Local lad is a Sultan of Swing
- May 5, 2011
- 3 min read
Terence Reis, an ex-Kearsney boy, will front The Straits on May 22nd for a one-off concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in aid of The Lord’s Taverners – “giving young people a sporting chance”.
Reuniting for the first time in twenty years, Alan Clark, Phil Palmer and Chris White have invited Reis to fill the rather sizeable shoes of Mark Knopfler, who is unavailable on this date.
Durban-born Reis can’t remember a time that he wasn’t into music. “I remember clambering up into my mum’s car, my legs sticking out straight in front of me, so I must have been incredibly young, and turning up the volume on car radio tuned to the local rock and pop station. To this day I have clear memories from my childhood that are bookmarked by songs.”
He used to excuse himself from social gatherings, preferring to sit in his father’s car – which had the best sound – and listen to tapes. His father’s fear of a flat car battery turned to exasperation when Reis figured out a way to play an electric guitar through the hi-fi system … and blew the speakers.
During his high school years he discovered the seminal rock albums at the time and some hugely influential guitar players, from the stinging vibrato of BB King, Paul Koshoff and Alan Silson to the English lyricism of Brian May, Mark Knopfler and David Gilmour, the chugging grit of Keith Richards, the inventive flair of Hendrix, Clapton, Lindsay Buckingham and Jeff Beck … the list goes on and on. But, says Terence, it was all about the songs, and it still is.
“If it doesn’t support a good song, the guitar playing rarely means that much to me. But the songs these guys were playing were great! I clearly remember The Wall by Pink Floyd, Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull and the first Dire Straits record all being played around the same time and having a massive influence. I remember the guitar sound from Robert Palmer’s Johnny & Mary and Voyager’s Halfway Hotel making an impact.”
These musicians, he says, were his teachers – the only music lessons he ever had. His earliest memories of the guitar and guitar players were the local, finger-picking street musicians – a style that he still favours, and one employed by people like Johnny Clegg. From very early on, people commented that Reis produced a sound like Mark Knopfler, irrespective of what kind of guitar he played, and consequently he was often asked to play Dire Straits covers.
For the past seven years, he’s played nothing but his own music with his band, Waterhorse. The band has recently been in the recording studio, and Reis expects to wrap up work on the album when he returns to the UK this month.
When he got the call about the Straits gig, Reis thought it was a prank. It was the day after his birthday, and the proposition did sound rather unlikely. However, he was asked to submit a number of audition recordings, and he “busked his ass off!”
It all developed over a period of about six weeks, and as the project started to take shape and it became clear that Reis would be part of it, he was fairly prepared for what it could entail. It was only when they got together in London for rehearsals in February that the enormity of the whole thing really kicked in.
How will it feel to be standing in the wings of the Royal Albert Hall with thousands of Dire Straits fans in the audience, knowing you have to go and play the work of one of the finest guitar players in the world?
Maybe he should ask George Michael how he felt when he sang with Queen at London’s Wembley Stadium after Freddie Mercury had gone to the great gig in the sky.
I recently dumped a Genesis album because I wasn’t impressed with the Scottish bloke who replaced Phil Collins. On the other hand, Phil Collins made a successful shift from drums to frontman when Peter Gabriel left the band, and look how well Trevor Rabin fitted in with Yes.
Whether this gig will lead to others rather depends on whether the fans endorse it as a viable proposition. Irrespective of how well the band plays on the night, it is public demand that will fuel further outings.
So if you want to see The Straits in this country, get onto Big Concert’s Facebook page and petition for them.
In any case, Reis will bring Waterhorse to South Africa in August to play at Kearsney’s annual Upbeat Festival. (More details nearer the time.)
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