A couple months ago, we got to know a hot young blues guitar player in this space.
This month, and in the spirit of The W.C. Handy Fest, taking place as I write, it seemed only natural to visit with the man who blazed the trail for so many aspiring local guitar players, Mr. Tommy Stillwell.
Tommy is an Evansville Icon. He has played guitar for 38 years and has been playing professionally since 1973. Even after years of playing across the country and overseas; sharing stages with so many of his personal heroes, he still plays with a passion that one needs to experience to appreciate. For all the raw energy of his stage presence, Tommy “unplugged” is an easy going man of straight talk and quick humor, who speaks with ease and clear forethought on a wide variety of subjects. From his many stories of life on the road, to politics, the plights of the disenfranchised, to College basketball and his beloved Kentucky Wildcats, he is a man who carries a passion for life and his music with pride and a sense of predestination. And don’t mistake his focus or any apparent lack of “wordiness” as being unfriendly or aloof. His sometimes quiet demeanor is merely a guard against his innate inability to quit talking once he begins.
Born and raised in Cloverport, Kentucky into a musical clan, “Family reunions and Holiday gatherings were like being at The Grand Ole Opry,” he says. No one in the family was a percussionist, so his musical life began as the drummer in the family band.
The small town setting would have a major impact on his life, and eventual career path. “In a town that small, you were either into athletics, or car racing; either on the dirt track or on the street. I went to a lot of funerals, including a 16 year old kid in my class who died in a racing accident.”
In an effort to keep him off the streets, and his interests close to home, his mom had a building constructed in the backyard, complete with a pool table, a drum set, guitars, amplifiers and a P.A. system. Her plan worked, and he spent considerable time in that building as a kid. “Had I grown up in a larger city there’s no telling which direction I might have gone or what might have caught my attention,” he says.
By age eight, he was playing his church band and playing at tent revivals for $5 a night. He would watch the preacher play the guitar and one day a thought struck him: “If I can see it, it can be done - If it can be done, I can do it.” On a sleepy Kentucky back road late one night, with the preacher driving and his mom riding shotgun, Tommy awoke from his back seat slumber, gazed down at the guitar case on the floorboard; opened it, and started playing the guitar.
Not long after, while scanning the AM radio dial, one evening, he tuned in a Memphis station and “It sounded like the radio was going to blow apart.” He had stumbled upon Southern Gospel music influenced by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Rev. Al Green, and in short order, became a “Gospel Junkie.”
The mutual love of music would take Tommy and High School buddy, Larry Grisham from their original 2 piece band playing at teen centers to a progression of working bands, including “Stillwell,” The Phonz, and The Beat Daddys and most recently, the Amazing Soul Crackers. Grisham introduced him to guitarist, Terry Sartor, who Tommy credits as being his biggest influence, and “The most talented man I’ve ever met. He caused me to totally rethink the mechanics of playing guitar.”
We are fortunate to have a musician of Tommy’s caliber in Evansville, and it’s an honor to call him my friend!
In his own words-
On his music:
“I play with a lot of emotion because that’s all I have. It’s what makes me get out of bed each morning. You gotta play like it’s your last day on Earth, or why do it at all? There’s nothing like being in the zone; up on your toes, head back, just seeing the positions of the notes in your mind. I enjoy what I do, and am blessed to be able to do what I love for a living every day.”
On life in Evansville:
“I’ll take it over Nashville or LA any day. The clubs here are much more musician friendly than the big cities.”
“I’m excited about the new arena downtown and what it can do for the community. It will be a showcase and a catalyst for driving the arts community. With The Centre on one side and The Victory just down the street, I can envision something of a Beale Street effect along the walkway. People leaving a basketball game or a concert in an atmosphere that makes you feel good about dressing up and going out on the town. Take a stroll along the walkway; stop and check out a live music venue, a jazz club, cigar bar, or an arts shop.”
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Credit | Mark McCoy
