He'll tell you he's a guitarist of many styles, because his New York influences are as vast and diverse as the city itself, but Popa Chubby (born in the Bronx as Ted Horowitz) is, without a doubt, one of the best blues-rock guitarists on the scene today. His playing is fluidly smooth and his voice is expressive and soulful. With his battered '66 Strat, his green '68, or with his Will Ray Hellacaster, he brings smiles of awe and satisfaction to the faces of his audience, as his love for playing is obvious. Whether it's an old instrumental, such as 'San Catri', re-released on The Hungry Years, or 'Black Hearted Woman' from How'd A White Boy Get The Blues, Popa Chubby mesmerizes with his proficiency of the instrument. He's a true veteran, not just another blues player who recently discovered how to play progressions on a Strat. Music is his bread and butter, and there's nothing he'd rather be doing.

I recently got a chance to see him live, at Chan's Restaurant, in Woonsocket, RI, one of the best blues and jazz clubs in New England. Though Popa is extremely personable and friendly with his fans, both on and offstage, he exhibits the persona of a serious entertainer as well. Not only one who loves what he does, but also one whose stage presence receives the respect it truly deserves. The live show is what he lives for, and he shows that each and every time. He can be a down to earth kidder as well, as the beginning of my interview portrays.

[Editor's note: Listen to Popa Chubby play two tracks from his CD, Big Man Big Guitar: Popa Chubby Live, by clicking the Stream button next to "Dirty Lie" and "Sweet Goddess Of Love And Beer" at the end of the interview.]

BH: You grew up in the Bronx. You must be a Yankees fan.

Popa: Yeah, I am.

BH: I'm a Red Sox fan.

Popa: Yeah, I know. Go %$% yourself. [Laughing]

BH: But I'm also a Popa Chubby fan, so that must be all right. [Laughing]

Popa: Yeah, that's okay then. [Still laughing]

BH: You started out as a drummer?

Popa: Yeah, I did. And I still play my drums every day, man. Playing guitar just kind of happened. And I'm still learning and trying to figure it out.

BH: You're doing a pretty good job of it.

Popa: I'm really trying, man. So many players just have so much shit together. It blows you away.

BH: I read in poppachubby.com that you were taming your demons. Is that true?

Popa: Taming my demons! What would you want to do that for? [Laughing] I just buy them a drink. I've no desire to be a choirboy, or a role model for anyone, except the indigent. I'm actually very happy with my demons; thank you very much.

BH: How's the tour going? It seems as though you're living and breathing guitar these days.

Popa: It's good, man. Playing music is good, and I love playing the guitar. You can sit and practice for a thousand hours; you do one gig, it's so much more. Plus I make my living doing this. I've got a family to support, and this is how I do it. I'm not complaining, though. But it can be a hard life, traveling and being away from home. You've got to find ways to not kill yourself, too.

BH: Do you consider your music New York City blues?

Popa: Yeah, I do. That's pretty much been my thing since I started. It's where I'm from, and I play guitar. I'm not a blues player, per se. I'm a guitar player, and I do play blues based music.

BH: There is a lot in your music: blues, rock, soul, and R&B.

Popa: There's a mixture of everything. That's my New York City sound, diverse, because we've so many influences.

BH: Are you sometimes politically motivated in your music?

Popa: Not really. I'm musically motivated. I made a record a couple of years ago during the election, where I stated my political views. The election is over, and I've decided that I don't care about politics anymore, because it doesn't matter. The puppet on the right or the puppet on the left, that's politics.

BH: 'Top Ten Reasons Why I Can't Sleep At Night', from Peace, Love and Respect is an interesting song. Some of your lyrics are comical, yet serious at the same time.

Popa: I try to have a sense of humor in my music. Humor is important, and it helps to get people's attention. Entertain the audience, that's what I do.

BH: What is your favorite Popa Chubby album, the one you'd tell others to get?

Popa: I'd have to say How'd A White Boy Get The Blues? is my favorite.

BH: Your music tells me that you're Hendrix fan. Who are your other idols?

Popa: Of course, I'm a Hendrix fan. But my main man is Keith Richards. And I bet he's never tamed his demons. [Laughing] He's no bullshit. British rock did it for me first. But I'll tell you who isn't my idol. I hate these pretentious guitar players, especially white blues players, who come out wearing a blues hat and all, and try to sound exactly like someone like T-Bone Walker. They just miss the whole damn point. Be yourself, man. You've got to have the balls to just be yourself. Be who you are. That's the problem. Some guitar players just steal from one person. I steal from everybody.

BH: Was Richard Hell an influence?

Popa: Definitely, man. I played with Richard Hell. Punk rock influenced me, all that stuff.

BH: I hear some Roy Buchanan in your playing as well.

Popa: My influences are so vast. I'm influenced by so many people, and a lot of Tele players. I'm a fan of Don Rich, Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan. Plus, I'm a big fan of Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Freddie King, Albert King, B.B.King, Albert Collins. A lot of blues players, and a lot of country players, man, because they're just so damn good. And like I said, Don Rich. He's a huge influence. There've been a lot of good Tele players out there.

BH: Tell me about the new live CD and DVD.

Popa: Yeah. I'm real happy with it, man. Blind Pig put it together and edited it. The DVD was cut outside of Paris, and it's good, and really happening. The 5-camera shoot is mixed in 5.1 stereo. I mixed it myself, which was really cool. I loved working with 5.1. It's a whole different world. And we put different cuts on the live CD than on the live DVD. Fans can have either or both. But it's cool, man. People respond to my live stuff, because you really get me in a live setting.

BH: On the new CD, besides the Popa Chubby songs, you get into some great live versions of Neil Young's 'Motorcycle Mama', Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', and Hendrix's 'Hey Joe'.

Popa: Right. They're good songs, and I bring my own thing to them.

BH: Talk about all your gear, at home and onstage.

Popa: Well, I have a studio in my house. I'm always in there. I've got my computer on the desk, and I've got Pro Tools set up next to the computer. Microphones are all around. I've got a Fender Princeton Reverb underneath the desk, and a Fender Deluxe Reverb to the left of the desk. I love Deluxe Reverbs, man. I've got two '65 black face Deluxe's and a silverface, which is a '70, and it's my favorite one. I've got two racks of guitars with ten in each. They sit on either side of me; a bunch of Strats, Teles, and a bunch of custom guitars by a guy named Rick Kelly from Manhattan. I've got a baritone guitar, a couple of Dobros, a Gibson acoustic, a Martin acoustic, two lap steels, three keyboards, a '54 Les Paul Junior. I've been collecting for a long time.

[I knew he loved talking about his guitars, as the next thought seemed to excite him as much as it did me. Don't try and read all this in one breath.]

Hey, since you're recording this, I'll give you a rundown real quick. My main guitar is a '66 sunburst Strat that I got about ten years ago. It was pristine, and now it looks like it has been through two civil wars. And I put all the wear on it, so I'm really happy about that. Before that, my main guitar was a '69 Strat, with a big, beefy C profile neck. I also have a blue '68 Strat that I play. I've got a parts Strat, a '66 neck on a '70 body, which is orange. I have a '64 all original sunburst Strat that pretty much sits in its case. Then I've got a bunch of esoteric Strats. I have a guitar that was put together that we call the 'livertone'. It's a turquoise body with a turquoise headstock. Someone put like a Silvertone look on the headstock. It's got lipstick pickups. I have another lipstick pickup Strat that was put together by someone. It's really nice, man. It's got a really sweet V profile neck. I have a Rick Kelly custom Strat that has three P-90s, which is really nice, with a padouk neck. Padouk is really exotic wood; it's really nice. I have another Rick Kelly Eagle Strat, with an Eagle headstock that he carved. He's got a shop known as Carmine Street Guitars in New York. He's definitely the best guitar maker, as far as I'm concerned, in America. He uses a lot of wood that's about 100 years old. So if you get a guitar from him, it's made out of 100-year-old swamp ash, with a 50-year-old maple neck. It's really incredible.

Then I've got a bunch of Teles, man. I've got a blond '66 Tele. I've got a sunburst '66 Tele deluxe, with a Bigsby. I've got a '71 Thinline. I've got a bunch of new Teles, too. One is floral, and another is a Muddy Waters version; I like it a lot. I've got a bunch of G&Ls, man, four of them. They are incredibly well made guitars. I have a G&L ASAT, a G&L Thinline, a G&L Classic, and a G&L Will Ray, the Hellacaster model, which I really like. The list goes on and on. I've got a '54 goldtop Les Paul, a '56 Jr., a '55 TB Special, a 1960 cherry Les Paul Special. I've got a couple of new flametop honeyburst Les Pauls with three pickups. I've got a '74 black LP Custom, a '67 Firebird w/ 3 P-90s, and a '94 Firebird Custom Shop w/ mini humbuckers.

I've also got a lot of hollow bodies. I've got a '61 ES-335, a '57 ES-175, a '63 ES-135G. A lot of Flying Vs, one which I like a lot. There's more, too, man. There's a lot of guitars around here. (laughing) And I play every one of them.

Onstage I use the '66 sunburst Strat most of all. I also use the green '68 a lot. I put them through either a blackface Pro Reverb or a blackface Twin. I use a bunch of different FX, too. I endorse, and have used, Ernie Ball strings for the last fifteen years. My gauges are .48 thru .12. And I play in standard tuning.

[I think we guitar players understand Popa's severe case of GAS, Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. We've all been there.]

The CD
Big Man Big Guitar: Popa Chubby Live

1) Hey Joe

2) Dirty Lie

3) Back Door Man

4) I Can't See The Light Of Day

5) If The Diesel Don't Get You, Then The Jet Fuel Will

6) Sweet Goddess Of Love And Beer

7) Motorcycle Mama

8) Somebody Let The Devil Out

9) Hallelujah

10) Keep On The Sunny Side

11) Time Is Killing Me

12) How'd A White Boy Get The Blues

Label: Blind Pig CD 2005

The DVD
Big Man Big Guitar: Popa Chubby Live (Video)

1) Un-American Blues

2) I Can't See The Light Of Day

3) Top Ten Reasons Why I Can't Sleep At Night

4) Young Men

5) Life Is A Beatdown

6) Dirty Lie

7) If The Diesel Don't Get You, Then The Jet Fuel Will

8) Somebody Let The Devil Out

9) Credits

10) Bonus Material

Label: Blind Pig DVD 2005

Links

Popa Chubby website
Blind Pig Records
CD on Amazon.com
DVD on Amazon.com
Chan's Restaurant