The Song Rules: Guitar God John Platania
by Peter Aaron
I wanted a solo album up to about 15 years ago. But I eventually saw
where my career path lay so that’s where I kept walking. I figured
if somewhere along the line an opportunity for a solo thing came along,
fine. Of course, that’s exactly what happened—twice. Otherwise,
my goal was to make music. It didn’t matter how I was doing it:
back–up musician, producer, whatever. There are things where
I draw the line, but I’ve been lucky not to have to go there— i.e.,
the cover–band thing. There’s nothing wrong with that,
it’s just that I personally have a problem learning someone else’s
thing. Interpretaion, yes; musical stenography, no.
You’ve said that it was Van Morrison who taught you to focus
your musical approach on “serving the song,” and you’ve
certainly played with some fantastic songwriters during your career.
But the concept of playing for the song seems to be a foreign one to
far too many musicians. Why do you think that is, and why is it one
that you embrace?
I don’t know. Maybe they don’t know better. I didn’t
at first, either. It’s a simple concept and it’s something
you have to learn fast. It’s part of the craft: The song rules.
You have to learn to recognize what a song needs—or doesn’t
need. Don’t overplay, don’t step on the vocal, leave your
ego outside. There’s room for just one ego, and that one is usually
a pretty big one.
It’s not the only idea on the record, but the issue of immigration
and immigrant relations—obviously relating specifically to the
situation along the Texas–Mexico border—seems to be an
underlying theme of Blues, Waltzes and Badland Borders. Is this an
issue that’s close to your heart? If so, why?
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