Cindy Cashdollar Slides IntoAdelaide

Tue 27th Nov, 2007 in Features

From Woodstock to Austin, one of the most in-demand dobro and steel players, is Cindy Cashdollar. Bringing her talents to Australia for the first time for the 1st Annual Adelaide International Guitar Festival (23Nov-2 Dec 2007) our ears are going to be ringing happily to the tones of her playing. On her latest, and her first, solo release the apropos, Slide Show, Cindy was joined by a myriad of players and quite a few of them were fellow slide players. Listening to her with Lucky Oceans, Mike Auldridge, Sonny Landreth and others and the results of these recordings are simply dazzling. Cindy caught up with me from her home in Austin and I asked her if she had any other studio forays planned.

“I would like to do another CD and I would love to do it in the same way as my last one. A lot of people are asking me aren’t you going to record one by yourself? And I just think it is way more fun to have all those other people playing on there. It is also so rare to get to play with other slide players. I mean no one has two slide players in a band, or it happens very rarely, I should say. So I would like to use and play with some people I did not play with on the last record”, said CIndy.

On Slideshow, besides the slide players, she has John Sebastian and Marcia Ball doing some vocal work and also the contributions of Jorma Kaukonen on a cover of his ‘Living In The Moment’ from his most recent release, ‘Stars In My Crown’. Jorma and Cindy will both be in Adelaide for the festival and will be joining forces at least once during the Hendrix Tribute Concert on the last evening. As Jorma said to me earlier in the month, they will solo and solo and solo….

Cindy spent nearly a decade as a member of one of the best exponents of Texas Swing in the world, Asleep At The Wheel, which was formed by Lucky Oceans and Ray Benson back in some apple orchard in the – œ70’s. But prior to that long time gig with A.A.T.W., Cindy was sought out by the – œcountry Stevie Wonder’, as Bob Dylan called one John Herald. John was a founding member of The Greenbriar Boys but was also heavily linked into the folk scene of the sixties when people like Dylan, Ramblin’ Jack and others were on the streets and cafes.

“Well just being in Woodstock helped and I think at the time that he(John Herald) called me he was looking to put together a new band and he needed a dobro player and he had seen me playing around town a little bit and it was a great 5 years. I had traveled a little bit while working before. but I think with John it was the first extensive touring and TV I had ever done. So I covered a lot of firsts playing with him.”

“It was also interesting because in some areas he was labeled as a bluegrass singer and player, but not really, I think he was a little bit more left of center of bluegrass and I was thankful for that. He embodied a lot of the folk styles of New York from the early 60’s that I had become very familiar with growing up in Woodstock That whole genre of that style, plus the bluegrass element, made it a comfortable transition for me to have my first touring, full-on musical experience with John.”

And those days of playing bluegrass and country were an education for Cindy. I re-called seeing her in Brooklyn back during that period, I think actually it was during the renaissance of folk in New York during that early – œ80’s period. The outdoor gig was not that well attended and I think it also had a fairly unknown folkie on the bill at the time by the name of Suzanne Vega. But who knows if my memory serves me well. But if you do not know the late John Herald, check out his website and some of his recordings for some tasteful songwriting and picking.

As mentioned, Cindy went on to Asleep At The Wheel where she honed her pedal steel playing and also developed a following that has made her the in demand player she is today. If you are a fan of Ryan Adams, Van Morrison, or even the Bobster, Bob Dylan, you have heard her play in the last decade adding some great riffs and solos to each one of these songwriters albums and tours. So when I asked Cindy what some of the highlights of her career have been, I sort of knew what I was going to hear.

“Playing with Ryan Adams was such a great musical gig because there was so much stuff there and I always felt Ryan was a brilliant songwriter. I loved the people in the band and I loved the material on ‘Cold Roses’ and it was geared to, well Ryan wanted the Grateful Dead sound. I enjoyed being in a band where I could just play loud. I think it was the kind of gig that I wanted for a long time where I was able to stretch out and cut loose a little bit. Ryan is aware of everything and it’s not like just the songs. He is aware of the lighting and visuals and all of that stuff when he tours. It was a lot of fun”, said Cindy of her time with Mr. Adams.

And the Bobster, or Mr. Dylan as some call him?

“The Bobster (laughs) was a really wonderful experience. He was a very generous man in the studio and he had genuine concern after the tracks were cut of asking everyone what did you think, listening to playbacks and how do you think that sounded, I just found him to be a joy to work with all the way around. What a brilliant man!”

“Each track went by very quickly. We were not presented with charts or anything and we were run through the songs twice, and it was all done live. Then we would cut the tunes a few different ways, and looking back on it, I don’t think it was that quick. The brilliant thing about him that I had not experienced in any other studio setting was that he would try a song in different tempos or feels and styles, so sometimes there was more time spent on tracks then others just settling into a key and figuring out what key it sounded best in. It did not feel fast it just felt like a perfect pace for what we were doing at the time. Even though it was live, it never felt rushed”, Cindy recalled.

That was 10 years ago on ‘Time Out Of Mind’. More recently she played with the one and only Van Morrison and this brings real joy to her voice when she talks about this connection.

“Getting to work with Van Morrison was a wonderful highlight! I recorded a couple of tracks with him for a CD that is being released next year and I have no other details on what label, when or anything, just nothing. Working in the studio, as well as touring, with Van was just incredible. I had seen him when I was 12 years old and he had performed in Woodstock because he lived there. So, I had not seen him since then , live, so when I got to meet him and I asked him about that night in Woodstock and said, – œWell you probably don’t remember but I saw you when I was 12 at this little venue’ and he remembered everything!! He remembered where the concert was and he remembered it was a benefit for John Herald because his house had burnt down. Meeting him was certainly a highlight in comparison to my initial viewing of him when I was very young”, Cindy laughed.

But highlights abound for Cindy and she is more often then not finding a glimmer of them when playing in the old clubs in Austin or jamming with friends and musical buddies alike. For her first trip to Australia, is there anyone in our country she would like to play with or hear?

“I am looking forward to hearing Jeff Lang and I just got the CD he did with Chris Whitely (‘Dislocation Blues’) and I have never seen him play so I am very much looking forward to that, said Cindy. Let’s hope they get up and share the stage together as I am sure if the opportunity avails itself, it so will be! I fantasise of having Jeff, Jorma and Cindy on the same stage doing maybe Death Don’t Have No Mercy...please!

Cindy will be playing at the outdoor concert Slideshow on the 30th of November (with Lucky Oceans, Roy Rogers, Bob Brozman and others) in Elder Park and the tribute to Hendrix concert Kiss the Sky at the same location on the 2nd of December. For certain she will be jamming with Jorma at that show and whoever else wants to trade licks with her will find a willing and eager partner I am sure!

Besides those events she will be talking at the Chicks With Guitars seminar and also doing 4×20 minute one on one workshops with 4 lucky students, but those 4 spaces are already sold out!

The Adelaide Guitar Festival is on now until the 2nd of December and don’t miss it if you love the sound of fingers on strings and for the opportunity to see some of the top players in the world in one location in a fairly intimate setting. I can’t wait to be there for the second half of the event! Get me down there soon!