Doug Pettibone has worked with everyone from Jewel to John Mayer, but his time with Lucinda Williams has defined his career. “It’s been the greatest gig for me,” he says.
“She was the first artist who told me, ‘Just play – be you.’ Before that, people were like, ‘Can you play like this?’ and you had to emulate. But Lucinda allows musicians to bring the music and have it be a part of her whole thing.”
He reflects: “I’m most proud of [2003’s] World Without Tears. I did all the guitars on that record. She said, ‘Just play what you play,’ and that record represents what I do.”
Williams recently added Marc Ford to the band, forming a two-headed monster with Pettibone. “There’s absolutely no ego,” he says. “The more successful somebody is, the less they have to prove. You get all that shit out of the way and get down to the music.”
You studied jazz and classical guitar early on. How did that shape you as a player?
I started sight-reading when I was 10. That helped me learn adult chords and time signatures that weren’t the standard stuff on the radio. I don’t really play classical anymore, but I do work the fingerstyle stuff into my playing. Sometimes I’ll have a pick and I’ll put it between my fingers and fingerpick, just for a different texture.
Is it true that Andy Summers was your guitar teacher?
Yeah. Ernie Ball’s Guitar Store had two shops where I grew up, and that’s where everybody went for guitar lessons. I was 8 and Andy was my first guitar teacher – to me he was Mr. Summers with a funny accent!
He’d come over from London to study jazz at Cal State University, and to make extra money he’d teach guitar. I had a really crappy guitar and I was learning folk songs; but the only thing I really remember about him is that he was my first teacher.
Years later, I ran into him at NAMM. I was with a friend, and I said, “Hey, check this out!” I go, “Hey, Mr. Summers!” He was like, “Yes?” I said, “Did you ever teach guitar at a place called Ernie Ball’s? You were my guitar teacher!” He goes, “Oh, yeah; your mom used to drive you to lessons.” I was like, “What have you been doing since then?” He got a kick out of that!
How did you make the jump into session work?
I was in an original band out of university, and this guy Dusty Wakeman, a great friend who produced some of Lucinda’s early stuff, watched us one night. He wanted to do a development deal, so we went into the studio in Burbank and did three songs. He liked what I did, so he started pulling me into sessions.
I got the Spirit tour after I was recommended by the guitar player on the album. I toured with her for probably a year and a half. We started working on her next record, but she ended up going with a producer in Nashville who brought in all his guys, and that was the end of that.
But it was insane. It was my first big tour. We’d be walking through an airport and she’d be on the cover of every magazine on the newsstand. She couldn’t really go out and hang. But she’s really cool, a lot of fun, and really musical. I had a blast. Great band!
After that, you worked with Tracy Chapman and then got the gig with Lucinda Williams.
Yeah, Tracy Chapman was my second big gig. Shortly after that I got a call to audition for Lucinda. I’d been turned on to her music by an ex-girlfriend’s mom. It had really interesting guitar parts – Gurf Morlix, Charlie Sexton, Buddy Miller; all those guys were playing on the records. It was a really cool mixture of Americana.
The parts were interesting and simple, but also complex and rootsy. And on top of that you’ve got her poetry, her fantastic stories, and her voice. When I saw her I was like, “Oh my God – she’s amazing!”
How did you get the gig?
Her bass player, Taras Prodaniuk, told me she was looking for a guitar player. But he said he couldn’t recommend me, because the last guy he recommended got fired! I really wanted the gig, so I looked at all her records to see who played on them and who produced them; and by this time I knew most of them.
So I called them all and said, “Can you do me a favor – call Lucinda and see if I can get an audition?” I guess everybody called her that same day! She was like, “I think it’s a sign from God. We need to hear this guy.”
Her manager called me, and he was kind of pissed off for whatever reason. He goes, “Why do you think you’ve got to audition with Lucinda?” I’m like, “Well, I don’t think I have to. I’d like to.” He goes, “The audition is in Nashville tomorrow.” I go, “Cool – I’m here in Nashville!” I happened to be there rehearsing with some of the guys from the Mavericks, a band we had that was going to Europe for a tour.
How did he react to that?
He goes, “Well, there’s 45 songs you’ve got to know by tomorrow.” But because Taras had told me about it about a month and a half before, I knew all the songs. So I said, “No problem!”
I went down to the audition, but I didn’t think it went well at all. I kind of messed up because I’m not great at auditions. But after two songs, Lucinda was like, “Oh, my gosh! This is perfect. You’re the one!” Then she said, “We’re leaving next week.” I said, “Well, I’ve gotta go to Europe.” So they got another guitar player to take my place for two weeks, and then it was perfect.
Lucinda had gone through a number of guitarists before you joined. What’s kept you coming back for more?
She gets what I do; I get what she does. It’s as simple as that. It’s a great match musically and spiritually. But I took off for a while – I was with her for 10 years, then I went and worked with other people.