There’s a guy you may have seen making the rounds to many Thousand Trails Resorts these days, and he is becoming a very familiar site to many of our members. Kennesaw, Georgia based international touring musician, Roger “Hurricane” Wilson, has become an integral part of the Thousand Trails family. I first met Roger when he first showed up at Verde Valley while on tour during the summer of 2006. After performing for us here to a very positive response, it seemed fitting that he should make the rounds through Thousand Trails. After doing a full tour of at least 10 parks in 2007, Roger was enlisted to help with the Club Blazer program. He has since written and recorded the Club Blazer Theme Song, contributed by way of writing articles for the www.ClubBlazer.com website, and in addition to his regular music performances, has conducted some guitar workshops for members at some of the resorts. He is booked at over 20 - Thousand Trails parks in 2008.

Roger has been playing guitar for 45 years and professionally for 35 of them. He instructed guitar fulltime for 14 years, in addition to a lengthy broadcasting career that included 10 years in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta. He averages performing about 200 dates a year nationwide, and continues to write and record.  Wilson continues to cement his reputation as one of the premier blues guitarists from the south. He’s jammed with Les Paul, Hubert Sumlin,  Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert Collins, Roy Buchanan, Magic Slim, Michael Burkes, and Charlie Musselwhite just to name a few. He’s shared the stage accompanying B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Little Milton, John Mayall, Marcia Ball, Delbert McClinton, Taj Mahal, Leon Russell, and Edgar Winter among many others. With 7 CD’s on the market, and an 8th on the way, Roger, with his band, as well as solo, is working overtime, performing 200+ nights a year.                

Legendary guitarist Les Paul lavished praise on Wilson’s playing after trading licks onstage in New York City saying, “That’s some great blues”. Spending more days each year playing live concerts than not has earned Wilson a devoted and ever-expanding following.  In fact, the amount of time he spends on the road prompted Highways Magazine in April, 2004 to note the over 250,000 miles Wilson has driven his motorhome to concerts! And the miles keep on accruing.   
 
SW:  Roger, please tell us about yourself. How did you become a musician and how did you come to embrace the blues?

RW: When I was 9, I began taking guitar lessons mainly because this kid around the corner was taking them. It seemed like it would be fun, but I had no idea what was involved. I didn’t even know that you had to press the string against the neck to change the tone. When the teacher actually showed me how to press the first finger of the left hand on the string at the first fret to get the F note, I was blown away.  

SW:  How did you acquire the nickname “Hurricane.?”

RW: My band was on tour in the summer of 1992 headed for Washington DC for some dates there. Driving along on a Sunday afternoon in North Carolina, we ran across a station playing some really cool blues, shag, and beach music. The guy was really digging into some classic stuff. Big Al Jano, my bass player and producer of my first 2 CD’s, along with drummer Butch Cooper, and I called the guy up to tell him we loved the music he was playing. He, in turn, invited us to come to the station to go on the air with him. After spending 30 or so minutes talking and playing a track or two from the first CD, “Hurricane Blues” and at the end of the segment, the DJ was folding up all of my promo with my name printed in black & white, and actually said without missing a beat, “we’ve been on the air here with Roger Miller”. Well, I’ve been used to people screwing up my name, and have been called worse, so I just chalked it up to paying my dues. Once outside the station, I looked at Al, and I thought he was going to blow a gasket. He said, “man, you need a moniker that is going to separate you and keep what just happened from happening again”. I said OK, and we got into our respected vehicles and headed north.

When we got to our hotel outside of DC, Al said, “man, I got it!  From now on, you are Roger ‘Hurricane’ Wilson”. He said he has been watching me going from joint to joint and tearing the place up for years while getting out quick to maintain my teaching and broadcasting careers. The fact that my childhood hometown was devastated by a hurricane in 1960 when I was 7 even reiterated the logic. It took a long time to get over that event. The name stuck.    
  
SW:  In addition to playing, you also are an accomplished songwriter and weren’t you also a guitar teacher at one time?

RW: After a year back in New Jersey following high school, Roger headed back to Georgia in 1973, determined to play guitar. He got a job teaching in a private studio, and eventually took it over as his own business. Success came about by teaching people what THEY wanted to learn. He named his business "The Roger Wilson Guitar Studio", and he soon had an extensive waiting list of students wanting to learn how to have fun with the instrument, as opposed to suffering with it.

SW:  Is music your fulltime profession? How many gigs a year do you play?

RW: I’ve been playing 200 or so dates for about 15 years. One year I did around 240, but the last couple of years, I more or less slacked off to about 180 or so.

SW: Please give us a brief summary of each of your releases. You self-produced them correct?

RW:

1994 – HURRICANE BLUES
Hottrax Records – Produced by Big Al Jano
A decent studio effort with some great players, horns, keyboards. Backing vocals, etc.

1996: LIVE FROM THE EYE OF THE STORM
Hottrax Records – Produced by Big Al Jano
Recorded straight to 2 track in one night. Old style recording methods used. Received good reviews.

1998 – THE BUSINESS OF THE BLUES
First self-produced effort on my own label. Part electric and acoustic studio effort. Mostly good reviews.

2000 – LIVE AT THE STANHOPE HOUSSE
Recorded live at the legendary Stanhope House in New Jersey. A great night caught on tape that is still selling well.

2002 – PASTIME
First solo acoustic effort that bodes well for my solo acoustic show.

2004 – THE OHIO CONNECTION
6th release; recorded on a mobile studio using Ohio musicians while on tour in that state.

2006 – THE WAY I AM
7th CD and 2nd acoustic release; produced by Michael Traylor, member of the legendary Captain Beefhart’s Magic Band.

SW:  Who would you consider to be your major influences?

RW: After watching Duane Allman close up in  January of 1971, I was pretty much ruined for life. I had never seen anybody play guitar like that. Seems like I felt different about everything after I left that show. Really knew what I wanted to do from that point on.

SW:  You have toured in Europe, right? Where did you play there?

RW: In June of 2001, I did a few dates in England. Later, I went back to do some dates in Ireland with Gary Moore, Omar & The Howlers and Candye Kane, as well as some venues in England. I flew back from that tour on September 10, 2001, and unfortunately the day after that, the world changed. I hope to get back sometime.
 
SW:  Who have you been onstage with that inspired you or humbled you?

RW: The early days put me onstage with Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and 38 Special. I was also good friends with Roy Buchanan, who showed me a few things. The past few years, I have become friends with Les Paul, and his son, Rusty. Whenever I go to New York now, I always stop by the Iridium to jam with Les, as well as one of Rusty’s gigs anywhere in NJ. Some other blues guys I sat in with have been Charlie Musselwhite, Magic Slim, Hubert Sumlin, and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.

SW:  You perform at a large number of festivals. Do you prefer playing at festivals or smaller intimate venues? (Not in terms of money, but crowd reaction and response )

RW: I enjoy playing wherever the people are into the music. That could be a small listening room, or a huge outdoor event. Venues that are about the music are always better, as opposed those that just amount to a room full of self-important people there for other reasons with no clue. Of course, any venue or festival that takes care of the artist is nice.

SW:  Who have you been listening to when you aren’t playing?

RW: I love the guitar. I like to listen to anybody that plays well.

SW:  You are working on your 8th CD. How is that project coming along?

RW: I am working on a 15 song CD project entitled Exodus, being produced as of this writing with a slated release of August, 2008 (hopefully).  There will be 75 minutes of music on this disc, which is an electric guitar oriented project. Michael Traylor, who produced my last CD, is also producing this one. He and I have developed a good working relationship. He seems to know what I need to do to accomplish what I need and want to. Michael is also the drummer with The Magic Band, formerly with Captain Beefheart. CB no longer tours due to health reasons, but The Magic Band still does some international dates. To round things out on this project, Michael enlisted Mark Boston, aka Rockette Morton, the original Captain Beefheart bassist. So that means that I have the Magic Band’s rhythm section on my new CD, which is pretty powerful stuff. We even recut the old Beefheart tune, “Sure Nuff n’ Yes I do, a rolling Elmore James/Delta style track, along with a couple of Ventures things. I have several originals on the project, but also pulled out a few other surprises on it that still impress me

SW:  Whom would you like to meet or play with that you haven’t already?

RW: I wouldn’t mind hanging with Eric Clapton for a little while. He has influenced many, myself included.

SW:  Any blues wisdom after many years on the road that you’d care to share with aspiring musicians who are “road warriors” like yourself?

RW: Stay focused on the music and take care of yourself.

SW:  As records sales drop, and attendance wanes at live music venues, what suggestions as a veteran musician, can you give all of us that can help us save and energize the industry?

RW: Support the guys out on the road and buy their CD’s. Also telling them how much you enjoy what they do means more than you could possibly imagine.

SW:  You book yourself, you network like crazy , work with the blues societies and fan bases …care to comment on being a spoke in the wheel that keeps on rolling?

RW: I just think that music always came natural to me, and it still does. It’s like medicine for the soul. It invigorates me and I still love to do it. I feel I’ve gotten better with age, but still have a long way to go. I was told once that there are good people out there. You just have to get in the truck and go find them.

SW:  You are active on satellite radio. How is that working for you and what do you think is the future of it ?

RW: The latest CD has gotten a lot of airplay on worldwide radio as well as satellite. Obviously, satellite can pack more of a geographical punch with just one wack. The future is there for it. I think AM & FM radio will hang around, but may go through some changes. When I was in radio, I always had respect for the local station that served its own market well as in sponsors and local sports, etc. Many local stations are taking satellite feeds because high quality local programming is tough to maintain.

SW:  I know that you have sizable European audience. Care to address that audience?

RW: I met some great folks there that I’m still in touch with. International radio airplay has been extensive for me. Now I just need to get to some of these places.

SW:  I understand you were quite an “Angel of Mercy” during one of the hurricanes that hit South Florida  in 2005 and that you collected and delivered quite a bit of much-needed supplies to that area..  Care to tell the readers about that?

RW: I just happened to be in position in Florida when Hurricane Wilma hit in October of 2005. While I rode the storm out in Orlando, I still had gigs booked in South Florida that I was obligated to make. While a few got washed out, a few hung in there, and a couple of new ones even made themselves available.  I didn’t have the heart to just turn around and go home, not while I was mobile and still able to make an impact, meager as it might be. When I was 7 years old, my childhood hometown was virtually wiped out in New Jersey by Hurricane Donna in 1960. While my town and house were 2 to 3 feet underwater, I remember what folks went through. It seems that the physical recovery was quick, but the mental impact and scars remained for years. Whenever I would, and still do return there, I can still feel effects of what happened. In thinking about that, I just wanted to try to do whatever I could do. After turning to the people in my database for help via my website, some funds started to come in. I started filling my travel trailer with basic items like water, flashlights, and various foodstuffs and paper goods that I could hand out as needed. As I ventured into the damaged areas, I realized how small I was in the great scheme of things, but how important what I was doing was to someone that needed help at that moment. That was revealed to me through hugs and handshakes I received at a shelter in Marathon, Florida. I remember how small my van and travel trailer looked next to the 5 FEMA 18 wheelers that were unloading supplies and appeared to dwarf my efforts, but it didn’t seem to matter. Although I didn’t seem to make a huge difference, I appeared to at least have made one.

SW:  Do you feel that club owners do enough to promote the artists they have booked? What would you like to see?

RW: Venues that care about the music are usually the ones that promote the best. At this point in my career, it seems that the number of joints I have to play with the salad bar on the stage, along with the bartender being clueless of music booked that day, is diminishing. Not totally, but let’s hope the trend is headed that way. Unfortunately, usually gigs booked closest to home are the most trouble to deal with. As I complete this interview, I am in the middle of my Florida winter tour, with a slight West Coast diversion I take every year to The Tattoos & Blues Festival in Santa Rosa, California. This has been an annual event for me since 2002, and it has just transcended into a pleasant yearly reunion each February with friends I have made in Northern, California.

SW: How have your experiences been at Thousand Trails?

RW: Thousand Trails has been a wonderful experience. I have made some great friends through the resorts. Last year I toured Snowflower, Thunderbird, Pacific City, Idyllwild, Pio Pico, Verde Valley, Lake Whitney to name a few in the West, and Peace River and Chesapeake in the East. This year, there are repeat visits as well as new resorts. I’ll be doing Moody Beach in Maine, and Timothy Lake North in Pennsylvania, and work my way west for a wonderful tour. My sets, along with the Club Blazer program should make for some good times. Folks can find out more by going to www.hurricanewilson.com and clicking on Thousand Trails, and also by visiting www.myspace.com/rogerhurricanewilson1000trails.

SW: Thanks, Roger. As you know, we’ll run into one another soon along The Thousand Trails.

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