Meet Ghalia Volt, the electrifying solo blues band
While many bands have been away for the entire Covid pandemic, Belgian blues guitarist Ghalia Volt had a ready-made solution for traveling with a band when countries started to reopen: she simply became one herself. -same.
Volt got the idea to go solo after a stint in the bars of Frenchman Street in New Orleans. She would create percussion by tapping with her left foot and hitting a tambourine with her right foot, without skipping a note or slipping on her guitar.
It proved a liberating creative experience that led to his 2021 album, A bunch of women.
“It becomes like a kind of free-form art,” Volt says. “You work at your own pace and at your own pace – if you want to slow down, just because it feels good, you slow down and no one will watch you.
“Do you want to rush a little because it’s better?” You can do that too. I just play what I want to play. It has this real, authentic feel, like it’s really raw.
When it came time to take her solo show on the road, Volt would call ahead at each stop on the tour and organize drumming and a trio of guitar amplifiers as she traveled by train, then carpooled to the concerts. .
Her rambling background in punk, garage rock and psychobilly – not to mention her bus days back home in Brussels – freed her to pursue music in her own way. This streak also carries over to his taste in gear and tones.
My old Kraftsman is so mean – I love it. It’s a single tone and it’s like destroying everything
Volt is drawn to the gnarly, buzzy tones she gets from vintage gear like her 5-watt Fender Silvertone 1471 amp and her 1967 Old Kraftsman hollowbody guitar. You can hear the latter coming straight through an Airline guitar amp to achieve the deep, textured fuzz sound. A bunch of women stand out it hurts me too.
“It’s got this big, fat sound,” she says. “It’s so mean – I love it. It’s a one-mic tone and it’s like destroying everything.
Although Volt is working on her third full-length album for a tentative fall 2022 release – a project she describes as “pop-‘issippi,” a modern, more accessible take on Mississippi Hill Country blues with twists and varied percussion – she hasn’t given up on her one woman show.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll keep doing it,” she said. “I think it’s actually very entertaining, but I miss the band performances too. So I will continue to do both.