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Justin
Fobes: Thick Calluses, Good Chops
Fobes arrived from Birmingham last November to join the Hog’s Breath Band. After six months, they had an amicable parting. “I discovered I could get more work outside of it,” Fobes says. “It’s been good for everybody. We’re still friendly.” Now Fobes plays at least five nights a week. “I’ve got really thick calluses,” he says proudly. He began playing for a living at 22 and took a few years off to work in a guitar store. He hasn’t had a day job since 2001. He stays busy with lots of solo gigs and keeps the Justin Fobes Band on call—a collective of “at this point, 22 drummers, five bass players, four other guitar players, a pair of female vocalists…whoever I can get.” Fobes is also part of a new band with Black Eyed Blonde’s Dan Collins—together, they host the Monday night jam at Fudpucker’s Art Bar. And while we’re on the subject of jamming, Fobes also sits in with Cadillac Willy on occasion. Fobes’s set list offers the usual favorites—crowd-pleasing beach anthems, Grateful Dead and other ‘60s standards—along with plenty of wild card choices. “I look at the crowd and try to imagine what they want,” Fobes says. “I know hundreds of songs. I started playing guitar so I could write songs. I had bands that did original songs, but around here people don’t care that much about stuff they haven’t heard. I’m okay with that—it helps me keep my chops up.” He does a moody and introspective version of Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower—his vocal range is amazing without really calling attention to it. At Ball’s Out Fobes plays an original, Stop, Drop and Roll. When I was a kid that was a catch phrase from a Dick Van Dyke fire-safety public service commercial. In Fobes’s hands, it’s a sex-drenched romp that finds room for some good Santana-flavored guitar. At least that’s the comparison the guy at the bar throws out. To me, it could almost be a tribute to Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. When I get around to asking about his guitar style, Fobes informs he that he “wanted to be Bill Frissell when he grew up.” He should hook up with Lyndsey Battle, another huge fan of the jazz guitarist, if he can fit one more side project into his schedule. Monday I catch Fobes at Fudpucker’s. He’s singing and playing electric guitar with Collins on bass and Duane Mays, a first-rate drummer. The band doesn’t have a name yet, and the music ranges from spacey fusion to flat-out bluesy. With his skills in high demand, it’s hard to say where Fobes will turn up next. You can keep tabs on this restless musician at www.justinfobes.com. I Just Dropped
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The
first time I see sing`er-guitarist Justin Fobes, he’s playing
at the Ball’s (sic) Out Sports Bar in Santa Rosa Beach,
one of the last places I expect to hear live music. I assume people
come here to watch a ballgame, but you know what they say about
“assume.” My first impression of Fobes is that of
a first-rate acoustic performer—one look at his well-worn
guitar confirms it. But what I really marvel at is the level of
intensity he displays even when he’s playing for a ridiculously
small audience consisting of myself, the bar owners, and a guy
who stopped in for a beer after work. The crowd would come later.Copyright © The Beachcomber, Inc. 2003 - 2008. All rights reserved.