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 in San Francisco, in the North Beach neighborhood. My parents were heavily involved in San Francisco’s Little Theater scene, and I was a child actor. I came to North Carolina in late 1989 to direct a museum based around a replica of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon, in Washington, NC. Later I spent some time here in New Bern, and settled on Wilmington, NC as a home base while I traveled extensively. In 1998 I went to work on the staff of Tryon Palace, and that brought me to New Bern permanently. New Bern is a wonderful place to live and work!
Do you have any formal training, or are you mostly self-taught?
I learned about theater from my parents. I started playing violin in elementary school; then at age 15 I took violin lessons and music theory classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. I took AP Music in high school, and got a BA in Music from University of California, Berkeley. I started teaching myself other instruments in my teens – 5-string banjo, mandolin, Chinese erhu, lap dulcimer; and then after high school, lots of other instruments. I’ve taught myself a variety of instruments and genres of music, using skills I acquired from my formal, and informal, music education.
You play a variety of instruments, probably too many to name. Could you tell us some of your favorites, and why?
My favorite instrument, like my favorite tune or song, is the one I am playing right now! Some of the more unusual instruments I play include erhu (China), crwth (Wales), nyckelharpa (Sweden), hardangfela (Norway), oud (Middle East), and citole (medieval Europe). While it is not exotic, I get a kick out of playing electric bass, whether fretted or fretless.
You’re also a writer, can you tell us about the relationship you see between your writing and your music?
I couldn’t quite decide what to be when I grew up… being fascinated by both music and history. So I have pursued concurrent careers in both fields. At different times one or the other has been my main breadwinner, but I have never given up one pursuit for the other. My writing, which includes a play (“The Texas Constitutional Convention of 1836”, performed annually in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas), various articles, and a non-fiction book (“Food at Sea – Shipboard Cuisine From Ancient to Modern Times”, ISBN 9781442227361, Rowman & Littlefield 2014), like my work for museums, comes out of my lifelong pursuit of history. My history work does not compete with my music; in many projects and pursuits, the two careers complement one another.
You also write music, can you tell us a bit about projects you’ve worked on and the relationship you see with playing the music?
My first time creating a score for a show was when my mother directed a production of “The Glass Menagerie” in 1973. Someone was supposed to be preparing the music – and didn’t. A week before opening night, my mother asked if I could fill in, and I did. I made up a theme on violin for Laura and her “glass menagerie”; another theme (on 5-string banjo) for Amanda the mother, something on tenor banjo for the Depression in general – and a few other specific themes for certain moments in the play. My father and I purchased the sheet music for “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise”, which Tennessee Williams calls for in the script. Everything else I improvised for each show. Over the years I wrote lots of fiddle tunes, pieces in medieval and Renaissance styles, and a mass. Here in New Bern I have played in pit orchestras for “Grease”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, and “Nine-to-Five” at NBCT; also “Whiskey Flats” at Rivertown. The latter was fun – creating my own parts for fiddle, banjo, and mandolin from a piano score. I have written music for church, on my own and with lyricist Dana Scott. In 2019 I created the music score for “Honour – the Musical”, combining my arrangements of music of the 1770-1802 period with original works by Bill Hand and myself. We just wrapped up our second season, which was a blast! I endeavored to make seamless transitions between the old music and the new… a fun challenge. I got to work with great musicians (flute, guitar, and cello as well as my violin), and a wonderful cast and crew. Writing music allows one to create much bigger and more complex sounds than can be created on one instrument.
Is there another artist whose work you admire or inspires you?
That would be a long list! For interpreting American traditional music, Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie, and John McEuen; for Javanese Gamelan, which I studied in college, Ki Wasitodipuro; for Ragtime, Scott Joplin and Harry von Tilzer; for bass playing, Paul McCartney, Jamie Jamerson, and Rick Danko. I had some wonderful mentors along the way; Rodney Albin, Boris Hoffman-Borisoff, and Linda Underhill, among others.
What specific work, award, or honor are you particularly proud of, and why?
I am proud of the music score for “Honour”: it’s one of the bigger things I’ve done in recent years.
In one sentence, what is art to you?
Art – and history – are my life!
Do you have any advice for someone who would want to become a musician or just getting started?
Throw yourself completely into the music you love. Don’t worry about what other people like or don’t like – if a certain genre or style speaks to you, immerse yourself in it; and play, privately or publicly, whenever you can. It’s fine to start by imitating the artists you admire, but don’t hold off on creating your own style, finding your own voice.
I know you perform at a variety of events around New Bern, but where can people find out more about you and keep up with you work?
I have a website – www.musicalhistorian.com — but I admit I haven’t been good about posting my gigs on it. I do send notices of my performances to New Bern Magazine, so that is probably the best place to find out where and when I am performing around town.