EXCLUSIVE: Liz Lenten is on the road with Jefferson Starship, and is telling us all about it...

Well, as regular readers will be aware, Jefferson Starship are currently on tour with Auburn as support act. And as regular readers will also be aware, I have a very soft spot for Auburn, and so I have been keeping in touch with the lovely Liz who is giving the Gonzo Daily exclusive backstage reports from the tour...

JON: How is the tour going?

LIZ: It’s great, it’s really nice.  I am absolutely loving it.  The fans have been just delightful.  You know, when you are a support band your expectations are nil basically – everything is a bonus, but they are just so warm and so generous.  They have been inviting me up to sing with them on their last song – I have been getting up and singing with Cathy

JON: Wow, what song have you been doing?

LIZ: Volunteers in America. I have been standing up next to David and mouthing next to him, whatever he is singing and singing along with him and then Cathy came over and we shared a mike and did a bit of girlie thing together which has been good fun.  They are just delightful, honestly – I’ve never, ever had such warmth and generosity from a headline band.

JON: You know, that was the song they sang at Altamont?

LIZ: Yeah apparently it was, and I have been warned that they might ask me to get up every night at the end which I would be delighted to and apparently sometimes they do With a Little Help from my Friends – the Joe Cocker version - as well so I’ve got that to come.

JON: It sounds absolutely magical.

LIZ: I know…. it’s been, as I say I can’t get over it really. Normally your moment is the bit on stage and the rest is just a night, not a nightmare you know – that’s your 99% perspiration and your 1% joy, but the whole tour is delightful and I’m loving it all.  Acoustic is a new thing for because we have been doing the full band change so this is a new line up and we’ve changed some of the arrangements to make them work acoustically and I’m delighted with how that is and I’ve got a lovely crew and we just … we feel like we’re on holiday.

When we were in Edinburgh the sun was shining and as I say the Jefferson team are absolutely lovely. We have a giggle with them and it’s all been going very smoothly so far. Granted we’re only three days in, but it’s been absolutely wonderful.  I’m just settling in to the institution of touring really.

JON: I didn’t realize it was a new lineup of the band

LIZ: Well it’s interesting actually.  My original guitarist who I did my first album, not Indian Summer,  with … the guy we did Indian Summer with, the producer, he couldn’t get away and so I contacted Gus (Mark Gustavina ) my old writing partner and my old friend and he came to New Orleans with me and he and I did the acoustic set in New Orleans at the Blue Nile Club and so he’s come along on this tour and Jevon who is the bass player on the Indian Summer album who’s also in the full band lineup, so it’s just me and  Gus and Jevon that’s why I am playing a lot more guitar than I normally do so we’ve got a nice jangly sound. As I say we’ve changed some of the arrangements slightly so they work well acoustically so it’s very vocal led as opposed to being instrumentally, you know it’s really all about the vocals which is pressure, but lovely. And I am enjoying vocalising. You know, there’s a lot of space. And yeah, it’s working. Well according to the audience reaction it is working. 

JON: That’s brilliant. What I am going to do if I may – because I am going to try to keep up the momentum…if I give you a ring in a few days time and see how things are going...

Check out the Auburn Gonzo artist page
...and check out the Gonzo Artist Page for Jefferson Starship you know it makes sense