Blue Country Heart

Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna veteran Jorma Kaukonen performs ‘On Patriots Stage.’

By: Susan Van Dongen

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"I’m an insatiable seeker of great old music," says fingerpick guitarist and songwriter Jorma Kaukonen, who performs On Patriots Stage at the War Memorial Jan. 20.


   As one of his generation’s most brilliant fingerpick guitarists and songwriters, Jorma Kaukonen has plumbed the roots of American music, blending his discoveries into his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. With his most recent release, 2002’s Blue Country Heart, Mr. Kaukonen is riding a resurgence of interest in old-time, blues and country music, which has become especially popular since the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
   "Thank God for the synchronicity with that movie," says Mr. Kaukonen, speaking from his Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio. "I loved all the music from ‘O Brother,’ but we actually started working on ‘Blue Country Heart’ two years before that. Many of the guys who played on ‘O Brother’ were on my album too — like Gary Douglas and Béla Fleck. I’ve met so many people who say ‘I don’t like country music’ but they haven’t really listened to country music. Then they heard this music and it opened up a whole new world."
   A favorite in this area, Mr. Kaukonen returns to Trenton for an evening of acoustic music On Patriots Stage at the War Memorial Jan. 20. He’ll be with mandolinist and New Jersey native Barry Mitterhoff.
   This is the second concert since the formation of the Patriots Theater Foundation, a nonprofit organization that will support the Trenton venue in producing, presenting and creating programming. Through the new foundation, the theater can seek funding through arts council and foundation grants and corporate sponsorships, which will assist the theater to produce and present a wider range of arts events.
   Indeed, this year the roster for On Patriots Stage has expanded to include the John Pizzarelli Trio in March, a cappella sensations The Bobs and David "Honeyboy" Edwards in April, and a Roots Festival in May, featuring Cephas & Wiggins, with Roy Bookbinder.
   Word is getting out about the intimate venue in Trenton — so much so that both of Mr. Kaukonen’s performances Jan. 20 are sold out. Mr. Kaukonen will perform with Hot Tuna in Atlantic City Jan. 21.
   For the first time in his career, Mr. Kaukonen was nominated for a Grammy for Blue Country Heart, which is his first project for Columbia Records. The album explores rural blues and country-flavored songs from the 1920s and 1930s, by such tunesmiths as Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, Slim Smith, Washington Phillips, Cliff Carlisle and Jimmy "The Singing Governor" Davis.
   Starting in February, he’ll return to the studio to work on his next album for Columbia — this time devoted to the work of the Rev. Gary Davis, one of the greatest guitarists in blues.
   "He’s been my muse," Mr. Kaukonen says. "He was the artist who set me on fire when I started to fingerpick. Woody Mann (who hosts the On Patriots Stage series) studied with the Reverend. There’s something special about him, something about him that touched my heart then and touches my heart now. I’m not a practicing Christian, but it’s just great spiritual music."
   Mr. Kaukonen says Blue Country Heart would have come out sooner, but was delayed because he was relishing the research involved in putting the album together. He spent about two years listening to vintage songs he discovered in online archives, as well as music friends shared with him.
   "I’m an insatiable seeker of great old music," he says.
   In addition to recording and performing, in the last decade or so, Mr. Kaukonen and his wife/manager Vanessa have turned a private recording studio in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio into a retreat and workshop facility that offers guitar classes, from blues to classical. The ranch also hosts workshops on keyboard, percussion, guitar repair, songwriting, voice and harmonica, music management and promotion.
   "It started out as my recording studio, but we’ve built about 20 buildings now," Mr. Kaukonen says. "We have lots of great teachers including Chris Smither, Rory Block, G.E. Smith — a huge roster of great players, although we haven’t had Woody (Mann) out there yet. We do four-day workshops, open to students of all ages. There are some wonderful kids who show up. I started playing guitar when I was 15, but when these 15-year-olds come to the ranch, they can already play really well."
   The best part of the Fur Peace Ranch is the way the different generations hang out together, play and enjoy a musical fellowship. Mr. Kaukonen and his friends are pleased to introduce younger generations to great American roots music — a spirited alternative to the commercial music they hear on radio and television.
   "We’re marinated in pop culture constantly," Mr. Kaukonen says. "The truth is, there really is a lot of music of serious value that many people love. We just don’t make videos about it."
Jorma Kaukonen with Barry Mitterhoff will perform On Patriots Stage at the War Memorial, West Lafayette and Barrack streets, Trenton, Jan. 20, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Both performances are sold out. For information, call (609) 984-8400. On the Web: www.thewarmemorial.com. Jorma Kaukonen will perform with Hot Tuna at Xanadu at Trump Taj Mahal, 1000 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, Jan. 21, 9 p.m. Tickets cost $29-$34. For information, call (609) 449-5150. Jorma Kaukonen on the Web: www.jormakaukonen.com