Paul Rodgers - Electric Legend Rocks On... Page 3
By Martin Popoff

Being an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, how finished do you make the songs before you present to the band? "Well, what I like to do is have the structure pretty much there. But I keep an open mind, because even at that point, I know when you add all of the instruments you are adding so much to the structure, the ABC chord structures. You need to be on your toes. It's a very fascinating process. I could come along with an acoustic song, which is generally what happens, or an idea on the electric guitar or the piano, and then listen to the guys' input, and adjust accordingly. For me, I'm really a singer songwriter and I use the acoustic guitar and electric guitar and piano as vehicles for songwriting. I think I'm passable on all three, and on bass too. But I don't spend the time to become a virtuoso. There are too many great, great guitar players that I could just call and have them do a much better job than I could. So what I like to do is formulate the structure, the actual construction of the song and let the musicians fill in accordingly."

Now's your chance to catch what Paul's talking about, given that the man and his crack backing band are on tour across America at the moment, reworking the classics and penning new ones in the process. For tour dates and bio information, go to www.paulrodgers.com, but don't miss catching live one of rock's original royalty. You never know when, or if, it will be your last chance.