Chords for Artist Interview - Monte Montgomery

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Hey, [D] _ _ [Abm] _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Gb] _
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_ _ [Bb] what's going on gearheads?
This is Adam Moore.
We're with PremiereGuitar.com at Copper Mountain, Colorado for the Guitar Town Festival.
Sitting here with Austin-based Monty Montgomery.
How are you doing, man?
Pretty good, man.
You just played a great set [E] on the main stage here at Guitar Town.
Kind of close it down.
How did [Eb] it feel?
[Bb] Well, that was the best part of my day.
Yeah.
[Eb] For sure.
I mean, you know, traveling here from Austin, I did a show last night.
[D] I'm sure I'm [Bb] not the only performer that dealt [Eb] with that, but it was like, you know, no sleep,
fly in, get here, jump on stage, you [Bb] know.
So, yeah, but it was [G] fun.
Life of a [Gb] musician, right?
For a lot of [Gm] artists that put out kind of the self [N]-titled late in their career, it's
kind of a redefining kind of thing for a lot of artists.
Is that what you're going for?
What was the vibe behind it?
[F] Yeah.
Well, it's just kind of getting, trying to get back to, you know, what my first record
was, which was [E] a lot less [Eb] produced and more of trying to capture what we do live in a studio.
[F] You know, so we [Eb] approached that whole project from that [N] standpoint, you know, doing these
songs out on the road for a long time and carrying them in the studio.
It's just setting up in one big room and just trying to get the best take, you know, with
the best energy.
That's basically what we did.
How did you approach the songwriting on that album?
What were you going for in terms [B] of the tracks themselves?
You know, I never really sit down and try to write for a specific, you know, [E] CD.
[Eb] I just, you know, I have so many [Bb] songs [B] anyway.
So it's usually a collection [D] of, [Bb] you know, because I have too many to put on one [G] record.
So, you know, usually [Eb] it's like a combination of [Bb] newer stuff and maybe [C] a couple of old tunes
that I bring out of the bag, you know.
Do you enjoy writing pop songs or rock songs?
I mean, how do you kind of see yourself in that spectrum?
[D] Well, I mean, that song was chosen [Bb] by me when I was in a cover band like many years ago,
you know, when there were like four singers in the band, you know?
And so everybody was just bringing their favorite tunes to the table because we weren't really
a dance [Eb] band.
We were just going to get out there and play what we like to play.
So [Bb] that was one of the tunes that I wanted to do because it was just one of my favorite
songs [N] growing up, you know.
So as far as writing pop or whatever, I mean, I just [Gb]
[Bb] write whatever.
But I mean, I kind of grew up on pop radio mostly, so I have a lot of influence.
And that's [Eb] my connection with the Hall & Oates thing.
[G] I did want to [Gm] ask you, I know you've recorded a lot of your albums in Austin because that's
where you're based out of.
But this latest album was released or recorded in Nashville, right?
I mean, how did that [Bb] change?
[G] Did that change anything in terms of recording or how you approached it?
[Eb] Well, it just brought an energy [Gm] to it for me [F] and the band [B] because, you know, when you
[Eb] take [E] yourself out of your comfort area, which is, [F] you know, Austin, _ [E]
then _ [Eb] you're kind of
faced with a little bit of I've got something to prove.
You know, I've got something to prove to these Nashville people, you know.
[Bb]
And [Em] we went into the studio and the Platinum Records hanging all over the wall [D] and this and that.
And we just kind of [Bb] walked in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder.
Like, you know what, man?
[G] Let's just do what we do here [Bb] and try to [E] capture it.
And that's what we did.
There's [Gb] a little bit of attitude [Bb] on this record in some spots.
And, you know, when you see the people in the control [Eb] room responding to it, you know,
and that's what we did.
So that was our attitude going in.
It's like, man, let's knock these people over.
You know, you talk about the chip on the shoulder.
Part of that is that, you know, I guess you probably get pegged in that blues category
a lot being from Austin [G] and there's a lot of connection.
Yeah, well, it's weird because I'm anything but blues.
But yes, [Bb] sometimes I do mistakenly get [N] thrown into the blues category just because, I mean,
there's so many blues guitar players from Austin.
So [Eb] I just like to say that I'm a bluesy.
Your guitar has such kind of a great story, this Alvarez.
I was wondering if maybe you could just tell us about it for people who haven't seen it before.
This thing I [Dm] bought in 1988.
It's actually a 1987.
[Bm] But it was [Abm] brand new when I bought it.
I did [G] all this damage to it.
Road wear.
I broke the neck on it and replaced the neck and replaced the bridge.
[Bb] [F] Countless fret drops.
But _ I think for the first few years being this guitar, I mean, I pretty much abused
it and [Eb] left it in my car just daring someone to take it, you know, and leaving it [Ebm] out in
the elements, freezing [N] cold and 100 degree days in Texas.
I think just one day I kind of went, you know, if I lose this, that's going to be a real
drag replacing it.
_ [Eb] It shows _ how intensely I've been playing this thing.
This has been my main guitar since [N] 1988.
Why this guitar?
I mean, what about it?
Well, I don't know.
It really just spoke to me.
[Eb] When Alvarez came out with this [Bb] [Eb] model with this cedar top, [Dm] this kind of satin [E] finish,
it's just very natural [Bb] looking, you know.
It's [N] not real shiny and paint on it.
It just spoke to me because it's just natural.
[F] And I kind of just went into [D] every music store in Texas.
So I [Eb] found this one.
This one had the neck feel that I wanted.
So [D] I grabbed it.
[Bb] I didn't know it at the time.
God, I mean, [E] who would have thought I'd buy that guitar and it's going to be my [Gm] guitar
for like 22 years.
[Bb] It's kind of become a trademark, you know.
It's kind of [Eb] your thing now.
Yeah, well it is.
Now people come out and they're like, you've got to see this guy do this thing on this
old beat up guitar.
You won't believe what he can do on it.
So that's kind of cool to walk out on stage and deliver [Gb] on an old guitar like this.
[Eb] Monty, I'm going to let you go get some shut eye.
I know you've been up for a while.
So thanks so much for taking some time for us, man.
Sure, man.
Thanks for having me.
Peace.
Hey, we're with Monty [Am] Montgomery.
We're here at Guitar Town in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Adam Moore, PremierGuitar [D].com.
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