Les Claypool Hearts Stompin' Tom Connors

OK, if you're any kind of Les Claypool fan, you already know of the juggernaut-thumbed bassist's teenaged fascination with our own Canadian monster of the bass, Geddy Lee.

But as ChartAttack found out from a sit-down with Claypool before his sold-out gig at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre, he also has admiration for another Canadian icon we all know and love: Stompin' Tom Connors.

So how does this California-bred character, in town to support his latest Of Whales And Woe offering, know about our whiskey-voiced spinner of tales of the Great White North? It turns out that Claypool found out exactly the way you and I did.

"I was in Vancouver on the Oysterhead tour just watching some late night TV, and there was this guy's performance from the '70s or something, stompin' away on a piece of plywood. And he had some guy with an old EB3 bass, and it was amazing."

The performance that Claypool is referring to is Connors' legendary show at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern that has aired on CBC for what seems like a century.

"I thought, 'Holy shit, I have to get some of this stuff,' and ran out and bought some," says the bearded Claypool from behind sunglasses.

"Nobody knows him in the States, at least nobody I know. I tried to turn Tom Waits on to him, but it didn't stick."

Later that night, Claypool's own character-driven tales were the focus of a set that blew the minds of more than one unwashed jam band stoner at the Phoenix. Rollercoaster ride versions of The Frog Brigade classics "David Makalaster" and "Buzzards Of Green Hill" fit snugly into the groove with soon to be classic Of Whales And Woe tracks like the super-infectious "One Better" and "Rumble Of The Diesel." It all made for a Claypool fan's dream set.

So what does getting in the groove mean to a man who's spent most of his life hammering one out?

"Even when you look at it metaphorically, when you think of the groove, whether it's the groove on the record, or whatever, you get into a trench where you can sort of let go and let things happen," Claypool says. "When you get into a groove, it's when you can let go of the steering wheel and it's not going to go flippin' off the side of the cliff."

As Claypool's Toronto stop on the Of Whales And Woe tour proved, the man has found a groove as deep as one found on a piece of plywood after a night of abuse from Stompin' Tom's boot.