Inquirer ty tabor

What do you recall about your first gig?

It was a bluegrass gig I did when I was very young. By the time I was 13 we’d already played a few festivals and had opened up for Lester Flatt, Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, all the bluegrass gods of the time. To open for them as a kid was amazing. We kind of changed the name of our band every time we went out and played. The band was basically me, my dad, my brother, my dad’s best friend and his son — a two-family thing that was a cool little bluegrass outfit.

Ever have an embarrassing moment on stage?

Yes, years ago when [King’s X] were playing in clubs, just doing cover tunes and stuff. My parents showed up at a club where we were playing just to hear a few songs. I don’t like to play in front of my parents and never have. They showed up the moment I was about to play the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” a song I could play in my sleep. But at that exact moment, seeing my parents, I just froze! I stood there thinking, “How does this song go?” And behind me, Doug [Pinnick] and Jerry [Gaskill] were dying from laughter.

What’s your favorite piece of gear?

It’s actually two pieces because they go together — my late-Seventies Lab Series L5 amp with my original 1983 Fender Elite Stratocaster. My Strat Elite is nothing like the modern Strat Elite, which has nothing whatsoever to do with that original guitar. The original Elite has active electronics and push-button on-off switches where you can use all three pickups or the first or two — or any combination. And it has the heavier, more expensive gold hardware. That’s what I used on the first four King’s X albums.

What’s it like baring your soul on your new solo album, Shades?

Albums are diaries, and diaries are painful to look at or read. I have to put myself out there to get this stuff out there, and then sometimes I’ll go, “Oh man, I hope somebody likes that.” I don’t care to listen to it too much myself. On the new album there’s a song called “Leaves Falling Down”; I listened to that again the other day,