Michael Prince interviews Kevin Brown.
Bath-based British singer, songwriter and slide guitarist Kevin Brown has been busy with various projects in recent years. His latest album Mojave Dust has just been released on his own Doodah label to great critical acclaim. Michael Prince caught up with Kevin just before Christmas to find out more about his recent activities.
Michael Prince: Your new album, Mojave Dust, features just you and a guitar, as opposed to your previous band efforts. I know you have often been asked for something like this at your live shows. How did the recording come about and was it in some ways a response to those requests?
Kevin Brown: Mojave Dust is in a way the record I have always wanted to make, but for various reasons the pieces of the jigsaw have only recently come together. When I was with record labels, both independent and major, an album such as this was very far removed from their requirements, plus during those times I was very interested in a band-orientated style of delivery.
I had spent the 60s and 70s working solo and when I moved to Bath in 1979 I was ready for a change. Now 20 years and 5 albums later my interests are once again focused on solo guitar and voice. My main inspiration comes from just wanting to be a better slide player. I am fascinated by overcoming its restrictions and learning embellishments that help create smooth, flowing, continuous pieces.
Mojave Dust therefore came to be recorded at home and in my own time. I worked for a year just writing and working on a little Dictaphone or small Panasonic recorder from the 70s. Parallel to this, I was developing a keen interest in live sound recording and thanks to some friends I was able to try a variety of methods to help me achieve the sound I was looking for. After much trial and error, I came up with ¼ inch analogue tape using a single valve or ribbon mike with the same signal going to right and left channels.
Once a song was complete lyrically, I would spend some time working on the delivery and style. With no editing or overdubs, there were some hairy moments when great takes were disturbed by car horns, babies crying or just plain mistakes - if you listen carefully, you can hear an owl at the end of 'Gypsy Boy'!
On the question of recording an album that reflected my live show, it is true that people at my concerts were initially disappointed that the CD they took home was not a reflection of the show they had just seen, i.e. solo voice and guitar. Now when I finish a show, they take home a virtual memory of the occasion and because they are live recordings they can relive the moment.
Michael Prince: You have also done some concerts with the Senegalese master kora player, Moussa Kouyate. How did that collaboration come about?
Kevin Brown: Throughout the Mojave Dust project, I became obsessed with that solitary Mississippi emptiness that just seems to cut through you and leave you semi-paralysed. Its beauty was in the silence that often accompanied a single chord arrangement. When I visited Africa, I again became mesmerised by the local West Coast kora players. Years later, back in Bath I took my daughter Jessica to a children's festival in my local park. Within minutes of walking through the gates, I heard the sound of a kora and there under a tree was a full blown Senegalese master kora player in my local park! Were it not for Jessica, we might not have met. Luckily his host was an old acquaintance and before long we were sitting in my home exchanging tunes.
Michael Prince: Did it come easily, given that you have your roots in country blues and the blues has its roots in the music of West Africa?
Kevin Brown: When we first met I thought 'OK here we go, the blues is my driving force, he plays a music from which the blues came - let's rock', but I was in for a nasty shock. I could not find any common ground! He would just play one phrase after another, without ever seemingly repeating himself, no verses, no chorus, just endless patterns all inside out and back to front.
Playing with Moussa has been the most difficult thing I have ever done, but to our advantage we both have very good timing and our internal clocks beat from the same pulse. Finding the way musically has involved many, many hours just playing together. Often it does not work, but there will be one little grain that inspires us and we desperately grab it and set the clocks ticking. 'Training' as he calls it represents sheer struggles of understanding - putting the two of us together often required much inner strength as there were many mountains to climb before the joyous noises we knew we were capable of creating came about.
We have toured the UK twice and major plans are being made for next year. If the funding that we are trying for comes through, then a major album release can be expected in the spring of next year, ready for a tour in September.
Michael Prince: I understood you have already recorded the tracks for an album with Moussa.
Kevin Brown: Our album is now recorded and was again done live in my 2-track studio, using a stereo pair and a centrally-placed valve mike. Right now I can't stop listening to it. I was very concerned that the spirit and joy of our creations was not lost in some 'collaborations-for-the-sake-of-it' scenario. Moussa lifted himself and some of his musical explosions have thankfully been captured on tape.
We are very lucky to have found each other, we lift spirits and change people's feelings. They come back time and time again. It is like a medicine that we need. We actually have a very accessible product and are not surprised to find children eagerly awaiting our concerts.
It has taken two years of unravelling and re-assembling material in order to have our present sounds. But what you have now is a collection of material of much greater depth, and I have to say I am very, very pleased with the album. We have overcome the struggle and it sounds wonderfully organic and natural.
Michael Prince: You mention your times with different record companies. Do you feel more in control now you are back to recording on your own Doodah label?
Kevin Brown: Since my first album Road Dreams, I have always had control of my recordings. It is what happens afterwards that has been the problem, throwing your heart and soul into writing and recording for two years to then find your label has gone defunct is a serious waste of time and effort. Having Doodah guarantees that will never happen again. But having said that, I am not an 'admin.' kind of person and have to wear a rather strange hat when I walk into Doodah headquarters and start checking the accounts.
Michael Prince: You seem to be a bit of dab hand at picking interesting musicians with whom to co-operate on projects. Apart from your work with Moussa, you have also been playing a bit with session guitarist Justin Adams.
Kevin Brown: Justin Adams is a like-minded individual who moved to Bath a couple of years ago, and if you move here and play slide, you are going to get a call from me. He responded, we met and did some recording, his particular interest lying in North African stringed and percussion instruments. He is a fabulous ngoni (African 4-string baby fretless guitar) player. With writing being such a solitary experience, I very much welcome the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with new friends.
I hope we can continue to meet, he is a very cool dude and we have a little magic going there.
Michael Prince: You are also a demonstrator for Ovation Guitars, giving clinics up and down the country at trade fairs, etc. How did you hook up with them?
Kevin Brown: The only link I ever had with Ovation was that I played their guitars, they saved my life, got me out of jail, enabled me to work in the late 70s and into the 80s. I could play loud in bars and earn a living. I had the guitar and a PA, so I could work.
Twenty years later they got wind of my enthusiasm and invited me to travel around the country demonstrating their product. I do actually have faith in them, as they are strong and they work. They now also sound great acoustically, as you can hear on Mojave Dust.
I play a 'Longneck' which is actually a baritone guitar, using what should be open D tuning, but it is tuned down a step to C, using quite heavy gauge strings (top string 18 then a 20). The depth inspires me and has helped further my interest in Asiatic flute players.
Michael Prince: You don't just use Ovations though do you?
Kevin Brown: I have a National Bendaway which never made it to the album, but has been featured on the recordings I made with Moussa. I also have a Kinkade 'Porchmaster' which has been set up for regular playing.
Michael Prince: If you get the time amongst all these projects, what are you listening to on record at the moment? What would you say are your current influences?
Kevin Brown: Right now, I am listening to Hollow Bamboo by Ry Cooder and Ronu Majumdar. As far as I am concerned, there is no answer to this record, it is at the absolute limit of inspired expression. There are flute players and there is Ronu. Working with Moussa has in a way introduced me to this other kind of level. When I hear Ronu, he opens all those doors again, it's that Mississippi thing again, its the same vibe, those vast holes of emptiness that become the backdrop for your imagination. It's the blues thing, the happiest joyous noise, blues is absolute joy and I am very lucky to have a job that allows me to be involved in it as a musician.
I would say that 80% of my listening material for the last 3 years has been the American field recordings made by John and Alan Lomax, I return to them time and time again, because they are helping me to understand who I am and where I am going. If you are interested in slide playing and communicating, they provide the key to everything. Jesse Mae Hemphill, R.L. Burnside and Skip James are amongst others who continually shine their torches when the way gets a little confusing!
Also I love Gillian Welch, because she also draws me into her unique world and I get so much pleasure listening to her. Jimmy Vaughan will always be my favourite blues player, I admire a lot of his work, especially his tone and phrasing. Eric Bibb I saw recently, he's got that hill country thing and is very inspiring. Every aspiring young musician should be made to see Eric, as his performances can teach you so much about how to get the message across, and more importantly what kind of message you want to give.
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