Edison Herbert Guitarist: Influences and Career Opportunities

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

This week’s guest is the British guitarist Edison Herbert, who plays melodic and soulful groove-based music that will lift your mood. We are featuring his compositions from a couple of his albums and you’ll learn about his personal journey in music that has led to his career as a full-time performer. He talked to me about some of his mentors and influences including George Benson, and his perspectives as a Black artist navigating the music scene in the UK. I found him to be warmly engaging and candid and we circled around to topics that impact all of us, such as dealing with self-knowledge, creativity, and the need to be persistent and keep true to what’s important to us .

Edison Herbert Website: https://edisonherbert.com/ Can you buy me a coffee through Paypal to support this channel and this series? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website (link here takes you to Video, Podcast and Transcript): https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/edison-herbert

Video of I Wanna Wake Up with You on Edison Herbert's YouTube: https://youtu.be/_vJk8MNuFSA?si=1VyD8fjZd7AiemEi Did you know that this podcast is in Season 4, and that I send out a weekly email newsletter where you can get access to Sneak Peeks of upcoming guests and be inspired by highlights from the archive? Newsletter sign-up: https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:26) Edison’s start in music (05:12) Edison’s albums (07:21) I Wanna Wake Up with You (13:39) Unforgettable Nat King Cole, US tour, grant funding (19:11) touring life in the UK, different aspects of music business (23:18) intro to Is She Is She Not (24:29) excerpt from Is She Is She Not (26:12) George Benson (31:35) musical influences Wes Montgomery, Grant Green (33:23) Loves in Need of Love Today (38:09) please support this independent podcast! thanks (38:47) Black musicians in the UK, African diaspora Black music traditions, racism (45:13) Edison’s family (46:17) musical influences in Edison’s style (48:55) Edison’s guitars (50:10) Guildhall school, Randy Brecker, London jazz scene, Guildhall (54:36) school teacher experience and deciding to pursue music (56:51) staying healthy as a musician (01:01:57) advice for learning a musical instrument and creating a music career