BB: “Mr. Langford how did you get your start musically

TS: I have always loved music ever since I can remember. I was the kind of kid that snuck his transistor radio into bed at night. When I first heard the Beatles and then saw them on TV, I was captivated. My older cousin Steve was a musician and I was fascinated with his guitars. When I was a little older I started going to concerts and I saw bands like ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, and Santana. I thought those loud guitars were the coolest thing on earth and I had to get me one! A friend of mine named Forrest Schumacher loaned me his acoustic guitar and I started messing around with it. My Dad hated Rock and Roll, but I wanted to learn how to play real bad. One day I summoned up all the courage I could and told him “I want to take guitar lessons and I need you to pay for it” thinking he would blow a gasket, but to my amazement he just said, “OK”. I eventually saved up enough money to buy a cheap Japanese guitar and a Silvertone amp to replace my friend’s acoustic guitar. My Mom must have recognized that I was serious about playing guitar and later she bought me a Fender Stratocaster and there was no looking back!! I didn’t own a good guitar amp till I was about 18 or 19. I just borrowed the school amp or an amp from my teachers.

BB: I heard some rumor that you were in a jazz ensemble band in high school.”

TS: I took guitar lessons all through high school from three different teachers who were jazz guitarists. They all played chord melody style guitar, which seems to be a lost art these days. I wanted to learn everything and play as much as possible, so I joined the stage band and choir as the guitarist. My high school band teacher was the conductor of the Spokane Jazz

BB: “When did Too Slim and the Taildraggers come into existence?

TS: I started Too Slim and the Taildraggers on Jan.1, 1986. I was done with the direction The Studebakers had taken and I wanted to start a blues band. I had seen The Robert Cray Band back in 1979 when I was in college and it really changed my whole perspective. They were so good I can’t even begin to describe how much fun it was to see them perform. I saw that band every chance I could and stole as many licks and ideas that I could from them. I tried to incorporate all the things I learned from watching The Robert Cray Band over the years to prepare myself for the time when I would have my own blues band. Too Slim and the Taildraggers first record is actually very Robert Cray influenced. I did the best interpretation a skinny white boy from Spokane could do to make a record as good as the ones Robert Cray was putting out. Robert Cray was a big star by then. Robert Cray is the person that first told me about Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was back in about 1980 or so. I figured if Robert Cray thought Stevie Ray was a badass he must really be good and I kept my eye out for him. One day I was flipping through the record bin and saw Stevie’s first album called “Texas Flood”, which I of course bought. I listened to it I suddenly felt like I didn’t know how to play guitar at all!! It was back to the drawing board. I have many other blues guitar influences such as BB King, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Lightning Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, and Robert Johnson. My rock guitar influences are Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Neil Young and John Fogerty. My jazz influences are Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Mike Stern and Charlie Christian. I go through phases with the kind of music I like to listen to. I have been listening to John Hiatt a lot lately. I am really into a band called Drive by Truckers now too. Before that all I listened to was Lightnin Hopkins and Neil Young. I went through a Miles Davis and Ray Charles

BB: “Your current line-up includes Polly O’Keary on bass and Tommy Cook on drums. How is it having somebody on stage that is better looking than you are? And, can sing?”

TS: Well, that is interesting that you noticed how good looking Tommy is Blues Boss, but seriously, I am grateful to have Tommy Cook and Polly O’Keary in the band now, and yes, Polly is a lovely and talented woman and she sure can sing!! Tommy and Polly are helping me take the band to a new level. It has been a year since Tommy and Polly joined the band, and now that they have a good handle on the Too Slim and the Taildragger catalog, we are having some really great moments on stage. I love working with Tommy and Polly, they are great musicians and great people as well. I can’t wait to do a new CD with them.

BB: “Anything spectacular or unusual coming up for you in 2010?”

TS: In 2010 we plan on touring a great deal to support “Free Your Mind” which was voted “Best Album” by the Inland Empire Blues Society and is nominated by the Washington Blues Society for a B.B. in the same category. I have been writing songs, so we hope a new CD will be in the works by the end of the year. We have new releases on Underworld Records which also has one of our Artists Jim Suhler nominated for a BMA award which is the Blues equivalent of the Grammy’s. Nancy and I are also expanding our other company “Essies South American Sauce”