Here's Lou Pallo, the longtime guitarist for The Les Paul Trio, in a recent video interview shot in the Guitar World studio.
In the first video below, Pallo recounts his early years playing behind a host of big-name singers, including Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Al Martino and Jane Mansfield.
He also discusses meeting and playing with Les Paul for several years at Fat Tuesdays in New York City — not to mention recording with Keith Richards.
In the video below, Pallo discusses his upcoming album, Thank You, Les, which features guest appearances by Slash, Steve Miller, Billy Gibbons, José Feliciano, Nokie Edwards, Arlen Roth and Melinda Doolittle.
In this video, Pallo discusses his band, The Les Paul Trio, which performs regularly at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City.
He also gets into detail about the Gibson Lou Pallo Signature Les Paul — only 400 of which were produced and hand-numbered. It features an Ebony Black finish with natural back and sides and pearloid block inlays (including a "Lou Pallo" signature inlay at the 12th fret). It has a carved maple top on its mahogany body, a rosewood fingerboard and chrome-plated hardware.
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There's a P90 single-coil pickup in the neck position and a Gibson Dirty Fingers humbucker in the bridge position, routed through the traditional controls.
Below, Pallo discusses becoming a better guitarist through adversity, including knowing several other chord positions in the event of a broken string (or two). He also mentions the importance of knowing how to transpose on the fly — and how you'll only improve as a player if you play with superior guitarists.
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
