Veteran guitarist Adrian Belew shows off his different
Sides
.
Adrian Belew is walking around his back porch in the Nashville suburb of Mount Juliet, swatting away curious bumblebees and chatting on his phone. Occasionally, we are interrupted by his outbursts, which are G-rated but kind of humorous, too. He's trying to stay
on topic while avoiding the stingers.
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"I'm sorry," he says, stopping himself in mid-sentence.
Obnoxious bees aside, Belew has lived in north-central Tennessee for 12 years because he loves it there. His wife's family is located nearby. Plus, the Kentucky native says, he likes the rural vibe there-Belew saw two deer in his yard this morning, he says-adding that he lives in Mount Juliet because he has a studio there, where he records frequently.
"Frequently" is maybe not the right word to describe his recording schedule. "Obsessively" is more like it, since the past couple years' worth of studio sessions have resulted in
Side One
,
Side Two
and
Side Three
, albums that show off the iconic guitarist's different tastes.
As anyone who's followed Belew's career path can imagine, those tastes are fairly unpredictable. Belew's career took off after Frank Zappa discovered him gigging in a Nashville cover band in the late '70s, after which he began touring and recording with David Bowie, Talking Heads, King Crimson and, more recently, members of prog rock bands Tool and Primus.
Drummer Danny Carey and bassist Les Claypool (of Tool and Primus, respectively), backed Belew on
Side One
and
Side Three
, albums that show off the artist's more experimental side. British Invasion-era rock is wrapped in electronic blips and synthesizer noises on some tracks; most songs, such as the cumbersomely titled "The Red Bull Rides a Boomerang Across the Blue Constellation," show the 56-year-old guitarist in prime form, and not giving a damn about mass appeal.
Nevertheless, a healthy number of fans continue coming to him, and not just because he's the guy who backed Bowie.
"They're not being serviced by the mainstream," Belew says between swats. "They're music people, and they really want to hear different kinds of live music."
"So now you have bands like Umphree's McGee and Tool and Primus, and they're fans of what I've been a part of."
The fact that Belew has had such a big influence on bands he's played with is something the artist
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has thought about. Especially in his current band, a trio that includes musicians still under the legal drinking age.
Philadelphia natives Eric and Julie Slick are a brother and sister who studied at the Paul Green School of Rock, located in their hometown. As top players at the school, the Slicks got a chance to study under Belew, who was encouraged by School of Rock founder Green to consider taking them on tour.
"I flew them down here to audition," Belew says, now a few months after the fact. Eric is 19; Julie is 20. They weren't even born until Belew's career was already firmly established.
"They don't even drive cars. They're really just consumed with music. We play from different segments of my solo work, and end with my King Crimson work. The challenge of that is to deliver it in a power trio format."
All of it happened unexpectedly; Belew never really anticipated plucking two young musicians out of their hometown to go on tour with him. Thinking aloud, the guitarist relates the experience to his career path. Which is to say, nothing was ever planned.
Belew left his last non-music-related job when he was bassist Julie Slick's age, 20. He worked at a furniture factory, where his father was a foreman. "Oh my gosh, I'm happy I'm not doin' that," Belew says, "inhaling sawdust all day."
While on tour with Zappa, Belew met David Bowie, who subsequently had him play on his late-'70s albums
Stage
and
Lodger
. At the same time, the Talking Heads hired Belew to play on their iconic 1980 album
Remain in Light
. Soon after, the guys from King Crimson called.
"I thought I'd go about things the way that most musicians do: Put together a band…" the guitarist says, trailing off.
He adds, "It worked the opposite way for me. I worked with famous people first, then formed my own band."
Now, the artist who is best known for those he's worked with is standing firmly in the limelight. It's a matter of timing, Belew says.
"Over the past four or five years, I was putting a lot of time into resurrecting King Crimson and, to a lesser extent, [Cincinnati-based experimental pop group] The Bears. I'd record between the cracks of other work I was doing."
Gradually, Belew says, he realized he had 30 or so quality songs. The result was the
Side
albums and, now, tour dates with the Slick siblings.
Unexpected as it all was, Belew takes the developments in stride. Besides, the fact that he's playing with musicians less than half his age is just testimony to his own outlook.
"I never take myself seriously as a full-grown adult," he says calmly. "I've been associated with 100 or so records, but I'm still a kid. I still challenge myself with ideas. The kid in me is still very much in charge."
