Published September 1, 2005

It’s not every day that a genuine bluesman drops in on the KSVY studio to hang out and play a few riffs, but such was the case on Tuesday, August 23rd, when guitarist Ron Thompson came to Sonoma for just that.

Thompson, who toured in the 70s with John Lee Hooker, has performed with the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Jimmy McCracklin, Percy Mayfield, B.B. King, Etta James and Jimmy Reed, not to mention rock and rollers such as Mick Fleetwood, Chris Isaak, Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt. He’s currently playing with his own band, the Resistors, and took some time to stop by Smokin’ Joe Herrschaft and HounDoug Thompson’s “Wakin’ Up with the Blues” show.

When asked why he decided to visit the show, the slide guitar master simply said: “I listen to their show. I enjoy their show. They play the kind of music I like.” Ron Thompson, who lives in the East Bay, had been streaming the show through ksvy.org on his computer, and had communicated with the show’s hosts about coming to the studio sometime — but Herrschaft and HounDoug Thompson were surprised Tuesday morning to read an e-mail saying he was on his way. “So we weren’t really prepared,” Herrschaft said, “but we weren’t gonna say no.”

Despite the pop-in, the hosts had a blast. “Doug and I love slide, and having this guy play slide guitar in our studio was really flattering,” Herrschaft said. “I think the guy’s the best blues artist in the Bay Area.”

Herrschaft, who plays harmonica, related a story about performing with a band in San Francisco after Ron Thompson had taken the stage. “He came up, by himself, and tore the whole place down. ... It’s like following Jimi Hendrix. After that everyone wanted to go outside and smoke and talk about how great he was. You just don’t want to follow an act like that.”

It all started when Thompson was just a boy, and his sister brought home a Jimmy Reed album called “Found Love.” “I listened to it over and over and over again, till I wore the record out. I had to get another copy of it. And it influenced me so much.” Thompson said.
Thompson brought his guitar with him into the KSVY studio, and showed off his talent with the slide between chatting with Herrschaft and HounDoug Thompson. Some consider Ron Thompson to be one of the best slide guitarists in the world; he’s also known to blow a mean harmonica, rock out on keyboards, and sing his guts out. He claims he goes into a trance every time he takes the stage.

“It’s the essence I’m talking about,” Thompson said. “You get it going on. Ever seen James Brown? It’s the essence. It’s like the word. It’s like a religious experience — go see a real heavy preacher who really gets it going, good band and everything, same thing. That’s what I’m talking about.”