Seth Lee Jones – “Walter”
Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Seth Lee Jones song “Walter,” from his forthcoming album Tulsa Custom, which is due to be released via Horton Records on May 17. Tulsa Custom was recorded at Teegarden Studios in Tulsa, Oklahoma; engineered and mixed by Brett Baldwin; and mastered by Ryan Foster at Foster Mastering.
“Walter” is Seth Lee Jones on guitar and vocals; Bo Hallford on bass; Matt Teegarden on drums, tambourine, and shaker; and David Teegarden, Sr. on shaker.
This song is a tribute to Steve Pryor, a fiery legend in the Tulsa music scene. Bluesy and with change-ups, this song is classic and channels a little of Jimi Hendrix mixed with that Tulsa sound, blended within Seth’s delivery. A groovin’ tribute to the hard livin’ talents of folks we’ve lost too soon, and based on a story of Pryor’s mercurial entrance a time (or two) at the studio. “50 watts of Marshall, sounds like God on fire / kingsnake he a comin’, hide under your couch / There’s a lock on my gate, but it doesn’t mean I’m not home.”
“Walter” is about the late Steve Pryor, a legendary Tulsa musician. I had a few instances with him showing up in an unruly state, unannounced, while I was working in my home shop. The habit prompted the lock on the gate. One time in particular, he came raging around the corner on his Harley up into my yard, just as I had closed up from a long day in the shop. Not having the energy or patience to deal with him I dropped to the floor and crawled under my couch. I had a big picture window in the front room that made it impossible for me to hide anywhere else at the time. He’d bang on the door and yell ” Areyou in there, Seth?” and smoke a cigarette and sit on the stoop on the porch. That went on in rotation for probably 20 mins till he gave up. There were times that I just didn’t have it in me. Once you let him in you never knew how long he’d stay or in what state he would be in. A brilliant and tormented person, Steve could be wonderful or terrible company depending on the day. I miss hearing him. I borrowed a ‘61 Strat from Larry Shaffer (legendary Tulsa promoter and former owner of Cain’s Ballroom), a favorite of Steve’s, for that track. The last time that it had been out of the case was for Steve to play it at Larry’s office on the west side. I play this song live on Steve’s Blonde Mary Kay Strat that I acquired a couple years ago. It’s got a bit of the boogie man in it. – Seth Lee Jones
Listen to the album and order it too, here on BandCamp: https://hortonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tulsa-custom
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Seth Lee Jones “You Gonna Wreck My Life”
