Walter Trout tribute a labor of love

My story appears in today's print edition of The Orange County Register, and originally ran on the newspaper's Web site on Wednesday, July 30, 2014.

Walter Trout, left, and Danny Bryant. Photo: courtesy of the artists

A TRIBUTE TO WALTER TROUT

Who: The Walter Trout Band, Danny Bryant, Jon Trout

Where: The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano

When: 8 p.m. Friday (doors open at 6 p.m.)

Information: 949-496-8930 or thecoachhouse.com

Walter Trout at Doheny Blues Fest in 2011.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Life’s struggles have long fueled some of the greatest blues artists, so it’s no surprise that longtime Huntington Beach bluesman Walter Trout is making the most of his own challenges. After a lengthy battle with liver disease, Trout, 63, received a liver transplant May 26. His outstanding new album, The Blues Came Callin’, was recorded from April 2013 to January during the midst of his fight with the deadly disease.

“I was in and out of Hoag Hospital and UCLA all during the recording of that thing,” recalled Trout. He received his transplant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is at a rehabilitation center in Omaha.

“It was hard to even schedule the studio (recording time) because I’d say, ‘Next week let’s record Monday, Wednesday, Friday’ and Monday would come and I would feel awful. And I couldn’t even get out of bed, so we’d have to cancel it. And then the next day I’d get up and felt OK, so I’d say, ‘Can we do it today?’ They said, ‘Yeah, come on up,’ and I would drive up to North Hollywood and I would basically play and sing for about two hours, and I would just crash and burn. I would turn around and go home (to Huntington Beach).”

Trout’s previous albums were typically recorded in a month or so, with his rhythm section going in and laying down tracks in less than a week and Trout then providing his powerful vocals and virtuoso guitar work to the brew before keyboards were added and the album was mixed and mastered. The Blues Came Callin’ took almost a year.

“You know, when my liver went off I lost almost 100 pounds in six months. So I lost all the muscles in my arms and my legs; my legs wouldn’t hold me up. So we’re working on that now, and I’ve actually been able to get up and take a couple of laps in the gym using a cane, and that’s been great.”

While Trout continues his recovery, his son Jon Trout, British singer-guitarist Danny Bryant and the Walter Trout Band have embarked on a short tour to celebrate Trout. The ensemble cast will perform at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Friday night (August 1, 2014).

“The Coach House should be an experience, and I’m really excited to get to do it,” said Jon Trout, Walter’s oldest son. “Having grown up in O.C. means a lot of people who I know and am close to will be there so it will feel incredibly personal to me to be able to play my father’s music to a lot of people who know not just me but my entire family well. Getting to play with a bunch of veterans who have played with my father makes it that much more special, I think.”

Danny Bryant in action.

Danny Bryant, a bonafide legend in his native England, where he has been playing professionally since he was 18, was inspired to play guitar as a youngster after getting his parents to take him to see Walter Trout in concert.

Bryant met Trout at the concert and a few weeks later mailed the guitarist a letter saying he had decided he wanted to dedicate his life to being a musician like Trout. Trout phoned the youngster and told him next time he was in England he would give him some guitar lessons. Keeping that promise was the beginning of a special relationship.

“And so I actually sort of started him off and I’ve watched him over the years mature and develop into a really great artist. I think he’s a great artist. I’m quite proud of him. He’s almost bordering on being my fourth son,” Walter Trout said of Bryant.

Bryant is thrilled to be able to perform in honor of his friend and mentor.

“He is also the kindest person I know, even when he was very seriously ill awaiting his liver transplant, he was still thinking of ways to look after his band and keep them on the road. I think this says a lot. So this is how the idea of the tour came about. Walter has always wanted to help get my career established in America, and originally I was meant to do a support tour with him, but fate intervened and Walter got ill. So as he was so ill and unable to tour, he came up with the idea of bringing me over, to help benefit both the band and myself.”

Walter Trout tearing it up at the Doheny
Blues Festival in Dana Point in May 2011.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

As for Trout, although he had to cancel all his 2014 concert dates, he is working hard on regaining his strength and hopes to begin performing again next year. Anyone who has seen the master singer-songwriter-guitarist knows why.

“I go into a trance when I play,” he said. “I will actually lose any awareness that I have a physical body and I just become the sound … it’s hard not to call that a religious experience. It’s very spiritual for me to play.”

His wife, Marie, has been posting frequent updates on Trout’s battle and recovery from liver disease on WalterTrout.com.

Here is a link to to read my full-length profile of Walter Trout that appeared in The Orange County Register is June 2008. Here is a link to a 2007 feature article I wrote on Trout that also appeared in The Register. Finally, you can read a review of Trout's latest album The Blues Came Callin' on the Music News Nashville site here.