Rolling Like Thunder with Gene LaFond

This coming Saturday July 23 the Rolling Thunder Reunion will be rolling into town with a show featuring Eric Andersen and Scarlet Rivera, accompanied by Steve Addabbo and Cheryl Prashker. Lonnie Knight is on the docket to get the evening rolling as the opening act.

Another player contributing to program is musician and singer/songwriter Gene LaFond. LaFond grew up near the Twin Cities and was in high school during the big folk boom of the late fifties and early sixties. These were the days when coffee houses were a central hub for live music and served as a hangout for beatniks. Gene and his friends would often go listen to a young Bob Dylan at a coffeehouse in Dinkytown called The Ten O'Clock Scholar near the University of Minnesota. (If you think you're one of Dylan's longest running fans, let's see you top that.)

EN: We usually talk about you and Bob or you and Scarlet... Did you ever cross paths with Eric Andersen and what was that like? Any stories or first impressions?

Gene LaFond: I have never met Eric personally but have heard of him & enjoyed songs covered by others over the years. Scarlet told me it was a joy to reconnect with him at their recent gig in LA.

EN: Do you remember the names of your first album and first 45?

GL: My first record was Elvis' 45 of "Don't Be Cruel". Played it endlessly. Wish I still had it. First album was Bob's first. Wore it out! Laid on the living room floor with my ear glued to the console record player my folks had. Remember thinking "this is the brother I've always wanted." Way before I met Larry Kegan & Bob personally.

EN: How old were you when you got your first guitar? What kind was it and who were you trying to be?

GL: First guitar was a Framus nylon string when I was 14. But I when I was 10 I used to babysit for my older brother and play his gold Fender Les Paul. That was the beginning. My parents then bought me a new, 1962 Martin D28 when I was 16. Still have it. Best guitar I ever played. A real treasure! I used to play with my ear against the side of the guitar just to hear how sweet it sounded. It was all about folk music at that time. Pure and simple.

EN: You had a chance to travel on the Rolling Thunder Revue with Larry. What was the RTR like when you were part of it? Which leg or legs of the RTR were you at? What were some highlights for you personally?

GL: Larry Kegan & I caught up with the RTR In Worcester, Mass. Bob on stage in full war paint. Thrilling! Meeting him the next morning. Realizing he was a real human being. Not the idol I had made him in my mind. Meeting Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Scarlet ( both friends ever since), Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg & all the great musicians in the RTR. The vibe was electrical! And the film crew for Renauldo & Clara was always in the background rolling film. Even in Larry's handicap van with Bob & Scarlet & Larry in the back. Bob playing my guitar & singing with Larry as I drove us overnight to the next venue.

EN: What amazes me is how Dylan can project such a "presence." How does he do this? What is it that makes him so mesmerizing and gives him such power?

GL: Bob has the most charisma of anyone I've ever met. Maybe because I love his music so much. He walks into a room & it goes silent. A heavy load to bear I'm sure, but he was always friendly & helpful to us.

EN: You're currently living here in the Northland and performing with your partner Amy Grillo. Do you have a website where you announce your upcoming performances and schedule?

GL: I love collaborating with Amy! Over the years in my previous bands I was always the lead singer so I never got a chance to sing harmonies, which I love. Having Amy to sing and write songs with has been a real dream come true. We have just finished our first CD of 12 original songs & hope to have some personalized, pre-release copies available at the 7/23 concert with Eric & Scarlet. We have named it "The Northland Sessions". We were joined by a stellar group of musicians including Scarlet Rivera on 5 songs, Lonnie Knight, Willie Murphy, Rich Mattson, Dan Lund (& his son Todd), Ralph Dacut & several others. So excited to get to share it with our terrific circle of supporters. Our gigs are always posted on our Facebook site (Gene LaFond & Amy Grillo), my website has history and background on both of us ( a new one for both of us is being worked up). It is: www.genelafond.com.

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Upcoming gigs for Gene & Amy:
7/23 with Eric Anderson & Scarlet Rivera & Lonnie Knight; AAMC Benefit Concert
7/25 - Gunflint Tavern, Grand Marais: 8 to 11 p.m.
7/29 - Sir Benedict's, Duluth: 5 to 8 p.m. - Gene's rare solo gig.
7/31 - The Breeze Inn, Duluth: 4 to 7 p.m.

Purchase tickets for Saturday's concert here at Eventbrite. 

Follow Gene and Amy here on Facebook. 

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Embrace it.

Another Visit with the Versatile Violinist Scarlet Rivera

On Saturday July 23, Scarlet Rivera will be returning to the Northland to perform in a Rolling Thunder Reunion benefit concert at Weber Auditorium, sharing a spotlight with headliner Eric Andersen. The two first performed together in the kickoff of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue at Gerde's Folk City back in 1975. Eric and Scarlet will be accompanied by Steve Addabbo and Cheryl Prashker among others. Lonnie Knight is slated to warm up the evening for the headliners.

My first visit with Scarlet was in 2112 as she prepared for a fund-raising concert for the Duluth Armory. She'd been here the year before and has returned annually since, almost making Duluth a home away from home. When she's amongst us we certainly strive to make her feel like family. She one of the world’s most prominent, active and versatile violinists. She is known for her contributions to the recordings and performances of some of the most influential artists of our time including Bob Dylan, Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, Keb ‘Mo, David Johansen and Sylvia Tyson (Ian and Sylvia). In addition to her contributions on others' records she's also recorded fifteen albums of her own.

EN: Do you recall your first time meeting Eric? How were you introduced?

Scarlet Rivera: Eric and I met when I lived in upstate New York and previously lived in NYC for years. We were both invited to the same wedding party of a Viet Nam vet, we don’t remember who, and he and I hit it off, talking for some time and jamming a bit together. It is surprising that we didn’t continue on doing anything together after that, as it was a perfect fit musically, both then as it is now.

EN: The Rolling Thunder Revue launched at Gerde's Folk City. What was that first performance like? You were rubbing shoulders (or elbows) with some rather famous names. It must have been a heady experience.

Scarlet: Gerde’s Folk City launch… I wouldn’t call it a launch at all…but a teaser for what was to come in Rolling Thunder Revue (RTR). I say it was more a teaser than a launch also because it didn’t represent the full spectrum of artists, musicians that would embody RTR, but a handful of special and chosen people who would become part of RTR. It was there that I met Allen Ginsberg and I sat in with Kinky Friedman, who I would later sit in with on a regular basis at the Lone Star Cafe. That is another place that was quite a scene unto itself….

EN: What have you been working on since you were last with us here in the Northland?

Scarlet: I have been working in a Bluegrass band in LA, called Appalachia West, and on a CD soon to be released called Magic Music…also the name of the band, a member and co-writer in Voices of Van Gogh, and sing now in all the groups I’m in! Finally I’m singing with a thumbs up from all the musicians and audiences. Better late than never. Why did I wait so long to use my God given voice? That’s a long story.

EN: I can't recall if I asked you, what was your biggest takeaway from performing with Duke Ellington? That is, what was your biggest lesson... or memory?

Inventive charmer.

Scarlet: My time as a soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, conducted by his son Mercer Ellington, was another simple twist of fate... that I would be brought to meet Mercer for a private audition by his daughter who I met at a party the night before, and she had to bring me. After talking and playing some improv for Mercer, he looked at his calendar and offered me a date… I said I was free. The date would be at Carnegie Hall!

And performing Black, Brown and Beige Suite, which had not been performed in 40 years. It represented Duke’s hope of peaceful integration… but it was not well received at the time…racist then…and still here we are confronting the same things that disturbed Duke Ellington about the U.S. Rhapsody in Blue, by Gershwin was released the same year and got all the praise…while Black, Brown & Beige was passed over…

Another unforgettable thing was to go to Venice Italy with the entire Duke Ellington Orchestra plus a Gospel Choir to perform the Carnivale of Venice.

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This will be an exceptional concert and it is my earnest hope that some of you reading this will join us. Concert and Ticket Information HERE

Photos of Eric with Scarlet in L.A. taken by Carol Rothman.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.

A Half Century Down the Road with Singer/Songwriter Eric Andersen

There must have been something in the water back there in the Village scene. When the times began a-changin' in the roiling Sixties, new sounds and new songs sprang forth from a new generation of songwriters, spawned at an oasis in the midst of a massive jungle of concrete and steel called New York City.

This is where Eric Andersen's career began.

In two weeks, on Saturday July 23, Andersen will be making his first visit to Duluth to perform with Scarlet Rivera at Weber Auditorium in what is being billed as the Rolling Thunder Reunion. The two first performed together in the kickoff of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue at Gerde's Folk City back in 1975.  Eric and Scarlet will be accompanied by Steve Addabbo and Cheryl Prashker among others. Lonnie Knight is slated to warm up the evening for the headliners.

Andersen has produced 25 albums of original songs and performed throughout Europe, North America and Japan. This story of his Stages album shows the caliber of artists whom he's worked with over the throughout his career. From Wikipedia:

Stages is an album by folk rock musician Eric Andersen. The album was recorded in late 1972 and early 1973, as the intended follow-up to Andersen's successful Blue River album, but before it could be released, the master tapes were somehow lost in the Columbia vaults. It wasn't until 1990 that the tapes were discovered, at which time the album was finally released. In addition to the original 1972–73 recordings, Andersen included three newly recorded songs. Guest musicians from the 1972–73 sessions included Leon Russell on organ, piano and guitar, Rick Danko on bass and background vocals, and Garth Hudson on accordion, with Dan Fogelberg and Joan Baez supplying background vocals. Shawn Colvin was a guest vocalist on the 1990 sessions.

In addition to being a gifted musician and singer/songwriter, he is also a respected artist amongst his peers. It's a privilege to share his thoughts, insights and memories here.

EN: You've performed with so many familiar names over the years, opening for The Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, Ramblin' Jack back in the 60's to being part of the original Rolling Thunder Revue when Dylan kicked off his traveling circus show at Gerdes Folk City. And this was only the beginning. Who have been the musicians you've been closest with over the past five decades?

Eric Andersen: I've been blessed to have worked with many great players over fifty years. Amos Garrett the highly inventive and original Canadian telecaster guitarist I discovered in the Village who played on "More Hits From Tin Can Alley." Howie Epstein from the Tom Petty Band. We worked on my album "Memory of The Future" together in 1991. Robert Aaron. Multi-instrumentalist who has worked many of my albums. He produced "The Street Was Always There" and "Waves" my Village singer-songwriter covers. Norbert Putnam, bass player and producer of "Blue River" and "Stages: The Lost Album."

Andy Newmark, drummer with Sly Stone, Brian Ferry and John Lennon, who drummed on my album "Ghosts Upon The Road." Steve Addabbo who produced "Ghosts Upon The Road" and engineers many of my recent recordings and plays in my band sometimes. John Leventhal, the great, inventive guitar stylist who played on "Ghosts Upon The Road."

Mississippi drummer and slide guitarist Sam Carr and Kenny Brown who played on "You Can't Relive the Past." Rick Danko the bass player and singer from the Band. We did two trio albums together and toured in the nineties with the great Norwegian singer and guitarist Jonas Fjeld.

Larry Campbell. He is a polymath multi-instrumentalist. We did many shows including Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble together and he recorded on my album "Dance of Love and Death." I also worked with Lenny Kaye from Patti Smith's band, both live and in the studio for the same album. He played on the title track.

Michele Gazich, Italian poet, recording artist, and violinist extraordinaire who performs in my band and recordings of my Cologne Concert, Camus's "Shadow and Light" and my forthcoming album "Mingle With the Universe: The Worlds of Lord Byron." Cheryl Prashker, percussionist nonpareil who played on my new Byron album coming out in the fall of 2016. There were many over the fifty years. I had great harmony and live sessions with Joni Mitchell and Lou Reed. Recently at a show in LA I performed with two fantastic musicians who had never played together before, the great violinist Scarlet Rivera and guitarist Steve Postell who works with Jennifer Warnes and David Crosby.

Eric and Scarlet.

EN: When performing you no doubt strive to give your audiences something memorable to cherish. Still, it seems like some moments are especially magical. How does that magic happen?

EA: It's something you can't try and do. You allow or create a space to let the audience come to you to fill the vacuum. Then often a true spell begins. I learned this from listening to old Mississippi blues singers at the Gaslight Café in the Village in the sixties. It has to do with loud and soft; dynamics -- and a subtle but powerful groove.

EN: Your story about how a folk festival crowd cheered at the news that Beatles manager Brian Epstein died is quite revealing of the animosity that existed between the folk and rock worlds. You were standing with John Denver who shared your shock at this behavior. What were the causes of this great divide between the two camps?

EA: I was hurt. I guess it caused a lasting fissure between me and the traditional Sixties folk community. Brian was my manager and it was a huge loss both personally and professionally.

EN: What was that first Rolling Thunder (Dylan) concert at Gerdes like?

EA: The Gerdes Rolling Thunder "debut" was a ramshackle spontaneous event like performing backstage behind a circus tent. I brought Patti Smith along with me as my date.

EN: Your song "Thirsty Boots" ended up being recorded by John Denver, the Kingston Trio, Judy Collins, Dylan and many others. How does it feel to write a song that runs like a grass fire through the playlists of other performers?

EA: They all did great jobs on the song. It's a pretty high honor to have your song recorded by such musical legends and luminaries.

EN: It's interesting that you're bringing Steve Addabbo, since Steve is the one who helped engineer Dylan's Bootleg #10: Another Self Portrait, which has Thirsty Boots on it. How long have you known Steve and how much performing have you done together?

EA: I've know Addabbo since 1988. He's one of those talented, close-friend types you like to have around because they can be trusted personally and musically. He's given a lot to our musical worlds. I like his new album a lot.

EN: Do you have a process for writing songs? Or do they just come to you? My guess is that both things occur, but I'm just surmising as a writer myself.

EA: I keep notebooks in my pocket like Kerouac did. Sometimes an idea pops into my head to revisit later. Other times I just sit down, lean over, and write. Good or for bad something always happens and something comes out of it. I usually write lyrics first to an imaginary beat in my head. The best is when the words and music come together at the same time.

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Follow Eric here at www.ericandersen.com 
Concert and Ticket Information HERE

Photos of Eric Andersen top and bottom by Paolo Brillo.
Photos of Eric with guitar and Eric with Scarlet in L.A. by Carol Rothman.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.

A Visit with Cheryl Prashker, Percussionist in the Rolling Thunder Reunion

Every artist has a story, and it's been fun learning more about the members of the band that will be performing here at Weber Hall, UMD this coming month. Saturday July 23 the Rolling Thunder Reunion will be rolling into town with a show featuring Eric Andersen and Scarlet Rivera, accompanied by Steve Addabbo and Cheryl Prashker. Lonnie Knight is on the docket to kick things off. Eric and Scarlet performed together with the Dylan entourage when the Rolling Thunder Revue kicked off its legendary tour at Gerde's Folk City in New York, 1974. Now, they are bringing it all back to Dylan's original home town with a reunion concert in Duluth.

As American music fans we owe a debt to our neighbors to the north for the many song writers and musicians they have shared with us over the years. Off the top of my head Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, most of the Hawks who became Dylan's backing band when he went electric, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Oscar Peterson, Sarah McLaughlin and Celine Dion come to mind. I will be adding Cheryl Prashker to the list. Interestingly enough, the second stop on Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue after Gerde's Folk City was Canada. As Dylan once wrote, "Everybody must give something back for something they get." (Fourth Time Around)

According to her media bio, Cheryl Prashker studied classical percussion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she was born and raised. She has toured Canada, U.S. Europe and Russia with The Yiddish Theatre of Montreal. She spent many years in New York City where she honed her skills of playing anything from Rock and Roll, Klezmer, to Celtic as well as Middle Eastern music. She now uses her special style of percussion to enhance the music of such artists as Jonathan Edwards, Pat Wictor, Tracy Grammer, Full Frontal Folk and her group RUNA. Cheryl is also a songwriter and President of NERFA (Northeast Regional Folk Alliance).

I've interviewed artists of all kinds over the years, but this is my first time interviewing a drummer. I learned a lot.

EN: How did you first get into drums?

With Jonathan Edwards at Steel City Coffeehouse

Cheryl Prashker: Ever since I was a young kid it’s all I ever wanted to play. I tried piano at a very young age as my mother was a piano teacher but I did not take to that. I tried guitar but again, it was not what I wanted at the time (I do play guitar now and continue to write my own songs.) I finally got to play drums in music class and eventually school band only starting in grade 7. I am from Montreal, Canada, and at the time, there was no music in the elementary schools as there is now. I was extremely shy so being in the school band was tough… I definitely got over that. All I ever wanted to be was a rock drummer and I eventually got to have a set of drums at home. I did not have a private teacher while in high school, so I taught myself and played along to many records from such as artists as The Byrds, Boston and Fleetwood Mac.

EN: What kinds of things did you learn from studying classical drumming that you may not have learned otherwise?

At the Ryman in Nashville, 2013

CP: I am blessed to have had the classical training that I received at Vanier College and McGill University in Montreal. As far as I am concerned, it’s the best thing any musician can do for themselves. It is invaluable. It teaches you literally from the ground up. Percussion/drum students have to do all the technique work like rudiments etc. It’s like doing scales on the piano. It keeps your hands even and as a drummer that is what you strive for. It also gave me music reading capability of both regular music as well as drum music and that can open the door to so many more jobs in the music industry from musical theatre to recording work. As a percussion student, you learn all the mallet instruments like the marimba and vibraphone. As well as timpani, which strengthens your ear as well as hand technique. And of course, working in an orchestra or concert band under the direction of a conductor teaches you how to take direction and work with other musicians which translates into so much in this world.

EN: I recently wrote a blog post about Ringo of the Beatles assessing where he stacked up as a drummer. Who have been your own favorite drummers? 

CP: I am a huge Beatles and Ringo fan and admire everything about him. Including that he writes songs as well. Being an 80’s kid, I was always a big Phil Collins fan. I have seen him in concert with Genesis a few times and it is always a treat. I love the showman in him and I have adapted the showman part when I perform. Being from Canada, it is a requirement for every drummer to be a huge fan of Neil Peart from Rush, which I am of course. But interestingly enough, what influenced my drum set playing was mostly an unknown drummer from the 80’s band Big Country, Mark Brzezicki. His use of the high-hat and snare drum was very much like rudimental/military drumming and I love that sound and feel my drum set playing is very influenced by his sound.

EN: What makes your own drumming style distinctive?

Jagoda at Heyman Tribute

CP: Given what I do a lot now, which is accompany singer-songwriters, I have found that full drum set players have a hard time playing quietly enough to accompany these writers who are primarily on vocals and guitar. So what I have done is put together a small set up of a djembe, bongos on the side, a cymbal I play with my hand, a tambourine on the floor that I play with my left foot and a set of chimes. (Those are to make people smile!) It really is a kind of small drum set-like set up. I don’t focus on being the loud back beat that artists follow, but rather more of the “color” that surrounds and accompanies the song. I focus on the lyrics at times and play off the main instrument which is usually a guitar. I feel this is better for the main artist and I have also found that the audience appreciates it much more than a full drum set player and it opens their ears and eyes to a different “drumming” sound.

EN: In the age of drum machines and digital everything, why are human drummers still relevant?

CP: That is such an important question. As of course, not only drum machines but now, for live shows the “Stomp Box” which is basically like hitting a bass drum on every beat. Sure, using those means for recording or live concerts will give you an exact and constant beat. But a live drummer gives you warmth in their execution as well as feeling. In a live show, it’s also about the visual and there it is unbelievably exciting watching an amazing drummer do their thing. There is nothing like a real drummer and I know everyone understands that. In today’s world of recording and live shows, it sometimes does come down to being able to afford to have a drummer come in.

EN: How did you connect with Eric and Steve? How long have you performed with these guys?

Garnet Rogers at Steel City Coffeehouse

CP: It is a fun story which I adore telling. I was playing with my own Celtic Roots Music group RUNA at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario last July. We were on a small stage doing a workshop on the stage that Eric had just played on. I had seen him in concert before and knew who he was of course. He was behind the stage talking with Sonny Ochs and he noticed the drum set up I was using for the workshop and seemed to be quite curious. He walked over to the side of the stage and gave me the once over! After we were done playing, Sonny brought me over and introduced the two of us. We hit it off and started talking about just about everything immediately including the fact that he had been in Montreal, where I am from, visiting with Leonard Cohen many times before.

Later that night, we were back behind the main stage and we continued our conversation. I somehow talked Eric into attending the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference which takes place in November. I am the President of the Board and help out putting the workshops together. I thought he would be perfect for a program we have there called “The Wisdom of The Elders” where Sonny Ochs interviews the amazing artists we have among us who are steeped in rich history. Now while we were there talking, Steve Addabbo was also backstage as he was playing guitar for Eric that weekend. I had never met Steve before. At one point Eric says to Steve, “I think I would like to have Cheryl go into the studio and record some percussion on the song called Singin’ Man. Steve, can you make that happen?” Steve was the recording engineer who was working on that CD project. Steve replied saying that the song and the project was finished and that it would not work out this time. And the two of them went back and forth about me recording for that song. Eventually Steve was kind enough to make it work and we had a blast in the recording studio. I absolutely adore Steve Addabbo and can’t wait to work with him both live and in the studio again. Since that amazing meeting last July the 3 of us have played many shows throughout the Northeast as well as a few showcases at Folk Alliance Conferences. I have also recorded again for Eric on his recording on the works of Byron that will be released this summer/fall.

I am blessed to have met both of these amazing artists as they have enriched my life and music greatly.

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I for one can't wait to hear them all when they perform here in Duluth. You can learn more about Cheryl's career here at cherylprashker.com

For more:
President of NERFA (Northeast Regional Folk Alliance)
http://www.nerfa.org/
http://www.runamusic.com/
https://www.patreon.com/cherylprashker

The concert is July 23. You can purchase tickets here at EventBrite.com.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. We'll see you there.

Steve Addabbo Talks About Personal Highlights in the Music Business

Saturday July 23 the Rolling Thunder Reunion will be rolling into town with a show featuring Eric Andersen and Scarlet Rivera, accompanied by Steve Addabbo and Cheryl Prashker. Lonnie Knight is on the docket to get the evening stirred. Eric and Scarlet performed together with the Dylan entourage when the Rolling Thunder Revue kicked off its legendary tour at Gerde's Folk City in New York, 1974. Now, they are bringing it all back to Dylan's original home town with a reunion concert in Duluth.

Steve Addabbo has had the privilege of being part of the New York music scene for the course of a lifetme. His career achievements as a mix engineer are impressive, including being tapped to mix Dylan's Bootleg Series #10 "Another Self Portrait" and Bootleg 12 "The Cutting Edge."

He's coming to Weber Hall in July as a performer. If the rehearsals are any indicator, this will be a truly memorable night. In 2016 he released his first full-length album, Out of Nothing, with 14 songs written or co-written by him.

EN: You grew up in the Bronx and came of age during a really vibrant time in the music scene. What was your career path up till you opened the Shelter Island studio in your basement on the East end of Long Island?

Steve Addabbo: I started in 9th grade forming a high school band. We played dances, did the senior show in the auditorium, won a couple of local battle of the bands. Then I went to Stony Brook University as an electrical engineering major and also started taking music courses. I declared a double major in music/engineering my sophomore year. My neighbor (Ron Fierstein) on my dorm hall had a band in Brooklyn, we started writing original material and performing together as a folk duo around campus. We merged the rock band with our acoustic act and formed “Arbuckle”. One of the band members worked for Billboard. He knew of some producers looking to produce a young band..We did our first album at Media Sound on 57th Street NY, opened once for Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia after his first album (he drew 300 people ). After the band dissolved I toured with my own trio doing clubs in the Midwest., joined a show band ”The Happenings” of “See You in September” fame. They eventually did a recording session at “The Hit Factory” recording studio in NYC. This was when I realized I needed to get a job in a studio and get off the road.

With my electronics background the studio hired me immediately as a tech. This was 1977. I later worked for Sterling Sound Mastering and also a small east side studio named Celestial Sounds where I began to do demos and engineer recordings. My ex-band mate Fierstein had gone to law school but wanted to be in the music business. We formed a company AGF Entertainment and looked for a new artist to record and manage. We found Suzanne Vega... Long story short, I co-produced her first two albums. We had a huge international hit with “Luka”. I wound up buying all the equipment from Celestial Sounds and opened up the first version of Shelter Island Sound in the basement of my newly acquired home on Shelter Island.

EN: You had the privilege of mixing two of the last three Bob Dylan bootleg series albums. When did you first take an interest in his music? How did this particular project come about? 

SA: I was musical since the second grade maybe earlier. I played the viola for a year in third grade but it wasn’t until I took guitar lessons about 5 years later that I stuck with it. The Beatles hit when I was in 8th grade and that was it!!

The work on the Dylan bootlegs came about through my relationship with the executive producer and former Columbia records A&R man, Steve Berkowitz. Steve and I met during Shawn Colvin’s Columbia days. He was her product manager. In 1993 he brought Jeff Buckley to me and the result was the recently released ”You and I”. When the idea for “Another Self Portrait” was hatched, the original tapes had to be remixed, I had mixed the B side (“Meet Me in the Morning”, an unreleased version) of “Duquense Whistle”. The Dylan camp liked it and gave me the “Another Self Portrait” project which two years later lead to the mammoth “The Cutting Edge” 18 CD project.

EN: You've produced and/or mixed for a lot of great artists including Jeff Buckley, Eric Andersen whom you occasionally perform with, Bobby McFerrin, Suzanne Vega, Olivia Newton-John and others. Can you briefly share a memorable anecdote from maybe three of these experiences? 

Steve in the mixing room at Abbey Road Studios.

SA: During Suzanne’s first album I wasn’t getting the vocal performance I was hearing in my head, so I kept making her redo it. She finally had enough and walked out of the studio but she left her shoes there so she had to come back. I made her put her guitar on while she was singing, which she thought was silly, but it worked. I got two or three vocal takes on different songs that afternoon.

With Eric we had a session booked for Rick Danko to come down and play bass. It might have been for the A Danko, Andersen and Fjeld album. Rick was scheduled for 9 or 10 p.m. He finally showed around 1 a.m. It didn’t matter. As soon as he put on the bass I wasn’t pissed any more.

During Shawn Colvin’s first album we had a session booked for Bruce Hornsby to play piano. Bruce has a very distinctive piano sound. Before the session I was concerned on how to get that sound. We put up many different combinations of mics, spending a lot of time prepping for the session. It turns out it didn’t really matter. As soon as he sat at the piano, he sounded like Bruce Hornsby. Lesson learned!

EN: What was your favorite aspect of assembling The Cutting Edge bootleg set? 

SA: Listening to the chatter in between takes and also realizing why Bob Dylan is so amazing. He was always on!!! Even the takes at 4 in the morning when the producer was half asleep. Bob is Bob and will always be Bob!

EN: How long have you worked with Eric? What makes Eric such a special person?

SA: I met Eric in the late 80’s but had been a fan since his Blue River album in 1972.

Eric has always had an uncompromising approach to his music and art. He continues to explore what interests him and doesn’t try to be anyone other than who he is. This is what makes a true artist.

We have known each other for thirty years and we still have a great time together whether we are playing a show or having dinner or taking a train.

EN: Whose music do you listen to today?

SA: I mostly enjoy listening to SiriusXM The Loft, WPKN out of Bridgeport Ct. I don’t spend a lot of time listening when I am out of the studio. It’s a hazard of working in music. When I get home I don’t play a lot of new music. I do enjoy hearing things I haven’t heard before but I don’t have a lot of time to hunt out new artists. There is so much out there, it is hard to weed through it all. Some younger artists I do enjoy include Caitlin Canty and Ana Egge. I can always listen to Mark Knopfler and Jackson Browne.

EN: What's your take on the Rolling Stone Top 100 Albums list and other lists like that? What's the real measure of a great album?

SA: Lists are a way of categorizing what has been successful, hopefully for the right reasons. In the end like any entertainment business, music has a “what have you done lately” attitude. I believe each artist has a core of material that defines them. To sustain that kind of creativity and relevance over a lifetime is nearly impossible.

A great album stands the test of time and connects with many types of listeners. How an album achieves that is one of the great mysteries of record production. Songwriting is a very tricky craft and probably the hardest part of the whole business. Without a great song that is finely crafted we have nothing.

You do the same things in the studio with different ingredients and once in a long while you get lucky.

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The concert is July 23. You can purchase tickets here at EventBrite.com.

To learn more about Steve Addabbo visit www.steveaddabbo.com

Meantime, life goes on all around you. We'll see you there.

Unbounded: Spencer Lewis Talks About His Music and the Influence of Eric Anderson

Spencer Lewis is a Vermont musician and performer who has recorded 22 CDs and sold more than 130,000 units. His first, Weeding the Garden, was released in 1988, an instrumental expression akin to the new acoustic/new age music being released in the day.

Earlier this month, after writing about Bob Dylan’s interpretation of Eric Andersen’s Thirsty Boots, Lewis contacted me to express his great appreciation for Andersen’s music, so much so that he that last year he had recorded his own CD of Eric Andersen songs which carries the title Unbounded, reprising much of Andersen’s second version of his own ‘Bout Changes and Things.

From the first listen to Unbounded I was drawn in and have continued to listen to the various stories in song that Andersen wrote as Lewis has presented them. Says Lewis, “Andersen's songs weren't just 'ok'. They were powerful and potent reflections of life and love.”

The CD itself is called Selected Songs of Eric Andersen but CD Baby wouldn't let Lewis use this title as apparently there is some protocol with cover albums and iTunes, so the digital version was changed to: A Tribute to Eric Andersen.

EN: What prompted you to take up songwriting? Did you grow up with music in your home? Where does that come from in you?

Spencer Lewis: My mother had a vision that I have 4 years of some formal music training as she was a classical pianist. So I studied violin from ages 8-12, with a member of the NY Philharmonic Orchestra as a private teacher.

I didn't really understand classical music but when I picked it up again on a year-long traveling alternative school in 1969, I began learning fiddle and general accompaniment. The school was run by Mike Cohen, (brother of New Lost City Rambler John Cohen) who encouraged me. I got a guitar for my 13th birthday from a friend -- learning chords and eventually studying at the Guitar Workshop in Roslyn, NY where the culture of folk music was never far off from the lessons. The year was 1968. Then, one hears that voice inside -- and we begin to distill life through our music -- to communicate with others.

EN: Why is music important to you?

SL: I hear the sound of life through music. I hear it in the wind, through timing and movement, stories, visions, all wrapped up in this catalyst that is my way of transferring energy in a massively nonlinear form. When we hear the call, we find a way to respond that works for us.

EN: What was it that caused you to get so drawn to Eric Andersen?

SL: The steel-stringed guitar has always spoken to me -- like a calling. Andersen had a nice bite to his flat-picking on his acoustic guitar on 'Bout Changes & Things, Take 2 and that influenced my sound down the road.

Lyrically, the intimacy of the lyrics were another influence. ("...her hungry thighs just sing to me, her mouth moves like a poem" ~ Time Runs Like a Freight Train.) Often his subject matter was the many sides of relationships, and he understood life and changes in way that I seem to resonate with like:

We always tried to shove aside what we could not say / as if tomorrow would ever be any different than today / For silence can mean many things it also can betray / that what it was all along didn’t matter anyway. ~ On the Edge of You

EN: Why did Eric do two versions of ‘Bout Changes and Things?

SL: He began experimenting with a back-up band and realized the songs took on another dimension as the collaborations with other musicians unfolded.... I see them as two distinctly different albums.

EN: What did you think of Dylan’s version of Thirsty Boots on Another Self Portrait? 

SL: Surprisingly endearing. He wraps himself around this song so well...

To purchase Unbounded and other Spencer Lewis CDs visit: spencerlewismusic.com.