Guitar Player Magazine, August: Papa Mali's new album, the engineering of Kennyne Shepherd's Ten Days Out and coverage of the James Burton Guitar Fest

Papa Mali
Originally uploaded by Steve Hopson

Sometimes the guitar energy of Shreveport rises up like Godzilla. That's the case in the August edition of the award-winning magazine Guitar Player.

GP's Paul McGrath profiles James Burton and his International Guitar Fest and notes that the performances take place on the same Shreveport stage as the Louisiana Hayride, where Burton performed as a teen.

In an article called Tracking Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Ten Days Out, writer Buddy Saleman interviews former Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, for many years now a record engineer and producer of note. Shepherd's homage to blues masters was recorded on site at houses and clubs across the country by Harrison. It's not easy to make a successful record when you're recording at sites "on the back roads," according to this article. Among their examples: "a jam session with Buddy Flett at Leadbelly's grave."

Writer Jimmy Leslie calls Papa Mali, born Malcolm Welbourne in Shreveport 50 years ago, "a musical shaman." His new album is called Do Your Thing (Fog City). Welbourne gives credit for some of his background to the late Shreveport bluesman John Campbell.

Papa Mali was one of the founders of the Killer Bees reggae band; he sometimes returns to Shreveport to play the Mudbug Fest. Otherwise he treks across the world playing festivals and slips home to Austin for regular "all-night raves."

Mali also explains his musical personality by explaining the importance of New Orleans in his life. The Meters and the Wild Tchoupitoulas touched him. Afterwards, "Along with Jimi Hendrix, Leo Nocentelli was my hero."

Do Your Thing takes up a thread laid down by Dr. John in his magnificent gris-gris era. But on songs like "Girls in Bossier City" and "Sugarland" he defines his own spongy part of the swamp turf.

Catch more of his funk and psychedlic soul at Myspace.com/papamali.