Lone Star Blues

Stevie Ray Davis is a master slide-guitar player out of Texas, a place full of good players, many of them also with three names. As long as two of them aren’t “Hey, you!” it’s all good. Davis and his band, the Stealers, will play some rockin’ blues at a couple of area gigs this week. Tonight the band performs at Nicholby’s in Ventura and Sunday afternoon at A&M;’s Roadhouse in Oxnard.

Davis has been in bands about 30 years. A lot of them have been named Stevie & the Stealers, or so says his tattoo, making it a real bummer to change band names at this point. Davis did OK for himself before he left the Lone Star State--he was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame, joining a few other OK players.

Although, he’s been playing this area for years, Davis’ first local gigs were with Michael on Fire in the early ‘90s, an eclectic pop/rock/blues/what-the-heck band.

Once the sideman, but now the front man, Davis is a ferocious player. Then again, you’d be mad too if you had to drive here from Palmdale. During a recent phoner, Davis discussed the latest.

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So how’s the Stevie & the Stealers biz?

Things are going really well, and the options out there right now look really, really good. I’m excited about the current prospects. This band is sounding better than it ever has, even though we’ll have a temporary drummer for a while. The rhythm section isn’t that much into pyrotechnics, anyway. I just want a drummer to lay down basic tracks like Charlie Watts or Ringo Starr.

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And the pyrotechnics are your job?

Actually, I’m getting away from that stuff, and I’m getting more into the melody lines. I want to try to reach into each note with the heart of the instrument. If it comes out slow, that’s OK, or if it comes out fast, that’s OK, too. There’s no one out there I’m trying to impress.

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What’s your take on the blues?

I think we’re a contemporary Texas blues band. Oh, we do some traditional blues, but we mostly do contemporary progressive stuff, sort of like Robert Cray. He’s a blues guy, but he doesn’t play traditional blues, and some of the stuff he does is pretty far out.

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Why the blues and not polka or something else?

Well, the first record I put out was a single I did in high school in 1966, and it was a blues record. At that time, I could play guitar good enough to write on, but not good enough to perform on. I was sort of a lead singer-type guy then, and another band came along and played for me. At that time, I got caught up in the Beatles, folk rock, the Jefferson Airplane and all that stuff. But by 1973, I was back to the blues, starting to get better and playing with the Bugs Henderson Band. We did a lot of touring with Freddie King, and I got to play with Eric Clapton and Charlie Daniels. We opened for Styx, Journey, the Jefferson Starship and a lot of other bands. But mostly we toured with Freddie King because we had the same agent.

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Why are there so many good musicians in Texas?

There’s really a big music scene in Texas, and people take pride in the music there. There’s a lot of incentive there to become a good player. Every year they have the Texas Music Awards sponsored by Buddy magazine, which is quite powerful. People go to see music even on the weeknights and holler and jump up on chairs. So, to be a player there, you have to be really, really good. They have a saying there, “Skin it back to the red meat,” which means if you’re not good, you’re washed up.

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What’s the story on the Texas Music Hall of Fame?

Once a year, they have a poll, which is voted on by the public and some industry people. There are categories for guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, arranging, writing--everything--and there may be as many as 200 contestants in each category. Finally, they narrow it down to five, and then the industry people choose the winner. I was elected in 1982. Stevie Ray Vaughan was elected in 1979 and Jimmie Vaughan was elected in 1984.

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So you were in a band then or what?

I was in Stevie & the Stealers. There’s been five versions of the band so far. I just got a business license and got incorporated and all that stuff. Plus, I have a Stevie & the Stealers tattoo.

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Being a musician is a hard job, isn’t it? It’s not just sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll?

Not if you’re going to be around for very long. I remember one time Freddie King took me aside and gave me some advice. He said, “If you’re going to amount to anything--and I think you will--don’t let anyone tell you what to play or how to play. Just play from your heart. Keep playing, keep learning and stay committed, then go on to the next level.”

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Tell me a Michael on Fire story?

I played with him for a year and a half, and I really enjoyed being in that band. It was a very free-form, positive thing, and I had a great time. Unfortunately, by the time of my second divorce, I had a nervous breakdown and had to get away for a while.

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What’s it like being the front man compared to being the sideman?

It’s more risky and there’s more responsibility, also bigger headaches, but there’s more control over what you’re doing.

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So you guys drive a lot?

Sure. There’s nowhere to play around the Palmdale area. I put 10,000 miles on my vehicle last year--we’re road dogs. This is how I make my living.

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So does the band have a new tape or what?

No, we use videotapes now. I think it’s really the way to go. It’s not a $30,000 video, but you can see all the players and hear all the instruments, and that’s important. I know if I was some guy who received 60 cassettes and one video, I’d want to check out the video. If it wasn’t a good band, he could at least watch and laugh at them.

BE THERE

Stevie & the Stealers at Nicholby’s, 404 E. Main St., Ventura, tonight, 9:30. $3. (805) 653-2320. And at A&M;’s Roadhouse, 2515 Ventura Road, Oxnard, Sunday, 3 p.m. Free. (805) 983-2787.