Barry Middleton (BM) Interview with Ian Siegal (Ian) - June 2010

BM: What were your first experiences of the Blues?

Ian: My earliest memory is hearing Muddy singing "I Just Want To Make Love To You" although it could also be the Stones version of "Red Rooster"-we had a lot of Stones playing in the house.

BM: Who were the influences on your musical career?

Ian: First were my cousin Jim Berry and, more so, his drummer Dave Houghton who'd recently left Joe Jackson's band (he's back in now with the original line-up). Then in Nottingham there was Harry Stephenson, Colin Staples and of course I saw Big George there for the first time, "in the Golden era of the Running Horse I got to be around great singers like Phil Tanner, guitarists like Tony Crosby, Howard Smith-many others, a great harmonica player named Tim Disney. We had some great jam sessions-and very late nights!" Listening-wise it was Waits, Waters, Wolf, Little Richard, Elvis.....I could go on for hours!
  
BM: Which young act on the British scene impresses you most?

Ian: Nobody springs to mind but I’ll get back to you if I think of anyone...
 
BM: What is the biggest festival you have played?

Ian: In terms of people I guess Waterfront in Portland Oregon. 25,000 in total.

BM: If you didn’t play music in a band what would you be doing?

Ian: Probably cooking or fishing.
 
BM: What bluesman (dead or alive) would you like to play with, live on stage?

Ian: Muddy, no doubt

BM: Aims for the future and what do you hope to achieve within the Blues?

Ian: I don't think in terms of what I will achieve-I just keep going and see what happens. I've got a whole bunch of stuff in the pipeline which I can't reveal yet. Watch this space!
 

BM: Why do you feel that young people are not as attracted to the Blues as other Genres?

Ian: I think it's the way it's generally presented, particularly in Europe. It's often played by people who don't have stage-craft or imagination-they play the lowest common denominator of the genre because they think it's "easy" and they can get away with it. So many times I’ve had kids approach me after a gig, having been dragged along by their parents, and they've told me they didn't know Blues was like that or that it could be exciting/entertaining. This is the roots of Rock and Roll for Chrissakes! 

BM: What other styles of music have you drawn inspiration from?

Ian: Essentially ALL American Roots music