Walter Trout At Iridium: Blistering Blues Rock And Tales Of Survival

“Personally, I’m happy to be anywhere,” stated Walter Trout, as he was introducing the second tune of his set on Tuesday night at The Iridium in New York City. The 68-year-old blues veteran wasn’t referring to the storied music club in Manhattan’s Theater District, which has seen such luminaries like Les Paul, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Joe Walsh, Joe Satriani and Mick Taylor. Trout was talking about being on planet earth. It was the first of repeated references to survival he made throughout the show.

Five years ago, Trout found himself near death in a hospital with liver failure. “I was in Canned Heat,” he sarcastically remarked, referring to his four-year stint in the blues rock band from 1981 to 1985, adding he is the only survivor of their lineup at the time. Trout is alive thanks to a liver transplant he received in 1994. When he was released from the hospital, he had to learn again how to talk and how to walk – and, yes, how to play the guitar!

Noting that playing guitar was the only thing he had ever known and that he had been a guitarist since 1969, Trout said he practiced six to seven hours every day. Eventually, his skills came back. Trout’s agonizing recovery took one year. In 2015, he documented his ordeal in what he described as a very dark album: Battle Scars. And in January this year, he released what’s aptly called Survivor Blues, a covers album with tunes Trout feels are forgotten gems. I wrote about this excellent record here. In fact, it was that album that brought Trout on my radar screen, which culminated in Tuesday night’s show. And boy, what a great gig it was to watch!

Clockwise: Walter Trout, Teddy Zig Zag, Michael Leasure, Johnny Griparic, Paul Schaffer and Anthony Grisham

For the most part, Trout played tunes from Survivor Blues, as well as his two preceding studio albums We’re All In This Together (2017) and the aforementioned Battle Scars. His great backing band included Teddy Zig Zag (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Michael Leasure (drums) and Johnny Griparic (bass). There were also appearances by two guests: Tour manager Anthony Grisham (guitar) and Paul Schaffer (keyboards).

Let’s get to some music. With a pole right in front of me, taking video was a bit tricky. The first song I’d like to highlight is Me, My Guitar And The Blues from Survivor Blues. The powerful cover of Jimmy Dawkins’ title track from his 1997 solo album was the above mentioned second tune of the set. At about 1:42 minutes into the song, Trout explains the idea behind the covers album.

Almost Gone is the opener to Battle Scars, the first album Trout recorded after his long recovery from his liver disease and transplant. Now I get the feelin’ that somethin’s goin’ wrong/Can’t help believin’ I won’t last too long/Won’t last too long, too long/Hey, I can see the writing on the wall/Hey, I believe I’m about to lose it all/I look around, I look around and everything I see/Reminds me of the way, reminds me of the way I used to be…

Another track from Survivor Blues is a song written by Sunnyland Slim called Be Careful How You Vote. The title track to his 1989 studio album couldn’t be more timely, but the true highlight is the music. In addition to Trout’s guitar, the tune features great  Hammond and harmonica work by Paul Schaffer and Teddy Zig Zag, respectively – and all of it over a nice shuffling groove. If you watch one clip only, I’d recommend this one – it’s worth all of its 12 minutes and 14 seconds!

I’d like to conclude with the title track of Trout’s 2017 studio album We’re All In This Together. This tune features a guest appearance by Anthony Grisham who does a nice job on guitar, taking solo turns with Trout.

Toward the end of the show Trout, spoke passionately about organ donation. He noted in the U.S. there are currently 120,000 people waiting for an organ. Each month, time is running out for about 2,000 of them – a true national emergency, as he called it. Trout also reminded the audience that humans have eight vital organs that could potentially save eight lives, pointing to himself as living proof what organ donation can do. Since November 2015, Trout has been a patron of the British Liver Trust. He certainly is a compelling ambassador.

Tuesday’s gig at The Iridium was Trout’s third date during his ongoing U.S. tour. The next upcoming shows include Bay Shore, N.Y. (tonight), Pawtucket, R.I. (Friday) and Plymouth, N.H. (Saturday). Altogether, the U.S. leg includes 17 gigs and concludes on April 27 in Pelham, Tenn. The current schedule also shows dates in Europe in May, June, August and October.

Sources: Wikipedia, Walter Trout website, YouTube