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Cindy Cashdollar: Side of Steel |
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Written by Sigfrid Rydquist
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Tuesday, 09 January 2007 |
Cindy Cashdollar: Side of Steel
Back when they were still playing basements, Joe Russo and Marco Benevento referred to their partnership as Organ and Drums. Years later, The Duo's trademark instrumentation is still in place, yet buried beneath an arsenal of keyboards, pyrotechnics and—most importantly—well-groomed songs. If Best Reason to Buy the Sun redefined The Duo as song-oriented hipsters, than its follow-up, Play Pause Stop, cements the paired performers' reputation as studio craftsmen.
Austin’s talented Cindy Cashdollar has defined her career by playing alongside great musicians. She is most comfortable as a side person, filling in the rhythm section with her arsenal of steel guitar, Dobro and bottleneck slide.
“I love being a side person. A lot of people have asked me, ‘Don’t you want your own band?’ No, I don’t. I love the fact that you just get to sit back there and take it all in, be a part of the puzzle, because it all works together. It’s even greater when you lock in with the other people.” In 2001, Cashdollar (yes, that’s her real name) left the seminal western swing band Asleep at the Wheel to pursue multiple projects. She has connected with an incredible array of musicians from all across the musical map. She nonchalantly mentions collaborations with Dylan, Willie, Jorma and Ryan Adams.
“Ryan Adams is very hard to describe musically, which is great; that’s the kind of music I like to do. When we were recording the Cold Roses project, he very much wanted the Jerry Garcia type of steel guitar sound. Jerry played pedal steel, but with my settings and style, it worked; we found that early Garcia sound.”
Cashdollar recently finished a tour with Van Morrison and an album with Rod Stewart. “Van and Rod, it’s so great to work with them because I was a fan of theirs when I was young; it’s great to realize you’re playing with people you admire from way back when.”
Cashdollar’s talents have already graced over 40 albums, but she is always eager for another gig. “I would love to work with Bruce Springsteen. Joan Osborne, I love her. Tom Waits, Annie Lennox. If I got a phone call from any one of those people tomorrow I’d be happy.
“Someone just sent me a CD of a Mongolian artist that they want me to listen to and maybe collaborate with. I forgot the name of the instrument that they’re playing, but they think that, stylistically, slide will fit. This’ll be another entity to figure out.”
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