>>PREVIEW
REVEREND HORTON HEAT
Tuesday, May 8
Coyotes
The Reverend Horton Heat are about to burn through Cowtown with their speedy Southern-fried rock and Jim Heath (a.k.a. The Rev) is fired up to put on yet another wild show, just don't expect him to mingle afterwards.
From the complex and challenging style of Guitar Hero mainstay "Psychobilly Freakout," to "Party Mad" from their latest effort Revival, the psychobilly trio (Heath, guitar and vocals Jimbo Wallace, upright bass and Paul Simmons, drums) have carved out a reputation as the pompadoured kings of hot-rod rock. The band is known for playing long, energetic shows to rabid audiences filled with fans ranging from mechanics to accountants. The Heat's sweaty, booze-soaked marathons often leaving fans limp, drunken and satisfied.
When Heath isn't scorching up the stage, he spends down time with his wife and new baby, steering clear of the bars he and his bandmates have been playing for nearly 20 years. Experience has taught him not everyone is warm and fuzzy towards him and can even be more combative than congratulatory at gigs.
"It's one of the difficult things about being a musician. That's the one thing I find really frustrating – when people challenge me," he says, adding a broken finger from a scrap could end his career.
He maintains a blog on his website with topics ranging from his disdain for the way sound engineers wire a stage to the unlikely topic of dating. Or, more accurately, how to score at the supermarket. The Rev explains in slightly sarcastic detail how to wander around the grocery store with fresh flowers and the types of responses to offer the bountiful babes who approach a single dude sporting a bouquet.
"You wouldn't believe how women treat me when I have flowers for my wife," he says of the random women who wouldn't give him the time of day on the street but who have surprisingly smiled and flirted with him over the produce. However, in a recent interview, he admits he's mostly joking when it comes to offering dating advice to his fans. He hopes they can figure it out on their own.
"The hardest part of playing music is going into outer space," he says of his pet name for the road. His new family and the death of his mother this year have resulted in the scaling down of his relentless touring schedule. "We used to do 250 shows a year. We've backed it down."
Still, Heath admits he gets a rush from hitting the stage and feeding off the energy of the crowd. The weird part and something he's never gotten used to is the anonymity between gigs. "It's like you're just a trucker, then all of a sudden everyone loves you, then in six short hours you're a trucker again," he says.
Despite the energy he gets from the crowd, at this advanced stage in his career, he feels his time is better spent picking his guitar in the back of the tour bus than tearing up the bar after a gig. "I focus on the fact my job is to entertain and play music. Trying to meet everybody after the show is not my job. I'm a musician. I want to play music."
His reputation as the irreverent Reverend also comes with its share of aggro fans. "They think it's punk rock to throw stuff at the band. It makes it difficult to play something after you've been hit in the head. It's a normal human reaction that I'm afraid I'm going to get hit again," he says, although they play through to the end, despite the beer-hucking fans.
He admits seeing kids at Best Buy playing one of his songs on Guitar Hero makes up for the late nights and rowdy fans. He's also more likely to listen to Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Carl Perkins than most of what's on offer on the radio, and he considers bands such as The Cramps new school.
"I would rather not be influenced by most of what's out there now," he says.
His patience has clearly been tested over the course of his career, and he's not without some humour, but his voice frays with exasperation on certain subjects, such as religion. "Yes, I'm a spiritual person," he says. But is he a regular churchgoer? "Now you're getting personal." |
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