Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • "Worst rap album in history"
  • Superbooth 2025
  • Eilish vs Radiohead
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Stevens with Idol
Artists “The last thing Billy and I wanted to do was retread and say, ‘Hey, let’s do another Rebel Yell.’ We’ve already done that”: Guitar hero Steve Stevens lifts the lid on the new Billy Idol album
Claudio Sanchez
Artists “There’s a tape delay on one song - Van Halen used it on Eruption”: The weird old gear inside the new album by Coheed And Cambria
Joe Bonamassa plays a vintage Gibson Les Paul SG equipped with a Maestro Vibrola. He wears a gray patterned suit and sunglasses.
Artists “He seems to access a different part of his vast library of music genre from the jukebox-in-his-head! This album is a round-the-world musical trip”: Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
Joe Satriani wears wraparound shades as he jams onstage with old friend Steve Vai. Both are fretting a barre chord, both playing their signature Ibanez guitars.
Artists “Joe is on fire! What better inspiration can you get?”: Steve Vai describes the “craziness” of his new music with Joe Satriani
Michael Thompson
Guitarists “All Strats aren't equal… Then it’s how you smack it, or zing it or strum it… A lot of it is that too”: Session guitar legend Michael Thompson reveals how he created the famous clean tone that’s on countless '80s and '90s hits
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors
Artists “I used the snare drums I played on those early records, including the snare I played on Two Princes”: Why the Spin Doctors are still rocking with the same old gear they used in the ’90s
Phil X
Artists “I never would have approached anything associated with suicide for a song, but after I heard about Chris Cornell’s passing I wrote that lyric”: Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X digs deep on his new album
  1. Artists
  2. Singles And Albums

Jim Campilongo talks new album Last Night, This Morning

News
By Guitarist ( Guitarist ) published 12 August 2015

The Tele king on his Honeyfingers collaboration

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The sessions

The sessions

New York’s premier Tele-meister gives us the inside story on recording with Western Swing outfit Honeyfingers...

The sessions

“I love country music that’s based on the principles of Bach: I mean a Buck Owens ballad, or the Texas Troubadours. It’s just beautiful. And a couple of years ago, I went to see Honeyfingers and I was knocked out by how great they were - they were doing music that I thought that only I knew!

"Luca Benedetti [Honeyfingers guitarist] was just a wealth of ideas, and the rehearsals for this record were so much fun"

“And not doing a ‘historical’ presentation of it, either - there was kind of a newer vibe to it, where people were being themselves but still adhering to the importance of the melodies and the harmonies and the right groove and so on.

“Luca Benedetti [Honeyfingers guitarist] was just a wealth of ideas, and the rehearsals for this record were so much fun. We had this regular gig at a vodka distillery, in the lobby where people wait to go on tours and drink. But we got paid a tiny bit and there was an audience and we’d do it every week.

“And we really pushed it: we’d do a song three times in a row, we’d stop in the middle and go, ‘Hey, maybe you ought to go up a third...’ So, we ended up basically rehearsing a lot together and so when we did go into the studio, it was 99 per cent live, because of that.

“We recorded it at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, which is a great studio a few blocks from where I live. It was a great room and I had eye contact with everybody - I felt like we were playing together.

“Some of the things I played I wish were better - and yet they were live, and they had a great energy that was of-the-moment. So because the engineer, Aaron Nevezie, was so proficient and the session had such a great vibe, I kept 99 per cent of my stuff, although initially I had no intention of doing so.”

The Guitars

“Basically, I played my ’59 Telecaster through a Silverface Princeton Reverb, and because I thought that I was gonna end up overdubbing things later, that was it. I never thought I was gonna bring, like, 40 guitars, because that isn’t my style - but that was it.

"I always get a direct line out of the original sound and put it through an amp that I’d probably never play through"

“So we spent some time on my sound and, as usual, we mic’d the back of the amp and the front of the amp and I got the amp in a good space. It wasn’t in a closet, it was in a nice-sized room, so there was also a room mic. Afterwards, when we mixed the album I re-amped it, which I always do.

“I always get a direct line out of the original sound and put it through an amp that I’d probably never play through: some big old, heavy amp. I think it was a Fender Super [an 18-watt, 6L6-equipped evolution of the Dual Professional model]. And so we’d add a touch of that if we needed it.”

Page 1 of 3
Page 1 of 3
The Tones

The Tones

“The Silverface Princetons are cheaper but the classic Princeton Reverb sound, for me, is a Blackface with a 60s Jensen goldback speaker, specifically the C-10N.

“I almost hate to mention that because they’re getting so expensive! The more advanced the speaker alphabet as in Q versus N, the less wattage capacity [efficiency] it had, so the C-10N is a really robust speaker. But the Q sounds good, too.

"I’d always go for the Silverface, although I’m not enthralled by those blue-back speakers, so I actually put Celestions in"

“For affordability, I’d always go for the Silverface, although I’m not enthralled by those blue-back speakers, so I actually put Celestions in and I bias them really hot, so it’s like a different amp.

“It’s more overdriven - I’ve used Silverfaces set up like that on Dream Dictionary and Orange. And you can really hear it on Blues For Roy. On American Hips and the others I used the Blackface, and it’s a little bit more of a traditional sound. It’s funny, about a month and a half ago, I switched back to the Blackface and I’m kinda enjoying the intimacy of it.”

The Mix

“We mixed 15 tunes in four days and I always pretend I can do that - but then it takes, like, one day to do 90 per cent of one song!

"But Aaron Nevezie, the engineer, is a guitarist and he was really musically educated"

“But Aaron Nevezie, the engineer, is a guitarist and he was really musically educated, so I could say, hey, at the end of the ‘B’ section when the diminished lines comes in... and he’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’m there.’

“There was no translating to do. Not that I was there like Nelson Ridell going like, ‘On bar 152...’ [laughs]. But in the past, I’ve been frustrated by engineers who didn’t know what I meant when I said, ‘That part where it goes to the minor chord’. So mixing went quickly, too. It was great.”

Page 2 of 3
Page 2 of 3
The Lessons

The Lessons

“At first, I actually wasn’t sure if I should make this album, because it was a bit of a departure.

"I didn’t know what to expect. But now I’m super-happy with it"

“But then I thought of Bill Frisell, who I have a lot of respect for, and how he’s always doing something different, so I like that - and this is my 11th record.

“But then I thought, ‘I don’t know, jeez it’s gonna be strange - there’s so many soloists,’ and I didn’t know what to expect. But now I’m super-happy with it.”

The Verdict

“I really have enjoyed the project - it was easy, it was fun, there was humour and commitment - everyone really cared. And I’d say I’ve listened to this record more than any record I’ve ever made, which I rarely do with my own music.

"One of my favourite parts of the record is a tune called Splitsville and I play a pretty good solo"

“There are a few things we did that are about as pretty as anything I’ve ever done. Sweet Nothings, for example, is a really nice song. I couldn’t have done that as a trio. And I loved what Luca played, what Gianni played and what Roy played.

“One of my favourite parts of the record is a tune called Splitsville and I play a pretty good solo and then Roy does this solo on gut-string and it’s just great! I’m kinda like waiting for my solo to end so I could hear his!”

Last Night, This Morning by Jim Campilongo & Honeyfingers is out now on iTunes and Amazon.

Page 3 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Guitarist
Guitarist
Social Links Navigation

Guitarist is the longest established UK guitar magazine, offering gear reviews, artist interviews, techniques lessons and loads more, in print, on tablet and on smartphones Digital: http://bit.ly/GuitaristiOS If you love guitars, you'll love Guitarist. Find us in print, on Newsstand for iPad, iPhone and other digital readers

The magazine for serious players image
The magazine for serious players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Stevens with Idol
“The last thing Billy and I wanted to do was retread and say, ‘Hey, let’s do another Rebel Yell.’ We’ve already done that”: Guitar hero Steve Stevens lifts the lid on the new Billy Idol album
Claudio Sanchez
“There’s a tape delay on one song - Van Halen used it on Eruption”: The weird old gear inside the new album by Coheed And Cambria
Joe Bonamassa plays a vintage Gibson Les Paul SG equipped with a Maestro Vibrola. He wears a gray patterned suit and sunglasses.
“He seems to access a different part of his vast library of music genre from the jukebox-in-his-head! This album is a round-the-world musical trip”: Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
Joe Satriani wears wraparound shades as he jams onstage with old friend Steve Vai. Both are fretting a barre chord, both playing their signature Ibanez guitars.
“Joe is on fire! What better inspiration can you get?”: Steve Vai describes the “craziness” of his new music with Joe Satriani
Michael Thompson
“All Strats aren't equal… Then it’s how you smack it, or zing it or strum it… A lot of it is that too”: Session guitar legend Michael Thompson reveals how he created the famous clean tone that’s on countless '80s and '90s hits
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors
“I used the snare drums I played on those early records, including the snare I played on Two Princes”: Why the Spin Doctors are still rocking with the same old gear they used in the ’90s
Latest in Singles And Albums
Singer Joey Ramone (1951 - 2001), of American punk group The Ramones, backstage at the Paradise Theater (now the Paradise Rock Club) in Boston, Massachusetts, 22nd March 1978. In the background are bassist Dee Dee Ramone (1951 - 2002, centre) and drummer Tommy Ramone (1949 - 2014).
"At first the tension was unbelievable. Johnny was really cold, Dee Dee was OK but Joey was a sweetheart": The story of the Ramones' recording of Baby I Love You
Bob Marley and the Wailers
"Reggae is more freeform than the blues. But more important, reggae is for everyone": Bob Marley and the Wailers' Catch a Fire, track-by-track
Joe Bonamassa [left] plays his Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard and wears a bright blue suit and polka-dot; Sammy Hagar [right] wears shades, a black Cabo Wabo T-shirt and plays his red Gibson Explorer with white pickguard.
“The thing came out good... the track is a monster!”: Joe Bonamassa and Sammy Hagar team up for surprise single Fortune Teller Blues
beyonce album cover
“Part of a beautiful American tradition”: A music theory expert explains the country roots of Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em, and why it also owes a debt to the blues
prince
"It may have bothered him that people didn’t recognise his guitar virtuosity, which might be why the song devotes so much space to his shredding": A music professor breaks down the theory behind Prince's When Doves Cry
Gwen Stefani
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
Latest in News
Michael Jackson
“It’s not technically hard - a third-grader can play these bits. But on the spot? That’s kind of the difference”: The guitarist on Michael Jackson’s I Just Can’t Stop Loving You on how he found the right moments to play his “little earworms”
Guy Garvey in 2008
“We threw strings at the track and it exploded”: How a pop anthem turned into a wedding song favourite
Gary Kemp
“I’m not even sure what size venues I can play. I don’t know what I can afford, and if it would just be me blowing £100,000 on something to give me pleasure": Gary Kemp admits that even big names can’t afford to tour
Liam and Noel Gallagher
"This is very much the last time around”: Make the most of the Oasis reunion says the band's co-manager
Roland DrumLink
Roland's V-Drums go wireless for new simple and seamless WT-10 sensor and DH-10 hub DrumLink system
m-track duo
M-Audio upgrades its M-Track Duo budget audio interface with "pro-quality" converters and USB-C connectivity

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...