[ATTACH=CONFIG]198497.vB5-legacyid=8460[/ATTACH]Vancouver, BC – Almost 3 decades ago Jim Heath was the sound guy for a couple of venues in Dallas, Texas. Then, one propitious night he stepped on the stage, spontaneously played Johnny Cash’s famous prison song and morphed into his alter-ego The Reverend Horton Heat. Since that night Jim Heath, as The Reverend Horton Heat, has been proselytizing in his high energy, colorful punkabilly/psychobilly style for an average of 120 shows each year channelling his message through vocals and lead guitar. He is currently accompanied by Jimbo Wallace on upright bass and Paul Simmons on drums.
Eleven albums and several movie, television and video game soundtracks later, The Reverend is currently working on the band’s new album for Victory Records. “This is the first album that I’ve recorded mainly myself and it’s been a blast. I’ve done a ton of research to get here over the last two years especially.” This time around he has found particular inspiration in Radial Engineering’s 500 series gear. “The Cube (3 module chassis) is my first 500 series product. I figured that even if I get a full 8, 10 or more 500 series rack, the Cube will always come in handy. I can easily take it to my house or on tour.” The Cube features a convenient and removable carrying handle specifically designed to support its portability.
His Cube is loaded with two Radial modules. “I love the Komit (Compressor/Limiter) on guitar and vocals and the TankDriver (Pro-balanced spring reverb interface) is great for me as I use spring reverb. I can record the reverb separately with the TankDriver and have more control. They are both all over our new album.”
A Radial SGI (High performance line driver) is also a fixture in his studio. “I got to meet the guitar techs for the Doobie Brothers, and saw they had an SGI. I asked what it did and the lightbulb went on. Now that too gets used all the time. I use it in the studio so I can run the amp off in the next room. That’s been a lifesaver on the new album. I can just be in the control room without headphones and the amp is 30 feet away just cranked.” In fact, the SGI will drive the signal up to 300 feet without signal quality loss.
Just as it is certain The Reverend will have a trunk full of stylish pulpit worthy stage costumes and a jar of super-hold hair slicking gel in his tour kit, he will have his JS3 passive microphone splitter close at hand. “One send goes to my dedicated in-ear monitor (I just put my vocal only in there with an EQ) and the other goes to front of house and the monitor desk.”
The Reverend believes his reverence for Radial is a little like preaching to the converted. “Since I found Radial, it’s amazing how I’ve discovered just how pervasive Radial is. Everyone knows you make great products.” Still, it’s great to get the good word from The Reverend himself.
The newest album from Reverend Horton Heat is expected to be released this fall and touring continues as it has for years, almost perpetually. So, how does The Reverend keep his alter-ego persona fresh? The Reverend confesses, “I don’t keep it fresh, I run it into the ground. Ha ha.”
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