Garrett
Mason
Deputy Prime Minister of the Blues
East Coast sensation Garrett Mason will be a special guest at the Maple Blues Awards gala evening at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on January 16th. His debut CD, I'm Just A Man, was nominated for an East Coast Music Award, and won a Juno. Photo by Kyle Cunjak
Every blues joint in Canada, from the Fat Cat in St. John's to the Yale Hotel in Vancouver, has rocked to the steady rolling sounds of Dutch Mason, the Prime Minister of the Blues.
Now many of those clubs are opening their ears to the next generation of Masons. The buzz is growing around 23 year-old Garrett Mason, the son of Dutch and one of the most promising young careers in the Canadian roots music scene.
With just one album to his name, and a short tour of Ontario this fall, the Halifax-based musician is suddenly one of the most watched young blues players in the country.
His impressive debut, I'm Just A Man, netted Mason a nomination for an East Coast Music Award, which he lost to Hot Toddy. But he also snagged a coveted Juno nomination, which he won, and stoked up the national buzz for the young artist. "I don't think I deserved it," shrugs Garrett Mason, about the Juno award for best blues recording. "But I'm happy to take it."
He's nominated in six categories in this month's Maple Blues Awards, including guitarist of the year. Mason says he's thrilled that he's also been asked to perform during the gala awards show with the all-star house band. "That's gonna be cool. I'm doing two of my tunes with the house band."
Young Mason's career came into focus last year with he release of his polished debut album, recorded at CBC's Studio H with veteran producer and east coast blues booster Karl Falkenham. "The record was basically some blues stuff," drawls Mason. With echoes of Johnny Guitar Watson and Albert Collins, the 13 tunes dig into slow burning blues, straight Texas shuffles and a twangy swing instrumental, trading licks with his pal Carter Chaplin. The key track is the title tune, a confessional soulful vamp that foreshadows where Mason's sound is heading. "Now my music is going from where that song left off. I'm trying to keep the funky shit going -- just playing what I feel. "I just want it to evolve into something totally original. That's the hard part. Why the hell would anyone want to listen to you if you're doing the same old recycled crap."
It was inevitable Mason would be swallowed up by this music - get close to the flame, and you'll get warmed; too close and you can fry. Garrett waited at home countless nights with his mother Pam for his father Dutch to roll up the driveway from his latest trip.
Watching his father battle a debilitating addiction to booze and his band members struggle with their own demons, Garrett has seen up close the toll that the blues lifestyle can exact. "My dad was very frustrated with the music, you know. He was trying to get a certain sound, and not too many people could get it for him. He's had nothin' but heartaches - women, not makin' enough money, being on the road all the time and cars breakin' down. That all drove him to drinking."
Garrett has already quit smoking and drinking, the twin pillars of late-night club life on the traveling blues circuit. Instead, Mason is focused on his music, a meticulous player and seeker of great sound, with a jones for the tones. "I've settled for less before, and what's the point? It just doesn't pay off. It just makes you feel bad." Practically from the start, his father encouraged him to sing, to front his own band. After overcoming his initial shyness, Mason is developing into a charismatic performer and a strong bandleader. He usually performs with a tight trio (bassist Mike Ferrington Jr. and drummer Damien Moynihan).
Mason's early blues exposure came through recordings of classic guitar players, the pioneers of the contemporary electric blues.
"I went through my stages when I wanted to sound like Albert Collins and then Albert King. And I kinda did. Not as good as those guys, but I was going after that thing. "The point though is to listen to those guys, and then jumble it all together and bring it out your own way." While stretching out his sound, Mason is solidly anchored in the traditions of the music. Slinging a Strat or a fat-bodied Harmony, Mason is an inventive soloist and solid rhythm player. He namechecks players like Jimmy Vaughan and Nick Curran as players who catch his ear these days.
Though Garrett often backs up his father onstage, he never saw him play guitar. The elder Mason has been ravaged by severe arthritis that forced him to box -up his big Gibson years ago, before Garrett was born. (These days Dutch is dry and still performs occasionally, sitting in a wheelchair. Earlier this fall, he was awarded the Order of Canada.) Mason says his father's reputation has certainly helped open a few doors and pulled the curious out to see what the old bluesman's son is putting down.
But Garrett understands he has to make his way on his own terms. "I'm proud to be his son, but honestly, we're so different. I love my father's music, but I love a lot of people's music and I'm not gonna copy their sound either."
- Sandy MacDonald