Mason brings 4 decades of experience to new CD, Englert show

If Dave Mason hadn't carved a career out of making music, he might be singing another tune - yo ho.

As a teen, the Worcester, England, native picked up a guitar, spun some records and navigated choppy waters charting his life's course.

“I taught myself from playing 45s and 33s on a turntable,” Mason, 63, says by phone from his home near Santa Barbara, Calif. “It wasn't so natural. I had to work at it. It wasn't all just natural for me - it was more of a desire for me.

“I was just thinking there wasn't any way I could work on a regular 9 to 4 basis. It was either rock 'n' roll or piracy for me.”

So at age 18, he teamed up with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood to form Traffic. A year later, in 1967, he penned his biggest hit, “Feelin' Alright,” then headed to the United States in 1969.

Fast-forward 40 years and he's still feelin' fine.

He's released his first solo album in 20 years, “26 Letters and 12 Notes,” and will be bringing a mix of vintage and new tunes to the Englert Theatre stage in downtown Iowa City at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.

He performs about 100 shows a year, which is how he introduces audiences to his music these days, since he's no longer feeling the radio love.

“Along the way, I found out there's just a lot of resistance to someone like me putting out new music, because of my age or that perception. In order to reach the public, they have to know I have a new album. Classic rock radio won't even play anything by classic rock artists,” he says, with frustration growing in his voice. “It's ridiculous.”

Talk about classic. Mason came of age when British musicians converged on London, met up in semi-private social clubs, struck up conversations and ended up playing on each other's albums.

“A lot of us would just run into each other,” he says. “I'd walk in and see McCartney, Hendrix. I just sat down and started talking to them. They knew about Traffic. It was very much a circle of who's who in rock 'n' roll floating around in one city, and within that city, a small circle, because the clubs weren't that far away. Those were great, great times. It was the '60s and everybody was flying high.”

A 2004 Rock Hall of Fame inductee, Mason also has played with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Michael Jackson and joined Fleetwood Mac to tour in the mid '90s.

So what prompted the new album?

“I'm really just doing it for my own amusement,” he says. “In terms of performing, playing and producing, I'm probably as good as I'm ever going to be at being Dave. At this point, I'm at my peak. I know what I can do - and more importantly, what I can't do.”

Even though the new disc explores different sides and sounds - with some blues and Cockney-tinged rap - he's still a master at writing about relationships, from his melancholy '70s megahit, “We Just Disagree,” to the hilarious new ditty “That's Love.”

“I'm a sensitive son of a bitch,” he says with a laugh.

His tone turns serious, however, when talking about the philanthropic efforts of Work Vessels for Vets. Passion burns in his voice as he describes the organization's efforts to give veterans the tools they need to carve out careers in the civilian world. Boats and computers are among the tools given so far.

“A lot of them were wounded,” Mason says. “Anybody that puts on a uniform to defend our way of life and put his life on the line - it's not even a question for me - that's somebody to take care of for the rest of their lives. But the government doesn't do that. No matter who's in power - it's a non-political issue for me - it's just the right thing to do.

“In our small way, doing what we're doing to help them, to help them have a business and make a life, it's not a hand out, it's a hand up. And that's the way it should be.”