Kimball’s career is a-changin’
Everyone cheers when an unsung hero gets a break. After years of paying his Boston dues, guitarist Stu Kimball has recently been hired to back Bob Dylan on tour. Translation: Kimball has suddenly moved up from playing the Lizard Lounge and Toad in Cambridge to playing Bonnaroo and wherever else Dylan's so-called "Never Ending Tour" goes. He has done 30 shows so far and got to jam with Rolling Stone Ron Wood when Wood jumped up one night with Dylan.
"It's an honor, but I can't really say much more about it," says Kimball, who takes the Fifth if you probe him about the notoriously private Dylan.
Still, it is indeed an honor for Kimball, who has been one of the most beloved musicians in Boston. He has worked with Peter Wolf (co-producing Wolf's "Long Line" album), and with the Twinemen, the Laurie Sargent Band, Face to Face, Bigtown, and the Martha's Vineyard group Drawn Butter. Kimball has also backed Carly Simon.
But landing the Dylan gig -- which he got through an audition -- is the biggest break of his career. "It's always great to play with supremely talented musicians," says Kimball, who will be with the group Sunday when Dylan and Willie Nelson headline Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
Meanwhile, many Boston performers can't say enough good things about Kimball, a New Hampshire native who first came to Boston in the early '80s with Face to Face, which included singer Sargent and drummer Billy Beard, who now books the Lizard Lounge and Toad.
"Stu was like the musical guru of our school," says Sargent, who has known him since they attended high school in Hopkinton, N.H. "We don't really have to talk about playing together because we're so used to each other."
"When we found out that Stu got the Dylan gig, nobody cheered louder than us," says drummer Billy Conway of the Twinemen. "Just being near it has been enough for all of us." (Kimball came back and joined the Twinemen last week at the Middle East.)
"Stu is one of the most soulful musicians I have ever played with," says saxophonist Dana
The self-taught Kimball started playing guitar at age 10 and then became hooked on Jimi Hendrix, the Stones, and the Beatles. "I've always gravitated to players who made their instrument talk," he says. "When I was younger, it was Hendrix. And it's always been Keith Richards of the Stones. And one of my favorite modern-day players is Mike Campbell with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers."
Kimball's history with Dylan actually goes back to 1985 when Kimball played guitar on "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky," a track on Dylan's "Empire Burlesque" album. Kimball also played with some of Dylan's backup musicians when they assisted on Wolf's last album, "Sleepless."
"I first met Stu back in the Face to Face days," says Wolf, whom Kimball considers his best friend. "We've shared many long nights together playing music until dawn and then doing it again. He's a comrade in arms."
Rush update: Rush just released an eight-song EP of cover songs called "Feedback," which has been a pleasant surprise. Rush revisits tunes it did in the early days by the Yardbirds, Buffalo Springfield, Love, and Blue Cheer. "We did [the EP] in 2 1/2 weeks, which is usually the time it takes to record one Rush song," says guitarist Alex Lifeson. "To capture the mood of the '60s, we set up candles, lava lamps, old rugs, and a dirty couch in the studio." The group has added four of the songs to its live show, coming to the Tweeter Center Thursday.
Bits and pieces: Lenny Kravitz at the Tweeter Center Sept. 22. On sale tomorrow . . . Brian Wilson will perform "Smile" at the Orpheum Oct. 14. No ticket details yet. . . . Tonight: Indie-rockers the Picture at the Paradise . . . Tomorrow: The Boston Horns at the Common Ground, Andrea Echeverri at the Middle East Downstairs . . . Sunday: Bryan Adams and Mr. North at FleetBoston Pavilion, and the "Reel Blues Fest" with Dickey Betts and Koko Taylor at the Cape Cod Melody Tent.
