PRETENDERS GUITARIST JAMES WALBOURNE UNLEASHES THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL THUNDER WITH HIS NEW SIDE PROJECT — BUT DON’T CALL IT A SIDE PROJECT!
By Mark McStea
JAMES WALBOURNE WILL be familiar to GW readers from his work with the Pretenders, where his rootsy style perfectly complements the unmistakable vocals of Chrissie Hynde. Walbourne’s current project sees him embracing the wild excesses of rockabilly and punk, unleashing a couple of EPs under the name of His Lordship. “All Cranked Up,” the title track from the newest release, perfectly describes the incendiary mix of guitar-fired rock ’n’ roll that Walbourne delivers — a welcome respite from a world filled with doleful singer/songwriters.
The band’s first EP, His Lordship Plays Rock’n’Roll Vol 1, was super raw, just guitar, vocals and a drummer — but no bass player. “It’s really just how things evolved,” Walbourne says. “We’d had a few shows canceled due to Covid and lockdown, and I thought I’d just play some rock ’n’ roll with Kris Sonne on drums at my local pub. This started to develop into a bigger thing, with people like Chrissie, Glen Matlock, [Sex Pistols’] Paul Cook and [Stray Cats’] Slim Jim Phantom turning up. We realized we’d hit on something, so we decided to just make a really quick recording to document what we were doing. We did all six songs in about 20 minutes.”
The new EP, All Cranked Up, takes things a stage further — all original songs with the punk-meets-rock ’n’ roll sensibility of Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers. “Exactly,” Walbourne says. “I really love Thunders, and when I was young my dad took me to see the likes of Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy and Jerry
