The Low Lamp Trio delivers
a new spin on local musician Terry Sullivan’s Low Lamp Sessions and they’re playing at Trattoria Aroma
on Bryant at 10PM tonight. We caught up
with Sullivan to talk about his newest configuration and ask him why he’s one
of the “workingest” guys in a city full of great musicians.
BR: Terry, you are one of the busiest
musicians in town via your Low Lamp Sessions. What’s your genre and who is
your audience?
SULLIVAN: A broad spectrum of my original work
and select ‘deep cut’ covers that the band and I collaborate on. We
select artists that compliment the backdrop of the audience and the vibe of the
room.
BR: You had a nice interview in Mark
Dellas’ Traffic East Magazine that was done by Luanne diBernardo and featured in
2008 (Issue 12 2008). Quite the storied career. Tell us again what
life in Buffalo is like for you.
SULLIVAN: Ahh…life in Buffalo is like a large
palate of paint. Various inspirations are drawn from different places
and things-especially the various talented musicians I’ve worked with–past and
present. Low Lamp Sessions provides me with the vehicle that allows me to pull from
different eras of my career–with the updated musicians I am working with
presently…whether it’s with my original work or the unique covers that
inspire us collectively.
BR: So you have a huge base of fans,
growing ever wider. What’s the draw?
SULLIVAN: I think the draw obviously comes from
the fact that we have a lot of fun surprising the audience with the songs they
wouldn’t normally hear from a band of our caliber. The cover songs we
select capture a mood and differentiate us from the ‘typical’–targeting
the passion people have for the music with songs people really want
to hear. I really believe people are yearning for originality and
uniqueness. People come up to me after shows and tell me how surprised they
were to hear certain songs that stirred up great memories inspired by rock
and roll and other forms of things that are closely knit to the rock and roll genre–including
country, blues, or jazz.
BR: Who are some of your favorite
artists–and what inspires your selection of ‘deep cut’ covers
that you incorporate into a Low Lamp Sessions show?
SULLLIVAN: Everyone from Todd Rundgren, to Glen
Campbell, to Jimmy Webb, to Harry Nilsson, to Jimi Hendrix–to bands like The
Faces and The Beatles…and then some. We select artists that inspired a lot of my
original work, making each show unique and “cohesively fun.”