John McCutcheon’s everyday people

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Storytelling folkie sings for a good cause

One of the last great classic folk singers, John McCutcheon has carved out a life as a singer of songs, a storyteller and, often, a comedian. He’s also noteworthy as a hammer dulcimer player. As a singer, he’s in the folk tradition of Woody Guthrie, singing both to adults about injustice and to children about critters.

After spending time in the early 1970s developing his skills in Eastern Kentucky, McCutcheon’s first album was the third release by Whitesburg’s June Appal Recordings. His fifth album, 1983’s Howjadoo, was his first for a children’s audience, sending him on an unexpected path that helped give his career extra diversity, enabling him to play shows for very different audiences.

McCutcheon comes to Louisville for a benefit for Choices Inc., which offers transitional housing for homeless women and children.

LEO: How did you get involved with this benefit?

John McCutcheon: I do a lot of events around the country — around the world, in fact — that tie to ongoing things in communities. So it’s not simply a guy coming in and just doing a gig. A lot of the things I write about, a lot of the things I’ve always been interested in, have been things that go on every day. I guess it’s my little way of lending a hand to a lot of people who don’t get standing ovations (laughs).

LEO: You’re part of a long tradition of folk singers and activists trying to make a difference. It seems like that tradition’s getting lost in popular culture.

JM: Yeah. The conversation has turned so much into ideology that it’s really toxic. Given the opportunity to really solve difficult, complicated stuff or just blindly adhering to the ideology — it seems like the discussion, at least on the front pages, are all about people who want to appeal to their base. A friend of mine recently described a great analogy: It’s like two buses that meet on a one-lane bridge. And the drivers of the buses are only talking to people on their bus. But neither can get across the bridge unless the (people on the) buses talk to one another.

One of the great things I’ve always loved about music is that it can — if it’s done wisely and well — create a ground in which people can meet and view some of the same questions from their respective ... umm, perspectives. “Respective perspectives,” there’s a tongue twister. And maybe come out the other side feeling like they’ve experienced something different from what they know ... and hopefully you’re not quite the same person at the other end of the experience.

LEO: Many folk singers you came up with got discouraged along the way, got tired of the struggle.

JM: The empirical evidence will always be on the side of the pessimist. But that’s a hell of a way to live your life. I’ve always been buoyed by the people who seem to bear an amazing optimism and keep going up against things that are so much bigger than they are. It’s the stuff that our traditional lore is made of, whether it be Casey Jones or John Henry. These are the people memorialized in songs, and we keep singing them; our parents sang them to us, and hopefully we pass those stories on.

LEO: It’s interesting that you’re someone who talks about optimism yet works in the music business.

JM: (laughs) Yeah, talk about rage against the machine! Well, you know ... I’ve operated in what is essentially a sub-industrial part of the music world. Back in the 1960s, folk music was discovered by the machine, and they discovered they could make a bunch of money doing it. So they chewed it up and spit it out, and went on to the next thing ... I feel really lucky that I never had a record company that was wanting me to make a hit. I’ve had some pretty good-selling records, but the record company never said, “Give us five more like the last one.” They’ve said, “We trust you.” Almost every artist I know who’s really an artist would trade that kind of artistic freedom for a million-dollar advance … My audience isn’t in the thousands, it’s in the hundreds. But I can be real with my audience, and talk with them afterwards.

‘Choices Inc. Benefit’ with John McCutcheon
Sunday, Sept. 16
Crescent Hill Baptist Church
2800 Frankfort Ave.
chbcky.org
$18 adv., $20 DOS (includes pre-show picnic); 7 p.m.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

David Wax Museum’s nose-to-tail music

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“When you’re an artist, you always feel like your current work is the best,” says Suz Slezak, “because you’re the oldest and most mature that you’ve ever been — hopefully, most mature,” she laughs. “So I think there is a sense that we’ve really gotten our stride now.”

Slezak is the fiddle player, a vocalist, and she also plays a quijada (donkey jawbone) in the David Wax Museum. The band — also including Wax, who sings and plays a Mexican guitar called a jarana, and multi-instrumentalist Greg Glassman — has been earning attention for their mixture of indie rock, Americana and traditional Mexican influences since their third album was released last year.

“Everything Is Saved was our first record to get attention nationally, even though we made two before it, so it kind of feels like our first ... it was the first time we were really experimenting with these Mexican sounds. We’re all Americans, we grew up listening to country and bluegrass and folk music … we’ve been trying to blend, getting these sounds together in a way that’s unique and new and fresh.”

Their fourth, Knock Knock Get Up, was released last week and adds African and Caribbean influences to their blend. LEO spoke with Slezak that day as the band traveled to the first show of their tour.

LEO: How’s the tour going so far?

Suz Slezak: We’re en route from Massachusetts to Denver, and stopping because our tires are bald. So we’re getting new tires and dealing with the logistics of touring.

LEO: Congratulations, otherwise, on a big day.

SS: Thank you, it is! It’s funny, we’ve been waiting for this day, and ... here it is (laughs).

LEO: I was going to ask how you were celebrating, but obviously your working life is getting in the way of your partying.

SS: (laughs) Yeah, it’s true. I think Thursday (in Denver) will feel exciting, ’cause it’s the first show ... We’ve got a new percussionist with us who’s absolutely phenomenal.

LEO: I imagine the new percussionist is bringing some offbeat instruments in. What’s being added?

SS: He’s done a blend, as you might imagine — that’s what we do. He is bringing a small drum kit, a traditional kit, and then he’s also bringing a cajón, which is the box that’s used throughout Latin America. It’s a percussive wooden box, and he has all these other bells and whistles, including goat hooves! Have you ever heard those played? It’s a really awesome, hollow, clackity-thumping sound. I love that we have a drummer/farm animal part of our band (laughs).

LEO: But that’s not even your only animal.

SS: Yeah, that brings it up to two, after the donkey jawbone!

LEO: When you’re driving on the road, do you ever see animals and think, “I wonder what we could use out of that”?

SS: I don’t want to admit that, but ... yes! (laughs) Actually, my little brother’s a farmer, and he tells this story: He killed a pig and buried its carcass. The next day, the carcass was dug up by some animal at night. So he re-buried it. The next day, it was dug up again — this time, not all of it, just the jawbone of the pig. And so he thought, “Man, I think this is a sign, I have to give this to Suz.” So he presented me with this pig jawbone that doesn’t actually rattle like the donkey jawbone, but we have it as a mascot in front of our van. Vegans beware! (laughs)

David Wax Museum
Friday, Sept. 14
Uncle Slayton’s
1017 E. Broadway
uncleslaytons.com
$10; 9 p.m.

c. 2012 LEO Weekly

Guitar Trio, Louisville

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For two decades, the California Guitar Trio has traveled around the world, dazzling audiences with their intricate instrumental music. Their path shifted 12 years ago, almost to this day (Sept. 17), when Louisvillian Tyler Trotter booked them to play at the Rudyard Kipling. The successful show led to a successful relationship with Trotter, who soon became their live soundman.

CGT member Paul Richards tells LEO how Trotter built their bridge to Louisville. “We invited Tyler to come on the road with us, which he did for about six years,” Richards says. “During that time, he did a lot of his investigating for his (Louisville) Beer Store and Holy Grale. He was going to all these different breweries all over the U.S. and Belgium, taking notes and learning about what he’s doing now.”

Trotter left the band to open the Beer Store, and then Holy Grale, with partner Lori Rae Beck. The duo brings the Trio back for a special performance at Holy Grale on Friday evening.

Paul Richards: Tyler introduced us to Kevin Ratterman. We recorded two of our albums there at his place. I understand he’s got a new studio in town, we’ll have to check that out while we’re there. We had Will Oldham come and sing on a couple tracks on one of our albums, at Kevin’s place. Those guys also introduced us to Mat (Herron) and Joe (Seidt) from Karate Body, and we released our Andromeda album on vinyl through them.

So, yeah, we’ve had a great history with folks there in Louisville and continue to have really good shows. We’ve played quite a few different venues there: We played at the Clifton Center, we did the rooftop concert at Glassworks, and this will be our first time playing at Holy Grale.

LEO: I imagine you were sad to lose him.

PR: Yeah, the years he was with us, he had a very good, positive influence on what we were doing at that time. It was a struggle to do without him … A lot of the techniques he used, we incorporated into our sound — analog delays, filtering. He had lots of good suggestions, musically.

For ticket information, go to holygralelouisville.com/events. Photo by Paolo Aizza c. 2012 LEO Weekly