Feature Photo: Malskl2, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Jim Suhler grew up in the city of Dallas, Texas. His upbringing in the great state of Texas obviously had a major impact on his love of the blues and all the great guitarists who have come from the Lone Star State. Jim Suhler is one of them himself. If you have ever caught a George Thorogood & The Destroyers show in the past 25 years, you would have seen Jim standing on stage next to George as the two musicians would light it up night after night. Jim spoke to me about his role as a sideman and the comfort he finds in it. Nonetheless, if you ever caught one of the shows, you would not forget those moments when Jim stood up front and let it rip.
Jim Suhler’s musical career reaches far beyond the Thorogood platform. In 1991, Jim Shuler formed the fantastic rock and blues band Monkey Beat. It’s a group that showcases Jim’s songwriting, iconic guitar playing and his stellar vocals. His band Monkey Beat has released around fifteen albums. However, the focus of our interview was on another band that Jim Suhler put together called Texas Scratch.
The band Texas Scratch has just released their first album entitled Texas Scratch. The band was formed many years ago, in 2009, but the road from completing the studio album to official release can sometimes be paved with many obstacles. The band is made up of a group of hard-working musicians who are often pulled in many different directions. And let’s not forget the pandemic that turned the world upside down. Nonetheless, the album is out, and it’s simply killer.
The band Texas Scratch consists of Jim Suhler, Buddy Whittington, and Vince Converse on guitars slinging it out. The rhythm section consists of Jeff Simon on drums and Nathaniel Peterson on bass, keeping it all together while laying down a groove that lets the guitar slingers blow the roof off the house. The pedigree of this band is off the charts. Jim Suhler has not only been a member of the George Thorogood band and his own group Monkey King, but has also performed with an endless list of legendary artists, from Elvin Bishop to Steve Miller and so many more.
Guitarist Buddy Whittington played with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for fifteen years. Vince Converse was a member of Sunside Heights and his recent group Jim Converse and Big Brother just won the Colorado Blues Society Competition. Jeff Simon is an original member of George Thorogood and the Destroyers going all the way back to 1973. Nathaniel Peterson was a member of Savoy Brown.
It was wonderful chatting with Jim. I’m from New York City, and Jim is from Dallas—two of the most different places in the United States. Yet, Jim made me feel like I was his next-door neighbor. Thanks for the chat Jim!
You can find the album and more info on Jim at his website below.
Jim Suhler Website
Jim Suhler: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023
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