Alan Iglesias says his Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute Crossfire is more a “recreation” than a tribute. “Looks, appearances, and body language are extremely important if you want to present a world-class act,” he says, “but never at the expense of musicianship. Actually, the two are entwined, I think. I explain it this way: It’s perhaps not so important that I try to look and sound exactly like Stevie looked and sounded — although I certainly give that a lot of effort — but, rather, to strive for a situation in which I am feeling some of the same things that Stevie was feeling when he played a live show.”
While interviewing Iglesias, I point out that some musicians resent his ability to sell out shows on the strength of SRV’s reputation, while all-original bands have difficulty landing gigs.
“On one level,” he replies, “I don't blame them a bit. But these days, the people you describe are going to be typically a lot younger than me, and are already considering me a musical fossil anyway. They have a wonderful chance, like I once had, to break into an industry in which the vast majority of current popular music speaks to them and the material that they are creating. This will never again happen for me. So I say to them ‘fight the good fight’ and, if they’re lucky, they will have wonderful, soulful music like Stevie’s, and perhaps an audience who cares, to play when they are old and washed up.”