25 f 12 shots from the fRoots Rocket Launcher a dozen leading questions to fire at Dom Flemons
If you were given the funds to organise a concert bill, who would the artists be?
I would try to do something like the Newport Folk Festival. I’d include several better-known stars that I like, probably have people like Taj Mahal, Guy Davis and Jim Kweskin but then I would bring in some older artists like Boo Hanks and John Dee Holeman. I’d also bring in a few younger acts like Pokey LaFarge and Jerron ‘Blind Boy’ Paxton just to make a well- rounded acoustic festival. Not that I would ban electric music. If its good rock ’n’ roll like Nikki Hill we can talk but I would just make sure it was a festival that featured strong musicians and vocalists.
Which totally obscure record do you most treasure and would like more people to know about?
I treasure a record on Elektra by Oliver Smith. It is a self-titled record. He was an obscure blind street singer from Georgia. He went to blind school with Riley Puckett and knew the Skillet Lickers crew. The album was recorded by Peter K Siegel. Peter told me he saw Smith busking in New York City, grabbed him and recorded the whole record in three hours! That is leg- endary! The record is also musically phe- nomenal! It caught me by surprise.
What was the best live gig you ever saw?
The best live gig I ever saw would have to be Dave Van Ronk, October 12, 2001. I was eighteen and watching this big man singing out these great blues and jazz changed my life. He passed away six months after that show and I feel so fortu- nate to have been there to have seen this wonderful stylist.
And what was the worst?
There are so many worst gigs that I’ve ever seen I don’t even want to go there. A show where everything is just perfect is rare. That’s the joy of live performance.
What was your own best ever gig?
I’d have to say my favourite gig was the first time I played on the Grand Ol’ Opry. I mean it, it’s the Opry and it was such a thrill to be out there playing for those folks and be asked to do an encore.
And what was your worst?
The Carolina Chocolate Drops did a gig out in the Midwest of the United States and it was a rough one. Not only did the tyres blow out of the van on the road, by the time we were back to driving the skies opened up and let down a vicious rain. Then we got to the gig and everyone in the audience looks so tired from the loud bands that preceded us that we had to work extra hard to get them excited. Sometimes the road can be a pain like that.
What’s the professional achievement you’re most proud of?
I’d say the Grammy. It really elevated my position as a musician in a way I had not expected. I also enjoyed getting the Living Blues Critics Award for Most Out- standing Musician (Banjo). This was a thrill because banjo is not traditionally a blues instrument. I made up a style that worked on the banjo and it was really amazing to see that praised.
What’s the most embarrassing thing you ever did in public?
You don’t know me well enough for that… ha ha ha.
Which song or piece of music would you most like to have written yourself?
There is one song that has always knocked me out that I wish I had written. The song is a Buffy Sainte-Marie song called Take My Hand For A While from her album I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again. Its such a heart-breaker!
Who was the first musician or singer you were inspired to emulate?
In terms of
singing, I was influ- enced by Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. I later started trying to sing the old rock ’n’ roll songs I heard on oldies radio. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Carl Perkins.
Who was the last- but-one musician or singer you lusted after?
Physically or musically? Haha!
I’d say the last musician I was star- struck by was Mike Seeger. I had heard Mike’s records when I was still in college and loved them! When I met him at the Black Banjo Gathering in 2005, I was totally stuck in my place and could- n’t speak. Mike said, “Hello” to me first and we began talk- ing and then
became fast friends. After that, I realised that musicians are just people and while it is cool to
enjoy their music there is no reason to ‘lust’ after them. Its easier just to talk to them.
If you had a rocket launcher, who or what would be the target, and why?
If I could imagine the music industry as
a single office where they tell people what to listen to, I’d shoot my rocket launcher into the side of that building so that I could hack into the computer system and put the Old Hat Records album Good For Ails You: The Music of The Medicine Shows on repeat for a few years and see what happens. I am a fan of the quote that Pete Seeger had on his banjo. Doing a take-off of Woody Guthrie’s “This Machine Kills Facists” that was on the folksinger’s guitar, Pete put “This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It To Surrender”. Here’s to 2014: The Year of The Folksinger!
Dom Flemons has re-embarked on a solo career after leaving the Grammy- winning Carolina Chocolate Drops last autumn. He’ll be in the UK this summer for a collaborative project with Martin Simp- son at Womad, and has a new solo album in the works.
www.domflemons.com F
root salad
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