Kevin Montgomery kindly accepted to be interviewed and this is the
result of some emails passing late night hour.
Q: Your tour to Europe in the fall is a well know fact now and people are excited about
it. How did you meet up with Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin from The
Mavericks? And how do you feel about
having them on the team for the tour in England?
A: I am completely thrilled that Robert and Paul are coming with me to the UK!! They are both incredible musicians as well as being two of my favorite people
around. To me, i have to really like the musicians that i play with as people, and those two guys are truly soulful
guys.......and that translates into their playing. The connection with Robert started when i played a Buddy Holly tribute show at Billy Block's Showcase at the Exit/Inn here in Nashville. Kim Richey was
dueting with me, and Robert was the musical director for the band.
A few weeks later we got together for coffee, and Robert asked me if i'd like to do a band project with he and Paul, and of course i said yes. Things started happening for my record in the UK, and the tour in support of my project came about as sort of a way to get to know one another as a band.
Q: As we know The Mavericks have plans for an upcoming album next year. Do you, Robert and Paul
have plans too of recording an album as a follow up to the Europe tour?
Yes, i do plan on working on a new record in 2001, and also cutting a record as a side project with Robert and Paul.
Q: How do you feel about the often referred fact that your dad co-wrote a
song with Buddy Holly?
A: My father and Buddy were best friends growing up...picked cotton together,
and learned to sing and play guitar together. They were actually a duo called "Buddy and
Bop". Dad not only wrote "Wishing", but also "Heartbeat", "Love's Made A Fool of You", "Down the
Line" for, or with Buddy. He also wrote "Back in Baby's Arms" for Patsy Cline, and the song,
"Misty Blue." I'm very proud of my father's history, and hope that i brought honor to Buddy's memory with the duet of "Wishing" with Mary-Chapin Carpenter.
Q: There is a time lapse between the oldest and the newest song on
your latest album, "Another Long Story", from 1994 to 1999. Do you need
a long time to make a song or does it come flowing?
A: When it comes it comes flowing!!!! Songs have different ways of coming.
I'm not extremely prolific though. I don't write that many songs. Unfortunately, i tend to need to be inspired!!!
Q: There are other artists who made a big hit with material you have
written. If you could choose what would make you feel better if you made
a success on your own or if another artist made success with a song
you have written?
A: To be honest, i don't really care who has a hit with it!!!!! I loved what Martina McBride did with "I Won't Close My Eyes"---she did things to it that i never thought of...particularly with the background vocals. The guy from The Rembrandts helped with the backgrounds, and i thought they did a wonderful job!!
Q: Do you think of your songwriting as a chance to express a meaning about
the social conditions some of the people in USA lives under?
A: I would hope that i'm enough of an observer that i can translate something about my culture, but i don't set out to do this.
Q: Are you a songsmith with a political agenda?
A: Not as of yet. Politics are boring. I've never been inspired enough to write a song about it. I think Jackson Browne's worst period was when he decided to go "political" on us!!!!!!!
Q: Is there a red thread in your music making? Is it possible to point at something in your music and say: that's me, that's who I am, that's what I believe in?
A: I guess that i try to connect on a very personal level with how i'm feeling about a subject in hopes that it will then connect with a larger audience. I would like to think that you could sit down and listen to "Another Long Story" and it put you in a mood....that's the kind of records
i like..the ones that put you in a vibe as your driving at night.
Q: When was the first time you knew it was a singer/songwriter you wanted to be?
A: I guess in college when i started delving into Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle, and then started playing guitar and singing in the subways in New York.
Q: When you look back on the time when you played the New York subways is there anything in particular you now can think came out of it, like special experiences, memories, etc.?
A: Yes, a couple.....first of all, this is where i really learned to play and write songs. At the time i was really listening to Springsteen and Steve Earle alot and doing their songs in my set in the subways. In this way, i studied the masters you might say, and it all started to make sense to me.
The other thing that hit me was that music soothes the savage beast. You are a fly on the wall when you are playing in the subway...you're like a jukebox, so people don't necessarily notice you as a person.....so you can observe people and it's ok to look. I noticed this guy jamming the
turnstiles, and then politely "letting" the people through by pushing a lever
underneath the turnstile which then releases the token into his hand. He was a "thief", but was stealing from the city more than the individuals he was "helping", but nonetheless, a thief. After watching him for about 30 minutes i figured it all out. About that time he noticed me.....just as a train was starting to make the wind pick-up, and my dollar bills started flying around....well, i saw him coming my direction, and as he got up to my guitar case with all my dollar bills in it....and i'm thinking, "great he's gonna try to rip me off"....he reaches down and places quarters on all my dollar bills so they won't blow away. It blew me away!!! I don't know why, but it impacted me. This guy was a "street thug," and somehow he related to what i was doing.
Then, another time this "rapper/gang guy" came up to me while i was playing on the #1 train platform at 59th, and got in my face about an inch from my nose while i was playing and staired at me......well, i just kept playing and a minute or so later he reached into his pocket and gave me a dollar.....music brings people together, and let's us forget about our differences for awhile....thank God for it.
Q: In which terms do you think of working with music: singing, playing your instruments, arranging and producing?
A: I think in all those terms and they all work together.
Q: What other plans would you like to share with us?
A: It took a long time to get this second cd out and now i plan to travel the world and to meet as many people as i can.
Thank you, Kevin!
If you like to find out more about him, please go to Kevin's official
web site.
