A Q & A with Pokey LaFarge
Pokey LaFarge may have been a slow kid, but he sure is a quick study. Growing up in Normal, Illinois, he found inspiration in guys like John Steinbeck, Muddy Waters, Ernest Hemingway, Willie Dixon, Jack Kerouac , and Bill Monroe. After high school, the aspiring songwriter hitchhiked his way around the country. Add all that up, and it’s no wonder that LaFarge has become a thoroughly literate, highly prolific, traveling roots musician releasing his seventh full studio album in less than 10 years, the much-anticipated Something in the Water.
KM: Let’s start off with some life lessons… It seems like you listened well to your elders (your grandparents, specifically), but then you took a risk and spent some time hitchhiking around the country. Looking back from now, what advice would you pass on to the next generation of traveling troubadours?
PL: Don’t take anything anyone says too literally, but keep it in mind. Don’t settle for what others may say is pre-ordained. Get out of town and see the world. Juxtapose what you’ve been taught with what you learn. Don’t disregard anything…
Your old-time sound gets recorded on vintage gear and tape, but then it’s squished into mp3s. Is that somewhat disheartening to you or is it just the cost of doing business in the 21st century?
Nope, not disheartening at all. I actually use digital and analog recording technology. I think both a Victrola and a laptop have their purpose. It’s whatever helps the song, the performance, and the recording.
It seems like old-time music is enjoying a renewed interest lately. Are more people playing it, are they playing it better, or are more people just paying attention?
I don’t know if there are more people playing now or better than, say, 30 years ago when the folk revival sort of died out. I certainly think that are more people paying attention by the day. I think the Internet is a great tool for exposure to this music. It’s accessible and it means that not everyone needs to go out digging for records to get their hands on to this music. I think, to the credit of some of my peers, they’ve done a bang up job of harnessing some of the early, early greats and brought it into the future.
Do you feel like you were born in the wrong decade or are you okay being a musical ambassador to another era?
Not so much. I’m much more excited about the opportunity the future brings and, thus, feel much more excited about the potential of being an ambassador to the coming times.
Having bounced around between different band configurations and label affiliations, how are you feeling about where you are now and where you’re headed?
Well, I know two things to be true: First, I’m not in complete control of the future; but, second, I know that I’ve become successful doing one thing — being myself. So I’ll continue doing just that — whatever that is…
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Pokey LaFarge new album, ‘Something In the Water’ will be released on April 7 via Rounder Records and is available for pre-order – HERE.
