you get lucky like when we were in Loveland OH visiting our label Colemine Records at their record store Plaidroom Records. There's a great coffee shop right next door that keeps them stocked so you can sip while you browse. I'm (Matt) a big iced coffee guy, so when we're in Europe it's a struggle to find that, but the trade off is that there's great coffee everywhere there.
Talk about how you got into music, your influences, and what has led you to where you are now.
I think all of us grew up with the intention of playing music professionally. We're coming at this like traditional Blues is very cool, and not a lot of people know traditional blues is really cool. Like, you may think it's dad rock and not for you, and we want to change that impression. And for people like us who already love it, we want to grab them and shake them up with some new energy and appreciation. For us, guys like Earl Hooker, JB Lenoir, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy, Luther Tucker, Little Walter, and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson are the kings.
What music are you listening to these days?
We all listen to the artists just named all the time, especially when we're together on the road. Outside of Blues I've (Matt) spent a lot of time this year listening to Pop Staples/The Staples Singers, Mickey Baker, Ty Segall, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and Caroline Rose. Pat's been digging some classical music like Chopin and Shostakovitch, as well as Little Ricard and Pure Hell. Tim has been listening to Brent Cobb, Jimmy Smith and Ian Wayne.
During COVID, is there something else you've taken up or a hobby you do besides music?
Matt took up gardening and growing vegetables, and cooking, and is building out a home studio to track and record at home. His new nemesis is a squirrel. Pat is working on graphic design, and photo & film editing. We designed our new black light poster with Pat's new skills. Tim has been writing and publishing his second instructional drum book. It's very good!
The art of making coffee is a lot like making music, what do you think about that theory?
Well, luckily we know a lot more about making music than making coffee. That's fine. We drink it and love it and appreciate it. We all have our role.
Can you describe the new record to people who are hearing you for the first time?
We're really happy with the debut LP "Lonely Soul" we released last year, but like Jazz and Soul, Blues is really expressed properly in live performance, and our new Live EP really captures our sound. It's pretty raw and honest.
Last words, anything you'd like.
We'd all like to be able to get together and share music and coffee and good times with our friends again. Stay safe and take care of each other, and if you're able, lend your support to the National Independent Venue Association/Save Our Stages www.saveourstages.com to help ensure that music venues make it out of this and can open back up when the day comes. See you on the other side!
