Steve Kimock is a very dynamic person who has a lot of things to say and a lot of cool background and stories, so it's really fun to be able to pick that stuff out of Steve Kimock's brain. To have a conversation with him was really candid and real fun. I really appreciate everybody who was involved. Thanks again to Mark, June, Dennis, and Steve Kimock for helping us out here today to make WZRD's airwaves a little more special. It's WZRD Chicago 88.3 FM the Wizard, Chicago's home for Freeform radio since 1974.

Nothing like talking to an artist who you have followed for years who is just so humble, so hardworking, and just really selfless in the sense of not looking for fame or money or women or any of those things that sometimes rock stars are looking for. Steve Kimock is someone who can play, who can improvise, and continues to make that hard work part of why he does it. I've got the Zero record sitting here ready to be spun. This is called Here Goes Nothing, that's the record, and the tune we're going to hear is called Straitjackets. It's here on WZRD Chicago, 88.3 FM. Special thanks to Grateful Web for making this happen!

MP: You are listening to WZRD, Chicago, 88.3 FM, The Wizard. Chicago's home for Freeform Radio since 1974 and I have on the line Steve Kimock, how are you doing, Steve?

Steve Kimock: I'm good. Are we over our technical hurdle?

MP: We are. You know, things sometimes are not always easy, but we made it work.

Steve Kimock: No, I just got a new iPad and I got it so I could use this slow down your program for music. And as soon as I fired it up, it just sort of flashed it, didn't it? Oh yeah. What could possibly go wrong, right?

MP: I mean, it's a brand new iPod. I meant to say iPad. I'm dating myself here. But yeah, did you get to figure it out?

Steve Kimock: I think so. See, I needed a fourteen-year-old!

MP: Totally. I was thinking the same thing. I'm like, Who can I call here? But you know what? It was just a couple of buttons that were not pressed. So we are pressed, we are ready, and we're so excited that you are coming to Chicago, Steve Kimock and friends. Tell us a little bit about this lineup and what you plan to do here in Chicago for us.

Steve Kimock: Oh, well, we intend to go slightly nuts because for the three days preceding will be supporting Hot Tuna. So opening up for Hot Tuna, for the beginning of the week. So it'll be, playing shorter sets and more contained. And so by the time we get to Chicago and it's our own show, we'll be chomping at the bit to have our own show.

MP: That's awesome.

Steve Kimock: For four of the two sets and the whole thing, anyway, it's me and my son, John, on the drums. Who, I still don't understand how it worked out this way, but he's the best drummer I've ever played with. And he's my son. He's so good.

MP: That's amazing.

Steve Kimock: That's like a giant... You know, I don't... I can't... I still can't process what a blessing that is for the firstborn to be that into music and to be that good because he just literally kicks my butt every night. So good. Anyway, so Johnny's on drums, my dearest oldest friend, Bill Goodman, a vocalist, songwriter, slide guitarist who I went from Pennsylvania to California with the Goodman Brothers Band back in the 70s. He's on the gig.

MP: Oh, wow.

Steve Kimock: I couldn't get more trust or support from any two people right there. So that's two guitars and drums. And there's a bass player, as you would imagine. Kenny Aaronson, a veteran of just too many famous acts to even mention, although I like to mention the Yardbirds because that's where all the good guitar players came from across the pond. Was Peter Green in the Yardbirds? He was for a minute. Anyway, we normally think of it as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, but anyway and our own here in Pennsylvania, a good friend and local treasure, Mike Barofsky on Keys and Vocal. So that's the entire routine unless because in Chicago, somebody comes in and sits in, you never know.

MP: Exactly. That's the best part about doing a friend show and just putting people together.

Steve Kimock: Yeah. Yeah. It's the best part about doing a friends show in an actual city.

MP: Yeah, an actual city.

Steve Kimock: As opposed to some hamlet tucked back in the hills, which has its own charms. But it's not like you're going to expect it. Hey, there's this great tenor player in town...

MP: Right?

Steve Kimock: And that works in Chicago. It doesn't work in lots of other places.

MP: That's awesome. Thank you for sharing it. We're excited. And I mean, the Goodman Brothers, that's kind of what you went from Pennsylvania to San Francisco for the beginning, right?

Steve Kimock: Yeah. Exactly. That was the Hot Tuna connection, because that was our first gig in California, though, it's a good match with we've had to announce anyway, so that was fun.

MP: That's great. That's really cool to hear that it's all kind of coming back. And yeah, Chicago is this music town where things can just collaborate and function in a different way than every other place. So I'm excited for you to get to come off of the Hot Tuna tour and come here because you're going to have that energy in that that real feel of like, let's play our own music and I'm excited to be there for that.

Steve Kimock: Are you going to make it to the show? I hope so.

MP: I'm really trying to. I got to work until about 9:30, but I'm going to try to rush it over there as soon as I can.

Steve Kimock: No, you should. You should, I think. Which is the venue?

MP: This is a City Winery in Chicago here.

Steve Kimock: City Winery, right? Yeah. No, I have played there with Hot Tuna at some point, played there with with with Jerry Joseph too, while the Dead did their Fare Thee Well shows.

MP: Oh yeah, you're right. I think I saw your show there, actually, now that I think about it.

Steve Kimock: I've been there. I remember that show specifically for the storytelling. There was some great storytelling that night.

MP: Yes, absolutely. Totally.

Steve Kimock: I think.

MP: I think you did like an early show and a late show.

Steve Kimock: It's sort of a lost art for the rock and roll thing. But all of the earlier acoustic musicians, folk and blues musicians maybe not so much bluegrass, but a lot of folk inclusions, there is lots of storytelling. Maybe half the night was music, and the rest of the night was like anecdotes.

MP: Yeah, which being an audience member, it's really nice.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, it's entertaining and it's rough for me because some nights it comes naturally to speak to the people, and then some nights it's really difficult. And I think I finally figured it out after 60 years. It's just the lights are right in my eyes and I can't see the people and I can't talk to them, I talk into the light and go, you know? I can talk to you because it's on a phone. If there was a light in my eyes right now...

MP: It would be harder.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, I'd be like, I'm not saying anything!

MP: So what do you do in those situations? Do you ask the lighting guy to cut back or you just don't talk?

Steve Kimock: Well, I squint and try and get it together. Sometimes you can't do anything about it, you know? I mean, they're there literally rooms. I don't know if you're ever on stage, but there are rooms you go on stage and you see the crowd and you go, Yeah, and there are rooms you get on stage and you don't see anything. It's really weird. 

MP: And it's got to be hard.

Steve Kimock: That's difficult to make a connection under those circumstances.

MP: Yeah, it's like, OK, I'm speaking to the light, and I hope you guys understand, but you can't see me. Exactly. I love it.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, you can't really stare into the spotlight and go, "But first, a joke!"

MP: Yeah, right? 'Well, nobody's laughing because I can't see them, are they mad or are they happy?'  Well, of course, you're connected with the Grateful Dead. You've been in multiple bands that have been around the Dead, the Other Ones, and different facets. What really got you into it or what was your first peek into that life?

Steve Kimock: Oh, I was taking care of a friend's house in Lagunitas, California, back in the late 70s. And I got a phone call. I didn't even know how he found my number. This was not like cell phone time, you know? But the phone rings and I pick it up. I am house sitting and a lady on the other end, 'Is this Steve Kimock?' And I said, Yeah. 'Kimock, like the guitar player?' I'm like, Yeah, who's this? Donna Godcheaux. And I was like, No, it's not and I was like, I'm convinced that it was, you know, some of my friends pranking me with some crap, and I was not amused. And so I kind of chewed her out. And then she goes, No, really! Will you come and play? And I guess this was right after they got out of the Grateful Dead for reasons that I will not get into. But they bailed or were shown the door, or however, that work was done and they were right away playing with people that I knew: John Chipolina, George Molina was playing. And I was like, Yeah, I'm coming! So anyway, that was the first and it wasn't too long after that I got that weird call. That was the early 80s and then just, I mean, I was in town, and just kind of like a new guy in town staying. And it's hard to explain what a small community that was and at the same time, how many musicians and how fertile a musical community it was. It's just north of San Francisco in the 70s when everybody was there, Ali Akbar Khan for crying out loud, great, you know, Indian classical music, great jazz musicians Joe Pass was picking up trash on the side of the highway. It was, it was like everybody there was a musician, a little record store in town, a little tiny town. It was Fairfax, California. It was where I lived. It was Van Morrison's mom and dad who owned the record store. It was like that.

MP: That's amazing!

Steve Kimock: Phil Lesh would pick me up hitchhiking. It was like, everybody was right there. So it wasn't like I was some kid who came from Texas to New York City. It was just impossibly large and it would take years to kind of get into. I landed and met everybody almost instantly. It was kind of crazy, all the crew, the people and the guys in the band, and so forth.

MP: Wow.

Steve Kimock: But anyway, that's where it started. It was circumstance. It was just a very close-knit community. And I happened to wander into it at the right time and I was young enough to be crazy enough on the instrument that attracted some attention.

MP: Yeah, that's wonderful, thank you for painting that picture. I mean, Joe Pass on the side of the highway and Van Morrison's parents! Nobody's ever given me that kind of intimate details of everybody was just there and I knew that. But I didn't know how intimate and how connected it was.

Steve Kimock: It was a small town. You would see these guys at the deli. You'd see Jerry Garcia coming out of the little breakfast place and stuff like that.

MP: Yeah, I love that. So obviously, the community itself has resonated with you all these years, and I'm sure that part of the way you play and what you do echoes that community. What is it about the Grateful Dead community that's worthwhile and worth spanning time?

Steve Kimock: That's kind of a trick question. I don't want to answer this in a way that ruffles anybody's feathers, but those are opposite sides of different glass. Gathering and community and fellowship is its own thing apart from the Grateful Dead. People gather for lots of reasons. Most of them are good. I like to keep it that way. And it's kind of rough for me because I'm a musician, and so I didn't get the whole gathering thing at all. At first, as I was growing up, coming from a little steel town in Pennsylvania and then the Goodman brothers. I remember the first time somebody said something about a band having a vibe or a room having a vibe or a crowd having a vibe. I was like, What's the vibe? Do you know? What does it mean for there to be a feeling associated here? I had no idea! So it took me a while to appreciate what was going on on the other side of the glass and then what I figured out, I was like, Oh, good grief! The gig is actually 99% social! The part where my nose is to the grindstone kind of gets me in the door once in a while. But that's not what it's about. It really actually is about the people and the fellowship and the dancing around the fire thing that we all have been doing for a million years. That's what it's about. No. Again, because I'm a musician, the Grateful Dead thing to me is about the music and how did they do their thing right? That's a different thing, and that's a really specific thing that's Jerry's songwriting with Robert Hunter and stuff like that, where that's coming from. It's a production that they had mounted over the years and the innovations that they created. Both with technical stuff and how they did business. So. Yeah, both those things are worth talking about. But yeah, the Grateful Dead to me is about what those guys did specifically, apart from the parking lot.

MP: Absolutely. And I think, even outside of the parking lot, it's this mentality to a lot of us, in my generation, maybe aren't as religious, maybe more secular. And it's like, Oh! There is this vibe or thing happening that you can still feel community and have people lean on your shoulder or lean on theirs and be able to have that feeling that you may not have because you're not part of a church or a community kind of thing in your town. So I feel that is resonating and that is, still as strong as it was 50 years ago, and beyond that.

Steve Kimock: Oh yeah, no. It's as strong as ever because people genuinely need that, you know? I mean, that's why there is stuff like church. That's why there are tribes. That's why there are families. On some level, we get to pick our own, pick our own spots for that, and we always did. That it's apart and all about it makes me happy. It's just like knowing how far back this whole routine goes because it's getting the kids to bed and then dancing around the fire a little right? All that jazz. That goes all the way back, right?

MP:  Really far back.

Steve Kimock: It's funny, too, because just as a human activity, you know... When I'm out there in Montana or whatever Utah or something like that, you get to sit down with some of these guys and all they do is work with horses and stuff like that. And you're like, Oh, yeah, your job goes way back too. It's like that.

MP: Totally, thanks for expanding on that. I appreciate that. I want to know about young Kimock. When you were a kid, who was inspiring you in your tribe and your family to get into music or to pursue it?

Steve Kimock: Obviously, it's the people closest to you, you know? I think my mom said, you should play an instrument!

MP: Give you something to do?

Steve Kimock: Well, yeah! I think that she saw that I was otherwise attracted to looking at the world as things that I could light on fire and things that I could not light on fire, going around the universe with a pack of matches. She said, 'Do something else.' So I said, I want to play the violin. And she says, go across the street from Grandma's house to Paychecks house. The Paycheck's kid just got a violin. So I was like 12 or something like that, so I walked across the street and I could see through the screen door, I could see like the fender amp, I remember to this day a fender amp up on a chair, then like one coil cord going one way and one coil cord going the other way. The guy had electric violin and he was on the phone and he says, I got a new electric violin! You should hear this! The amplifier pointed right at my head, hit the violin and I went, screaming back to my Grandma's house in tears. It was so loud. So. I immediately went to the guitar because I knew it couldn't be possibly as loud as the violin. My Aunt Dottie was a folk singer, she got me into it and my cousin Kenny actually played electric guitar. Back then, he had a gold top Les Paul, I have that Les Paul still. It's coming with me to Chicago, it's my favorite guitar. I'm playing the guitar that was my cousin's guitar that got me into it. So that's gone full circle. But it was people closest to me, family, that got me into it. And then it was the people who I was closest to in those formative years, like Billy Goodman, for example, who's also on the gig along with my cousin Kenny's Les Paul, all those people are the biggest influences, really. People will say, who did you listen to when you were a kid? Oh, Black Sabbath! I was a huge Sabbath fan as a child. You know, but honestly, as big an influence as somebody like Eric Clapton might have been Cream was a big deal when I was a kid. That's not a bigger influence on me than my cousin, Kenny. He was a direct influence, as you know, as a hero. As much as as as I enjoyed all the rest of this stuff that I was listening to, whatever it was, Allman Brothers, Santana, none of it was as personal as what came from family or close friends.

MP: That's really awesome, that's cool to hear. And it's cool that you equate both of those things just as important, something like Black Sabbath and your cousin Kenny could be just as important to your journey into how you got there. Yeah, it has to do with that tribe.

Steve Kimock: I think a lot of times when that... Because I mean, that's a standard musical question. It's like, Well, what were you listening to, right? And there are people that are enormously influential just because they're musical giants. You know, obviously, I'm influenced by John Coltrane. You know, obviously, influenced by Bach, you know? Yeah, I mean, it's a big question. Yeah, there are great musicians, you know, Ali Akbar Khan or my friend Debbie Bhattacharya. Of course, I'm influenced by those people, but the closer they are to you, the bigger influence they're going to have, in more profound ways.

MP: Absolutely. And I feel like, with your son, well with all your kids, I've heard that you've just supported them in whatever it is that they're interested in and not try to push anything, just support. And I think that, like you just said, it's probably a big deal that his father is so into music and really just enjoys it and isn't in it for the commercial or the corporate vibe, is just there to play because it feels good.

Steve Kimock: Now the youngest, who is 14 has come to me every day going, Hey, show me something, show me something, show me something! We're playing some blues and trying to work on the little beginnings of some Allman Brothers stuff. It feels really good. Hopefully, we'll just keep, I don't even know if, hopefully, is the right word. I'm just happy to have gotten to the point in a musical life where I feel like I'm passing along stuff to the next generation because I think that's the gig in a larger sense. Do your best to assimilate what's what so that you can learn from what you can listen to and Pass It On.

MP: Absolutely, and you do it in such a humble way in which you're like, Hey, you don't have to do this at all! I'm here for you if you want and I'll support you in whatever you do. That's really cool that it's come around full circle from family to another generation of the family.

Steve Kimock: Yay!

MP: Yeah! That gave me goosebumps thinking of the youngest one coming, Hey, dad, show me this! Inside, you're like, I'm honored, but I don't want to be too excited. Yeah, cool! Let's do this! It's very cool.

Steve Kimock: Right? Well, it's in the proper context in between Marvel movies or Angry Birds...

MP: Normal kid stuff.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, there's still normal kids stuff there. My normal kid stuff evaporated really quickly around maybe 16, and I was like, I'm just going to play the guitar. I don't care if I have to live in the gutter, So I did! I lived in the gutter and played guitar for about 40 years before I made any money. 

MP: I love it!  So is it all boys that you have or how many kids do you have?

Steve Kimock: Oh yes. Four. It's four boys.

MP: Wow, that's awesome. That's very cool. I actually just found on our shelves, WZRD Chicago has been here since 1974, a Zero record, Here Goes Nothing. 

BIG LAUGH

MP: It's probably from when it came out. I know! Isn't that funny?! I love it. I was like, I bet we have some, some Kimock or Zero in here. And sure enough, we did so and Relix Records, which I didn't even know was a label at that time. Very, very cool. 1987, looking at all the pictures of you guys, just totally different time.

Steve Kimock:  My goodness, it was such a different time!

MP: Such a different time! But that's coming back a little bit, right? Aren't you going to do something with Zero coming up in February?

Steve Kimock: Yeah, I hope so. We never actually know what's going on. We just did a gig and we're working on some more. I know that. And from the Great American Music Hall sessions, we have a whole other batch of material that's ready to be released shortly. I'm very excited about it because there are so many great musicians in that band at the time on that project who are no longer with us, who were dear friends of mine and I miss him. Anyway, Martin Fierro is on saxophone, chief among them.

MP: Yeah

Steve Kimock: There's so much great Martin on this new record. Nicky Hopkins is on it and John Kohn and Judge who was our singer the entire time. It's just like so many great players and people, so close to my heart, and I miss them. There they are on the record. So we keep that all alive in our memory.

MP: That's the way to do it. It's really cool that this project was going on for so many years and it's coming back or that you're keeping it fresh and doing new things. According to Facebook, I think you've got a show at the Fillmore coming up in February 2022.

Steve Kimock: That's correct.

MP: Cool. That's very cool.

Steve Kimock: Yeah. Are you coming to this? Come on, get up. Get in the car.

MP: Hey, it's time for me to get back out there. It's been a while. Maybe I will. Thanks for the invite!

Steve Kimock: Oh, you know, speaking of getting back, I will not hesitate to remind you that there's no... You can't go back.  That stuff was a time and you can't go back in time. There's stuff happening now, I don't know where it is, but it's not, it's not where it was. It moved on.

MP: Yeah, it's different now, but it's out of the same vein or the same idea, but totally different, totally revamped, and a totally different place. It's not the same place, that's for sure.

Steve Kimock: I don't like it, but there was a before time - before the virus, before the pandemic, right? There was a scene all over the world, there was entertainment. Bands and musicians and gigs and crew and venues and everybody- agents, everybody that was doing everything - and then everything folded up for long enough for people to wander off. Now, we get to see the extent to which there was tremendous interconnectedness and interdependence and a chaotic result. There's no way that things were going to reassemble in the fashion that they were. And so now that things are starting to get back together... The bad news is that unless you were really at the top of the thing, the very top bands are still the very top bands, but everything underneath - all the venues, the promoters, everything is just like trying to figure out where it's going to be again. The upside to that is it gets to be new. We get to all have a new relationship to the scene and to each other. Let's do a good job of it, is what I'm saying. Do a good job with our music. Do a good job with our community because we have an opportunity now post-pandemic to renew that, to make it new.

MP: Yeah.

Steve Kimock: Yeah. Let's do this. Let's do that just out of respect for each other, for our elders, for our kids, for the music. All that jazz.

MP: Yeah, totally.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, we're doing a good job.

MP: We are. A year and a half ago, we probably were not sure what this would look like. So now we should just use it and take it and make it new and fresh and exciting and pave the way for the next generation of musicians and audiences combined. Exactly. That's really cool. I like that

Steve Kimock: As much as there's always been work to do. We really do have extra work. We have extra work we need to do right now.

MP: Totally.

Steve Kimock: And yeah, that's the responsibility that is thrust upon us by the times we live in. Yeah, you're part of that too. A big part of it. And all the people that are listening, you know, if you can get out to to see music or play music yourself or... Things are a little screwy. Let's make it nice.

MP: Yeah, let's make it resonate throughout and change the perspective of what the current time is. The more music, the more community, the freer we feel because I think a lot of us have felt so trapped for a while. This is a great way to break back out into this.

Steve Kimock: Exactly right!

MP: Post-pandemic or later. Pandemic world, however, we want to put it. You know, I was playing a tune Tongue In Groove before you called, and someone from one of the Zero groups here on Facebook was saying that that jam or that that actually came out of a zero jam session with John Kahn?

Steve Kimock: Sure.

MP: Tell me about that. If you know the story or if this is correct. Sometimes I bring this stuff up and the artist is like, What are you talking about?!

Steve Kimock: We had a place where we rehearsed out on this ranch, we had this barn out in the hills in West Marin by Samuel P. Taylor State Park. There was a horse barn for the cavalry. It looked like the Our Gang Clubhouses, it was a lot of fun. As you said people were going there to play, John Kahn was over and he wanted to play, Sexual Healing. So he starts playing those changes, right? And then he got to the bridge. 

MP: The Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing bridge is what you're talking about?

Steve Kimock: Yeah, that part was cool. Then the second part of that, da da da da, then I was like, Oh, this is kind of cool. But the first part of those chord changes they're the same changes to Beast of Burden or Talk to the Lawyer, fairly stark changes. I thought, oh, wait a minute, let's keep this part, but I'll treat it like a Linley kind of a tune. The next B part then that we came up with, I think, was some kind of riff on another David Linley thing but to see, for me, so. You know, John Kahn riffing on Sexual Healing and me not liking it.

MP: I love it! Then it morphed and morphed into that!

Steve Kimock: Period of war, and I wrote another melody for it and made some other stuff. That's where it started. That's not atypical, really. Everything starts with something else, something that you heard or something that you like, but you're going to move it around a little bit.

MP: Yeah. So it's not necessarily copying if you start there and you just try to use that to get to somewhere else and to find your path.

Steve Kimock: Oh!

MP: I mean, I guess it depends on the...

Steve Kimock: I don't know. That's a good question. I mean, I have no aversion to imitation or mimicry, or just simply doing it like that, playing the piece as written, whatever it is, I think it's OK. I think it's OK to start there and make it your own. I don't think it's possible to start entirely from scratch. Even the folks that are sort of like Harry Partch or you know, microtonal. Microtonal is an American composer who invented his own musical system. They created these instruments to play and everything like that, even that was a reaction to existing music. 

MP: Oh, that's that's cool, that's a great way to put it.

Steve Kimock: Even the more modern composing of a timeline in a computer and stuff like that, it's still... I don't think anybody can distance themselves from their performative listening or to the audience's expectation that, the cultural expectation for music. We think certain things are in tune are pleasant or dissonant. Just basic concepts like that, constants and dissonance, tuning, stuff like that, those are all just constructs and we can't escape them. If we try to, then that's still where we start from. I'm using the same 12 notes, right? Everybody else does pretty much the same three chords, you know?

MP: Yeah. 

Steve Kimock: Everybody does their own way. That's that. I'll put it to you this way, music, I think, is a succession of feeling states. You hear it and you resonate with it in a certain way. It plays on your emotions in time and that's that. It's just how we hear and how we feel, how we perceive that part. It doesn't require a specific origin from the art or any similarity or difference. It's just it's your emotional state relative to the resonances that you had at the time, you know, it's you.

MP: Yeah, absolutely. How you react to that or how you feel. A question I had for you - when you're figuring something out on guitar, you're kind of stuck or you're having trouble figuring something out or just can't get that sound right?

Steve Kimock: BIG LAUGH

MP: Which I'm not saying you specifically! Everybody gets in those...

Steve Kimock: Oh, yeah!

MP: Yeah, you know?! Like it's just kind of at a standstill on, like, what the heck am I doing?! Does that resonate in your life sometimes? Do you feel that when you figure something out on the guitar, then you can figure out something you've been battling in your personal life?

Steve Kimock: Oh, that's a good question! I never connected those two things! Oh, I finished this song. Now I don't feel bad about this thing that happened to me. I think they're all different. There's a great Brian Wilson, Beachport, there's a thing, actually, I think is on a TV on one of the specials where he's trying to figure something out on the piano. He just wants one little change, one little voice leading one little part like just one word. And it just needs a chord and he can't get it. He just goes berserk on the keyboards in place, like utter, cacophony, nonsense, crazy stuff for like five minutes, and then stops and he plays the right chord. It's like, get all the rest of the possibilities out of his system. So when you get stuck, that's one thing that you can do. I've done that. But mostly, I think the answer is whether it's in your life or in the music, my own approach to it is that I just practice, with no sense of reward. I don't require that I get anything from it. I simply have to do the work.

MP: Right.

Steve Kimock: If there's something there, then great! If there's nothing there, then proceed with no thought of reward and that I'm supposed to get something from it. I'm supposed to do it. If I get something from it, then that's a gift, thank you. I don't get it without working for it, so I can't stop working. 

MP: Yeah, that is a good way to look at it. That is something I've thought about with playing for so long and being able to... you get stuck. You can't beat yourself up every time. I like the way you say, if I get something from it and I feel good, it's a gift. If not, then there's nothing...

Steve Kimock: Oh, yeah! That's the thing! People think that I'm going to do this, and then I get this, and it's like, No!

MP: You're expecting the reward. So then you're not going to get the reward.

Steve Kimock: You get Nothing! (laughter)

MP: Yeah. Really! (laughter) Have you not learned anything?!

Steve Kimock: You just have to do the work. Just keep working on it. You keep your nose to the grindstone. After 50 years later, something happens nice or not. That's no reason to lose, in music particularly, if you think you're going to get something from it. Just don't bother!

MP: Things in general, right? If you think you're going to do it to get something out of it, some ulterior motive, then maybe it won't be pure and it's not going to be worth it.

Steve Kimock: Yeah, I think it's okay to do things because you love to do them or you can't help yourself. You're compelled, you know? I mean, which is mostly my thing with the instrument. I just did not know what else to do. I had to do it. I was never really talented or anything like that. I felt like I needed to work on it. As long as I kept working on it, that is doing something. I'm sure there are other kinds of people, I run into them all the time. I think it's obvious when somebody is so much a class A personality that they're bursting out of their skin with some kind of performance energy. It wouldn't matter if they could play or not, They're so whoo-who! that everybody's reacting with whoo-who! but that's not me. I'm the guy that works on it.

MP: I like that. I think that's good advice, especially for people who are getting into music and just don't understand. Anything that you really want in your life and you don't see immediate results because nothing is that easy. It's worth doing. It's worth the hard work and being humble about it because then you end up having something you're proud of at some point. The importance of practice and continuing to learn your craft and hone your craft is something that you definitely embody.

Steve Kimock: Thank you, I intend to keep it up.

MP: Good work! I'm loving the beard, did you cut it or are we going to see you in a full-fledged beard out here?

Steve Kimock: Every couple of weeks when I get in front of the mirror, accidentally, because I really do not like the mirror, and go, 'Good Lawrd!'

MP: Me too!

Steve Kimock: I’ll take scissors and I'll take a little snip over here, a little snip over there and go, is that better?! I don't know. It's still there. When stuff shut down, I was like, all right, screw it, I'm growing a beard and I'm going to shave it off when they finally get a vaccine for this crap. And then they got a vaccine and nobody took it. I was like no! That's not fair! Now I'm going to shave it off and everybody takes the vaccine.

MP: No shave November is now turned into a no-shave vaccine. No vaccine.

Steve Kimock: Sorry!

MP: Sorry. Oh, I like that. Well, that's your visual component. Hey, if you don't like it, you better do what you got to do.

Steve Kimock: Yeah. You don't like it, get the shot.

MP: Yeah, maybe two. Maybe a booster. Then I'll shave my head. Oh, man. Well, this has been really fun, Steve. I hope you're excited to come to the Windy City. We're very excited to have you here,

Steve Kimock: And I am just super looking forward to it because I've had some great really unique musical experiences in Chicago. I really feel like this is going to be another one. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the travel and I'm looking forward to the timing of it, particularly insofar as it will be a release for the whole band from the support role, which I love because I love the Hot Tuna guys, but we'll be ready to throw down when we get there.

MP: That's awesome. There's nothing like having a really good experience right before that and being on the side, not the main event, but now you get to take over the room. 

Steve Kimock: It's like taking the ankle weights off!

MP: Now go swim, you're going to love it! City Winery is such a beautiful place. It's so intimate. So hopefully we'll get a little commentary as well and maybe even hear about some of the musical experiences you've had here in Chicago. I think that's pretty awesome to have in your back pocket. I'm looking forward to seeing John on the drums. I think that's a really cool Father-Son thing. Keep up the good work with being a good father and taking care of your kids. It's a good thing. We're happy to see you guys in action. So that is the 10th that's coming up real quick. Friday, December 10th at 8 pm. We'll see you there at City Winery.

Steve Kimock: Be there or be square. As we used to say!

MP: We really appreciate it, and I will come and say hello if I make it out to the show.

Steve Kimock: Ok, you better!

MP: I will, for sure. I can't not!! 

The String Cheese Incident are indeed coming to the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago for New Year's 2021. Thursday, December 30th will begin the 3 night run on 12/30, 12/31, and 1/1 2022. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of show time will be required for admission but as of this posting, the show must go on! Find a snazzy outfit to match your masks and bring your beautiful self out to celebrate New Year's Eve in Chicago! Meagan Panici at WZRD Chicago, 88.3 FM recently chatted with Keith Moseley about the upcoming shows. 

MP: WZRD Chicago, 88.3 FM, The Wizard Chicago's home for Freeform radio. Thank you for joining us today, Keith!

KM: Oh yeah, we're getting excited to come to Chicago and play for New Year's.

MP: Three nights back in Chicago at the Beautiful Auditorium Theatre.

KM: We played there in 2018. I think late in 18, maybe it was 19. Of course, the whole pandemic year has thrown everything off, but we're glad to be back at it and coming back to Chicago, where we always enjoy a great fan base. It's the Chicago fans who have been good to us for many years and we're excited to come and have a New Year's show with you guys.

MP: We're so excited to have you! We had you guys here before at the Auditorium Theatre and it was really nice. It was a beautiful show all three nights of it. The venue itself is just gorgeous. I'm sure you guys have played at other venues like that, older theaters that are really iconic. Are you excited to get back to that?

KM: Yeah, being able to play these theaters that size, 2-5,000 seat theaters, they're really some of the nicest venues in the country. I love the fact that they're big enough to really generate energy yet small enough to feel really intimate with the crowd. It's my favorite sized venue to play and to go see a band in that size theater as well.

MP: How does it feel to be back connecting with audiences again? Did you miss that over the twenty-one-month break?

KM: It's been so good to be back. We had a nice summer run and we just did Thanksgiving shows here at home in the Denver area. Those went over super great. We've been in the studio all this week working on new material and putting the finishing touches on four new songs. We hope to play them all in Chicago for the first time when we're out there

MP For new songs from String Cheese Incident in Chicago?!

KM: That's the plan. 

MP: We'll get some new music out! Wonderful! We're happy to hear that. Is a new album is on the way?

KM: Probably will be springtime by the time we get around to getting everything tracked, but we're going to get at least some of these songs up and running to bust them out over New Year’s.

MP That's great! I think that's a great way to try to get some of these songs out before you put them on the album. I was talking with a guest last week about that. Sometimes you throw it on the album and it's not quite exactly what you want yet, but if you test it out for the audience, you can feel out the spots that you want the sweet spot if you will.

KM: Exactly! Find the sweet spot for the song. That's been our experience as well. Obviously, you can go into the studio and write them all, record them, and put them out in that way certainly works. But it's also nice to road-test the songs a little bit. Play them live. See what really does work, what might need a little tweak here and there, and get it right before it goes to recording and becomes permanently preserved.

MP: A good way to put it, permanently preserved. We're excited to be the test audience. 

KM: Chicago has been great to us for a lot of years. We really appreciate the fan base there and we're excited to bring it! We're really looking forward to getting in front of the people there in Chicago, playing some new tunes, of course, some old favorites, and having three nights so we can really dig deep in the catalog and stretch out, get comfortable with the venue and really go for it. It's nice to do a multi-night run and be able to acclimatize to Chicago, to the venue, to the whole vibe of the audience and the scene, and really dig deep and do what we do.

MP: You guys really do what you do, and I think you do it well. Tell us how song selection works? Is it a democratic process amongst six people when you guys have so many sounds that you showcase?

KM: Yeah, so many sounds. So many songs, we'll put together a master list this weekend at rehearsal. We go around and everyone will say, Hey, I'd like to play, these half dozen songs and we'll make a master list and get the rough setlist going. And then we look around and try to curate the flow of the show. How do we want to start? Maybe the intensity takes a slight dip mid-set and then you build it back up for the end of the set. So we're thinking of the emotional feel of the show as we write the songs in the list. And then we also try to highlight, well, let's see, give everyone a chance to maybe sing once at least once a set. Try to feature, maybe a fiddle tune. Make sure we've got something with that unique sound in it. We cover so much ground variety-wise with the music that it does take some curation to make sure we hit all the singers and all the different varieties, and really again, try to curate a show that takes people on an emotional ride.

MP: Yeah, it's definitely an emotional ride, I think that you go through a lot of different emotions in a String Cheese show, mostly happy and uplifting, but it's a journey. It's this whole collective thing with the audience and with the band coming together, just a really fun experience.

KM: That's the goal. We sure enjoy trying to take people there.

MP: We're happy to be strapped in and ready to go. Do you have any favorite songs that you've been playing lately? Anything from the past few shows, maybe through the Denver shows that that's been fun for you to play?

KM: The shows were really different. In Denver, for instance, we had a couple of special guests. The first night we did a stripped-down acoustic show and had Andy Hall and Chris Pandolfi from the Infamous Stringdusters sitting with us all night long. It was a really different flavor show the first night. One of the other three nights we had Dominic Lolli from Big Gigantic sit in with us so the pendulum swung from the acoustic all the way over to the more sort of techno and that kind of feel. Dom played a bunch of sax on Straight Ahead stuff as well. Those shows were special and different in their own ways. Every show has got a different vibe to it. So as far as favorite songs, it's hard to say. I'm sure we'll play some of the "hits," but also with a three-night run, it will give us a chance to dig deep into the end of the songbook and bring out some gems that haven't been played in a while as well.

MP: I heard from Denver friends that you guys curated different sets or themes throughout that three-night run in Denver, a barn burner set, which was all bluegrass and then more of a classic Cheese set. Will we be getting something like that here in Chicago or is it a surprise? 

KM: Well, we will have our New Year's Eve celebration, which will have some, let's say, pageantry attached to it, that will certainly be different than most shows. Then the other two nights, I'm not sure yet what you're going to get. Probably, as I say, planned to bust out a couple of these new songs. Maybe all four of them, if we can get there. And as far as other surprises, I'm I don't want to let anything...

MP: Yeah, let's keep it a surprise!

KM: Rest assured, though, they will be special shows and we intend to bring the intensity. It's going to be great. It's always a good time. 

MP: I heard you guys did a fan-voted setlist! How did that work out for those Mission Ballroom shows?

KM: We let people submit their ideas online, and then we took the top-voted songs and relearned how to play them. A lot of them were songs we hadn't played in many, many years. We ran through those in rehearsal and busted them out and it was fun! It was interesting because most of the requests were really old songs, so it felt like we were going back 20 years in time to a younger version of ourselves. 

MP: It's so cool to be able to integrate the fans and now with the internet and the way we can really connect so quickly. That probably made everybody really excited that you guys listen to them and really worked on songs that they asked for.

KM: The modern technology these days of the internet and the ability to connect with your fans is different probably than it's ever been. We want to explore more ways to do that and of course, keep curating the connection with the fans and giving them what they want.

MP: That's great. We love that. Did curating that whole set and digging up old tunes make you guys want to dig deep into some of the older stuff again and bring out more gems you haven't played in a while?

KM: The songbook is so, so big at this point. I have no idea how many songs, the hundreds of songs that we've played over... Maybe even more than a thousand songs that we've played over the 25+ years we've been together. Yeah, we definitely touched back on some tunes that we hadn't played in many years and discovered a whole era of the band that and so many tunes attached that we haven't played in a long time. Yes, several of those will be getting back into the rotation as they were a lot of fun to play and we want to get back to highlighting some of those tunes.

MP: Awesome. That's good to hear. It's fun. I mean, I feel like that with a lot of bands I listen to. You guys put out 7, 10, 20 albums and sometimes you want to say, Hey if you guys want to play those old songs, that'd be great! There's no way to tell the band that without feeling rude. The fact that you guys asked the fans is really, really conscientious on your part. It really does give the fans a chance to be part of the art in yet another way.

KM: It's all about keeping that connection going. That's the bottom line is keep connecting with the fans. Try to keep them both satisfied with hearing some of the older favorite tunes, and then keep them challenged and excited with new music.

MP: Absolutely. I appreciate that that's part of your M.O. in this band. You guys have been doing this for a long time since the Crested Butte days. What year did you guys actually form? In the 90s?

KM: December of 1993 were the first gigs.

MP: Wow!

KM: It’s 30 years coming up - the history together, it's incredible, just to get in the room with the rest of those guys in rehearsal and start reflecting back. To have shared that many experiences, that many years of playing shows, and writing music and traveling and sharing experiences is incredible. We don't spend as much time together these days as we used to, so when we do get back together and have time in the studio as we do now to be creative, it's a really special time. Everybody, away from the band, continues to be creative so when we get back together, it's like, Wow! Here's a new song that you've got. That's awesome! And here's a new song that I've got. Let's check this out. It's exciting to be in a creative space with my buddies that we've been making music with for almost 30 years now.

MP: Yeah, almost 30 years is a really awesome thing! You guys have gelled in such a way all this time and you're still making it exciting and you're still having fun with it.

KM: That's it. That's the whole thing - continuing to create and keep it fresh. There have been a lot of good songs over the years, but honestly, I think we're all just getting better as songwriters, the more we do it. The new tunes we're putting out today, I think, are as good as anything we've written.

MP: Absolutely. I think so, too and I love that it is a democratic process. Everybody's allowed to bring their own song or idea to the band and you guys work on it together. That doesn't always happen in every band.

KM: No, we are unique in that, that there's not really a leader of the band. It is a very democratic process and at times that can make decision-making slow and a little frustrating. But ultimately, everybody in the band gets to feel creatively validated and their songs get played. Everyone gets to sing, everyone is represented. Ultimately, that's the most satisfying for all the band members.

MP: Good. I'm glad to hear that because when you really embrace each other's individuality I think it really shines. It makes it more exciting for everyone.

KM: Yeah, everybody is more invested when they feel represented with their tunes and being able to sing a song during the set. That's always been an important part for us is to keep everyone feeling like the band is a valid creative outlet for them and they get to do their thing. Absolutely. 

MP: Now you guys got something coming up real exciting Jamaica in January. What are your thoughts on this? Are you excited, ready to get out of town?

KM: Oh man, it's been a long time. A couple of years to three years since we've done an international Incident. Yes! Heading to warm weather, feet in the water, toes in the sand, playing some music, it's overdue. We're really looking forward to that.

MP: Oh man, that sounds amazing. If my favorite band is going somewhere tropical and they want to take us with, that's just really cool that you guys create these excursions and these Incidents in different places.

KM: Yeah, it's going to be good to get back there. We had a great experience last time the fan base really showed up We get to have more interaction with the fan base as well. We're hanging out at the resort doing the same activities, getting on the paddleboard, swimming in the bay. It's a great relaxing time for everyone, a chance for the fans to rub elbows a little bit with the band and see several nights of music. I can't wait for that.

MP: That's great. Do you guys include other bands on that, or is it just you guys?

KM: No, there are other bands. I believe we're in Jamaica for two weekends. I know the Traveling McCoury's are on the first weekend and I believe we got Pimps of Joytime on the second weekend. There may be some other bands as well that I'm missing. I think there are, in fact.

MP: That's great. I love that about the excursions too. You have a couple of other bands you're showcasing. For you guys, you've got a little bluegrass, you got a little funk.

KM: There will, of course, be sit-ins that'll be happening.

MP: That's another reason I love that. You never know who's going to sit in! All you can eat churros on the beach, musical surprises, it's very nice!

KM: It's hard not to have a good time. It's definitely a winner. There's nothing like walking on stage on a day after you've spent the day in the water and in the sun and hanging out with friends and family at a beach resort. That brings on a very relaxed vibe, you're right about that!

MP: Well, we're so excited for Chicago. We got three nights here, December 30, 31, and January 1st, Thursday Friday Saturday at the Auditorium Theatre coming up very quickly! Thank you so much, Keith. We really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today and we'll see you out there at three nights over the New Year's weekend at the Auditorium Theatre.

KM: Absolutely. Can't wait to be there. Thanks so much for having us on!

Little Feat 2021- 22 features Bill Payne (keyboards, vocals), Kenny Gradney (bass), Sam Clayton (percussion and vocals), Fred Tackett (guitars and vocals), Scott Sharrard (guitars and vocals), and Tony Leone (drums). After a long-awaited return to the stage, Little Feat has big plans for their future touring. Waiting for Columbus will be toured and replicated, notably at the Chicago Theatre on Thursday 3/10/2022. Hot off the heels of their "By Request" tour, they will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the legendary Waiting for Columbus album.  WZRD, the Wizard 88.3 FM's Meagan Panici had the chance to chat with Bill Payne

MP: I heard a little cut from Hey Pocky Way with the String Cheese Incident in Jamacia. Tell us about that. How does that work for you?

BP: What happens is that we were at a different resort. String Cheese was off-campus. Little Feat likes to stay at the resort, but there were still fans there. So Kyle Hollingsworth got in touch with me and the next day, he says, Hey, you want to come by tonight and sit in with us? And I said, Sure, that'd be fun. I feel like this world traveler right now. For about a year and a half, I didn't go anywhere. Then when the veil lifted briefly, I went off to the south of France. That was my first trip other than going to the Albertsons in Livingston, Montana. I went to the south of France for two weeks to record with a guy named Eddy Mitchell. And that was fun, but it has been nonstop with the Doobie Brothers and Little Feat back and forth, and now it's just Little Feat, and I'm devoting 100 percent to my own band, which is fantastic.

MP: That is fantastic. You guys are coming back and going to play the entire Waiting for Columbus album. Is that correct?

BP: We are! We're not going to replicate it, we will replicate the order of the songs, but it's not going to be exactly as it was recorded. We're Little Feat. Maybe a jam will be five minutes, one night, seven minutes the next night. Three minutes. We're going to divvy it up the way we approach the songs. They're wonderful tunes to play first and foremost. And then for the actors, we're going to leave it open like a free zone. We just did a tour where we had a lot of guests making requests. Hence, a Little Feat by request tour, and that opened us up to like songs like "Strawberry Flats," "Texas," "Rose Cafe…" Some of them are difficult to play, to be honest with you. But they're also fun and circuitous and all of that. It allowed us to jump-start this vast wealth of Little Feat material. Now the challenge is going back to the same set every night. How do we make that interesting?

We're going to do it by virtue of the fact that we're really good musicians. This is a great band, with Scott Sharrard on guitar and vocals.  Tony Leone, he’s playing drums, myself on keyboards, vocals, Fred Tackett on guitar.  It’s all still here.  Sam Clayton on congas and Kenny Gradney on bass.  Sam and Kenny came to us in 1972 from Delaney and Bonnie.. There's a rich history of music that accompanies Little Feat everywhere it goes. Also, the material, the songs that we've written, is a vehicle to express ourselves. It is a pretty darn good place to start to have a great evening of music. We're pleased to be able to do this again.

MP: We're so glad that you are doing it. You guys have so much fun when you're on the road. That's the spirit of Little Feat, right? It’s getting into it, having that comfort zone, and being able to expand and have fun.

BP: I think you said it perfectly and that's exactly what we do. The challenges of everything else with travel and all that stuff are always at play. But when you get up on stage - it's true of any musician and audience - that it's a participatory event, we get great energy from you guys and vice versa. There's a lot of really good energy coming off this band these days. When people are up dancing, I mean, there's not a dance floor, there are seats and they're up dancing. I just think to myself, well, there you go. That says a lot. We're playing in these beautiful theatres, and I think Chicago is no exception. I love Chicago, always have. I always thought that some of the best audiences were from Chicago, no-nonsense. I was reading a book by Orson Welles. They're talking about the beginnings of Chicago with the folks that built the city, we built this city and that kind of stuff, right? But the wives were the ones that insisted upon highbrow entertainment like opera, orchestras, and up-and-coming plays. The best stuff always comes through Chicago. I've been writing a lot of music lately, so this exercise of playing Waiting for Columbus is going to be cool.

For Little Feat in the future, I've written 20 songs with Robert Hunter, who wrote those wonderful tunes with the Grateful Dead. Four of them were recorded in 2012 on a little kid album called Rooster Rag. There are 16 other songs that we haven't recorded. I've been writing with Paul Muldoon, who edited Paul McCartney's book of lyrics, and he's a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and a wacky guy. We've written nine songs with Charlie Starr from Blackberry Smoke. We've written a couple of songs with John Leventhal, who's a wonderful musician married to Rosanne Cash. We came up with a song and we're playing down in Nashville, where we're doing a couple of nights at the Ryman Auditorium down there. Roseanne's going to be there and Charlie Starr. There will be a bunch of folks joining us live, that's going to come the second night. It's great to share that with you.

MP: That's awesome! I saw you guys will be at the Ryman. That's a bucket list for me. What is that venue like for people who haven't been there?

BP: Well, it's a place where people put a huge shrine with the Grand Ole Opry. You walk into it in the afternoon and the tour is taking place, right? So there's your first clue that something's happening. But there is a reference to that building the wooden seats in there and it's kind of more of an old-school style thing. And it's southern, right? So that aperture is in there. But it's a little different than that. You're the ghost of the people that have played there before and the audiences that have have have sat in those same seats for many years. When we opened ourselves up, we could feel those ghosts. And it's not a bad thing. It's a thing that connects us to our past and a past that we weren't involved in. It's deep. It gives you pause to think that you're up there playing on the same stage that those folks played on and it gets you to look at yourself differently as well. Bob used to call it the footsteps of giants. When he started composing music, he was hearing the footsteps and they were Beethoven, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. The footsteps I was hearing was Dylan, the Band, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, et cetera, Ray Charles, Frank Zappa and the Mothers. They give you pause when you first start your journey as a musician. An artist will say, Well, what right do I have to join this conversation? And what can I add to it? Can I add anything? 
Little Feat in 1969 started what we were doing and Chicago is one of those first cities that really got what we were doing. That was a real eye-opener for me. It's kind of a sticky wicket, as they say, you get rolling on these things and you're just laying your heart on the line, and not everybody salutes it. It helps to come in with more of a humble attitude sometimes and just accept what is there, build your craft, keep your eyes and ears open, continue to build upon influences that expand your vocabulary as an artist.

Ultimately you're sharing with people and they give it right back to you. I don't mean with applause but the nature of the way things are set up now with with with social media. Where you can become friends with a lot more people than you used to be because we all go through life with tears and laughter, right? Those are the things that human beings share with one another. Sometimes they articulate it better than I do. There are times from those conversations that I constituted what I heard from them. I put it into a song and now it affects somebody else. So it's a pretty good river to be a part of it, to be flowing down.

MP: I'm glad to be a part of the ship and on that river. Freeform radio is what we do here. I love harkening one song to something that's totally different than the other, but of course, has some influence from it. Thanks for sharing that. A question I had for you was speaking on the piano as a refuge for you. You've said that it's a refuge. How are all creative people using their instruments as a refuge and how should they use their craft to anchor themselves?

BP: If they're unaware that's what it is, they ought to quickly come to terms with it because of all the slings and arrows of life. We need someplace, whether it's music or otherwise, to take a deep breath and regroup, right? For me, it's always been the piano. The world could be crumbling around me, but the piano is where I can empty my soul. My soul gets replenished from it.  (Bill Payne then proceeds to sit at his home piano and start playing)

I mean, I'll sit down. It's not all Shakespeare and heavy thinking. It's sometimes cotton candy, you know? But it doesn't matter what it is, it's having something. This case, the piano for me in my life. It's conversational. I can walk over to it right now and play you something. I lucked out. I had a great teacher.

MP: Yeah, that's that's really something that you can communicate with. When the whole world is crumbling, that's where you feel safe. I think it's a good reminder to all creative people that sometimes we work and work and you kind of beat it and you don't love it anymore. Until you realize, wait a second, this is really where I feel safe. I want to embrace my instrument or embrace my creativity and feel safe here.

BP: I think awareness is a good thing. Don't ever stop searching for things or being inquisitive. It affects everything you do. I will interpret a lot of stuff, but there are things for you to try and see where it goes.  Being a writer is about being inquisitive. You question things you want to know about things you try and keep an open mind, which sometimes is hard. But there you are. Robert Hunter and I never talked. I never met him, but we came up with 20 songs. Wow!  There was once a tune that we disagreed on. He said This sounds kind of normal. I'm not quite sure what to tell you, but I thought, I'll hang on, I'll rewrite it. So I took it from a pub in Ireland and I brought it down to South America, and I revamped the whole song based on that. And he goes, You know what I like about you? You just don't give a damn, you try it. It's only music, right?I told Robert Hunter, the music is in your lyrics. And he said, Yeah, but it takes a composer to draw them out. And so those were our two pats on the back to each other at that point. I learned a lot about writing music. I'd written a lot of songs before that, but I really learned how to just let go. Writing with Robert Hunter, he was an absolute joy to work with. I've kept over 200 emails back and forth to one another as evidence that we actually did this and that's not a bad way to communicate with people. I actually felt like I knew him.  It was good.

MP: What was it like working with Robert Hunter? You still worked with him even though you never met him or were in the same room, right?

BP: I've played on many, many records where I wasn't in the room at the time. Let's start with "Hollywood Nights," for example, with Bob Seger "Against the Wind." I play the organ on it. Bernie Taupin, who was Elton John's lyricist, I did a couple of albums for his group Straw Dogs. Its same thing with playing on stuff with Pink Floyd. You just get in there and you hear what you hear and you add to it and then let people decide whether you were in the room or not. Is that the best? It doesn't really matter. Does it make it less musical because you weren't there to say, Hey, why don't we expand this bar? Things happen when you're together but that's not what all art is about. It's about communicating in whatever fashion you can at the time. You're able to do it and have it feel seamless, have it feel like it came from the heart, right?

MP: When you did some of that work with Robert Hunter, I know you brought some of that to the band Leftover Salmon like "Bluegrass Pines," for instance, from High Country. Tell me what it's like to play with Leftover Salmon, Vince and the gang. How that is different than playing with Little Feat?

BP: Leftover Salmon, I love those guys. Playing with those guys was like being in a water setting, say a lake and you're going to water ski. They got the fastest boat in the world and it's going to pull you out of the water and you're either going to come out of your skis and be dragged around the lake or you have the sense to let go. I mean, they are just out of control. I jumped up on the keyboard right in time for my solo and took off, started playing again. Oh my God. I thought, Yeah, that's what it's like playing with Leftover Salmon. It's just loose. It's fun, it's free. And hold on for dear life!

MP: I was reading this book, Thirty Years of Festival by Tim Newby. It was talking about back in 2001 when Mark Vann was getting sick. They wanted to come together and have a fundraiser to help him and to help bring positive vibes to his healing. They called you and a ton of artists came together to do this. Rowan, Nershi, Fleck, all sorts of people and the collective energy of the rock and roll crowd or these jam bands get together and they make something happen. They try to support each other. Tell me a bit about that. What kind of power did you feel doing that for? For Mark?

BP: It was an amazing experience and there was a power to it. There was a love that was emanating from that stage and from the audience as well to this to Mark Vann. I feel that I could keep using the same verbiage over and over again, but I felt very fortunate to have been involved in it. There's a kind of red light when you heard Livingood, who was our drummer in the very first band that I joined. He died of brain cancer. He's a young kid and we all lose people in life, but it's always tough. Somebody wrote me last night about a friend of the band over in Germany that just went out. To be able to recenter your energy for somebody that knows he or she is going out but they're here now. You can affect on the level of letting them know that they are loved, that they are not going to be forgotten, and that they affected our lives just like we're trying to do for them. That's a privilege, isn't it?

MP: Super big privilege. In the book, it describes points where this whole collective supergroup was calling his hospital room. You could hear the audience saying his name and saying these beautiful things. It painted such a beautiful picture and gives me chills. That power is real It's got to help. Somehow, it's got to help.

BP: It does help. From my perspective, Megan, death is a part of life, right? I mean, it's not segregated from life. It is a part of life and people know when to go. I'm not a religious person at all, but I am. People often say spiritual, and I believe wholeheartedly that we have a spirit within us, right? So I don't know what it is or how any of it works. Nobody does, but I'm as convinced of it as is that when I take a drink of cold water and I know it tastes good and that it's nourishing. I don't really question it. It's not like I've seen it. I know this door, I'm going to walk through it. It is going to take me outside.

MP: What advice do you have for artists who are starting out and starting to get some criticism? How do you deal with that? How do you take the criticisms with the praises?

BP: Well, that was a great question, and I would say that what's helped me is to look for the truth. Accept the fact that there's probably a little bit of truth. If there's a lot more than a little bit, then maybe you need to examine what you're doing, but in any case, don't shut out the criticism entirely. Use it to help build, give yourself a little breathing room to think about it, see where and if it can improve what you're doing. Expand your language, which is really at the bottom line. Look at what you're doing with your artistic endeavors. Don’t disassociate yourself in terms of the things going ahead. Like everything else, it will subside at some point. Let it subside. In the interim, you’ve got to decide - Does it take away from your conviction of what you're doing? Or does it build on your convictions? This is the time for soul searching and soul examination. I don't think that's ever a bad thing. You don't want to do it day in and day out. You need to breathe. Laugh, love, cry. Enjoy life as best you can. The angst and everything else will tap you on the shoulder, whether you want it or not.

MP: Very good words spoken by Bill Payne of Little Feat coming to Chicago, the Chicago Theatre, Thursday, March 10th, which is just two days before your 73rd birthday! One thing that's really exciting for me, I started in this business as a promoter and as a street teamer, was the idea of this Little Feat grassroots movement. Can you expand on that for me?

BP: Well, I just was fed up with the way the business people were dealing with us, I just felt like we knew there were certain people that were doing it, but we did it in our own fashion. It took some impetus from Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail in 1972, which is about Nixon and George McGovern running against one another. There were some practical tips in there about how to organize a grassroots team. The lesson now seems antiquated and like duh. At the time it was not antiquated. All we knew is that we wanted to try communicating with people, let people know when Little Feat was coming to town. I very quickly logged on to the fact that if you're in Sydney, Australia, you know where all the coffee shops are, you know where people congregate. You need people with boots on the ground and know the area in Chicago. They're going to know a lot more about it than the guy in Ventura, California. We still have that relationship with the grassroots community. Now we also have a really good management company called Vector, and those guys are great. The business side ought to be there to facilitate. Getting the artist together with the audience and vice versa, and there's a lot more of that than there used to be, so I'm very grateful for that.

MP: Me too, I think bringing bands and fans together is an integral part of this whole thing. I salute you for bringing that upon us and being a pioneer in the development of online and grassroots communities. We will see you at the Chicago Theatre Thursday, March 10th.

Chicago is excited to host the inaugural Sacred Rose Festival on August 26 - 28, 2022. A big reason for that excitement is that Lettuce will be bringing the funk. After the release of their new album Unify, Meagan Panici caught up with Adam Deitch from Lettuce to talk about the funk, the origin of Funkateer and how the last few years have gone for them in their artistic pursuits. Check out her interview from her radio show on Chicago's home for freeform radio, the Wizard, WZRD 88.3 FM.

MP: You are listening to WZRD 88.3 FM, the Wizard, Chicago’s home for freeform radio since 1974. I have on the line Adam Deitch of Lettuce and he is with us right now. Are you with us Adam?

AD: Yes I am! How are you doing?

MP: Doing really well, excited for all the great music coming back to us here in Chicago this summer. You’re going to be playing at Sacred Rose Festival with your wonderful band Lettuce. Tell us a little bit about Lettuce and the hip-hop jazz, and New Orleans funk that you guys do.

AD: We’re all just die-hard funk fans. Soul Music, funk, and mix in a little bit of psychedelia with reggae vibes here and there, we’re just die-hard to this funk thing and we can’t wait to bring it to Chicago!

MP: Awesome! We love it as well as your new album. I’m really enjoying it. It came out a month ago, yes? Unify?

AD: The response to Unify has been great. We are really excited for people to hear it

MP: You are the drummer, the heartbeat of the band. You were Berklee trained. Tell us a little bit about your background and where you come from musically.

AD: Both of my parents went to Berklee. They are both drummers. My mom is a phenomenal funk drummer and my Dad is a great drummer. They both play 8-10 instruments each so they just became music teachers for me. I grew up in a house of professional music with professional musicians that also went on to teach music later in life. It’s been music around my house since I was born. I’m happy to continue that tradition. 

MP: That’s amazing. Did Lettuce meet at Berklee? Did you all go to Berklee?

AD: The core of the band started 30 years ago when we met at a Berklee music summer camp. We were about 6 years old. My mom forced me to go to this summer program which is like a mock college program, you go to Berklee, live in the dorms in Boston, and you go through classes so it’s like a college experience before college. That is when we all met in 1992, 30 years ago.

MP: Dude! 30 years ago?! That’s really something. I was listening to the Comes a Time podcast with Oteil Burbridge. You and Jesus from Lettuce were talking about how you met at Berklee and all the jam sessions that took place back then. It was really insightful. Can you tell us what happened with that?

AD: Oh yeah! Well, when we went into the summer program we met some of the best musicians we’ve ever met. They ended up being our mentors. Little John Roberts who played with Janet Jackson for 10 years. He is just a phenomenal next-level drummer. Chris Laughlin is another great bass player and a friend of ours. They are just a few years older than us but they just took us under their wings and really helped us to get to the next level. 

MP: I also heard that Nigel Hall was introduced to the band as first a fan and then a member?

AD: As far as Benny, our trumpet player, they both knew about the band. We have mutual friends about 5-6 years younger than us. When they joined, they fit like a glove. They have both been in the band for 10 years now.

MP: You guys have a core and you keep funking it out. I love that! Can you tell us a bit more about making the new album Unify?

AD: Usually the writing process is done on the tour bus or after the show because we’re touring all year long. We don’t have much downtime to really compose or write songs, but with the pandemic, we had about a year and a half of just hanging out and envisioning what our sound would be in 2022 and beyond, where we want to go, and how to incorporate what makes us who we are. We were just getting better at what we do. This album had a lot more time as far as writing and creating and the studio session was great because there were no outside distractions. It was sort of like a bubble right in the middle of the pandemic when we recorded it. We were super focused and we had great tunes where everybody came to bring the songs to life. We’re happy people dig it.

MP: Not only did you guys do it, but you brought along a very special Funkateer! Tell us who joins you and how much fun it was to work with this person

AD: Yeah, he is THE Funkateer. He is the origin of Funkateer. Bootsy Collins is absolutely a god to us and someone that we couldn’t even imagine meeting and better yet, working with and becoming friends with. It’s been a dream come true. Keep the Funk Alive is the featured song. Bootsy got sent that song that we had all worked on as a band for him. He loved it and immediately put vocals and bass on it. He added his flavor on Keep the Funk Alive

MP: There is a really cool music video you can find on You Tube for it. I saw that you might have storyboarded or created some rough drawings for?

AD: We’ve never had a chance to do that before! Usually, we hire animators and they do their own thing but this guy Adam Hatch was so great to work with! He is an amazing animator. I took it upon myself to do some storyboards. I used to draw all the time. I actually wanted to go to art school before I met the Berklee guys when I was 16. I kept a little bit of that fire inside for visual art and I got to use it. I really loved comic books growing up. I created a scenario where Bootsy comes down in a spaceship and beams us up out of a Lettuce patch. We go up and jam with him in the spaceship in the galaxy universe then he brings us back to Earth in the end. It was really fun to work on that. I think it turned out pretty cool.

MP: I’m impressed! You could be a comic book artist. Your Instagram had me these drawings, honestly, so good!

AD: Funny because those pictures didn’t take me very long at all. I just kinda sketched some ideas out for Adam Hatch so he could have enough of an idea. He had enough of an idea of what we were going for as far as the vision of the video. Thank you for saying that! I really do love doing that and hope to do some more.

MP: Those long days on the tour bus and all the interesting interactions you encounter… I’d totally read an Adam Deitch comic series. Let me know!

AD: I’ll keep that in mind. 

MP: So tell us more about working with Bootsy. Was it remote?

AD: At first it was remote. We spoke through emails and phone calls, just a totally amazing interaction. Then he started sending tweets about us and saying all these things to his fans, letting people know, and that's when I knew it was for real. We had a gig in Ohio and he offered for us to come and spend time at his house and in his s recording studio. We got to hang out and do some vocals for his new album. We are actually going back again soon to finish up some stuff for his record. It just turned into a really beautiful friendship. We’re so honored to get to work with such a legend of funk and soul music.

MP: Was there anything that you took with you from working with Bootsy that you didn’t think you would? Like a piece of advice that he gave you or some sort of reflection?

AD: His original piece of advice that sparked the whole thing was to Keep the Funk Alive. Keep this thing that he talks about on his Instagram - despite the pandemic, despite the fact that all the musicians are at home not working. You could still keep the Funk alive. You could still create and still put out music and still be a part of this legacy. That was a big thing. He has an aura. It’s an aura of this is fun, this is enjoyable, this is a beautiful thing. He kept saying that funk grows from underneath things. Underneath the grass, in a crevice, in a corner. That’s where the funk lives. Funk doesn’t even have a category at the Grammys yet. We’re camping for that. 

MP: No funk category?!

AD: No funk category. Just like there’s no funk radio station. It’s sort of like an underground art form and Bootsy is one of the inventors of it. We are more than happy to continue that legacy and try to push it into the future.

MP: That’s wonderful! I knew that he had to have given you some seed of wisdom because just listening to him on his podcasts, he is so connected. He’s connected to something else, like Colonel Bruce Hampton, otherworldly.

AD: He is a deeply spiritual person. You could feel that with his humor and fun and so many amazing qualities that we all try to soak up. 

MP: Bootsy’s album The Power of One that he put out in 2020. For all the listeners who haven’t heard of Bootsy’s album check it out. It is so good and there are a ton of people featured on it. Now you guys will be going for something that you really want and you’re making it happen. 

AD: If you don’t try then you’ll never know. You gotta put out the feelers and see what comes of it, really, whatever it is.

MP: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

AD: A lot of people don’t do things for fear of rejection but you have to not think about that. Go into it with a positive mindset and hope that it’s going to work out. If it doesn’t, you move on and continue forward. You gotta take a crack at it tho to see if it works or not.

MP: On Oteil’s podcast I really enjoyed where you two talked about you never know who is in the audience watching you, right? You never know who is in the crowd and who is watching. Do you have an experience of when somebody was in the crowd that you didn’t realize was a fan?

AD: Well, thanks to Instagram I have gotten to know so many artists that I would have never thought would have any idea who Lettuce is. The drummer from Korn is a big fan. Who would have thought a heavy rocker, like a metal band would be dropping some funk before they go on stage? He told me that we are their kind of music, us and Steele Pulse a great reggae band. It’s always great to see people across musical genres. I worked with John Scofield a bunch and yeah. You never know who’s checking you out. 

MP: Steele Pulse too, huh? We connected with the bass player once. Do you know what he told me? He told me that when he is playing bass when he has his little funk groove going, he is just farting. He’s just farting the whole time! I love that dude!

AD: It’s like his bass is a love gun and he holds it up sometimes. He points it at the crowd as if it’s a shotgun. He’s just giving you love frequencies through the bass. That’s kind of how Jesus approaches the bass. The intention is coming from his heart going through the strings of the bass and the amp and going straight to the people so that they can feel it. 

MP: A lot of people are coming for the frequencies, I think. It’s why we get in a room and feel the bass. We feel the drum and the heartbeat without even realizing it. We don’t put it into words, but it’s the frequencies, right?

AD: Absolutely. Frequency science is getting deeper and deeper. It’s not so much of an outside concept anymore. Sound is healing. With healing intentions and with the right vibes going into the music, you can really affect people in a positive way. We’re all really keyed into that. I read up on everything that has to do with sound healing and that sort of stuff. It’s great to see science prove what we felt and what musicians have known for centuries. 

MP: It makes it more of a viable career for some too. Maybe not you because your parents are drummers but someone might say, don’t be an artist. You’re not going to get paid or you won’t be great. But what if you’re resonating sound? What if you’re able to heal people with music? Then you’re a great source for science or a doctor in a sort of way, right?

AD: I feel like sometimes we are traveling doctors and our medicine is the notes. Notes with good intention coming from a band of best friends that just known each other for 30 years, we have a lot of love to share through the music. Funk music is our way of expressing the dark side and the light side of it all. It’s not just one thing, it has all the colors that we love. I’m happy to be a traveling healer of sorts. 

MP: Traveling healers, I love that! Lettuce has such a great brotherhood. You guys love each other so much and it shows through with the music. You mentioned working with John Scofield and that you missed your boys. Here you are working with this jazz giant and you missed being with your band. 

AD: Absolutely. I did my best to get those guys into Scofield’s band for just that very reason. Everyone else did gigs - our guitar player was with Lady Gaga and Robert Randolph, all these amazing artists - Jesus was working with Dr. Dre and Snoop, DJ Quik. We all had outside gigs but we were like, man… If we could just do this ourselves and hang out with each other and run this business… That was the dream. I have to give it up to Eric Jesus Coombs for having the real belief before we did that we could make this work. It really was just a matter of believing it.

MP: Missing time to continue on this path of wanting to be a great funk band too. I’m sure it felt as if that was great and all but you didn’t want to abandon your ship. Got to get back to my friends and where I came from. What did you get working with Scofield that you could bring back to us?

AD: So many things! I think we knew the music thing before. We understood how to be a professional operation. From seeing how Scofield runs his business, his wife Susan is amazing, she takes care of everything from booking to management. She just has it all together and understands how it works. I learned so much from her. Now you know how to do European festivals and European tours and the way to interact with people on a business level and that sort of thing. We’ve all learned a lot from working with other artists. I worked with Average White Band. They are one of the great funk bands of all time. I did three years with them. I also learned how they run their business and put out records. It has all been very informational. I don’t think we’d be a band today if we hadn’t done those years working for and being mentored by these people that had very professional operations. They aren’t dependent on just getting a song on the radio. That’s not how we kept this thing going. It was more about being a band that people will keep seeing night after night. It's always different and it’s always an adventure. You never know what is going to happen. The Grateful Dead and Phish and jam bands, jazz groups like Weather Report and Miles Davis, and Electric Period, set the groundwork to where it’s not about the hit single. It’s not about a big song. It’s about the concert experience. That is what I learned from those guys.

MP: That is wonderful. Thank you for expanding on that. How old were you when that happened and you found yourself working with Scofield?

AD: I was about 24 years old. I’d already done a couple of years with Average White Band. Actually, it was Eric Krasno that ended up bringing Scofield as a guest to a Lettuce show. Krasno thought I would be a good fit for Scofield’s new project. I was about 25 years old and we went for a little tour and wrote a bunch of stuff on guitar. He had some great ideas and then we went right into the studio after the tour. Here I was recording with the great John Scofield, the legend, and it really gave me a huge boost. It alerted people to the kinds of styles that I like to play from expansive funky hip hop to hip hop-inflected jazz-inflected music. Scofield is a great traffic director. He has this pointing thing where he just points. I want just the drums and the bass for eight or six bars or whatever. You never know what he is going to do arrangement-wise because he likes to break it down as if he is a mixing board. He will take certain instruments in and certain instruments out. Then when he puts it all back together again, the crowd always goes nuts. They end up living the sound of just two people together. Then they hear all six instruments come back together and they love it. It is an experience in sound. 

For example, in our song Fearless, whenever we get to the middle of Fearless, it’s open. We can do whatever we want to and it’s improvised every time we play it. It keeps you from getting sick of a song because when you get to that section, it’s up to how you feel and how you respond at that moment. That’s one of the things that keep us going. 

MP: That is really cool. That does keep it fresh because there has got to be that point where you’re like, okay I’ve played this song a million times. I’m bored of it or whatever. Worst-case scenario, the audience is bored of it. In this formula, you can totally change it and make it a sound experiment. 

AD: Absolutely. Our fans come to our shows for a while and they understand this. We really care about the long-term fans and want to give them an experience that is different from their last 510 shows or 20 shows. As long as we are keeping them happy and also keep getting new fans, that propels us into the future. 

MP: That is exactly what you guys are doing. One thing I find so fascinating about Lettuce is its hip-hop background. Tell me about that and how much hip hop means to you in your life.

AD: It’s everything! It was the music I came up with as a young teenager in the late 80s early 90s. It was especially exciting to me as a drummer loving that power. I also love to dance. I was doing all the crazy dances, not breakdancing but you know, dance parties and hip hop. I was obsessed, completely obsessed and still am. Everyone in the band loves hip hop. It was totally a part of our musical development. We were all practicing and playing along with hip hop records. I think that’s our secret sauce. That is what separates us from a throwback funk band.  All those guys like James Brown and George Clinton, without them there is no hip hop. These young producers and rappers coming up in the 80s grew up with these records and their parents playing them in the house all the time. The idea of taking these little parts of songs, their favorite parts that were so raw and exciting - looping them over and over again was a concept that hadn’t really been done yet. The idea of sampling and taking this really weird moment of a song, that has a vibe. We incorporated that into Lettuce to try and get as much hip hop into what we are doing as possible.

MP: That is definitely what sets you apart! 

AD: My dad’s coming from Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder The Beatles, and that sort of stuff. That’s traditional funk. It’s all timeless amazing artists but it took him a while to understand how I felt about hip hop. When I was creating myself, my dad got to see how hard it was to make legit, good, hip hop. It’s not easy. You don’t just sample a record and put it on the radio. It takes a lot. It takes a lot of mixing, a lot of picking the right spots, picking the right drum sounds, the right bassline, getting the perfect rapper to rap over that and the art of the DJ and scratching and all that stuff. We love that stuff. We have been fortunate enough to work with some great MCs. We have toured as the backing band for GZA from Wu Tang Clan and we did tours with Slick Rick as his backing band. Talib Kweli, Pharrell, a bunch of amazing MCs… Charlie Tuna from Jurassic Five. We played on Jay Leno with the Game. From the west coast to the East coast guys to the Midwest, Detroit. I have to mention J Dilla who is one of the greatest producers that has ever lived. His style is very live-feeling music. It has this loosey-goosey not quantified, not robotic sound. In the early 2000s, I think that is what hit a lot of musicians. You talk about Robert Glasper and Derrick Hodge and all those guys. Dilla influenced their style of jazz and their style of music. It is a huge part of our DNA and who we are.

MP: Haven’t you also produced a record? 50 Cent? Redman, Talib Kweli? What is it like to be on the other side of it and produce?

AD: Oh its great! Obviously, they are kings and I had to come up with a piece of music that they could tell a story over and talk about their life and experiences. It was really interesting. It’s a way different experience than being in a band. It’s an ‘I really hope they like this’ sort of vibe. With 50 Cent, I was skateboarding to his house every day in Manhattan. Sometimes he wouldn’t even listen to what I brought. I’d play it in the office and his boys would take my skateboard and skate around the office and not even listen to my music. We’d just hang. They wanted to make sure I was cool and the vibe was right. Then they really started listening. He heard one track and said this is going to be perfect for my album because he liked the live guitar on it. Shout out to Eric Krasno for putting the live guitar on that track.

MP: Krasno certainly knows what he is doing. I never thought 50 Cent would know who Krasno was. How about that?!

AD: He definitely knows his live guitar playing and has a sample of his live instrumentation. That was cool. He grew up in church so he knows the deal.

MP: Oh that has got to make ya feel good.

AD: It was cool. Hanging out in New York when that record came out… every car playing it as they drove by… It was a great experience.

MP: I love that you and Jesus were in a hip-hop group before Lettuce.

AD: Oh wow! You really did your research! You really went all in! The Formula was what we intended on doing. We really wanted to be a band that had a steady MC in it like the Roots. That was our goal. We started the Formula to try and get that going. It was hard to find an MC that we could lock down in 1995. The industry was geared toward rappers being solo artists, just going out and being them. The guys who we wanted to be a member of the band as a rapper didn’t want to be tied down. We decided then to make music that is powerful enough to not be dependent upon a vocalist. We figured we would work with rappers or work with singers. When we finally linked up with Nigel about 10 years ago, it was a match made in heaven. He loves hip hop, he loves soul music. He can sing like Danny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. It’s definitely a cultural thing. He can play keys like Bernie Worrell or Herbie Hancock, it’s just a dream. He filled out such a huge part of what we were missing. I’m just… so thankful that he is in the band today.

MP: We are so thankful that Lettuce will be playing Sacred Rose Festival which is coming up Friday August 26th. You guys are playing the same day as Phil Lesh and Friends. They are calling it Philco - Phil Lesh and Wilco! Crazy lineup eh?

AD: Yes! I am so excited about this lineup! I saw Kamasi Washington is there. I am really excited for him. There are a bunch of artists I am really excited to see, Hiatus Coyote. I really want to see them live.

MP: Yes! Can you tell us more about them?

AD: They are from Australia - a cool quirky, funky, progressive R&B group. They are kind of beyond explanation. The lead singer is phenomenal, the whole band is phenomenal. Of course, Cory Wong and the whole Wolfpack crew. We love them! Joe Russo, so many of our friends are here. We are really excited about this one.

MP: Wow! So this is going to be just as much fun for the musicians as it will be for us in the audience, right?!

AD: Absolutely! This is the kind of festival where you get there and go walk around to try and catch as much music as you can until your set. Then when your set is done, you change your shirt and dry off, eat something, then go back out and look for more music. Get in as much music as you can before you grab that ride back to the hotel. 

MP: Exactly! I am so glad you guys are on this lineup. We are so glad to have you in Chicago! Lettuce is playing from 6:15 to 7:30 on Friday, August 26th. It is going to be such fun! I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today. Your music is so fun and it was so fun to pick your brain today as well.

AD: Thank you so much! Thank you for doing all that research. This is definitely one of the most in-depth interviews I have ever done so thank you, Meagan. 

MP: You are welcome. You are so welcome. One last question: How important is it to be humble in this business?

AD: How important is it to be humble? Be humble! Nobody wants to work with a jerk.

MP: It is just that simple. 

AD: It is just that simple! Our favorite musicians form Bootsy to Herbie Hancock to Earth Wind and Fire and Tower Power. They are humbled. They have done it. They have lifelong fans. There is no reason for them to have an ego. It is the people with the egos that usually have a complex of some sort. The idea is to be humble and treat people with respect. Know that there is a long way to go. No matter how good people might shower you with compliments but you have to know in your heart that there is a lot more to go. There is a lot more to do. That always works to keep us humble. 

MP: Adam Deitch of Lettuce ladies and gentlemen! We really appreciate you. We will see you in August at Seat Geek Stadium in beautiful Bridgeview Illinois!

AD: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

MP: Have a great day! You are welcome! It’s WBEZ Chicago, 88.3 FM The Wizard, Chicago’s home for freeform radio. I want to hear Vamanaos off Lettuce’s album Unify right now. Get your dancing shoes one Sacred Rose is August 26 through the 28th, 2022. We will see you out there!

Luke Miller of the electronic jam band Lotus, performing at Sacred Rose Festival in Bridgeview, IL on August 26-28 recently called into WZRD Chicago, 88.3 FM, the Wizard. Meagan Panici chatted with him about what Lotus has been up to and what we can look forward to when they arrive in Chicago later this month. 

MP: Thank you so much for tuning in and talking to us today. How are you doing?

LM: I’m doing pretty well! I am here in Denver, ready to fly out to Wisconsin for a festival tomorrow.

MP: How was your Red Rocks shows? I know that was a huge deal for you guys.

LM: We were one of the first shows when it opened back up. It was still at reduced capacity for COVID reasons but we were able to do 4 shows just by ourselves. It was a magical experience, one we'll never get to do again with Red Rocks only half full. Everyone just felt so grateful to be there and to finally be back at Red Rocks again.

MP: It is such a beautiful venue. I missed it so much when we were not able to go to shows. It was a moment of realizing what I had taken for granted. That was really cool and we all missed it so much.

LM: There were so many things like that, given the time. It really showed us all what we take for granted. 

MP: It really did. To be able to come back to your home base where you are living and be able to play with your people to your people, this family you’ve created, that’s great. It is a family affair because your twin brother is also in the band. Lotus has been a band now for over 20 years, correct?

LM: That's right!

MP: What does that feel like? How does the evolution of a band over all this time feel?

LM: When I take a step back, it feels surreal. In the day-to-day though, it just feels like this is where the rubber hits the road. We are still doing the same things we always have, just writing music and out playing for people. Some of the contacts have changed slightly. People have their own needs - they have kids now, they live in different states but we don’t. We travel around in the ol minivan. At the end of the day, we are still so happy to get on stage and we still play our instruments and improvise and listen to the other members bringing music to people around the US. 

MP: Obviously we have a new member, Tim Palmieri on board now. How is that all working for a band that has been together for 20 years? Is it easy to transition, or does it take a while to get him up to speed? He is a wizard on the guitar. Tell me about the transition.

LM: Well certainly changing any member is not easy. Specifically, the lead guitar for a mainly instrumental band like Lotus was not easy. That’s our lead vocal. But as you said, Tim is one of the best guitar players around so he was up for the challenge. He did a lot of legwork beforehand. Last September we made the handoff and played our own festival in Ohio called Summer Dance. Then next week was his first show so it felt like we were building the airplane as we were flying it. He is approaching a year now with the band and he has been doing a great job. Everyone is real excited about what is to come. 

MP: That’s great! It’s really cool to see that happening. You guys have been a staple in the scene for a while now, it’s great to see you evolve and keep on going. The Sacred Rose crew was involved with North Coast Music Festival so it’s interesting that you will be involved as they head towards more live bands and fewer DJs.

LM: Absolutely. We have worked with these promoters for so many years, going back to some of our very first shows in Chicago at these little venues around town. I really like that with Sacred Rose, it’s more focused on the live bands. Everyone is excited about that, having a full Chicago fest with lots of jam bands and a lot of really great non-jam bands like Leon Bridges and Khrungbin and stuff.

MP: Absolutely! North Coast has its own electronic component and we get the best of all worlds with Sacred Rose. August 26-28 is gonna be a blast and I’m so glad you guys are a part of it!

LM: It’s always a highlight for us to be able to play in Chicago and the Sacred Rose Festival. The end of August might not be my pick for a time to come to Chicago. We’ve gotten hit with some brutal thunderstorms and I think we had a set completely canceled one year at North Coast because of lightning but hopefully, the weather gods will smile upon us. 

MP: Yes! Pray to the weather gods! I hope we get a beautiful amazing weekend. The music that is lined up is too good to miss! There will be Phil Lesh paired up with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. I’m sure the artists will be having as much fun as we are out in the audience. This Philco collaboration is Phil Lesh, Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline

LM: He is probably my favorite guitarist of all time

MP: Who? Nels?

LM: Yeah, he is so good!

MP: It is so awesome! Plus Karl Denson on sax, a mixture of artists we don’t get to see much around here. Then we will have Disco Biscuits, STS9, and Lotus!

LM: Absolutely!

MP: You guys have a new record coming out? It will be out that weekend on August 27, yes?

LM: Yeah - it will be a defacto record release set at Sacred Rose!

MP: Absolutely! Bloom & Recede is out on August 26th. The first studio album with guitarist Time Palmieri on it?

LM: Yes! Soon after Tim joined the band we had a lot of songs that were mostly done just missing guitar from it so we were able to get him in the studio and make an album pretty quickly. 

MP: What band did Tim Palmieri come from? Before this?

LM: Tim played with Kung Fu and a band called The Breakfast.

MP: Ah yes! We had Kung Fu in the studio at one point. I remember hearing that and knowing that TIm would fit right in with your guys' vibe. How does the process of songwriting go for you guys?

LM: My brother Jesse and I write the songs. We have studios at home, him in Philadelphia and me here in Denver. We send each other demos all the time and we work on them constantly. Whenever we are on the road we are passing them back and forth. Jesse has a cool modular synth rig at home so this last labrum we were using that on a lot of these tracks. It gives a different spice to some of these songs that feature the modular. 

MP: We just got a message in from a listener. They want to know if Bloom & Recede will be available on vinyl.

LM: Absolutely. We are very committed to the vinyl and this one is coming out on vinyl as well. We just got the test pressings. I haven’t heard them yet but the cover looks so cool. It is an original painting that we commissioned. When you see it in the full vinyl format you can really see the details and the brushstrokes.

MP: Very cool! Who did you commission? Who did the art?

LM: His name is John Cohen. Jesse found him on Instagram.

MP: That’s amazing. So the song "Pluck" came out back in April but will be released on this new album Bloom & Recede. Tell us a little bit about this song. It’s got a driving synth bassline that uses a house tempo as a platform to build a musical world. Explain what you were working with on this song.

LM: The seed of that one came from improvisation that we did at the Summer Dance Music Festival. We focused on more electronic elements and that was one of the little cells that we used in that kind of improv set. We took it from there and expanded it into "Pluck." The melody of a plucked string and the bassline, like you said, has this driving kind of bassline. From there we tried to iterate on that energy that is so fun to play live. When we kick into the bassline, it is so pumping that you can really feel it in your lower chakra energy. It’s such a low-driving bassline. 

MP: You like that type of thing? A piece of intuitive, introspective music that can be energetic at the same time?

LM: Oh yeah, that’s our bread and butter.

MP: Music can be the catalyst for so much change, looking introspectively in yourself. Yeah, that is definitely coming through in your music, that’s for sure. 

LM: Thank you. Being instrumental, you leave that space for people to enjoy the melodies and the beats on their own. You can also use that as a moment of introspection and you can go wherever you want within that musical universe.

MP: "Pluck" is on the new record Bloom & Recede as is "Time Dilates." We are going to play that next after our chat. Can you tell us a little about this song?

LM: We played that one live for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It went off super well. The beat is a little slower than Pluck. It is more of a broken beat. I play some piano and we use the modular synth for a little arpeggio glitter sparkle and then there is a great melodic guitar solo that just caps that song off. 

MP: I have one question about the dynamic between twin brothers working in the same band together. I am really close with my siblings but I know we can fight. How do you combat any sort of rivalry type thing on the road or working together? How did you figure that out after 20 years together?

LM: Moving to a different city was step number 1.

MP: Ha! That is a great answer.

LM: We work very closely writing music but it is nice to have some space. We are fine when we go out for social stuff when we aren’t working but it is very nice to be in different cities and not have to spend all that time together. It’s similar to work/life balance except it’s the twin life balance. 

MP: I love that. Time dilates! Space and time with family are the best, that’s a great answer. Thank you for that. We are really excited to have you on the bill here at Sacred Rose. We will see you on August 27th here in Chicago. Thank you for calling us up today Luke!

LM: Thanks for having me, Meagan. 

The inaugural Sacred Rose Fest is less than 2 weeks away. For the first time ever there will be a weekend full of music as diverse as the Grateful Dead in its current form. Phil Lesh playing with Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy as well as Karl Denson, Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Jeff Chimenti, and Elliott Peck all in one headlining slot!?! Khruangbin, JRAD, Umphrey’s McGee, Disco Biscuits, Lotus, Elliott Peck’s Midnight North, Holly Bowling, and the Gone Gone Beyond are kicking it all off?!? The list is exciting and inviting.

WZRD 88.3’s Meagan Panici recently received a call from Sacred Rose Festival’s Founder Michael Harrison Berg. He talks about the festival’s inception and the tender heartwarming story of how the festival came to be named Sacred Rose.

MP: First and foremost I want to give a huge Chicagoland Thank You for this. Chicagoans and music fans have been dreaming of something like this for forever.

MHB: I appreciate that so much. We are just as excited as everybody else is! We’ve been dreaming this one up for a very long time. It’s filling a niche that wasn’t here before. What is going to be really fun is to see everyone all together experiencing it, interacting with the art installments, all the sit-ins, and unique collaborations that are scheduled to happen. It’s going to be very special.

MP: The curation of this festival from the jump has been fan first. First of all, you are a fan, a fan of this music, and you really care about what the fans experience. Tell us a little bit about what details and what things you put into this festival to make it such a fan-friendly easygoing fest. 

MHB: You just said it, that is the best answer. We are fans. I am a fan. I’ll always be a fan first, no matter what I do with my career in this industry. We always try to book concerts and festivals that we would want to be at as well. We are from the culture that we’re servicing.

MP: I think that by having the schedule out right away as you guys did, you showed people what they can expect. They can buy a ticket and decide if they wanted to buy a full festival pass or a one-day ticket. That was something I had never seen in all my years of going to festivals. How were you able to make that happen so quickly?

MHB: For starters, we almost launched this show in 2021. Due to a couple of the headliners not being able to engage, we chose to push pause and bump it to 2022 because we wanted to do it right the first time. We found ourselves in a unique position to be able to roll out the full schedule once the lineup was secured and confirmed ahead of time. There were pros and cons to that. We were able to launch the festival and the brand on the foundation of transparency and communication, which was received well in some regards. But there were also a lot of internet people that were negative about conflicts of sets and things like that. Our position from the jump was that we are telling you what you’re signing up for. If you don’t want to sign up for it, that’s fine because I would much prefer to start off the foundation of the relationship with our fans that way then roll out the schedule right now this week and have people that bought tickets feel like they got duped. With a lineup this stacked, there are bound to be some conflicts on the stages. We made a couple of adjustments that helped to alleviate those conflicts to the best of our abilities. That was also received very well. We have tried to go above and beyond with our customer service on this one. We’ve replied to every single DM. We reply to comments when they are reasonable on all socials, and all the incoming email inquiries, we have tried to truly honor what we said we were setting out to do and be a fan-first festival. That being said, some people’s expectations are unreasonable and some people’s questions are silly. I don’t think that every single person that decides to chime in on the internet necessarily knows the intricacies of putting something this complex together and the politics that go with it, all of those things with billing and with set times and who is closing stages and who is not. That is something that we’ve been able to hone in on the art and skill of over the last two decades as a team. We are fortunate to have relationships with these artists. They are amazing teams who are partners of ours to work through those challenges. Of course, everyone is going to have an opinion. We can’t please all of the people all of the time. We certainly try to do our best.

MP: You can tell that for sure! I think that’s amazing to say ‘Hey, I’m going to talk to every person at this festival that has concerns and try to reach out to them.’ I don’t think every festival is like that so that shows your true dedication. What do you do for anybody that has a negative review after a record comes out? Do you just let it go? What is the best advice for that? 

MHB: You have to have thick skin if you’re in the arts business. Art is the most subjective thing in the world. That means everyone is going to have an opinion about it. I will admit, we are all human. Some days are easier than others. Some roll outs and announcements that get responded to favorably or unfavorably are easier to deal with in their own regards. Ultimately, you just have to know that if you’re doing the best you can and you are doing what you think is the right thing, that you’re trying to actually be truly righteous with how you’re servicing people, treating others as you would want to be treated. You have to know that you can’t please all of the people all of the time but hope that what you’re doing resonates with enough people and that enough people will like what you’re doing.

MP: Very true. Thank you for that! It’s not easy for anybody to have so much feedback coming in. Thank you for trying to referee all of this and make it as easy as possible for everyone. Its apparent in what you are doing so give yourself a pat on the back because you are doing a great job!

MHB: Thank you. Again, I said this years ago about our festival in Florida for Halloween. It was and still remains today to be one of our most passionate fan bases that we have ever been a part of, like a brand launch to build upon. With passionate fans comes honest feedback. Sometimes You really just have to know that it is a blessing that people care about what you’re doing. I promise, a few negative comments in the sea of positive comments is well worth the difference of nobody caring about what you are doing at all. That goes beyond being a promoter. That is if you’re a sports team. That is if you’re a musician. That is if you’re a television show or a movie or just about any kind of entertainment. In this day and age with the internet and economy suffering, people only have so much disposable income. To have a fan base that is so invigorated to the point that they want to chime in and join the conversation, that is truly a blessing.

We are so grateful for this fan base. We try to do our best within our means and within the reality of what it is to produce something like this. We want to be accommodating and try to make changes according to the feedback that we get. We listen with an open mind and do what we can to make changes. We are all human. People make mistakes and we all learn as we go. We are lucky at this point of our careers that we have been doing this for two decades. A lot of hiccups that come up with year #1 of a festival have been avoided because we knew how to get around some of those things. It all comes with the territory and we’re pretty hyped to be able to do what we do and to give this to Chicago. Chicago needs something like this. I’m not saying that as the event promoter or producer or founder or whatever. I am saying that as a fan of the jam scene, as a fan of the psych rock and Americana and funk world.  

MP: You said it! We DO need this! As soon as I saw it, it was like, wow! We have never had anything like this! We have tons of stuff here but to have something so diverse… You have a day curated to each certain genre. You can feel the specific curation and the passion! It is so exciting to see. Thanks for expanding on that and letting us know what the inspiration is behind the scenes. I know the Grateful Dead is a huge inspiration, can you explain to us what that grandfathers inspiration dual tiered thing is?

MHB: Thank you for asking about that. We also produce North Coast Music Festival. When it concluded in 2018, it had been going on for 8-9 years and we had seen the difference of interest in a multi genre event versus the expansion of people in both their age range and their taste desiring a more niche event. We needed to make the tough decision to make North Coast Music Festival all electronic music. From that point when the decision was made, I instantly began to dream up the show with the team. We were going to call it the North Coast Jam because it will run back to back weekends in Chicago. We have very similar partners like Ian Goldberg from SummerCamp, C3, and Live Nation. A couple of weeks out before we dropped the announcement about the Sacred Rose fest, most of the artist had signed on to do the North Coast Jam. I really started seeing how special this could be and I realized through deep analytical conversations with our partners that this thing needed its own identity but it didn’t. We didn’t want to be attached to North Coast in that way. We wanted to give each fest its own brand and its own identity. 

We started brainstorming names. I was on the phone with my best friend Bobby and we were just going back and forth creatively, throwing paint. I looked a the vinyl copy of American Beauty that I have in my apartment. I saw the art. I saw the rose on there. The name came to me, what that means to this community, what this community means to us. It’s sacred to a lot of us, myself included. We thought of the name Sacred Rose. Then I instantly went to the duality of my grandfather. His name was Bert Rose. He was a professional piano player in Chicago. My mom is a music teacher. Together they got me a guitar in the 3rd grade and set me off on a path of music and eventually into doing what I do now. Not only is the name Sacred Rose in homage to the iconic art and imagery of the Grateful Dead culture, but it is also an homage to my late Grandfather Bert Rose. To add a serendipitous cherry on top of the story, completely unintentionally, the opening night of the inaugural Sacred Rose Festival will be 5 years to the day of my grandfather’s passing. My mom put that on my radar and I got the chills. 

MP: Wow! That is so beautiful!

MHB: Yeah. It is an homage to my late grandfather and the Grateful Dead’s iconic  art and imagery.

MP: To have something based upon such a beautiful duality like that, that is so beautiful! Like you said, this music is sacred to us. It does start with the Grateful Dead and then to have your grandfather’s name Bert Rose, five years to the day, it all just makes sense. Wow. This is really cool. Now I have goosebumps! 

MHB: Thank you for asking about that. I really appreciate it. 

MP: Absolutely! Your grandfather was a professional piano player? For over 70 years? In Chicago?

MHB: That is correct! He did all sorts of stuff, playing parties and events. I think he did a Rockefeller wedding and played with Sammy Davis Jr and the Glen Miller Band and a whole slew of others that are not coming to mind right now. I know he played a party for Brooke Shields…

MP: Frankie Avalon, it says here Shirley MacLaine…

MHB: Yep! Both of them

MP: The Harlem Globetrotters! That is a lot of different aspects…

MHB: I think he played piano on the radio for the first time when he was single digits old

MP: Oh my! That is such a beautiful thing! I am sure he was very proud of your career in the music business. 

MHB: For sure! I loved all four of my grandparents. I had amazing relationships with all of them, but two of them passed away when I was a very young age, his wife and my dad’s dad. Bert Rose was the longest living grandparent I had is the point. By default and by the gift of time, I had the longest relationship with him. As much as I’ve learned form my parents, my social skill set, the way that I interact with people, the way that I deal with people… I think I picked up a lot of that from my grandfathers mannerisms. Being around him growing up and again, being very lucky to have grown up with a family like I did because I know that a lot of people are not lucky enough to have that. I am deffnielty very conscientious of it and incredibly grateful. 

MP: That shines through 100%. I don’t know if you’ve seen the new Netflix documentary about the Woodstock 99 festival but you are worlds away from the promoters there.

MHB: I didn’t but I have heard and seen plenty of feedback online about it. It’s a little sassy to say it, but it’s like the people watch the Fyre Festival documentary or they watch this one about Woodstock 99 and they become armchair quarterback. They think they know everything about how to do this. It’s funny but also not funny because these things are not easy to take on. It takes an actual army of people to pull them off. We have incredible partners, incredible people in positions of power and decision making plateaus. As much as I am the driving force behind this one, I’d like to go on record and say I absolutely would be failing without the team that I had behind me and supporting me. I have some of the best, best partners and the best teammates that I could ever ask for. We are all friends and there is a lot of love behind this. 

MP: Anything rooted in love like this is going to be successful. This is not your first rodeo and because of that, this is definitely going to be one of the best weekends of our lives! I am super stoked. I can’t believe it’s August already and it’s almost here! Let me ask you a few logistical questions. I know we can come and go one time during the day, is that correct? You can go out in the parking lot and do a little tailgating? 

MHB: Yes, that is correct. That is exactly what it is, I’m glad you brought that up. One of the things we did for a change is that up until 6 pm we are allowing one in and out. The show is very long. It goes from noon everyday until midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 pm on Sunday. That is about 5 more hours of music than you would get curfew wise at any other festival in Chicago. It is one of the benefits of using Seat Geek Stadium. It’s a bit outside Chicago city limits proper, but inside Chicago limits you ahve got to be done by 10 pm. We are getting a lot more hours of music and a lot more hours of darkness to experience and engage in our art installations, which are robust and going to be special. 

Because it’s going to be a long show, we decided to amend the policy of no ins and outs so that we can allow up to one exit and re-entry. People can go out to their cars, maybe tailgate a bit, maybe have a snack, but past 6 pm we want everyone inside. It’s a logistical nightmare for security to be scanning people in and out all day, especially as new people are just arriving. We tried to find common ground on something that would let people save a couple bucks and expand their experience. There have been a lot of questions about ‘Will there be a lot scene?’ Sure, of course there will be. We want people to tailgate and have fun. We obviously want them inside the festival where the magic is at. But like we talked about earlier, we are of the culture that we serve. Of course we want a lot scene at this thing, you know?

MP: Absolutely! That’s amazing! That makes us feel good. We are want to feel comfortable. I brought up Woodstock because of the fact that they wouldn’t let people bring in water or even a water container. People were paying $5 for a bottle of water in 99!?! If you allow us to go outside, have a snack, have some water or whatever, that helps people to stay happy and healthy during the day

MHB: 100% That is part of it as well. I’m glad you brought up water. We are of course going to be selling water too, we are running a business. We have a water sponsor that will be selling as part of the show. But we also have 3 stations for water refills. They are identified on the map and there are multiple spigots. From doing the show last year at the same venue as North Coast, we have expanded the quantity of them to make sure the lines are short. We are allowing people to bring in water packs, like a camel back or something similar, but they have to be empty on the way in. They can also bring in a plastic water bottle. Any type, Nalgene or plastic water bottles if it’s empty. They will be permitted to bring in but absolutely no glass or metal for safety reasons.

MP: Sure

MHB: Water is life. We are all aware of that. We don’t want people dropping in hot August sun. We know it’s a long day. We do want to make sure that people know those water stations are there and available.

MP: That is wonderful! That was my next question, what’s the water situation? We get hot. We get thirsty. So glad to know that you already thought of that because you want to get us comfortable and make us feel good. We are talking to Michael Harrison Berg, the founder of Sacred Rose Festival coming up August 26-28th at Seat Geek Stadium. We are super excited! Last thing, you’ve got a thing called the laser dome. Give us a quick roundup of what to expect in the laser dome.

MHB: Alright! The Laser Dome is an actual field indoor soccer dome that the Chicago Fire practice at here at this facility and compass. It’s another thing that is going to really help folks beat the heat. It’s airconditioned and it’s gigantic. I mean, we are talking a really, really large dome. We are setting up an art installment in there with multiple laser fixtures and there will be, for lack of a better description, a pyramid of pillows that people can lay on and lounge on to lay back and watch the laser show as it goes across the ceiling and across the dome. We are also doing DJ sets all weekend long with some really special and fun DJs. DJ Airwolf is going to be playing, Tad Cautious from the Bunny Radio will be playing, Mitch Please, and Uncle Jesse and Freak Bass is going to be playing in there with live bass over his DJ set. There is a local group called Dead Inside who are really good friends of ours and industry friends as well. All they do is play Grateful Dead on vinyl.

MP: I have caught their act before! They are super good!

MHB: It’s awesome. It’s just a fun thing and it’s totally on brand for what we are doing. People will walk into the Laser Dome and not only will it be an air conditioned space to get away from the sun and the heat, but it will also serve to take a load off. If you don’t want to dance or you don’t want to hang on your feet, you can lounge on some of these couches or couch cushion structures. You will have to just come and see for yourself.

MP: The idea is that you can cool off somewhere and that is cool. Or you can go out to your car. That is also giving people a chance to cool down and take a break.

MHB: Yes. There are other art installments like the Rainbow Lounge and the Incendia Fire Lounge where there is going to be seating. The Rainbow Lounge has a circle structure of rainbow colored hammocks that are largely oversized. You can put anywhere from 2-4 people on each one of them, all covered by shade. Even if you don’t need air conditioning, you just want to take a load off to rest your hips and ankles and feet and knees and your back and just chill with your bestie or your partner or even by yourself. Those hammocks will be available for people to hang out in and lounge. 

MP: That is wonderful! We are really stoked for this. Michael, thank you so much for taking some time today to speak with us and give us insight into this wonderful festival just weeks away!

MHB: The countdown is on! Thank you for all your support Meagan. I will see you and everybody else in just a few short weeks

Local Motive's sophomore album, titled “Slice of Life'' is a collection of highly emotional and lyrical funk, soul, & rock ‘n’ roll from their principal songwriter & band founder, Mike Vinopal. The album title is a double-entendre, with “Slice of Life” also referring to how deeply and painfully life can cut us with experiences of loss.

The instrumentation is syncopated and butt-shaking, paired with introspective and often devastating lyrics like “Please don’t leave my life forever” and “Are you happy to be free now or are you sad to be alone?” for a deeply moving listening experience.

In keeping with the band’s history, all of these songs were recorded, mixed, and mastered by engineer Noam Wallenberg (Alan Parsons, Mac Miller) at Rax Trax Recording (Buddy Guy, George Clinton). The sessions began just before the pandemic hit. Returning to production in late 2021, the songs took on the added weight of the immense losses the band and communities around the globe were, and in some cases, are still processing.

There is a haunting sonic quality to this album as well. The band, along with the skillful Wallenberg, artfully pulled from their previous album’s sessions (2017’s Grams LP) to conjure and create ghosts of the band’s original ensemble performances. Both the audio and the visual experience of the artwork aim to pay tribute to the people who have shaped the band and the music they create.

Music lovers will be able to listen to “Slice of Life” on all streaming platforms as well as purchase it directly from the band via Bandcamp. Visit their Bandcamp!

This coming January, Local Motive will celebrate the release of “Slice of Life,” with their debut performance at world class Hey Nonny on Wed. 1/11. Vinopal grew up in Arlington Heights where Hey Nonny is located and this will be his first hometown performance with his band of 10 years. To mark this special occasion, Vinopal will open the show with a special solo acoustic set of original material he plans to release as his first solo album in 2023. Get tickets for this special performance before they sell out at: https://www.heynonny.com/shows/local-motive-w-mike-vinopal