Wednesday August 27th, 2003

Earl Slick dishes out David Bowie's 'Reality' at Poughkeepsie Show

Earl Slick, David Bowie's long-time guitarist, has been in rehearsals in New York City for several weeks, and on Tuesday, Aug. 19 he got to flex his musical chops for Bowie's upcoming "A Reality Tour." The full band including Slick, Gerry Leonard (guitar), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass/backing vocals), Sterling Campbell (drums), Mike Garson (keyboards), Catherine Russell (backing keyboards/backing vocals) and the ever-versatile Bowie previewed songs in support of his new album Reality at The Chance, a small club in Poughkeepsie (Upstate New York). The world-wide tour - Bowie's first in a decade - launches October 7 at the Forum in Copenhagen, with the North American leg set to touch down in December.

Slick is set to bow his own solo album in January 2004 featuring Bowie's vocals on "Isn't It Evening," a song they cowrote. Robert Smith of the Cure, Roy Langdon of Space Hog, Joe Elliott from Def Leppard and Martha Davis from the Motels also make guest appearances on the eclectic collection of songs. The album, Zigzag, features six vocal tracks and four of Slick's instrumentals.

"It's all over the place, it's much less of a rock album than people might expect from me," Slick says. "It's got its intense moments, they're there, but they're a little different."

Slick's current guitar for the road is a black Gibson Les Paul Standard with a Bigsby, which he uses on more than 50 percent of the Bowie show. He's also taking out a Les Paul Classic Double Cut in bullion gold, an Epiphone Jorma Kaukonen Signature Model Riviera Deluxe, and his Firebird.

"I have a very basic way of playing the guitar, and it's all emotion-based," Slick explains. "I think it's just the essence of that, that street thing - it just comes naturally to me, that's how I play the guitar."

A Reality Tour will play to more than one million people while visiting 17 countries over a seven-month period. Watch for periodic updates on Gibson.com, as well as special sneak peaks of Slick behind the scenes and news about his forthcoming album. The Gibson/Baldwin Player will have a full feature on Zigzag in December.

To visit Slick's web site, go to www.slickmusic.com. For more details about Reality, as well as a sound bites from the new album, visit BowieNet www.davidbowie.com.