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Music Q & A

MIKE OLCOTT

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Listening to Samuel James play raw blues is like rumbling through the American South on a rusty locomotive, complete with stops in different rural towns, catching long stares from locals. He has revitalized a form of folk storytelling using his stomping foot, some mighty fine guitar playing and stories of life he observed while growing up in Maine.

You might have seen him working across the aisle at Videoport, while you were browsing the ''Extremely Strange Films'' section. If you haven't run into him lately, he'll be throwing a release party for his latest CD ''For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen'' at Space on Saturday. The evening will be a bit of an event, so expect the scene to be packed with red-carpet stars; Sontiago, Dilly Dilly, Ian Paige, Brown Bird, Micah Blue Smaldone, D Gross, Meantone, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Joe Fletcher, Myron Samuels, Billy Carrol, Computer at Sea and Miah Connell are scheduled to support. Tickets to the 18-plus Aug. 22 show go for $8 and can be purchased at www.space538.org. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Go caught Mr. James, rumbling down the road while on tour in Texas, just a man and his guitar and his blues. Turns out he's a pretty worldly guy.

Go: Why do you think the blues suits you so well? Would you ever explore any other styles?

Samuel James: Well, to tell you the truth, I just wanted to play anything. It didn't matter what kind. I started with Arcadian fiddle music. I got a big name in Thailand for that stuff, but I missed the white Christmases so I came back to Maine, and since the letter ''B'' was next I went with ''blues.'' In a few years I'll go to ''Country,'' then ''Doo-Wop,'' ''Emo...'' You get the idea.

Do you prefer life on the road or gigging around locally? What do you enjoy/dread about each?

The funny thing about gigs is that they're a lot like fingerprints and/or snow flakes and/or leaves and/or spiders and/or breasts. You know?  

Bob Dylan cites ''Driftin' Too Far From the Shore'' as the song that set him on his poet/performer course. Is there a blues song that rattles in the bottom of your soul as the reason you started paying attention to the old masters?

I don't know who this Rob Dilling dude is, but he sounds like an idiot. Back in the early '70s, I remember hearing this guy in Mexico. Went by the name Jethro ''Slopbucket'' Hernandez. He was this 19-year-old Jewish kid from Putnam, Conn., who swore up and down that he was a 110-year-old member of the Samoan royal family. He was a weird dude. I like '''Midnight Special'' by Leadbelly.

Does the typical Portlander get enough exposure to local live blues acts? Are there any local blues acts worth a shout?

I don't know. I mean, technically I am a songster, which is to say that my songs are in a tradition that includes, but is not limited to, blues. A lot of my songs are linear stories, folk tales and the like. I actually have very few blues songs. Think Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly or Charley Patton. I think that puts me on the folk side of things more than blues. But yeah, I think as far as blues goes I've pretty much cornered the market in Portland. As far as songsterism goes I've cornered the market in the world. I am the last one. It's true. I defy you to find another!

How has your experience as a clerk at Videoport informed your development as a blues musician?

In absolutely no way.

Who are the contemporary bluesmen, or guitarists with a blues bent, that make you shake your head and say man, they've really got it? Who are the phonies?

Black America has always had a feeling of impermanence. This is because we are the only minority in the U.S. that was brought here against our will. A symptom of this impermanence is our creation and immediate disregard of these beautiful art forms like blues, jazz, hip-hop. And just like hip-hop, these musical styles all had lifestyles that they came out of, but now a lot of the subtle details that were important for the musical development within those lifestyles are gone, so there is a certain sincerity that cannot exist in contemporary rebirths of period styles. Or I am waaayyy too into myself to think that anyone else can even come close to what I do.

How does ''For Rosa, Maeve, and Noreen'' differ from ''Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy?'' Did the approach change? Did your life change?

The big difference, at least in my mind, and it's up for debate (you know I'd never deny one one's opinion. I mean, you know, it's like a basic human right. And I'm a human, dude. Why would I be AGAINST human rights? I wouldn't. That's why. Because I wouldn't. I'm human), is that this album is the ultimate album, whereas the last one was only the penultimate. 

FIND OUT MORE about Samuel James and his music at www.myspace.com/sugarsmallhouse.

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.