Al Laughlin Rides on Highway 50

(Al Laughlin and Highway50. Photo by Andrew Wyatt. www.durtysanta.com)

Is your latest recording the Violet Project the first official release for Highway50? 

No it’s our second release. Our first was a 16-song recording done in Atlanta and Boulder with no horns and I played most parts. Violet is an EP.

Where’d you get the name for the band?

I got the name for the band from running out of gas on Highway 50 in Utah (the “loneliest road in America”).

When did you first move to Colorado and where are you from originally?

I’m originally from the Boston area, from a town called Chelmsford. I moved to Boulder in 1987. I later moved back to Boston and then all over and eventually back to Colorado.                                    

What was your last year playing in the Samples and how did you segue musically into Highway50 after that?

I believe I left [the Samples] in 1997. I had always wanted to do my own project and I had some tunes from the long break that I took from music. I think I naturally carry on some of those melodies from being on the road with those guys. Most Samples fans seem to dig Highway50 too.     

What’s your songwriting process like? How do ideas for songs come to you?

No formula, but I do a lot of lyric writing as my own therapy, mostly about life and my experiences. The music can come first or second. 

I’ve heard you play a couple Samples covers in Highway50. How much of your repertoire is original music and how much of it is Samples’ material? Do you play any other covers?    

Highway50 is about 80 percent original, and even The Samples tunes that we do I helped write. I mostly play those on long gigs. Sometimes we’ll do an English Beat or a Specials cover . . . I mostly just enjoy original music   

How’d you come to link up with guitarist James Hambleton?

I met James through his brother Charles [the original guitar player for the Samples]. James told Charles it was 70 degrees and sunny in Boulder and so Charles rallied Sean [Kelly] and Andy [Sheldon] from Vermont and they moved out here to start the Samples [in 1987]. James lived at 14th and Euclid in Boulder and when we started the Samples we practiced and played there. James has always been a great player.

I know you are a reggae and ska fan. Who are some of your favorite artists from those genres?  

Desmond Decker, the Skatalites, Bob Marley, Uroy, Sly and Robbie, Bunny Wailer, The Specials , The English Beat, Bad Manners (all English)  there are so many going all the way to American ska today —  like The Toasters and Bim Skala Bim.

Who are some keyboardists that have influenced your playing?

Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Tyrone Downie, Earl “Wya” Lindo and  Keith Jarret.

Any big shows planned for this summer?

I’m currently shopping for booking agents, but  until then all shows will be listed on Hwy50.com . We’ll be doing shows from Colorado to Cape Cod this summer.