Guitarist Robbie McIntosh has lent a veteran hand to many big-name tours
By Walter Tunis
CONTRIBUTING MUSIC WRITER

Robbie McIntosh doesn’t often make it to Lexington. Saturday will be his fourth visit in 21 years.

But when the veteran British guitarist does make his way to Kentucky, he is in the company of some pretty esteemed pals.

In January 1986, he performed at Memorial Coliseum as a member of the Pretenders. He returned in April 1990 as part of the only local performance by Paul McCartney. He revisited Rupp in November 2004 in calmer fashion, as co-guitarist for Norah Jones.

That brings us to this weekend, when McIntosh will be at Rupp once more as part of the three-guitar lineup in John Mayer’s band.

“It’s kind of like being a jack of all trades, really. I’ve always been quite good at that,” McIntosh said by phone from Minneapolis, where Mayer’s band was on break while their boss was in Los Angeles collecting a Grammy Award.

“There’s an intuition involved in working with different people that just comes from listening to a lot of music. I don’t mean studying it from an academic point of view, but enjoying it. You’ve got to enjoy music to really understand it.”

Past and present collaborations would suggest McIntosh is a major rock ‘n’ roll player, but he is no name-dropper. During down time from touring, the Dorset, England, native has recorded three albums of his own for the Nashville-based label Compass, including Unsung, a critically lauded, predominantly instrumental acoustic session from 2000.

Still, when you look at his track record, you can’t help but pick his brain on the luminaries with whom he has toured. Fortunately, he is happy to chat about them.

His association with the Pretenders ended in 1987 after recording Middle of the Road, but he remains chums with Chrissie Hynde. In fact, they talked just before McIntosh flew to North America in January for his tour with Mayer. The reason: to give a name to an unreleased instrumental Hynde plans for a Pretenders collection. The tentative title: Ramblin’ Rob.

“Chrissie, I think, is a songwriter in the classic sense,” McIntosh said. “While there was obviously very much a rock edge in her songs, they also had this soft, rich, harmonic backing. She was a big fan of Mitch Ryder and The Stooges (Stooges frontman Iggy Pop opened the Pretenders’ Memorial Coliseum show), but one of her favorite singers was Karen Carpenter. Put all of that together and you’ve got quite a cocktail.”

The only down side of McIntosh’s ’90s tenure with McCartney was traveling while trying to raise a family. But McCartney’s tour, lengthy as it was, came with extensive breaks. After discussions with his wife, McIntosh realized McCartney’s offer to tour the world was “too difficult to turn down.”

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” he said of the experience. I grew up with Paul’s music. I used to mime it as a kid and pretend I was playing with the Beatles. Then to actually be playing with Paul as a job … well, I was very, very lucky.”

The 2004 tour with Jones was full of quieter pleasures. The volume level was lower, there was more musical room to roam within songs, and McIntosh got opportunities to play slide guitar and mandolin and even sing harmonies with Jones and backing vocalist Daru Oda.

“A lot of people think of Norah as a jazz artist. I view her more as a country artist that goes off into Americana. Her music is more rustic, if you like. She’s got such a terrific voice and is incredibly consistent. She sings great every night. So that was a thrill — to play and sing with one of the greats.”

Finally, we come to Mayer. A recommendation for McIntosh had come from bassist Pino Palladino of The Who. He was featured on Mayer’s 2005 concert album Try! and his hit 2006 studio record Continuum. McIntosh made his debut with Mayer on a high-profile, co-headlining tour last summer with Sheryl Crow.

McIntosh is heavily featured on Mayer’s new EP disc, The Village Sessions. Five of the disc’s six tunes consist of unaccompanied acoustic duets between Mayer and McIntosh.

“We get along pretty well,” McIntosh said. “I mean, I’m a bit older than John (McIntosh is 49, Mayer is 29). But you learn just as much from younger people as you do from older people.

“Also, with John, it’s very much a rock show. There are three guitarists (himself, Mayer and David Ryan Harris). There’s all that plus keyboards, a horn section, bass and drums. So it’s a pretty big sound.”

Ultimately, though, being a guitar for hire is a study in compromise. McIntosh hopes to explore more of his own guitar voice on solo albums. But working with the biggest names in pop and rock often means adjusting, complementing and, in many cases, completing another artist’s musical vision.

“As a guitar player in this situation, it’s my job to respect and reflect that musicality. I enjoy working with people. It pays the bills, too. That’s the other thing. To make money doing something you love is an enviable position for anyone to be in.”