Legendary Guitarist Allan Holdsworth Finally

Finds Time in the Studio

Allan Holdsworth has waited a long time for this. The
legendary guitarist says he doesn’t work well under
pressure and even gets scatterbrained when he’s back
and forth between the road and the studio, so he hasn’t
had a creative season like he’s enjoying now for a very
long time. At work on a new set of songs for fans via his
new PledgeMusic campaign, “Tales From The Vault” will
give fans their first new full set of songs from Allan in
several years. And no one is more relieved than the artist
himself.
Where and how did PledgeMusic first enter the
picture?
My manager Leonardo ‘Nardini’ Pavkovic of MoonJune
Music, and his associate John McCracken of John
McCracken Music Group, who is now the project manager
of my PledgeMusic campaign, introduced me to the idea. I
wasn’t sure at first, because I thought it might be
something like I felt like I was taking advantage of people.
I really didn’t want to do that, because I always felt my
fans in particular were extremely loyal. I didn’t want to try
to take advantage of them in any way.
However, after I made a trip to New York and met the
Pledge people, I realized it wasn’t that way at all. It was a
really great idea. So I changed my mind. I realized it truly
works for everybody. It gives the fans a chance to feel like
they’re contributing and it turns the fans into the record
company. So I definitely changed my mind on that.
You’ve had such a great response so far. Were you
surprised?
I’ve been really overwhelmed with the response actually.
I’ve felt really moved. I had to sit down and say, ‘Holy
smokes.’ I really was touched and moved by the amount
of people who have come forward. It’s inspired me even
more now, because instead of just working on my own
time, I feel this responsibility. It’s given me this kick in the
butt, you know?
Is that nice to have that inspiration, too?
It’s been such a long time since I’ve put out a studio
record. I haven’t done anything since the The Sixteen Men
of Tain when I put out a studio record. Three different sets
of sessions with different people have never seen the light
of day just because of personal circumstances, so now I
feel like I’ve been given a golden opportunity to get on
with it and get something finished.
The real beauty of it for me is instead of having to work on
10 tracks or whatever and then wait until the album is
finished, I can actually deliver them as they’re done. I can
do one and send it out and do that one by one by one and
eventually they have the whole record.
You said it’s kicked you in the butt, but you also
sound excited.
It’s taken a weight off of my shoulders not having to go on
the road all of the time and then have to move into the
studio. When I go on the road, you move into a totally
different mode completely. I always work hard to get back
to the music so I can work on it. I’m just so pleased to
have the opportunity to focus on just one thing, since I
usually get scatterbrained.
I don’t work well under pressure, unfortunately. Some
people do. I’ll talk to musician friends and they’re pretty
good at working under pressure, but I don’t. I kind of fold. I
get to a point and then I just can’t keep at it. I realize it
won’t be good, so I’m trying not to do that this time.
How long since the music has felt like this for you?
I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life, except
maybe in the ‘80s in the old days. Back then, you’d be
given an advance for the record. But you also know that
was the only money you were ever going to see, or at
least for me. You’d get an advance and then you’d have to
use that to pay the guys and also use it to survive until the
record. Then when it was out, it’d be great.
For me, I was just happy to have the music out there.
Typically you never really saw anything after that from the
record company. Of course, you’d still get royalties from
the songs, but because of the kind of music, it wasn’t on
the radio every day. So I can’t thank my fans enough for
the chance to do this. It’s amazing.