The Jim Kweskin Interview

Do you know what SRP stands for, it's an acronym for a very sterile system of learning that leads to followers, copy cating, no individuality.....in music SRP stands for Standard Recording Procedure.

The way of confining musicians to make music they don't want to create. The ties that bind, the money the 3 record companies remaining in this land.....a squeamish representation of dosing Billy Eckstine with punch on the way down to Vanguard Studios.

My guest today is an authentic musician who is comfortable enough to be himself. This carries through the music, which because of the acoustic setup allows my guest's voice to become an instrument....there is no amplification! The output is done by  the people themselves - whatever they had to give in front of five people in a barn with a combined total of 3 teeth or in a coffee house in Cambridge, MA which is across the Charles River from Boston University where myself and my guest both went.

My guest is unconventional, a jug band junkie when crossed with legal LSD made for a real groovy time. Fellow comrades Geoff Muldaur, who smoked his first joint at Sabino Canyon, Fritz Richmond, Bill Keith, Maria Muldaur and Blind Lemon Jefferson all providing peer and mentor support in an experiential way.....they weren't getting an education in the classroom.

This resurgence of regional American roots music was spurred on by independant record labels who saw transracial music as a good thing. This adherence to the acoustic itty by certain labels allowed this music to be heard by DJs who would mix in some Berry Gordy MoTown, Ray Charles from La La land and Tito Puente from the palladium.

Their education was faith based with a common understanding that helping others was good, communicating non-verbally is all encompassing and mind expansion is necessary for new art to come into existence. But make no mistake, it has to be authentic, the artist must have creative control and if those back in the game saw any fleeting hash tag of commerciality they ran from it like a wild horse with a relaxed mind.

Just back from NYC fresh off some gigs,  Jim Kweskin welcome to the JFS.