Always at one with his music Articles / Music Posted by squank on Jul 31, 2006 - 09:36 PM Bass guitarist Oteil Burbridge splits his creative energies between two bands, but he finds that it gives his musical exploration a yin-yang balance. From the Friday, July 14th 2006 Lexington Herald-Leader [1] By Walter Tunis Contributing Music Critic -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So what do you call him, a Brother or a Peacemaker? Pose that question to Oteil Burbridge, the immensely popular and sought-after bass guitar innovator, and he is likely to be hard pressed in giving a definitive reply. For now, the easy answer is "both." For nine years, Burbridge has been bassist for the forefathers of Southern rock, the Allman Brothers Band. Critics and fans alike have credited his sound as a key component in the ensemble's shift from a classic rock staple to a jam-band favorite. But when the Allmans are off the road, which they are for roughly half of the year, Burbridge leads his own band of merry groove merchants -- a soul, funk and fusion ensemble known as the Peacemakers. "Change is good, man," said an enthusiastic Burbridge by phone last week. "Just having the whole yin and yang thing of it is nice. Working with each band helps me enjoy the other." To understand the sort of artistic dexterity Burbridge enjoys in his double life as a bassist these days, you need to rewind the clock to when he enjoyed a fruitful apprenticeship with wily Southern bandleader and jam-band patriarch Col. Bruce Hampton. It was with Hampton that the young Burbridge was, by and large, introduced to national audiences in the early '90s through non-stop touring. Hampton's band, the Aquarium Rescue Unit, allowed rock, blues, jazz and more to co-exist with performances that relied heavily on lengthy improvisational jams. But Hampton was more than a boss. He proved a mentor who expected no less than complete artistic honesty from his players. "Bruce used to say to me, 'You're not good enough to lie to me, so just tell me the truth,'" Burbridge recalled with a laugh. "He would say, 'You can spin me the sweetest lie on earth, and I'll love it. But you're not that good. So just let me hear the real you.' "And that can be a scary thing. Most musicians like to hide behind technique and theory. But if you're into improvisational music, things always change. "I mean, say your mom died one day and you won the lottery the next. Man, if you're playing the same way both days, something is seriously wrong." Through Hampton, Burbridge joined the Allmans in 1997. It was the beginning of what became a massive overhaul of the veteran band. Former Spyro Gyra percussionist Mark Quinones had already been recruited. In short order, guitarist Derek Trucks (nephew of founding Allmans drummer Butch Trucks) joined and co-founding member Dickey Betts was ousted. Like Burbridge, the younger Trucks also led his own band -- one that just happens to include the bassist's brother, Kofi Burbridge. Once the more funk-heavy music of the Peacemakers was established, Burbridge was enlisted as a member of Vida Blue (the power trio fronted by Phish keyboardist Page McConnell) and, more sporadically, Gov't Mule (led by another Allman, guitarist Warren Haynes). By 2004, Burbridge figured he was committed to at least six bands. So, to no great surprise, some projects had to be jettisoned. "Juggling everything never got to be easier," Burbridge said. "So I just had to cut some things out. Now I'm pretty much doing only the Allman Brothers and the Peacemakers. That makes things easier." And what of the Allmans? After nearly a decade, Burbridge remains one of the newer kids on their Southern rock block. So how difficult has it been to maintain an artistic identity within a core unit that has played together for 37 years? "You know, even with the age difference, we all listen to the same stuff. They definitely know more about the older blues stuff than I do. But we all dig old soul music, jazz, funk and all of that stuff. I'm just helping represent a recent version of what the Allman Brothers have always done." While Burbridge is also pleased with the mounting popularity and artistic evolution of the Peacemakers, he admits the spirit and drive of the band's live shows have proven a tough beast to capture on studio recordings, including the new Believer. "If I could, I would only record live," he said. "I would just do live CDs and live DVDs, probably, for the rest of my life. A studio is great for capturing moods. Sometimes the energy of an audience is too great if you're trying to do something subdued. But when I need that energy, I just can't get it from a studio. It's just not the same." As such, Believer tunes like Hit the Hay and Rooster can't but sound sharper when Burbridge fits them in between covers of rock relics familiar (the Jimi Hendrix gem Manic Depression) and obscure (the 1970 Sugarloaf hit Green Eyed Lady) at a Peacemakers concert. And as is the case with his performance life as a two-band man, Burbridge never imagined his career would provide him the freedom and popularity for such extensive musical exploration. "Man, at first, I just hoped I could make a living. I just hoped I wouldn't have to get a normal 9-to-5 job. Even if I was just playing weddings, I would have been happy -- just as long as I could make enough to pay my bills and still play music. "But God had a different plan for me. I met Col. Bruce, somehow got hooked up with the Allman Brothers and was able to start my own band. There are still mountains I have to climb. But so far, I'm having a good time." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter Tunis is a contributing music writer for the Herald-Leader. This article is from Hittin' The Web with Oteil Burbridge   http://www.oteilburbridge.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.oteilburbridge.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=86 Links in this article   [1] http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15035465.htm