JACKIE PAYNE STEVE EDMONSON BAND "MASTER OF THE GAME" Source: Living Blues Date: 10/2006 Writer: Mark Coltrain

How did you and Steve hook up initially?

JP: Through the Dynatones. He came on as a substitute one night for our guitarist, who had to go to France, and after the show I said, “Hire this guy, or I walk!” Because he plays everything! He’s very rhythmic, he can play any lead, he can play any style and he certainly fit me…we fit each other.

Indeed, listening to the album there is a definite chemistry at work. What do you attribute it to?

SE: Our musical taste…what we love is very similar. We’re not that far apart in age. He’s a little older than me, but we came up listening to the same kind of music, so we have that same kind of sensibility about any style that we do and we like to have the freedom to cross that bridge, that soul and blues thing, because Jackie, I mean he’s a great blues guy but I just love it when he sings a soul ballad. It makes the hair on my arm stand up. And it did before I ever met him because I was a fan of his before I ever played with him.

How was the studio experience for Master of the Game?

JP: I’ll tell you, this was the easiest session I ever had, except with Johnny Otis because he was pretty lenient as far as what I wanted to do. But this session was totally smooth. Randy [Chortkoff] and Andy Santana and Steve producing—all I had to do was sing—that was easy. You know, we were comfortable. We flew down to L.A., stayed for about four days. The horns only recorded one day, and I did one day and it was just an easy transition, and everybody that was in the studio just loved what we were doing because most of those cats were our age or maybe a little younger and they faintly remember the style we’re trying to accomplish, and, yeah, it was pretty easy! It was the best time I’ve ever had in the studio.

SE: Strangely enough, some artists—even myself— or whoever I work with, can go in the studio sometimes and bang it out and other times it’s a big uphill battle with lots of punching and repairing and fixing. This was, basically, like Jackie said, all the vocals and basics were first take, no punches. And if there’s little mistakes we kind of left them in because we’re like it sounds kinda human that way.

Think you might be getting back into the studio within the year?

JP: Hopefully in the spring. We’re already working on new material. The way I write is kind of strange—I train my mind to listen to conversations of people talking, especially street people. And I listen to what they say and they say some of the funniest things! I’ll hear a great line, and I’ll take out pencil and paper and write just the line down. And whenever I need a song I’ll go back and pick a particular hook and work on that and write from that. The way we write is very…kind of…is a lot of different ways. Sometimes Steve and our bassist, Bill Singletary, who was really helpful on working this CD up…they’ll come up with a melody and I’ll look in my book and find a hook or a song I’ve already written and say, “Hey, I’ve got the words to fit that!” And that’s what we did on this album and a lotta times I’ll just come up with the words. Very seldom do I come up with the melody, just the lyrics pretty much.

SE: A lot of times we wrote the songs apart and came together and put them together, you know. Like I’d give him an idea and I’d play it for him once or twice and he’d go, “Oh yeah! That’ll fit that lyrical hook…” or whatever and we’d get together and bend things around to make them fit.

[But] the regional styles of blues provide me with enough of a repertoire that I can work within that framework, all that plus different regional styles of soul music. I like it all pretty much!