The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/30393
Music People: Roger McGuinn of The Byrds Roger McGuinn of The Byrds talked with the Scene’s Sam Spokony about touring, playing with Bob Dylan and John Sebastian and the spirituality of the ’60s. McGuinn will perform at the Oneonta Theatre with Sebastian on Sunday. You’re going to be playing with John Sebastian [of The Lovin’ Spoonful] at the Oneonta Theatre on May 1. What’s the working relationship been like between the two of you over the course of you career? We’ve done a lot of shows together. We have the same booking agent, so we get booked together quite a lot, and I’ve known John since around 1961. Have you ever worked creatively together? We’ve done some stuff together. He used to have a TV show, and I was on that one time. We’ve never done any records together, but we’ve worked on different projects over the years. So, what will the material for your show together in Oneonta include? When you play together, do you generally go some- what off the cuff, or are things more set? Usually, he goes out and does some solo stuff, then I do my own solo set, and then I invite him to play with me on a few songs. For this show … you never know. He’s got some hits from The Lovin’ Spoonful, as well as other highlights from his career like stuff from “Welcome Back, Kotter.” When we play together we usually just do the blues, and he plays harmonica, which he’s wonderful at. He’s a wonderful harmonica player. I’ve been looking at your touring blog [found at www.rogermcguinn.blogspot. com], which is mainly written by your wife. In terms of scope of your travels, the entries and the ideas behind documenting them, the blog brings to my mind a Kerouac-esque mentality; it’s very “On the Road.” Yeah, we’ve really hit the road. It’s a lot of fun; I love the road. You get to see all kinds 20 O-Town Scene April 28, 2011 [another iconic ’60s folk singer]. On the Roll- ing Thunder tour in Virginia back in 1975, Ramblin’ Jack said the most fun he ever had was when he threw his guitar in the back of a Land Rover and hit the road with his wife. And I thought, hey, that sounds great. That’s what I want to do, too. Speaking of Bob Dylan, I saw him perform a few years ago on the SUNY Oneonta campus. I also saw Gordon Lightfoot, an- other iconic performer of the ’60s, perform recently at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center in Oneonta. Here are a couple of guys who don’t stop performing their culturally influential music, even though it’s been noted more than once that, as vocal- ists, they simply don’t have the ability they once did. What is it that sustains that urge to make music? It’s in your blood, it’s part of your life. It’s like, you just have to keep doing it. There’s no retiring because it’s not something you want to retire from. Most people retire when they get a chance to leave a job they don’t like, and there’s nothing not to like about this stuff. I don’t intend to retire, myself. The Folk Den is one way that you’ve continued that musical legacy, by posting a recording of yourself playing a classic folk tune every month. I’ve seen that, in a past interview, you’ve said that you started that series because that music is being lost in today’s culture. Contributed Roger McGuinn of The Byrds will perform with John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Oneonta Theatre. of different places, and you find your favorite places: places to eat, hotels to stay at, and it really makes you notice things about them. And then you try to get back there somehow. What are the types of places that have really stuck with you? I like theaters and performing arts cen- ters the best. When the situation is right, it doesn’t really matter where it is; it could be in Europe, Asia, Australia or here. I feel great there, at a nice venue with comfortable seat- ing for everybody, a place where everybody feels comfortable being there and isn’t scared to park in the neighborhood or anything like that. That sort of thing. Those are the places I really like to go back to. What was the original spark or motivation that gave you the idea to spend so much of this part of you career constantly traveling? It was an outgrowth of two things. One had to do with working with a band: it got to the point where it wasn’t that much fun anymore for me. The other had to do with hanging out with Bob Dylan and Ramblin’ Jack Eliott That’s exactly right. I noticed that I wasn’t hearing the traditional side of folk music any- more, because everybody’s become a singer/ songwriter. So I thought I’d do something about it by posting the recordings on the Internet as free downloads. I’ve been doing that for about 16 years now. Has it been more of a personal project, or do you think that there been a tangible response to the recordings in the music com- munity as a whole? I think that there’s been a real good response to it. It’s actually sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and it’s been used in school systems around the world. So it’s been a very gratifying experience. Continued on Page 21