The Fogged Clarity Session
Watch Lewis & Clarke frontman Lou Rogai play Lee Clayton’s “Silver Stallion” in a stone-wrought chapel.
Lou Rogai on his process and covering Lee Clayton: “I build Lewis & Clarke songs around what I write on guitar and piano. If I were to play solo guitar without any accompaniment or arrangement, it would be in the finger-picking style of traditional American songwriters. This style is now being called “American Primitive”, the patron saints of which are John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Though it seems to be fashionable at the present moment, I’ve been playing this way all of my life and was inspired to do so by those great pickers before me. There are only a few rare moments in Triumvirate (Lewis & Clarke’s forthcoming album) when the American Primitive style pokes through the arrangements; because of this, it’s not always evident that it is, in fact, a finger-picked guitar that lies at the very skeletal structure of most of the songs. “Silver Stallion” is a nice break away from the arrangements I’ve been working with and a nod to the unsung Lee Clayton. If it were not for The Highwaymen covering him in the 80’s, and Cat Power again in the last decade, most folks would never have heard of him. Cheers to you, Lee.”
***You can preview and pre-order Lewis & Clarke’s forthcoming album,”Triumvirate” here.