By Jonathan Burger, Craven Arts Council & Gallery, Inc.
Where are you from and how did you end up in eastern North Carolina?
I grew up on Long Island, the youngest of four Irish Catholic children, so in typical Northeastern style, there was a lot of scrapping but we wound up best friends. When my parents passed away, I figured my kids should have grandparents. My in-laws had retired to New Bern some years before, so we bought a house in River Bend.
Do you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
I took guitar class in 7th grade, and the teacher gave me a 55 and said, never play guitar again. Then when I was 16, I was caught being somewhere I shouldn’t have been and my mother grounded me for 6 months, so I picked up my brother’s guitar and taught myself how to play.
You cover a variety of musicians and styles, do you have a favorite, and why or why not?
I absolutely have a favorite. I was reading a Guitar Players Magazine article and the headline was “The Next Hendrix” and it was about Vernon Reid and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others. Already being hugely into Howling Wolf and Son Seals, I jumped at thought of other people doing the music I loved in a more rock setting.
You played with Son Seals, who was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Can you share a little bit about him and what that was like?
I could not even imagine playing with Son. I had read what a task master he was with his band, and he was already my idol. Every young musician dreams of playing an arena or winning a Grammy, but I never could have imagined that this guy would hire me and keep me for five and a half years. He asked me to help write songs for his next album, what would have been his last album. Unfortunately , he passed away before we had that chance. It was unbelievable and most importantly, we became friends. I’m still friends with his son, Rodney, and I was invited twice to Osceola, Arkansas to dedicate a park to him. Playing his song, “Dear Son” for his family on HIS guitar was truly unreal.
Your performances often feature other musicians coming in, why is that important to you?
Having other musicians jam with me is very important to me because I love challenging people that I know are great musicians. Just calling out a key and throwing down a groove is how I came up. The old folks, when I wasn’t even old enough to drink, always treated me with respect. I do that to everyone I bring up, they are my equal and we’re just going to have fun together. Music, to me, is life. Every experience a great portion of the population has is oftentimes related to a song. I also like having other people because it gives something new to whatever song we’re playing. We could have played it a hundred times, you bring a new person in there and it just has a new life.
Is there another musician whose work you admire or inspires you?
Guy Clark, my wife and I play duo gigs and his songs are my favorite to sing and play because of the unmitigated beauty of his song writing. Every song is a three-four minute movie and I find that wonderfully alluring.
Do you have any advice for artist just starting out or wanting to get into music?
Don’t laugh. It is incredibly rewarding, but it is a grind if you’re going to do it for a living. There are nights where the only comfort you get is whether or not you played well, because there will be no applause and no tips. You just have to take solace in the fact that you went and did your job, professionally.
What performance, award, event, or other artistic achievement are you particularly proud of, and why?
First gig with Son Seals was at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, I’m standing there with my idol, in front of 12,000 people. He calls my first solo and I think,”Holy crap, that’s Son Seals standing next to me, I better use the stuff I stole from Stevie Ray and not from him!” But my time with Son was amazing. I met so many legends. I got my foot in the door in Chicago. All because my wife spoke to him when I was fangirling to hard to talk to him.
In one sentence, what is art to you?
Art is anything done with the intention of making the world more beautiful, regardless of the genre (physics, music, painting,writing…anything) and with no concern for recompense.
Where can people see you perform?
Mondays, I’m at Blackbeard’s on Front Street, Tuesdays Tonic Parlour on Middle (both in downtown New Bern.) Wednesdays Halftime Pub n Grub in McCarthy Square, Thursdays at Blackbeard’s in Jacksonville, Friday and Saturday are where the wind takes us, Sundays we are at Timothy Christian Church on Country Home Rd in Ayden and the first Sunday of every month we play Persimmons Waterfront Restaurant.