Kathryn Leigh Kirt Transcript
April 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent: Welcome back to “Sound Authors”. On the fourth part of each show we feature authors of sound. My guest is Kathryn Kirt from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s done a CD for children and a CD for adults with her group, “The Good Intentions.”Welcome to the show.
Kathryn Kirt: Thank you so much.
Dr. Kent: How’s the weather down there in Tulsa today?
Kathryn: Well, I’m looking out the window right now and it’s pretty windy, but it’s very pretty. All the flowers are in bloom.
Dr. Kent: Your two CD’s are based on life experiences. You have a baby yourself. I guess that’s the inspiration for “Itty Bitty Ditties For The New Baby?”
Kathryn: That’s right, I wrote all of the songs in her first year of life.
Dr. Kent: And all of these songs are very short so people can learn them and sing them themselves, is that right?
Kathryn: Right, that’s exactly right. I was hoping that parents, grandparents and children would sing those songs to their own babies and I thought that short would help people learn them, no matter what their age.
Dr. Kent: Let’s listen to a little bit of “I Love Milk, Yes I Do.”
Song: I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.It’s so sweet and good, and good for you!I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.I’d have it all day if I could, and I do!It’s got vitamins and antibodies, its got everything I need.It’s a perfect five star feast for babies.I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do,It’s so sweet and good, and good for you!I love milk, yes I do, I love milk, yes I do.I’d have it all day if I could, and I do!
Dr. Kent: [laughs] That’s an awesome song. Who’s the little fellow, or lady, doing the interludes?
Kathryn: That is Faith Hart and she, at the time of the recording was six years old, and she is the daughter of my singing partner, Elizabeth Thompson.
Dr. Kent: What a beautiful voice in there. I love the little ditty aspect of this. I don’t think there are many albums out there. There’re all looking at the pop music link of two to three minutes. I love this, its something that…these little tidbits.Tell me a little bit about why you put this into a CD.
Kathryn: Well, my daughter was breast fed, of course, for the first eight months of her life. Most babies only have milk for the first six months and it was such a part of our bonding experience together, as mother and child. Also, I was just amazed; I could both nurture her emotionally and physically by doing this. And that’s all she needed for the first six months. We’re so used to eating all types of food as adults, but I just thought it was amazing that she literally got everything she needed from just milk.
Dr. Kent: And the songs are called things like, “Wake Up, Shake It Up”, “No Cry, No Cry”, “The Rubber Duckie”, “Please, Please, Pretty Please”. Did you find yourself, in this period, walking around and thinking like a little kid?
Kathryn: Well, I did actually, and at the time… let’s see, most of the songs were actually written when I went back to school. I’m a teacher, and though I’m taking a break right now, I was, at the time, teaching English at a high school about 20 minutes away.So that was a perfect length of time after I dropped off my daughter, to work on both the melodies and the lyrics, on the way to work and the way back from work, knowing that I’d see her right away again. So I’d get a little bit in my mind and just keep working on it. I’d also work on them as I walked the dog and my daughter around the neighborhood.
Dr. Kent: What did the neighbors think?
Kathryn: Oh they probably think I’m the crazy lady. [laughter] I’m working on songs all the time.
Dr. Kent: I know you call your group, “The Good Intentions”. Talk about your singing partner.
Kathryn: Well, Elizabeth and I have been singing together now for four years and just this summer we added two new members to our band, Jim Tilley plays mostly the mandolin and Jayula Kirt [sp] plays the keyboard.
Dr. Kent: And you play around Tulsa and the area?
Kathryn: We do! We play as often as we can, we’re all busy professionals in one way or another, or I should say, the three of them are. I’m now a stay at home mom and I have a part time job as the music director at a church. But we try to work around our schedules and play as much as we can. We’ve done the Farmers Market and Cinder One Market more recently and played at The River’s Edge and several other venues in town.
Dr. Kent: Let’s play a song from your album, “Join Hands”, by “The Good Intentions.” This is called “Pools of Sky”Pools of sky line my brick road,And gold leaved trees hang all above me.Faraway moon shines icy cold.I think its time to run away to the sea, to the sea.To a place where light shines unearthly.To a place were sea sand can…
Dr. Kent: Well, it’s been a real pleasure speaking with Kathryn Kirt. You can find her music on cdbaby.com. Look for “The Good Intentions”, her group, and “Itty Bitty Ditties for the New Baby”, by Kathryn Leigh Kurt.Thanks so much for being on the show.
Kathryn: Thank you very much; it was great to be here.
Dr. Kent: And we’ll listen to a little bit more from “The Good Intentions” on the way out here. Thank you so much to my guests, Suzanne Lieurance, Daniel Lee Stone and Tim Keller.We’ll see you next week, but think about Ella Fitzgerald today, that smooth silky voice, and we’ll listen to Kathryn Kirt on the way out.Pools of sky line my brick road, and gold leaved trees hang above me.Faraway moon shines icy cold.
Susan Hetrick Transcript
April 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to “Sound Authors”. Today is the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. Something that was very important to him was his family. Of course, they’ve carried his legacy down through the years.My next guest is Susan Hetrick. She has a book called “Advice from the Blender: What to Know Before You Blend So Nobody Gets Creamed”. It’s an amusing title, it’s been successful for her, clearly, and it’s a book about how to live with families, how to live with step-families, something that we’re seeing in the world all the time now.Welcome to the show, Susan Hetrick!
Susan Hetrick: All right! Kent, how are you?
Kent: Good! Tell me a little bit about what inspired you to write this book, “Advice from the Blender”.
Susan: Oh, about four years ago, I got married for the second time and he brought two children and a cat and I brought two children and two dogs and a hamster. And we had to figure out how to live together without killing one another. And at the same time, I was in graduate school, pursuing a Master of Divinity degree and one of my classes was a marriage counseling class.We were looking through resources and I could not find very much out there about what to expect when you blend two families. The few books that were available most were over 10 years old. Some were written by people who weren’t even in stepfamilies.And so, I decided that there was a real need out there for a book that actually told it like it was and gave people a better idea, a realistic idea, of what to expect when they enter into a stepfamily situation.
Kent: And what was it like for you? You said you had a hamster?
Susan: [laughs]
Kent: Two dogs… That’s a concern to me more than the kids.
Susan: [laughs]
Kent: What happened with the cat and the hamster? Were they friends?
Susan: Actually, they ignored one another. We ended up having one of the dogs ate the hamster, so…
Kent: Oh no!
Susan: Oh, yeah. [laughs]
Kent: Well, tell us about your book. What does it help people to do, “Advice from the Blender”?
Susan: Well, it’s a short, easy to read book and it’s about eight chapters long. And what I talk about is various things like having realistic expectations. It’s not going to be like the Brady Bunch. Sad, but true.And one of the things that people need to know is they need to focus on making their marriage strong. That is the number one thing that people forget to do. They get so involved with the kids and life and things like that, that they turn around and wake up one day and go, “Oh, who are you?” So, they need to focus on their marriage.They also need to be a united parenting team. Just because someone is the stepparent doesn’t mean they’re not also raising these kids.
Kent: Give us a couple little tips. Your book is constructed of some quotes, some bullet points with tips. Even at the end, you go into some bible verses and things like that. Give us some tips.
Susan: OK. One would be, for example, with the children. You’re dealing with two sets of kids, both who’ve been through, probably, a divorce with their parents. They’re thrown into this situation of suddenly they have a new stepparent, they have new stepsiblings. And one of the keys is to be united on discipline.One of the great things you could do would be to sit down together. As the parents, sit down together, preferably, before you get married, but if you’re already married, that’s OK. Sit down together and decide what are the behavior expectations for the children in the house and what are the consequences for breaking those rules and then present those to the kids as your house rules.This is really helpful because one, your kids can’t argue with the house. But two, I also brings to mind that yeah, the rules maybe different in Dad’s house as opposed to Mom’s house, but that’s OK. Just because they are different rules doesn’t mean that you can ignore them.
Kent: So, rules setting is really important. And there’s a whole bunch of other tips, very practically, to work through this problem.You advertise the book as being Christian and again, there are Bible verses at the end. How does that play into it for you? You have a Masters of Divinity.
Susan: Right. I have a Masters of Divinity in Counseling and Family Ministry. Obviously, faith is a big, big part of my life. However, even if you’re not a Christian, there’s very practical tips in this book for how to deal with a blending family, from everything to the kids to the ex-spouse to the in-laws and the out-laws.
Kent: So, tell me what is the best thing that two people could do when they say, “OK, let’s get married” and they’re thinking about two children, say they each have two children. What’s the first step for them? Should they write down some lists? Should they talk to the children? Should they meet them slowly? How does that work?
Susan: The key, I think, is time, is give it a lot of time and be very, very patient. Kids really don’t deal with their emotions, strong emotions, all at once. So, you can tell your kids, “Hey, I’m dating this person. He’s very, very special to me and we’re thinking about getting married. I want you to meet him and meet his family and get to know one another.”But then, give it time. I mean, I heard of a family just this last year, his third marriage, her third marriage. They met each other in September and decided to get married on New Year’s Eve. This is four months. They introduced their kids the day before the wedding and said, “Hey, guess what? We’re getting married tomorrow!” My advice is don’t go that route. You’re just setting yourself up for a disaster.So, time is of the essence and so is communication. That is vital. You’ve got to talk about all kinds of things like boundaries in your family. Everything from whether or not you like to sleep with your bedroom door shut or open to who’s allowed in your bedroom at any time of the day. Everything from that to discipline to who takes out the garbage and who cleans the house. All of these things have to be renegotiated.
Kent: Well, we can go to your website at advicefromtheblender.com. You’ve got a blog, free articles and more information about the book.
Susan: Absolutely.
Kent: It’s been a real pleasure chatting with you. I can definitely say if I ever get in the unfortunate circumstance of getting divorced and then remarried, I will certainly consult your book and your website. Thank you so much for being on the show.[music]
Susan: Thanks, Kent.
Kent: ”Advice from the Blender” by Susan Hetrick. You can get it online at advicefromtheblender.com.My next guest is Emmy Award winning legendary, wonderful composer, Jeff Beal. Come on back, you can’t miss it.
Gary Freiman Transcript
April 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome back to Sound Authors. My next guest on the show is Gary Freiman, and he is a successful businessman who has written a book about conservative life in the United States, about politics, terrorism and connection to God, and a whole bunch of interesting opinions. So, wonderful to greet you and say welcome to the show. Gary Freiman, how are you?
Gary Freiman: Thank you, Kent.
Kent: Tell me a little bit about your book.
Gary: The book is really a deep look into the United States and particularly all the stuff that probably our parents, as kids, told us not to talk about at the dinner table. It’s a deep look into politics and religion, and some things that political correctness probably stops us from speaking freely about.
Kent: And your book is called “Current Events, Conservative Outcomes: Predictions for America’s Future”. I understand that you’re able to predict a little bit about what’s coming up for us.
Gary: Yeah. To be honest with you, as a young man I discovered that I had a talent to actually go through and sometimes see future events. Not that I can always pick out exactly what it is that I choose to see, but over time I could pick out events that pertain to our country.
Kent: And what do you think of what’s happening right now?
Gary: In general right now, obviously the United States is in a stressful time, and that’s really what drove me to write the book.Shortly after September 11th, as everybody probably did, I looked at myself and said, “What can I do to help?” And really, for a couple of years, I couldn’t think of anything. You know? I wanted to help, but I really couldn’t figure out anything to do.And then I realized, maybe if I was to help predict some of the events in the future and take away a little bit of the stress, and more importantly than predict events, explain why things happen so the people could understand exactly how future events occur and what we can do to change future events.
Kent: So give me an example of some future events.
Gary: Well, in the book, after each topic, essentially the book is divided into seven different topics, I have some predictions. It could be things as simple as, obviously we’re going to have turmoil in Africa over the next generation or two due to dwindling resources and religious issues.That’s one prediction that I’ve made, and that’s not a big stretch. I think anybody can see that as a real possibility.
Kent: Right. And as far as this country, let’s talk about current events. Whether it’s Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side or John McCain on the other, they’re all talking about change, going a different direction. Do you not see that as a hopeful next step?
Gary: To be honest with you, change is good in that, right now, like I mentioned, we’re at a stressful time. So yes, I think change will be good.There’s no doubt that change in the United States will be positive, but in my opinion it definitely has to be from a conservative nature, in that it’s absolutely crucial that America remembers that we are a country founded on Christian ideas and ideologies. And we need to make sure that we don’t stray too far from that.
Kent: So give me an example specifically having to do with these political candidates. I know that John McCain’s been deeply criticized for not being conservative enough. Could you talk about that?
Gary: Sure. The people on the right obviously feel that John McCain, he’s weak on immigration; he’s been weak throughout his career on a lot of conservative ideas. The three choices that we have to lead our country are the three choices that we have. So obviously, the people on the right are going to be forced to choose John McCain over the two candidates in the general election.
Kent: So let’s talk about, his main focus is on security, and the economy is something different. Let’s just talk about security. How does America fit into world politics over the next generation?
Gary: I actually did a piece in my book about world politics, and largely because America is, right now and for roughly the last… since World War II, has been the leader in world politics. And I think it’s absolutely crucial that we remain the world leader, and people realize that there are countries out there - if you notice the unrest you see in China over Tibet.We can’t forget that although many countries are grasping the capitalistic model in an effort to be more successful, they still don’t have the personal freedoms that we enjoy here in the United States. And again, we are a Christian country and the fact that we are, we expect certain freedoms, and there’s a lot that goes with that answer the quality of life for lots of people. And I think it’s crucial that the United States lead the world to make sure that’s still is the predominant way of thinking.
Kent: So how should the United States deal with non Christian nations?
Gary: You know, no different than we ever had. There’s nothing that says that Christianity is the best religion. Let’s be honest, just because we’re a Christian nation, we’ve been very successful. It doesn’t mean we are the only people in this world and the only ones who know how to handle things.I mean God is God and what is important is that people realize that they have to have a relationship with God, not only as a country but as individuals. Whether that’s Islamic, whether that’s Buddhist or whatever you choose or how to choose to worship. It’s the same God, so I don’t in any stretch of the imagination feel that we have the ultimate way of living here in the United States. But I think it’s important that a country with our power realizes that we should lead the world to ensure that those other nations have that opportunity.
Kent: First tell me about the poverty in the United States. Do you have a position on that, within our own country?
Gary: I sure do. A part of my book was written about poverty in the United States. It was really a tough reading for me to go out and try to determine exactly my thoughts and what happens to the future of United States.I’ll be honest with you. I see the wealth gap between the middle class and the lower class growing over the next generation or two. And it’s largely related to lots of jobs being shipped overseas. I should say manufacturing-type jobs being shipped overseas. And the reason for that is because of the low cost provider countries that are out there.That being said, I also feel that some of the poverty in this country is self-inflicted because with the availability that our government that does such a great job at providing low interest student loans, there’s really not much of an excuse for anybody in the United States of America to not take advantage of the free high school system and take advantage of the college student loans to get themselves educated. Where you can jump into that middle class and not be somebody who fell into that lower class of wage earners.
Kent: So, your book deals with all of these issues and more. Give me a little sound clip about your book to tell people where to go, what it’s about and how to find it.
Gary: Great, “Current Events, Conservative Outcomes: Predictions for America’s Future” is the title of the book. I have a website, that’s www.conservativeoutcomes.com and there’s some snippets on there and lots of information about the book, where you can buy it.A little bit about the book and a little bit about me and what my abilities are, what I have attempted to do to help our nation. But the book itself again is a deep look at the United States and gets things out in the open that a lot of people are just afraid to talk about because of political correctness in our country.As I say, we are all in the same team here, Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives; we all want the same thing. We want a successful America. We want to spread freedom throughout the world so other people can live as we do in a free market and have the ability to work and live successfully.And in the book, I talk about six or seven different topics ranging from politics to religion to social issues and so forth, terrorism, all the big things that you hear and see talked on the nightly news. And I say, “Hey, there’s the real story behind these things. And here’s how we can overcome these things.”So no matter what’s your political ideology is, if we stay close to our relationship with God and this country. And if we utilize the tools that He can give us, there’s no limit to what we can do.
Kent: It’s been a real pleasure speaking with G. A. Freiman, Gary Freiman. His book is available from Barnes and Nobles at Amazon.com, as well as his website conservativeoutcomes.com. His book is called “Current Events, Conservative Outcomes: Predictions for America’s Future.” It’s been a real pleasure. Have a wonderful day.
Gary: Thanks, Kent.
Kent: And my next guest is Susan Hetrick, and she’s going to chat with us about the big mix of families, blended families. Come on back. [instrumental music]
Marie Howe Transcript
April 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent Gustavson: Welcome to Sound Authors. Today is the 4th of April. On this day in 1968, 40 years ago, Martin Luther King was shot and killed. It’s a sad memory, but it’s been a long 40 years since then. Now we have a black candidate running for president and many things have happened since.Today on the show we’ve got four guests. At the end of the show, Jeff Beal, the famous composer of “Pollock” and “Rome” and some other wonderful music, and three authors, Susan Hetrick talking about families, Gary Freiman with some unique political opinions, and it’s my special honor to welcome Marie Howe. She’s a wonderful poet from New York. Welcome to the show.
Marie Howe: Thank you very much. It’s an honor to be here.
Kent: You have quite a record. You’ve gotten a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Nation Endowment of the Arts Fellowship. Tell me a little about your background.
Marie: Oh, gosh. I grew up in Rochester, New York, as one of nine children and I didn’t start writing poetry in any serious way until I was about 29 years old. I was teaching high school before that.
Kent: What did you teach in high school?
Marie: I loved reading but I had no idea you could be a living person and write poetry.
Kent: What did you teach?
Marie: I taught English to the kids in high school who could hardly make it to school.
Kent: Your work is stunning. You have a new book that is just coming out.
Marie: Yeah.
Kent: What’s the release day?
Marie: Actually it just officially came out about two week ago. I never quite notice. It’s called “The Kingdom of Ordinary Time.”
Kent: There’s some really beautiful poetry, especially striking to me in looking through. The very first poem in the book confronts where we are right now after 9/11. Would you mind reading that?
Marie: I would love to read it. This is completely ridiculous, but I realize I’m standing here with my phone and my book is across the room. I’m on a phone that can’t reach, so I’m just going to reach over here.
Kent: I’ll do a little filler time here.
Marie: Do a little and I’ll be right there.
Kent: In 1987, she put out “The Good Thief.” In 1995, “In The Company of My Solitude: American Writings from the AIDS Pandemic.” In 1998, “What the Living Do.” Her new book is called “The Kingdom of Ordinary Time.”
Marie: And here I am.
Kent: OK.
Marie: Thank you so much.
Kent: Yeah.
Marie: I want to say something about Dr. King. I’m so moved to hear this information and to know this, and to be talking with you on the very day when he was killed, and to think of him as I’m about to read this. Would that he were here, and thank goodness Barack Obama is.It’s called “Prologue.” “Ordinary Time,” just for you listeners, I originally came to this term when I was growing up. The liturgical calendar, there was always this thing, we always stand there with the missals and there’s a period of time that’s called Ordinary Time, which is the period of time between the High Holy seasons. Not the Christmas season, not the Pentecost season, not Lenten season. It’s pretty much the rest of the year where nothing apparently miraculous happens.”Prologue.The rules, once again applied.One loaf equaled one loaf. One fish equaled one fish.The so-called kings were dead.And the woman who had been healed grew tired of telling her story,And sometimes asked her daughter to tell it.People generally worshiped where their parents had worshiped,And the men who’d hijacked the airplane prayed where the dead pilots had been sitting, and the passengers prayed from their seats–So many songs went up and out and into the thinning air.People, listening and watching, nodded and wept,And, leaving the theater, one turned to the other and said,What do you want to do now?And the other one said, I don’t know. What do you want to do?It was the Coming of Ordinary Time. First Sunday, second Sunday.And then (for who knows how long) it was here.”
Kent: What a stunning poem.
Marie: Thank you. That was so strange because the so-called kings were dead, right? I wasn’t even thinking of Martin Luther King, but of course he was one.
Kent: Of course it matches wonderfully. You talk so much about politics in your work. How does politics mix with this Ordinary Time and everyday life patterns?
Marie: It’s a time right now, as you know, as we all know, when holy wars are raging and there are people who, including our administration, are willing to kill for what they believe. There are people who are willing to die and blow themselves up for what they believe, and there are so many of use who don’t know what we believe.It’s such a strange time to be alive, especially given the last five years. I really hope that things will change with a new administration because of the way things have polarized so terribly. But also, there’s the sense of Ordinary Time where it seems as if the sacredness of any religion, as acted out in the war and the war zones, is being overshadowed by a kind of dogma, and the truly miraculous of course still keeps happening. [laughs] But I think in this country in particular it’s such an important and crucial moment in our history, given all the rights we’ve lost and the direction in which the empire is going to move next.
Kent: You’re a teacher. You teach in New York City. You said you taught English at a high school?
Marie: Yeah, that was a long time ago. That was almost 30 years ago now. I’ve been teaching in college and universities since then.
Kent: I’m curious about what the difference is from when you first began teaching to when you teach poetry now. What’s the difference for you?
Marie: Oh, gosh. There’s a lot to say. When I first started writing in 1980, people were just beginning to write from the margins, if you will. When I was in graduate school, we were taught maybe two or three women writers, and I don’t think any writers of color, and within the last 28 years.And really, it was beginning right then. Everybody has come into the writing world. Women, of course, people of color, people with different sexual identities, people from different countries, out loud, on the page, wrapped. Everything just poured into the world of what we used to call poetry. It’s really, really thrilling that so many people are writing now and many more people, I think, are reading poems that are written and spoken by lots of different kinds of voices.
Kent: I would love to listen to another poem. I’m going to put you on the spot here. Do you have another favorite in the book?
Marie: Sure, let me see. It’s funny, Jesus shows up in this book a lot. I’m not a practicing Christian but I grew up with those stories, and I just love the guy. There’s a little poem here called “The Star Market” that I’d love to read. A lot of what is throughout this book is that Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is within you,” and I’ve been thinking about that for a long time.What does that mean, the kingdom of heaven is within each of us? So there’s a couple of questions in that case. I’ve been thinking about the problems in the world’s politics, and if the kingdom of heaven is within us, who governs there? Really? How do we govern ourselves? That’s another poem called “Government,” but maybe I’ll just read this little poem called “The Star Market.”"The people Jesus loved were shopping at The Star Market yesterday.An old lead-colored man standing next to me at the checkout.Breathed so heavily I had to step back a few steps.Even after his bags were packed he still stood,Breathing hard and hawking into his hand.The feeble, the lame, I could hardly look at them,Shuffling through the aisles, they smelled of decay,As if The Star Market had declared a day off for the able-bodied,And I had wandered in with the rest of them, sour milk, bad meat, looking for cereal and spring water.Jesus must have been a saint, I said to myself,Looking for my lost car in the parking lot later,Stumbling among the people.Who would have been lowered into rooms by ropes,Who would have crept out of caves,Or crawled from the corners of public baths.On their hands and knees begging for mercy.If I touch only the hem of his garment,One woman thought, could I bear the look on his face.When he wheels around?”
Kent: It’s fascinating how you can weave this biblical narrative into poetry. When did you start thinking about doing that?
Marie: I didn’t really think about. The stories are really real to me. I love how my daughter sits in the bathtub and says, “Tell me another story about Moses!” [laughs] It’s her fairy tale. I just love these stories, the Old Testament and the New Testament. So it’s not something I consciously do, it’s just something I do as I walk around.
Kent: Tell us about your daughter.
Marie: My daughter is adopted from China. To anybody who’s listening, I went to China, I began the adoption process when I was 50 years old. I had just gotten divorced. So if there’s any woman who’s thinking, “Oh, I’m just too old to go and adopt a kid, I say go do it.I went to China when I was 52, came home with a three-year-old who is just an extraordinary person. I can’t tell you. She’s amazing. She’s like a joyful Buddha. It just changed my life. Her name’s Anon. She’s a wonderful person. She just turned eight. So there’s that. I’m exhausted and happy.
Kent: And how does looking at her life, when she’s going to be a grown-up, how do you think this country and the world will change between now and then?
Marie: Oh, good lord, don’t we all wonder this? I don’t know if this is opinion radio, but I really do hope Obama becomes president. I feel like we have to realize that we’re a failing empire, and that China and these other countries are economically so much stronger. We have to put down our guns and begin to live as one world.It’s so strange, the Internet already lives like this. It’s almost like the world’s consciousness. The Internet already knows that we’re one world. We have to get politicians to understand that. We have to get them to begin to talk with each other and mediate our difference because this old “shoot ‘em up” thing is over.
Kent: [laughs] We’ll all work towards that. Can your read us one more poem from your book?
Marie: Sure. Another one of the major characters in this book is Mary, who is the Mother of Jesus. It’s not the Virgin Mary and not Mary as she’s been depicted, but Mary as the human being. I think I’ll just end with this little poem of Mary’s at the very end of the book. It partly comes from a sense of being exhausted as a new mother at my age with a little kid, not having any time to write.It’s also, of course, the illuminations that come with that presence in your life. It’s called “Mary, A Reprise” and it’s at the very end. It refers to all the paintings of Mary. She’s always sitting there in the Italian and Dutch paintings with a book in her hand and the book is half-closed. I’ve always been very interested in that.”What is that book, we always see, in the paintings? In her lap?Her finger keeping the place of who she was when she looked up.When I look up, my mother is dead,And my own daughter is calling from the bathtub.’Mom, come in and watch me. Come in here right now.’No Going Back might be the name of that angel.’No more reverie. Let this be done to me,’ Mary finally said.And that was the last time, for a long time,That she spoke about the past.”
Kent: What a wonderful poem. That’s from “The Kingdom of Ordinary Time,” just released by Norton, and Marie Howe’s been our guest. It’s been a real pleasure. You’re actually headlining the White Pine Festival in Stillwater, Minnesota, this summer.
Marie: Yeah, I am.
Kent: My mother’s going to be a solo poet with you, Cynthia Gustavson.
Marie: I am so delighted to hear this. And may I tell you, sir, it’s been a great joy talking with you today.
Kent: It has been a pleasure. Have a wonderful day. My next guest is going to be Gary Freiman. He certainly has a different opinion about politics, and we’ll chat with him. Thank you so much for being on the show, Marie Howe.
Doyle Lawson Transcript
March 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dr. Kent: Welcome back to Sound Authors. On the fourth part of each show we feature authors of sound. One of my favorite authors of sound is a man named Doyle Lawson. He has played with just about anybody you can think of in the field of bluegrass. His band is always the best in the business. Welcome to the show.
Doyle: Thank you very much. It’s good to talk to you.
Dr. Kent: Now, tell me a little bit, where are you right now?
Doyle: Well, I am actually in Fredrick, Maryland, on my way down to Bethesda for a concert tonight at the Strathmore Theatre. And then we come back to Fredrick to the Weinberg Theatre tomorrow night.
Dr. Kent: How is the life on the road? How does it treat you?
Doyle: Well, I’ve been doing it for 45 years, and it’s treated me pretty good. [laughs] It all depends on how you take it and how you look at it. If you love to travel, as I do, it doesn’t bother you. If you’re not one that enjoys to travel and being on the road a good deal of the time, then I would suggest that you maybe take up bookkeeping or something like that. [laughs]
Dr. Kent: Your bands are always so incredible. How do you go about choosing the members of your bands?
Doyle: Well, I look for people that will fit the moods of the style of music I play, that can blend in with us and join in their efforts and keep the transition between one musician and another as seamless as possible, and still keep that sound that’s identified as Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.
Dr. Kent: And they can all sing, that’s for sure.
Doyle: Primarily, the first thing I look for is the vocals, their vocal prowess and how they’ll blend with my voice and the other guys in the group at the time. But vocals are the primary thing I look for at first, and then I look at their skills as far as playing whichever instrument that I need to be played.
Dr. Kent: Let’s talk a little bit about your gospel music. I think you do gospel music the best of anybody in the business. Why is it that you have that soul in all of this music? Where does it come from?
Doyle: Well, I grew up in east Tennessee and my father was involved in quartet music. They sang all a cappella. During those days, when I was a child, most churches in and around the east Tennessee, southwestern Virginia area would have a quartet within the church, or a trio of some sort, but a lot of a cappella music.I learned to love gospel music being brought up in church and hearing my father in the quartet he’d sing with. It just left a lasting impact on my life. And I’m quick to tell people that as far as gospel music is concerned, he was my first and biggest influence.
Dr. Kent: Your newest album is called “Help Is On the Way.” There’s a whole bunch of albums that you all have put out. I love that every album is full of gospel music, full of vocal music, full of soul. This newest album, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver “Help Is On the Way,” let’s listen to the title track, “Help Is On the Way.”[music]
Dr. Kent: That song is the title track from “Help Is On the Way,” released in 2008 by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. And that mandolin solo was yours, am I right?
Doyle: Yes, sir, that was me.
Dr. Kent: When did you start playing the mandolin?
Doyle: I started trying to learn to play mandolin when I was about 11 years old. One of the fellows that sang with my dad in the quartet, I discovered he had a little mandolin and asked my dad to see if I could borrow it. He did and I did, and I began to teach myself to play the mandolin.I’m self-taught pretty much, but along the way I had some help from the legendary Jimmy Martin of bluegrass fame, which was actually who I wound up going to work for my first professional job. In February of 1963, I took a job with Jimmy. But I started liking the mandolin when I was about four or five years old.I’ve played a lot of different instruments. The fact is, my first professional job I was a banjo player, but mandolin has always been my first love. And still, above all the things that I play, that’s my favorite and primarily that’s what I play most of the time.
Dr. Kent: The one thing I have heard about Jimmy Martin, who has now left us, but one of the best voices in the history of bluegrass. One thing that I’ve heard about him is that he was a school himself. He taught everybody how to sing, how to play. Didn’t matter if he was better than them at that instrument, but he would tell you if you were doing it right. Is that right?
Doyle: Absolutely, Jimmy was a taskmaster for sure, but he had when it came to his music, he knew exactly what he wanted and settled for nothing less than that. That was, of course, that was my earliest days of professional training.Before that my dad was the same way in the music he sang, even though they didn’t play, they sang; and they were very disciplined with it, as was Jimmy.So, that’s carried with me all these years. I’m much the same way when it comes to my group. When it comes to my music, I have a definite idea about how I want it to be. I tell them; the reason I hire these people is because I know that they can do what it is that I ask.