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Wings of Fire interview MWE3
Aug 3, 2011
MARK CLOUTIER
Wings Of Fire
(Blues Lion Records)
Kicking off with a track entitled “Voodoo Guitar”—taken from the 2010 CD release of Deep Down Blues—the 2011 CD release of Wings Of Fire presents the first ever album compilation showcasing some of the finest instrumental tracks, written, recorded and produced by New York guitarist Mark Cloutier. Subtitled the Blues Lion Collection, the 19 track CD draws on tracks culled from nearly ten Cloutier albums that the guitarist has independently released over the past decade. A colorfully packaged and tastefully designed CD, Wings Of Fire presents Cloutier in a splendid light—a guitarist sounding clearly inspired by rock guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter as well as more traditional blues, R&B and jazz guitarists as diverse as Buddy Guy, Steve Cropper, Robin Trower and Kenny Burrell. In other words, Cloutier is a guitarist who’s not afraid to break through with a hard rock riff before moving on to jazzing things up when he has to. Case in point are the first three tracks on the Wings Of Fire CD. Both “Voodoo Guitar” and “Psychedelia Man” (tracks 1 and 3, both remastered and culled from the aforementioned Deep Down Blues) as well as the title track “Wings Of Fire” (track 2 here, from Cloutier’s album 6 Strings Of Passion) offers solid proof of Cloutier’s skillful and imaginative rock guitar style. All in all, Wings Of Fire offers a revealing introduction to Cloutier’s electrifying blues meets jazz meets rock guitar style of writing and recording. Of course the entire album is completely instrumental making Wings Of Fire a great choice for instro rock and blues fans who enjoy in-your-face, hard driving sounds as well as heavy surf-rock and jazz guitar fans who like hard rocking, dynamic and filler-free instrumental guitar music. www.BluesLionRecords.com
mwe3. com presents an interview with
MARK CLOUTIER
mwe3: Wings Of Fire is a great CD title. Sounds like a rebirth or revisiting past greats, musically and otherwise. Was that the spirit behind the making of your first ever guitar compilation and hat did you set out to accomplish with this CD?
MC: Initially I was not sure what to title the collection CD. I think people should know that you were the one who thought Wings Of Fire would be a great title for the CD and I agreed with you! It was nice to get the input from you. The cover on the CD shows the idea nicely with a guitar with burning wings soaring above. That was my art guy Steven Hall at work. He is a brilliant artist. I hope to have brought out some of the guitar ghosts of the past in spirit so to speak. I’m forever a Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan fan along with the countless guitar legends who have passed on. Of course guys like Buddy Guy and BB King are amazing in their longevity. They are so inspiring. I want to do this another 30 years!
mwe3: Does the Wings Of Fire compilation span most of the albums that you've recorded? What were some of the other parameters you used in picking tracks from your many albums and can you say something about the time frame, of the earliest recording dates to the latest CDs and the new tracks on the Wings Of Fire CD and will you be planning a volume 2?
MC: Yeah I tried to grab at least one track from the many CDs I have recorded in the past few years. My studio time is endless. Almost everyday in the afternoon I spend a few hours recording ideas and usually come up with something to work with. I have become a better player from all of the recording I have done. The old saying the tape doesn’t lie stands. I spend much time listening back usually as I do my 30 minute martial art workout. If the music doesn’t inspire me than how will it inspire others? I think its been about five years or so that I got into the online recording process. Its amazing what we can do on the computer now. It’s a
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MWE3 Guitar Magazine interview-review!
Feb 9, 2011
MARK CLOUTIER
Deep Down Blues
(Blues Lion Records)
As the guitarist in the Syracuse New York based Double Barrel Blues Band, Mark Cloutier also has a number of CD releases out under his own name and he further adds to his rock solid reputation with the release of his first album of 2011 entitled Deep Down Blues. While he waits for the world to catch up to his rising star, Cloutier continues ascending upwards, blazing a prolific path towards blues-rock stardom. What makes Cloutier so unique in the blues-rock guitar world is that a lot of his solo CD releases mainly feature a wide range of bluesy and rock flavored instrumental tracks. A number of today's rock legends were influenced by blues rock instrumentals that were featured on the early Fleetwood Mac albums—rock classics written by blues guitar pioneers Peter Green and Danny Kirwan. Likewise back in the late '60s, Clapton’s occasional instrumental cut—say his work on “Toad” was rated as highly influential among guitarists back in the late ‘60s. In this way, Cloutier follows a similar path as Peter Green and Clapton during rock's early years. He’s unafraid to mix and match blues based guitar sounds and, in addition to the aforementioned guitar heroes—fans of Buddy Guy, Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn would do well to give Cloutier’s instrumental blues rock albums a spin. On Cloutier's 2010 Deep Down Blues album, well there’s no real surprises, just high quality, emotionally driven, gut-level rock guitar instrumentals. Of note, is the humorous “Tribal Blues” and the next track, “Still Burn A Candle” featuring a blues track over what sounds like a bouzouki! There’s even a live cut here featuring a rare Cloutier vocal, called “Traveling Guitar Man”. Overall, Deep Down Blues is a worthy, bluesy guitar experience that will bring seasoned guitar pros and fans back for more. www.DoubleBarrelBluesBand.com
MUSIC WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents
an interview with MARK CLOUTIER
MWE3.com: What's up with this latest batch of instrumentals on your 2010 Deep Down Blues album? It sounds great and it seems like you went for a full on full court press with this album plus I know there's also a vocal track on Deep Down Blues too.
MC: Yes I go through many mood swings as a guitarist and for this particular release I took a mostly “In Your Face” approach in that I let my stream of conscience take over throughout. I took a basic theme and just ran with it letting my attack of the instruments be the main feature. There are a few tracks where I went very subtle and nice, almost in a Wes Montgomery kind of way. The rest are inspired by a more heavy-handed style along the lines of Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Freddy King, BB King, early Clapton, Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn…just to name a few.
The vocal track was recorded live on TK 99 Radio at Shifty’s In Syracuse NY. Subcat Studios in conjunction with radio host Dave Frasina featured us live on sound check and I sang “Traveling Guitar Man” with my band the Double Barrel Blues Band. It's a cool song and basically is about playing and traveling. We did some long road trips in 2010 particularly Florida Bike Week and Biketoberfest. 24 hours in the van from Syracuse, NY to Florida and back! Twice in one year.
MWE3: How would you compare Deep Down Blues with your last album Attitude With Gratitude? Also, can you say how many albums are now in your catalog?
MC: I think I took more of a methodical laid back approach to Attitude With Gratitude. A bit more on the jazzy blues side with clear tones and less attack. It’s a nice album with various approaches in guitar sounds and effects such as reverb and rotary tones. With Deep Down Blues I grabbed my Strat and Belvedere and stepped on the gas on several tracks. I love those old Hendrix blues jams such as “Hear My Train Coming”, “Voodoo Chile”, and “Who Knows”. In my ea
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La Hora Del Blues review and airtime
Mar 17, 2010
Double Barrel Blues Band “Bad Bad Feeling” Blues Lion 2009 // Mark Cloutier “Diary Of A Stratman” Blues Lion 2009. Excitante banda de blues entretenida, alegre y vivaracha, que basa todo su peso en el trabajo de su guitarrista Mark Cloutier, ‘alma mater’ del grupo. Los músicos escogen bien el repertorio, y ya sabemos la importancia que tiene un buen repertorio en un cd, pues de ello depende muchas veces que el álbum pueda llegar a aburrir soberanamente, o bien divertir a raudales. En este caso los Double Barrel Blues Band han sabido conjugar un repertorio animado, vibrante y muy variado, lo que, además de los gustos personales, probablemente se convierte en una razón de peso cuando se valora la posibilidad de comprar algunos discos. La banda se califica como un cuarteto de blues y de rock-blues, y desde luego lo son. Particularmente me decanto más por este último término, ya que basan toda la fuerza expresiva en la guitarra de su líder Mark, que posee un sonido y una técnica incendiaria y brillante, a base de riffs rocosos y en ocasiones volcánicos. En algunos pasajes la banda también juguetea con el jump, en temas de corte más tejano, junto a buenos slow blues como “Tin Pan Alley”, con el que cierran “Bad Bad Feeling”, pero en la mayoría de temas se ve claramente que el blues-rock es lo suyo, dadas las características intrínsecas del grupo. Como digo, blues-rock sin pretensiones, pero sobrio, efectivo y gustoso, si se puede usar un adjetivo como este para definir la música.
El segundo disco es más bien una exaltación del propio Mark Cloutier, un trabajo que firma bajo su nombre y en el cual da rienda suelta a su imaginación con diez temas originales, todos ellos instrumentales y, a diferencia del anterior, de estilo más relajado, bluesy y un poquito groove, que finalmente se convierte en una completa exhibición de guitarra para los amantes de este instrumento. MUY BUENOS. Here comes an exciting, joyful and lively blues band, which base his work on Mark Cloutier’s guitar work, who in fact is the one who carries the band weight. These fellows have done a good repertoire selection and all you know the importance of the songs selection to complete a successful cd, because many times it is a determinant reason to do a totally boring or a lovely album. This time, The Double Barrel Blues Band combine a varied bright and rolling selection which, besides personal tastes, is really important when you decide to buy some cds. They define themselves as a blues and blues-rock quartet and this is really true. I personally think they are more a blues-rock band because they base all the expressive potential on the guitar work of their leader Mark Cloutier, who has a terrific flaming sound and technique, full of rocky passionate riffs. The band also play some jump passages in a more Texas blues style, together with other slow blues such as “Tin Pan Alley” that ends this “Bad Bad Feeling” album, but, in general, the cd clearly shows blues-rock is the music they feel at ease with. In short words, there is unpretentious blues-rock, effective, restrained and savoury, if I can use these words to define their music
The second cd runs high into Mark Cloutier’s work, done under his own name, where he gives free rein to his imagination along ten instrumental original songs, but played on a more relaxed, bluesy and grooving style than the previous one that finally becomes a totally guitar exhibition, perfect for guitar lovers. VERY GOOD.
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MWE3 Robert Silverstein review
Mar 17, 2010
MARK CLOUTIER
Attitude With Gratitude
(Blues Lion Records)
Based in Upstate New York, in the Syracuse region, guitarist Mark Cloutier is doing a great job releasing a barrage of CDs on his Blues Lion Records label. Much of Mark’s 2009 CD Attitude With Gratitude is instrumental in nature and with that unique element front and center, his guitar work sounds also greatly inspired by rock legends like Hendrix, Jimmy Vaughan, early Buddy Guy and T-Bone Walker. Likewise, much the same could be said about Mark’s 2008 CD with his group Stratattack, entitled Blues In My House. Featuring solid support from an adept rhythm section, Cloutier’s guitar takes on a number of sonic guises on different tracks. For instance, track 8 on Attitude With Gratitude, “There’s A Placeâ€â€”a great atmospheric instrumental that mixes rock and jazzy styles to great effect—is one of Cloutier’s finest and most memorable tracks. One look at Cloutier’s web site and you can really see a guitarist who is quite prolific, with each of his CD's being strongly recommended to both blues and rock fans, as well as guitar instrumental fans. www.DoubleBarrelBluesBand.com
MUSIC WEB EXPRESS 3000
presents MARK CLOUTIER
Guitars Center Stage
Guitarists making waves in the music world,
their new recordings and gear!
Musical Background
I started playing guitar when I was 14 years old. I saw this fella playing a Halifax Les Paul copy guitar in the school hallway and it caught my attention. I remember him playing “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love†by Van Halen and I thought it was the coolest thing. I approached him and asked about the guitar and he told me he was selling it. I went home and begged my parents for a week or so and they finally gave in and gave me the money to buy it! Very exciting for me as I was tiring of athletics and need something new—a new challenge! I had a friend who played guitar so he started teaching me basics and eventually I studied with a fella by the name of Dana Klipp. He turned me on to the blues and all the great guitar players! I have been playing for 30 years now and everyday I am still learning something. I also enjoy playing bass and on some of my early solo guitar recordings you can hear me playing the 4 string!
New CD
As you may have noticed I am very busy recording my works. It really is an ongoing documentation of all my ideas and influences. I really love turning on the record and sometimes just tapping into my stream of conscience. Lately I have really worked on themes and dynamics to build off of and then come back to. Seems to be a very good formula of late. The new CD Attitude With Gratitude was based on that formula. I received some helpful tips from the legendary Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records. He has listened to some of my recordings and made mention of paying a bit more attention to melody and themes to bring out my soloing more. I took that advice and think I am heading in the right direction for sure! Attitude With Gratitude is the result.
I record at home in a very simplistic manner. I use Cakewalk software with a Lexicon Lambda usb. The bass guitar and drums are from a fellow by the name of Lawrence Fritts, a professor from Iowa University. He had posted some backing tracks to be used by musicians such as myself. I asked him if it would be okay to use the tracks for my CD’s. He said no problem and mentioned he really liked what I was doing with them! I have embellished many tracks with rhythm guitar and in some cases double lead work. I just plug my SRV Fender Strat into either my Crate or Hughes and Kettner amp and run it direct into my computer by way of mic-ing my amp. It’s a cool formula that allows me to work efficiently during my usual two hour stints of recording per session. I work and have a family and gig often so I am very busy. I do m
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