Chords for Pokey LaFarge - Interview

Introduce a little bit.
Well, in Upright Bass we have Joey Glynn,
Ryan Koenig is playing the harmonica and the washboard,
and Adam Hoskins is the guitar player,
and all those guys come from St.
Louis, Missouri.
Right in the smack dab of the good old USA.
And you're also from St.
Louis?
Well, I live there now, but I'm originally from across the river
in the land of Lincoln, known as Illinois.
Ah, OK.
When you go back home, what do you find there?
Well, I can make you a list. _
The music, the rivers, the mountains,
the food, barbecue, soul food, bricks.
_ _ There's a lot of things.
Home.
Home.
So home's home, you know.
Let's start about music, because you're fond of rivers, I read somewhere.
Is that true, or what?
Is it a kind of inspiration for you, a river, or what does a river tell you?
_ _ Well, specifically in regards to the music I listen to,
I think the rivers are, well, all in all,
very important to the development of any country, I think.
_ You all have your canals here, we have our rivers back home.
They were the early bloodlines, the early roads of the country,
you know what I mean?
So not only were goods transported up and down these rivers,
but music along with the people as well.
So music was able to go up and down the rivers,
you know, up in Mississippi and through the Ohio and west of Missouri.
_ So that's how knowledge was spread.
_ Was there actually music on those boats?
[Abm] _
Oh yeah, certainly, musicians.
I mean, it's just like hopping trains, or just like kids hiking, you know.
Musicians have always been ramblers.
They always are moving around.
So yeah, people are hopping trains, or hopping river boats,
or barges, or what have you, to get up and down the river.
I would suggest reading anything by Mark Twain,
and you may get some of that passion as well.
And Huckleberry Finn?
Yeah, that's a good one, that's a great one.
Start with that one.
Yeah, I would definitely say that.
But they call you a traveler in music.
Certainly, I think just being in motion is very inspiring to me, I guess.
Going along with, you know, adhering to your restlessness,
and just saying, I got to get out there and travel.
_ And just the world will inspire [Ab] you, consciously and subconsciously, really.
I mean, some things that inspire you, that you don't really realize are inspiring you.
But, you know, the people, of course.
The people are always the most important.
What's the use of your authentic instrument?
Why you use this instrument, and not of nowadays?
_ What does it give you?
The tone.
The tone is the best, or better, than old instruments.
The craftsmanship was certainly better, and the older instruments as well.
_ _ In the same way [E] that, _ [Ab] well, I'd say, I don't want to compromise the luthiers of today.
But, you know, certain instruments were made for certain kinds of music.
And you don't see a lot of, this is specifically an archtop guitar.
There's not a whole lot of archtops made these days, because_
What does archtop mean?
Archtop, well, you can see that it's arched right there.
Ah, okay.
Not flat.
And it produces a bigger sound.
It resonates more, and produces more sound.
[Abm] These were the early day jazz guitars.
And of course, you know, well, this kind of jazz isn't really played so much on a mass scale.
And most music is electric.
So, archtops aren't getting made a whole lot.
[E] _ But, specifically the wood as well.
And just from inside and out, really, the guitars were made to suit a certain kind of music.
_ Plus, they're old, and they're worn in.
You know, and the tone is richer and warmer.
Whereas the new instruments, they're new.
So it's like a new car, or anything.
New pair of shoes, you gotta break it in, you know.
Can you describe the kind of music you play?
The music that I play, or that I write, is_
_ [G] _ Well, the words are always the most important to me, you know.
I want to write songs that I would want to listen to.
Music that I would want to listen to.
[Abm] But _ some people say that this is traditional music, or that it's retro.
But I would say, I would somewhat discount both those things.
Just to say that this is very much modern music.
If you listen to some of the earlier music that I'm no doubt influenced heavily by.
You'll see that we're quite different.
And we're awfully modern compared to the old stuff.
Again, the things are original.
These early blues, and the early jazz, and the early country, and swing.
These are American inventions.
These are early American music forms.
I'm an American, and I'm proud to be.
And so, I _ felt that at an early age, to play in that style.
This is one of your favorites?
One of my favorites, yeah.
Blind Boy Fuller, definitely.
North Carolina.
Shall [Gbm] we listen to a little bit?
_ _ [Ab] _ _
[Gbm] _ _ [Fm] _ _ [Gbm] _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ _ [Em] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [Gbm] _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ [A] _ _ [B] _ [A] _ _
What can you [Fm] tell them about him?
[Gbm] _ _ Blind Boy Fuller [Ab] was a, [Db] well, as advertised, he was a blind man.
[D] From, in the Piedmont to North Carolina.
That is obviously in between the mountains and the sea.
Has a thing known as the [Ab] Piedmont Blues, which is a fingerstyle guitar style.
Based off of kind of the ragtime.
_ Piano?
Yeah, kind of in between the ragtime, you know, right on the onset of boogie woogie piano.
And different kind of styles, where of course the left hand is your bass.
And your right hand's your melody.
Or in the sense that, like in guitar playing, this is my left hand of the piano.
Because that's my bass, and [E] this is my melody.
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ [G] So you know, it's like a, [Abm] it's that I'm no expert, but you know, there you go.
But then of course, this is where most ragtime was instrumental, the piano, right?
They're singing, and they're singing in blues forms on top of it.
So it's, but it's versatile.
You've done it yourself?
It's important not to say that this comes from one specific place.
It comes all over.
There was great ragtime guitar players and blues players in St.
Louis.
Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana.
And it's all over.
It's important to not say that it just comes from one place,
and it's played by a specific kind of people.
Did you learn yourself this?
You've taught it yourself?
I'm still learning myself.
Yes?
What's the hardest thing?
Hardest thing about playing?
Yeah.
This style?
[N] _ Concentrating without thinking too much.
_ That's always_
Yeah, just kind of like letting it flow, but executing.
I don't pride myself as being a guitar player.
I'm a singer.
Singer.
Hey dude, that's wonderful.
And you have a new CD.
Dankjewel.
Wow, look at this.
Are you gonna play [E] a song, Pack It Up?
Yeah.
It's the next song you're gonna play.
This is just a real old-fashioned single.
A what?
A 45 RPM record.
Look at this.
Do you still play it or?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Beautiful.
Yeah.
Thank you for coming, and I wish you lots of success.