“Eric has a rare combination of chops and presence,” Vai told GP for a Favored Nations sidebar in his July 2005 cover story.

Sardinas’ fourth full-length offering, Eric Sardinas and Big Motor, is his second for the label. His first, Black Pearls, was produced by legendary Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer, and it peaked at number 11 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart in 2004. In 2006, Sardinas appeared on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell III, and Walter Trout’s Full Circle.

Eric Sardinas and Big Motor marks the first CD with his current touring band of Patrick Caccia on drums and Levell Price on bass. They come on like a sonic muscle car on songs such as “Ride”—with Sardinas’ resonator roaring through a Rivera stack—ease back the throttle when Sardinas mellows the mood, and strike a nice balance on the breezy “Going to Memphis.” Sardinas’ impressive 6-string range is fully showcased on the powerful album closer, “As the Crow Flies.”

Can you explain how your early development led to your current style?
I had toy guitars when I was a kid growing up in Florida, and I saw my first concert when I was six. It was Elvis with Ronnie Tutt on guitar, and that inspired me. I’m left-handed, but I learned to play righty. I never took lessons, so I wasn’t corrected, and my fretting-hand approach is unorthodox as a result. I have a rapid-fire technique, because my left hand is my strong hand. I use two Dunlop Trigger capos, because if I use just one, I’ll tear it off the neck. I wear my signature Dunlop Preachin’ Pipe brass slide on my pinky, and I work it into chords and scales by hammering-on to whatever note I’m hearing and feeling. I play lots of single-string runs that incorporate bare fingerings and slide hammer-ons almost interchangeably. I’m not technical—I just play.

Describe your plucking approach.
I pluck all the high-end stuff with my pinky and ring finger, and I use my thumb for strums and alternate bass-line picking. I have a hammer-claw technique using a Dunlop medium-gauge thumbpick, and a National NP2 nickel silver fingerpick on my first finger. I use electrical tape to keep it on. Flatpicks never felt right to me when playing blues.

Did acoustic blues players inspire you from the start?
I listened to everything. I’ve always appreciated players who blur the lines and push the guitar forward, such as Johnny Winter, Angus Young, and Zakk Wylde. I discovered the blues by going backwards. I bought records by Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and I worked my way back to Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. I started on a classical acoustic, and I played hollowbody electrics until I got a resonator in my early teens. I ended up twisting the electric and acoustic sides together when I drilled a pickup into it.

How do you feel about your place within the blues idiom?
I’m not trying to wear overalls. I play my kind of blues based on my inspirations. It’s a very natural and honest fusion. People talk about my clothes too much, but there’s nothing that’s not real about the way I dress or play. When you stand with one foot in the blues world and one foot in the rock and roll world, you get a lot of criticism. It doesn’t bother me at all.

Is there an original Delta bluesman that you feel embodied the position you’re in now?
Mississippi Fred McDowell had some slinky grooves and a heavy sound. He would play “Shake ’em on Down” totally acoustic, or with a Gibson ES-335 plugged into an overdriven amp, and both versions would be great. I really enjoy his solid rhythms and his ability to mimic the human voice with his slide.

Can you share any insights about your primary instrument, and how you amplify it?
I play custom Dobros made by Gibson. My main one is a roundneck, wood-bodied cutaway. The volume knob is on the top left side, because I’m left-handed, and it’s all I need to control the tone from a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker that’s voiced to sound like a Danelectro single-coil. I run the signal through a Dunlop Uni-Vibe, a Dunlop 95Q Crybaby wah, and an MXR ’74 Vintage Phase 90 into a Rivera KR55 Knucklehead Reverb powering a Rivera 4x12 and a Rivera Los Lobottom sub cabinet. Achieving the right balance of overdrive while dealing with feedback is different for every instrument. Chris Whitley got incredible results electrifying steel-body resonators, which I only use acoustically onstage.

How did you capture your tones in the studio for Eric Sardinas and Big Motor?
We recorded live in close proximity to capture the feel of the band. I was in an isolation booth with a big tube mic pointed at my guitar, while the amp was full bore in another room with close mics and room mics. After we banged out a solid take, I would address the vocals and contribute other guitar parts. In the mixing process, we’d find the right balance of electric and acoustic tones, or fade in and out between the two.

What’s going on in the introduction to “All I Need”?
It’s in an A minor tuning, and there are five tracks of resonator feedback swirling around. The rumbling effect was done on bass. I used a steelbody to get that tin-can sound before the band kicks in. I wanted just the trio on the first song in order to keep the continuum with our punchy live sound.

You close the CD with a cover of Tony Joe White’s “As the Crow Flies.” How did you approach your rendition?
I discovered “As the Crow Flies” by hearing Rory Gallagher pick the hell out of it on a steel resonator, and then I discovered Tony Joe White. My version is in open E. It starts with an Indian-esque piece that fades out before I strip it down to just resonator and vocals before the band kicks in. I used a lot of building and tearing down processes to tell the story. I wanted to take the listener out of the record the same way I started it—through the swamp.

How would you describe your current relationship with the traditional blues camp?
It’s nice to be a part of the strong blues touring circuit, and have the blues-rock side out there, as well. I’m flexible. I can break it down to the acoustic, or I can bring it all the way up with Big Motor, depending on the situation. I wouldn’t bring a Rivera stack to a coffee shop, but it’s fine if I’m opening for Johnny Winter. If I’m opening for B.B. King, then I’ll play my blues in an appropriate way for the venue and the audience. That’s why I have “Respect Traditions” tattooed on my back.