Reeves Gabrels and His Imaginary Friends
Gig Seeker Pro

Reeves Gabrels and His Imaginary Friends

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Band Rock Alternative

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Reeves Gabrels & His Imaginary Friends"


Ah, fantastic to see Reeves again after so long, but also kinda creepy thinking about the passage of so much time. And yet at a moment like this, all the memories come rushing back.

The “imaginary friends” are Kevin Hornback on bass and Jeff Brown on drums, and they seemed very real to me, and very smooth and comfortable performing with each other, which resulted in a really tight sound and an onstage camaraderie that suggests they know each other really, really well. They held things together nicely while Reeves ventured off into uncharted musical territories as he’s rather known to do.

Like others who follow their own lead, Reeves has had his detractors through the years. I’m not really a “guitar enthusiast”, nor do I have set ideas of what I like and don’t like. I’ve enjoyed very experimental sorts of music, mainstream bands as well; heck, even some country and classical. There are those who might accuse Reeves of guitar wankery at times (knowing him, he’d probably agree), yet he’s never failed to amaze me with his creativity and virtuosity, and delight those of us who enjoy his quirky take on classic rock and blues. After all these years, he still plays like a creature from another planet, and incredibly, he still sings like Neil Young. But above all, he never takes himself too seriously. He has fun. Imagine that!

Pulling up Tin Machine’s Wikipedia entry cracked me up just now – “The group was generally reviled, often receiving scathing critical reviews.” Yes. I recall when Tin Machine first came on the scene, those who hated the band (and that was about 95% of Bowie’s fans) generally blamed Reeves, as though he had led David into some skanky, darkened alley, blindfolded and gagged, and forced him to take some daring musical chances, jump around and sweat, and not worry so much about Billboard charts and fancy hairstyles.

At The Regent, Reeves and his friends performed a mix of selections from his solo albums (”Come Back” from The Sacred Squall of Now, “Arrow” and “Accident Waiting to Happen” from Ulysses, and “Leper” from Rockonica); a track from his work with Robert Smith of the Cure; a T-Bone Burnett composition, a Jimmy Reed song called “Bright Lights, Big City”; “Messing With The Kid” (in Reeves’ words, a “Buddy Guy/Jr. Wells meets Yes kind of thing”), and the Tin Machine track “Bus Stop” (great to hear that one again!). I’m missing a few, I know, but you’ll forgive me, right? All sorts of strange memories bubbled up during their set, of times long ago and lands far away. The atmosphere was friendly and loose (make that really loose), a ridiculously small turnout (I’ll be on top of it next time he comes around, I promise), but a deeply appreciative, home town audience. Wacky banter between songs, at one point paying tribute to Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua who had sadly passed the day before. Hopefully The Regent’s pitiful promotion (as in none whatsoever, save for a brief article in the Globe the day before and a page up on their website) won’t deter Reeves and the others from coming back to Boston. Maybe to a venue that advertises in the Phoenix – a publication that people who go to see rock bands actually look at.

After their set, Reeves told me they’ll be back in town around September/October, and also with another band he’s in, JEEBUS, which he described as “Weezer meets Faith No More” (scary!), and with Club d’Elf as well. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for these, and will keep everyone posted. - The Boston Survival Guide


"Guitar Players Editor In Chief, Michael Molenda says:"

"Gabrels is one of those guitar players that, quite simply, redefine guitar craft a bona fide 21st-century guitar god who deserves massive amounts of Justin Timberlake-style fame."
- Guitar Player'


Discography

Tin Machine
Tin Machine (1989)
Tin Machine II (1991)
Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby (1992)
David Bowie
Outside (1995)
Earthling (1997)
'hours...' (1999)
Reeves Gabrels
The Sacred Squall of Now (1995)
Ulysses (Della Notte) (2000)
Rockonica (2005)

Photos

Bio

Reeves Gabrels, a Grammy-nominated guitarist/songwriter/producer best known for both his work with David Bowie and his aggressive guitar style that combines the visceral energy of rock, the harmonic sophistication of jazz, the emotional honesty of blues and country, and an ear for the unusual. A furious cut-and-paster in the studio and an evil genius of atonal improvisation on stage Gabrels explores sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most. He shows that his limitless technical and compositional skills can still shine without restraint.

Guitar Player's Editor In Chief, Michael Molenda says. "Gabrels is one of those guitar players that, quite simply, redefine guitar craft a bona fide 21st-century guitar god who deserves massive amounts of Justin Timberlake-style fame."

He will go down as one of the true originals in the guitar-hero pantheon, even as his fusion of fretwork and computer processing questions and redefines that instrument's very place in the rock canon. Among those who know him at all, he is either loved or hated but never ignored; this alone guarantees his staying power. You'll be hearing a lot more from him -- whether or not you know it's him you're hearing.

Reeves has also contributed music for film work by famed director David Lynch, and other bands and artists such as The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Brian Eno, Ozzy Osbourne, The Rolling Stones, Public Enemy and Natalie Imbruglia