Los Straitjackets, The Hi-Risers & Nick Lowe Guitarist Greg Townson On Off & Running! (The Witzard Interview)

Rochester, New York native, Greg Townson, recently released his new album, Off & Running! on Hi-Tide Recordings. With a rotating cast of featured musicians, including members of Los Straitjackets, NRBQ, The Hi-Risers, and The J.D. McPherson Band, the new album takes a fresh look at 14 classic songs from the 50's and 60's, all written or co-written by women. On his new album, Townson shares, "Off & Running! is full of fun and unique arrangements of familiar and unfamiliar songs. All the musicians bring the dedication they have for their craft to their spirited performances." Greg Townson either currently or has previously played with Los Straitjackets, The Hi-Risers, The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, The Essentials/The Salamanders, and The Locusts. Additionally, Townson and his bandmates have been featured on recorisngs alongside Nick Lowe, El Vez, The Reverend Horton Heat, Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Blue Stingrays,) Eddie Angel, The Trashmen, and much, much more.

Off & Running! follows suit in a series of instrumental guitar-based solo records Townson has orchestrated and released with Hi-Tide Recordings, including Travelin' Guitar (2017) and More Travelin' Guitar (2019.) "Right now, I'm very excited for people to hear the new songs from Off & Running! Playing instrumentals from the new release and the Travelin' Guitar records is a fabulous way of communicating with an audience. I think the audience can sense I'm having fun and they get caught up in the fun, too," Townson shares. Greg Townson and his various bands are known for arranging spot on covers peppered with their own originality and Off & Running! is no different. Townson was kind enough to answer our zany questions about everything from Los Straitjackets to The Smiths/Morrissey. It has been lightly edited and transcribed in full down below the break. Greg Townson's Off & Running! is now available in both digital and physical formats on Hi-Tide Recordings.


I. What inspired you to record covers of 14 classic songs from the 1950's and 60's all written or co-written by women on your new album, Off & Running!?

Greg Townson: I had just finished a record of Pop songs called Just Name It and I wanted to take a break from writing. The first song for the new project, "The Locomotion," was, actually, an out-take from the previous instrumental record, More Travelin' Guitar. After that, I worked on "Out In The Streets," then, "Action Line," [and] then, "Little By Little." I suddenly realized all the songs were written or co-written by women, so I thought it might be a nice concept to do the entire record that way. In about 10 minutes, I made a list of about 25 of my favorite songs! There were so many to choose from; that became the list I worked off for the rest of the project. So, long story short, I kind of stumbled on the idea.

II. Who's part of your band that can be heard across Off & Running!?

Townson: From The Hi-Risers, you can hear Trevor Lake on drums and Todd Bradley on bass. Todd, also, mixed the record. From Los Straitjackets, you can hear Eddie Angel on guitar and Pete Curry on drums.


III. How were you initially exposed to the 1950-60's era songs written/co-written by women now, re-collected on Off & Running!?

Townson: By 45's, mostly. Either 45's or full-length records. Some songs, I heard on the radio, but I'm not old enough to have been around when the songs first came out. I'm "old," but not that "old!" When I made the list of songs, I had most of the songs on records in my collection.

IV. When writing and creating songs, how do you decide whether they fit best for The Hi-Risers, Los Straitjackets, or your solo material?

Townson: That's a good question. In general, the instrumentals either go to the Travelin' Guitar records or Los Straitjackets, the Pop songs go to my solo records where I sing, and the [Rock "N" Roll] songs go to The Hi-Risers.


V. What inspired you to release your own instrumental rendition of The Smiths' "There Is A Light That New Goes Out" on your 2017 solo album, Travelin' Guitar?

Townson: When I found out how popular The Smiths/Morrissey are in Mexico, I had an idea for Los Straitjackets to do a tribute record to them. This is before Morrissey became so controversial! I came up with that arrangement for Los Straitjackets, but we never got around to doing it, so it came out as a Bonus Song on my first Travelin' Guitar record. I had a list of songs, but I only did the one. I really like the song and it was fun to do.

VI. How did you come to get involved with legendary song-writer Nick Lowe and what is your relationship like today?

Townson: We [Los Straitjackets] have a great relationship with Nick and we look forward to working together again soon. We have a tour booked in November, so we'll see if it happens. If not, we'll be back next year. We share the same manager, so that's how we started working together. It's worked out so well. Every tour is better and better and it's a unique live show. I hope people get to see it.


VII. Aside from The Hi-Risers & Los Straitjackets, are any of your other bands (The Salamanders, The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, The Locusts, The Essentials) still together and actively making music?

Townson: Hillbilly Moon Explosion is a band I produced about 10 years ago. I produced two of their records, including the single, "My Love for Everymore," which became a big hit for the band. That made me very happy! They are still going strong. The Essentials & The Salamanders were, actually, the same band. We had to change our name from "The Essentials" to "The Salamanders" for legal reasons. It was the band Todd Bradley and I were in before The Hi-Risers. We released a record that was produced by the amazing Lou Whitney. There's a documentary out right now about him and the music scene in Springfield, Missouri. The Locusts? Wow! You did your homework! That was just a band I played drums with for one recording session. I wasn't "in" the band. Their drummer couldn't do the session... so, I did, even though I'm not a drummer! It was the first time I was on record, though. Wow, I'm amazed you know about that!

VIII. How do you go about choosing the artwork for your albums, singles, etc.? For example, what's the story behind the Off & Running album artwork?

Townson: Alison Coté did the graphic [design]. She's absolutely amazing. We have a fantastic working relationship. Her husband, Alex Coté, plays drums on the record, too. I asked my friend Jim Herrington, photographer for the all the big stars, if he had any photographs that might work. The car on the cover, actually, belongs to Mike Campbell from Tom Petty's band, The Heartbreakers!


IV. What's next for Los Straitjackets? I've noticed you guys released a string of non-album singles, covers, etc. between 2020-21.
Townson: We are slowly getting into playing live again, but won't be back full-time until next year. Hopefully, by then, it will be a safer experience for everyone involved. I, personally, don't want to put anyone at risk of having health issues by coming to one of our shows. In the meantime, we keep recording songs remotely. We are working on a song of [Eddie Angel's] right now called "April Showers."

X. Are you at liberty to discuss the meaning behind the Luchador/Lucha Libre mask you're often seen wearing while performing with Los Straitjackets?

Townson: The decision to wear the masks was made way before I joined the band. The idea was to celebrate this fictionalized, super-hero part of Mexican culture we all love. Nobody takes Lucha Libre seriously. What Lucha Libre [wrestlers] do and what we do on stage is just pure entertainment. We are all North Americans and there should be no borders when it comes to having fun. The nice thing is, because of us, there are now a dozen instrumental guitar bands in Mexico wearing masks, too. I love that. It's the opposite of building a wall between us, it's about us all coming together.