The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma has a rich musical history: Bob Wills, Leon Russell and his Church Studio & Shelter Records label, J.J. Cale, Dwight Tilley, David Gates from Bread, and even the GAP Band.
Seth Lee Jones was born and raised in the city. And—after moving away for a bit to study custom guitar building/repair and then returning—has now spent almost three-quarters of his nearly 40 years living there. Though he admits he really wasn’t exposed as much to that music history early on as one might just assume.
“There’s more of a resurgence for that [history] now than when I was a kid. It’s come back into vogue, particularly around here. The Church Studio has become a tourist attraction. They even have a statute of Leon out there now!” Jones says.
“And as people pass away, their remembrance can even be bigger than when they were alive. But growing up, we focused on more modern music. I had to seek things like that [older music] out later.”
Well, the singer/guitarist has certainly absorbed some of those Tulsa Teachings, as evident on his second full length album, Tulsa Custom (Horton Records). It’s a blues-rock drenched effort for which adjectives like “down and dirty,” “gutbucket” and “earthy” can easily emanate.
For Tulsa Custom, Moore also luxuriated in the more relaxed and lengthy recording process. He recalls that he felt pressure to record his 2021 debut album, Flathead, in just a day and a half’s time (though he recalls that it only actually took eight hours).
This time, he says, there was more studio time to find tones and he had access to better equipment, including some vintage mics and guitars on loan.
“I said more time, but it was only about four more hours. Twelve or thirteen at the most!” Jones laughs. “I was trying to walk with a bit of purpose when I did Flathead, whereas this one was a little more relaxed. Mainly because of my own comfort level with being in the studio. Now, I’ve done about a half a dozen music projects for other bands there.”
The album was recorded in Tulsa’s Teegarden Studios and features Jones’ regular band, Bo Hallford (bass) and Matt Teegarden (drums), along with guests Chebon Tiger (harmonica) and Matt’s father and studio owner David Teegarden on percussion. David has also worked with Bob Seger, J.J. Cale and Joe Walsh.
Tulsa Custom focuses on Jones-penned originals like the burning “110” and “All That I Ask.” “Good Dog” was inspired by a family pet that showed heroism while protecting a cat during the 1984 Tulsa flood. And “Walter” pays tribute to a colorful local Tulsa guitarist, Walter Stephen Pryor.
Opening track “110” came directly from Jones’ own experience playing a local bar that had some, well, electrical issues.
“It had really bad power in it. So, the song is a subtle way of talking about playing there. Plus, the toilets didn’t flush, and the floor was sticky,” Jones recalls. “And you got less than 110 [volts] from the wall! So, I no longer play there, for good reason!”
That said, since there can’t be that many dive bars in Tulsa, does Jones think the owner of said establishment has heard the tune and made the connection?
“Probably, at this point! But it’s water under the bridge!” Jones laughs.
But there are also some interesting choices in covers, including Little Jimmy Dickens country novelty tune “Bird of Paradise” (as in “fly up your nose”) and blues harmonica master Little Walter’s “One Chance.”
There’s a Houston connection with his choice of King’s X’s “Mr. Evil.” The Houston-bred hard rock trio only broke through briefly to the mainstream with their early ‘90s records Faith Hope Love and King’s X (and singles “It’s Love,” “Black Flag,” and “Dogman”). But they’ve always been favorites of Jones.
“That was a good song to pick from them. My parents were both King’s X fans and I grew up listening to that stuff from when I was a child! I’ve met Dug [singer/bassist Dug Pinnick] a handful of times working the NAMM [National Association of Music Merchants] convention 10 years running. And I always made a point to find out wherever he was, with that huge high hair,” Jones says.
“I love that guy’s playing, and he’s my all-time favorite vocalist. Their records are always playing here in the shop, and those guys hold a special place in my heart.”
Ah yes, the shop. Jones also has one other big area of his career that he says actually pays the bills, far more than his performing career.
Seth Lee Jones is an expert luthier and guitar maker, having graduated from the Guitar Craft Academy course at Musicians Institute in 2007, while later apprenticing under John Carruthers of Carruthers Guitar as well as other clients, businesses, and mentors.
After relocating back home to Tulsa in 2011, he now works mostly out of his home workshop for repairs, restorations, and custom builds. It’s called—not surprisingly—Tulsa Custom.
To that end, he rattles off a bunch of thoughts on open tunings, altered tunings, first positions, triads, pentatonic scales, chord changes, and other deep six string details.
“Oh, And I have a freedom that other musicians don’t have. I can go out and break this guitar and then fix it the next day,” Jones says of his dual talents.
For the future, Jones says he plans on working on new music and playing larger venues to build on momentum from his band opening shows for bluesmen Robert Cray, Sonny Landreth, and Eric Gales.
Finally, Seth Lee Jones says that there is one drawback to being both a guitar builder and guitar player: The hazards of one job can affect the other.
“In the service of my occupation [as a luthier] my hands are damaged a little bit. I could no longer hold a pick with the first two digits of my hand, so I have to use a thumb pick. And the [open] tunings allow me to not be in pain when I’m playing” he says.
“I did the math and in my career of 25 years, I’ve done somewhere about 30,000 fret jobs. That’s a lot of filing and polishing. It will wear your hands out!”
For more on Seth Lees Jones, visit SLJguitarstulsa.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
