Bluesman Colin Linden’s new From the Water starts casting its spell immediately. The title cut, which opens the disc, introduces the adventurous guitar textures that color most of its 14 songs. Especially when the solo arrives. It’s a dreamscape of delay laden, real-time reversed slide that’s perfect for the love song’s lyrics, which drip with magic realism. And it’s played on a guitar that’s become an important part of Linden’s arsenal since it was presented to him by Gibson Canada’s Tina Simpkins in 2003: a Custom Shop 1956 Les Paul Goldtop VOS.
The P-90s propelled tone machine makes several important cameos on the album and also plays a major role in the evocatively titled “Between the Darkness and the Light of Day.”
From the Water is in part a tribute to Linden’s late friend and keyboard player Richard Bell, a veteran of many of the Howlin’ Wolf protegee’s 11 solo releases and 70 album productions. That accounts for some of the disc’s moodiness and otherworldly sonics, which are not usually a hallmark of blues recordings. But Linden’s roots go in all directions, from his core orientation as a Delta-blues inspired finger picker and slide man to the kind of aural playgrounds often conjured by his peers and pals Daniel Lanois and T-Bone Burnett.
“The way an electric guitar sounds acoustically tells you everything you need to know about it,” Linden says. “How it responds, what the wood says, the way the neck vibrates in your hands — that’s more important information than what pickups can tell you. And my Goldtop sounds beautiful unplugged or plugged in.
“The Goldtop is so incredibly responsive I can use it in many contexts,” he continues. “I used it on tour with Emmylou Harris last year, although she’s known mostly for having Telecaster players. I used a Telecaster a bit, but my primary guitar for the tour was the Goldtop. And since I play with my fingers, I really don’t have to alter the tone or volume controls much to get what I want. It’s super responsive to my hand tone.
“When it comes to classic guitar tone, there’s nothing better than Hubert Sumlin playing a Goldtop,” he notes. “Really, some of my favorite guitar sounds are made by players who prefer a Les Paul with P-90s, like Neil Young and Daniel Lanois.”
For his singing, versatile slide playing, Linden prefers a five-eighths Sears Craftsman wrench socket. “That’s how I’ve made my living for the past 30 years,” he jokes. And his Gold Top is strung distinctively: . 13, .14, .15, .30, .40, and .50, with medium action to accommodate slide and regular fingering.
Other Gibsons also appear on From the Water, including Linden’s beloved 1956 LG-2 acoustic. Using a Baggs magnetic pickup, he often runs the six-string through amps, which allows Linden to deploy various effects. His favorites are Boss DD-5 and Line 6 DL-4 digital delays. He also used an Analog Memory Man pedal to enhance the character of some of From the Water’s vocal performances.
“When you’re in the studio as much as I am, it becomes your home,” Linden observes. “So you want to challenge yourself to find something new. Effects pedals, amplifying acoustic guitars through amps, treating vocals — those are all ways of meeting that challenge.”