Jump to content

Brad Rice Plays SNL with Keith Urban


Recommended Posts

Brad Rice, who has played in several of Ryan Adam's bands and played on the last Son Volt record, was playing with Keith Urban on last night's SNL. First of all - yuck. I would not be the most accurate judge of Keith Urban because I absolutely hate corporate country radio, but this guy is a joke. Over and over he posed with his guitar like he was playing all the licks while Brad Rice and two other guitar players played all the actual notes.

 

I'm a bit of a Ryan Adams fanboy and I've probably seen Brad play with him 6 or 7 times live. Brad was even in Whiskeytown towards the end. I know that Brad has played with Tift Merritt and Son Volt over the past few years, but I was surprised to see him playing with someone like this. On the other hand that might be the best paying gig Brad's ever had, and I wouldn't hold it against him for trying to make some dough. This was still very weird. What's next, Jay Bennett playing with Kenny Chesney?

Link to post
Share on other sites

NRPS 'rescued' pedal steel virtuoso Buddy Cage who was playing at the time w/Anne Murray. True story.

Link to post
Share on other sites
you're kidding. Mike Watt?

 

no, I'm not.

 

23867.x-news-wattkellyclarkson.jpg

 

Former Minuteman, current Stooge, and all-around inspiring guy Mike Watt's most recent recording gig made us smile so much that we just had to share it. (And so did that picture!)

 

Watt tells us that over the past two weeks, he spent a couple of days in the studio laying down bass tracks for Kelly Clarkson's new album. (That would be the follow-up to 2004's Breakaway--the one with "Since U Been Gone" on it.) He did such a good job of explaining it himself in the emails he sent to Pitchfork that we'll just let him do what he does best and spiel:

 

"The producer/engineer David Kahne is an old friend, and that's why I was asked aboard, though the guitarist and co-songwriter, Jimmy Messer, knew all about my history and was very enthusiastic; he's a great cat. Actually, it was pretty interesting. I didn't [know] what to expect, but [Kahne] had me trying all kinds of tripping stuff. Altogether, I played on six [songs]. They were already recorded, and I was replacing and adding in bass.

 

"Everyone there gave me much respect even with me being nervous, big time at first. I knew nothing of Kelly Clarkson before this but can tell you, in my opinion, that she can sing her ass off. Man, she's got pipes and goes for it. She also didn't have any airs or a big posse of sycophants and was just plain up-front people, which to me is very happening 'cause I ain't so used to all the fronting that can go [on] in some scenes.

 

"It was a challenge too 'cause it was much different than where I've been with music, but different is good, especially when what the people involved wanted was to hear someone working a bass like they meant it, and that's where I've always tried to come from.

 

"When [Clarkson] had to bail, she said to [Kahne], 'I think the old punk guy idea's a good one,' and we all laughed. It's just studio stuff, and I haven't been asked to be in any band for a gig or tour.

 

"I got lots going with the Stooges. Iggy called me just a little bit ago and said the album sounds great. Wow, I can't wait to hear it." Neither can we.

 

Watt is keeping busy with a ton of touring, including three weeks with his Mike Watt and the Missingmen trio supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers in Europe, four shows with the Stooges, and a handful of sets with Dos and Banyan. He's calling it the "Parallel Universes" tour.

Link to post
Share on other sites
thats kinda cool, the mike watt/clarkson combo. anything watt does is cool as shit, at least in my opinion.

 

2nd that.... making a living is making a living. This knocks Kelly Clarkson's credibility up a notch as well. She's damn cute and does have a great voice. Despite the massive chin pimple in the picture above, she's purty.

Link to post
Share on other sites
that's the truth. hell, I wonder how many people are going to freak out about Mike Watt playing bass for Kelly Clarkson.

Chad Smith played drums on that latest Dixie Chicks album.

 

 

 

That's not quite Kelly Clarkson, but I thought it was kind of an odd pairing.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Chad Smith played drums on that latest Dixie Chicks album.

That's not quite Kelly Clarkson, but I thought it was kind of an odd pairing.

 

I swore that was Chad Smith playing with the Dixie Chicks on their live performance last night at the Grammys.... just caught a glimpse at the end, though...

Link to post
Share on other sites
What an out of body experience hearing Gary Louris being thanked at the Grammys! :cheers

I took my wife to see the DCs as a birthday present. I can't remember the name of that song that Gary wrote, but at the concert I had a surreal moment when I realized I was listening to what essentially sounds exactly like a Jayhawks song being played in a bigass arena show. And it actually translated well to that environment. :yes

 

The DCs are a little bit plasticky, but at least by Nashville standards these days they're actually more on the "real" end of things. Hell, at least they can play their instruments.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...