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March 24, 2010
Interview with Chris Kokesh
1. From what I've read, you assembled
Brokentop in 2009 for her solo CD, "October Valentine," and now
the band is heading out with her this month in support. How
serious is this band getting towards being a full time deal? Will
we be seeing Brokentop on the summer bluegrass festival circuit?
Actually, Dale and Suzanne
"assembled" Brokentop just before I started recording at Dale's.
In February 2009 they asked if I wanted to play in a trio with
them. Of course, I jumped at the chance, but we put those plans
on hold while I made my CD.
Sometime during the recording process they
asked if I wanted to ask Jeff Smith to join us on mandolin. Yes!
Right now the band's shows are in support of my new CD, but we
will also do shows later this year that are more
bluegrass-focused, and we will hopefully record a band CD this
year, too.
2. What band did Suzanne Pearce (bass)
play in before?
Suzanne is still a member of
True North, and before that was a member of the Knott Brothers. I
can't even remember when I met Suzanne — it's been a while! I do
know that we were at IBMA together in 2000 when the Knott Bros.
were finalists in a national bluegrass band contest and Misty
River was there trying to get gigs!
3. It's always interesting to see what
musical directions happen when folks have to move on from
established bands. For instance, you played in
Misty River,
but you list Colin Hay as an artist that influenced your new CD.
What other artists have influenced this band - one's that folks
may be surprised to learn about?
We have material from lots of
different sources because everyone is interested in different
kinds of music. I tend to listen to folk singer/songwriters as
does Suzanne. She and Dale also tend to find old traditional
songs (Doc Boggs recordings are favorites right now) and then
reinterpret the chords.
4. The show on March 24 is billed as a
CD release for Chris. Will this be the first public show for
Brokentop too?
No, it's our third! We played
CD release concerts in Eugene,
OR and Ridgefield,
WA in February. What is funny is that after
our show in Eugene it suddenly hit me- "That
was our first show as a band!" It felt so natural, I hadn't even
realized we had never performed together before!
5. Jeff and Dale are some serious
pickers for mandolin and guitar. Will any new instrumentals debut?
It is amazing to hear Dale and
Jeff together. We will definitely play one of Dale's new original
tunes on Wednesday, and I imagine more and more will make it into
our repertoire.
6. It seems that this CD project went
together in a pretty short amount of time. What was the chemistry
like for the band to do this project?
I recorded this project at Dale's studio
because I had worked with him several times and I knew how
creative and relaxed he is in the studio. Everyone had great
ideas, approached each song with open minds, and worked really
hard to make it sound great. And it does. I love this CD. I am
so grateful to these musicians!
Ok thanks again for your time and good
luck with the show.
Thanks!
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