Source: Adrenaline PR

The Song of Hiawatha: The Life and High Times Of The First Black Hippie is a feature-length documentary chronicling queer political activist and musician of African-American and Native-American ancestry, Hiawatha Bailey, recognized as the first black hippie.

The film traces Hiawatha’s path as part of the African-American “great migration” from the Deep South to Detroit in the 1950s, “turning on” to LSD and joining a commune in 1965, becoming the only Black member of a revolutionary cadre known as the White Panthers in 1968, serving a four-year prison term, starting a musical outfit in prison, and forming the Cult Heroes, a punk rock band, in 1978.

The cast includes a select array of rockers and activists (two were on the FBI 10 Most Wanted List): Hiawatha Bailey, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Wayne Kramer, John Sinclair, Cheetah Chrome, Niagara Detroit, Ron Ashton, Pun Plamondon, Professor Judson Jeffries, Leni Sinclair, Genie Plamondon, David Fenton, Lawrence Livermore, John Brannon, Maxie Chanel, Jennifer Holiday Chanel, and Deniz Tek. Documents include a letter from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, a landmark Supreme Court decision, a contract signed by John Lennon, and many never-before-seen photos dating back beyond the 1960s. The soundtrack features music by The MC5, The Rationals, Cult Heroes, John Brannon’s pre-Negative Approach band Static, and African-American punk rockers Pure Hell, with additional scoring by Elan Portnoy (Fuzztones).

The Song of Hiawatha floats along in a psychedelic haze as it touches on sensitive issues of race, rock, radicalism, sexual identity, prison life, and antiquated drug laws, so smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Can you dig it?

“This film has the potential to tell a different story about the American rock counterculture than the one we are used to hearing.” – James Sclavunos, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

“This film will illuminate fundamental questions about past events by offering a particularly fresh look at the New Left and its complex relationships to culture and society. So doing, it will beckon audiences to join in understanding the complex configuration of elements that compose the American experience.” — Professor Ira Katznelson, History and Political Science, Columbia University

“The film chronicles the activities of the Black Panthers, the White Panthers, FBI surveillance, and how it all came together to shape the character of one counterculture punk rocker.” — Ann Arbor Observer

Producer Biography – Steven Blush

STEVEN BLUSH got his start in the 1980s promoting hardcore punk rock shows in Washington, DC. He published the award-winning Seconds Magazine and served as music editor for the late, great PaperMagazine, where he became the first writer to cover both rock and hip-hop.

His journalism has appeared in over 25 publications, including: Spin, Details, Interview, The Village Voice, and The Times of London. Blush has written ten books about rock and pop culture, culture — American Hardcore (2001), American Hair Metal (2005), .45 Dangerous Minds (2006), American Hardcore: Second Edition (2010), Lost Rockers (2016), New York Rock (2017), American Hair Metal: Can’t Get Enough (2023), and the trilogy of When Rock Met Disco (2023), When Rock Met Reggae (2024) and When Rock Met Hip-Hop (2026) — as well as Bustin’ Balls (2010), about Billie Jean King’s rebel tennis league, currently in television development. He wrote and produced the critically acclaimed, theatrically released, Sundance-premiered documentary film American Hardcore  (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006).                

JEFFREY WENGROFSKY has made ten short films about figures in the cultural underground of his native Lower East Side of New York, from the Warhol superstar Taylor Mead and anarcho-theater director Judith Malina, to hippie noise lords The Godz. Wengrofsky is also the author of The Wolfboy of Rego Park (Far West Press). The Song of Hiawatha is his first feature film.

Jeffrey Wengrofsky

]]> https://guitarinternational.com/2026/04/21/film-about-the-first-black-hippie-with-iggy-pop-and-patti-smith-hits-the-festival-circuit/feed/ 0 https://guitarinternational.com/2026/04/18/prosody-for-guitarists-part-2-phrase-contour-and-emotional-weight/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prosody-for-guitarists-part-2-phrase-contour-and-emotional-weight https://guitarinternational.com/2026/04/18/prosody-for-guitarists-part-2-phrase-contour-and-emotional-weight/#respond Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:41:52 +0000 https://guitarinternational.com/?p=101568 By: Steve Canfield

Photo credit: Tatyana Makariva

PART 1 covered syllable stress. PART 2 zooms out. The shape of a melodic line does as much emotional work as the words do.

In PART 1 we looked at syllable stress: how individual words carry natural emphasis patterns and how the melody either supports or fights those patterns. PART 2 zooms out one level. Beyond the word there’s the phrase, and beyond the phrase’s stresses there’s its shape.

The three phrase shapes!

Every melodic phrase has a contour. Most phrases fall into three basic shapes.

Rising. The phrase ends higher than it began. “I’ll see you to-MOR-row” on a rising line carries forward motion, a question, hope.

Falling. The phrase ends lower than it began. “We used to dance all NIGHT” on a falling line carries settling, arrival, resignation.

Arched. The phrase rises, peaks in the middle, and falls back home. “So I called her on the phone” with the peak on “called” and a descent through “on the phone.” Most natural speech sits here. The arch is the default shape for a statement of fact.

The interesting work happens when the contour of the line matches, or deliberately fights, the emotional content of the words.

Descending lines sell loss!

This might be the single most useful observation in the whole prosody toolkit. If your lyric is about loss, disappointment, resignation, or quiet grief, a descending melodic line will do half the emotional work for you. The words don’t have to strain. The contour does the selling.

Think of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The word itself is set to a four-note descending line in the chorus. The descent is mournful before the listener has even processed what the word means. Now imagine the same word set to an ascending melody. It becomes celebratory. Same word, opposite effect, entirely because of phrase contour.

When you’re writing a line about loss and it’s not landing, check the contour first. If your melody is arching or rising, the music is fighting the words. Try rewriting the phrase so it ends on the lowest note of the line. You’ll often find the lyric suddenly works without a single word changing.

E minor descending phrase (standard tuning):

e|–7—5—————|
B|———-8—7—5—|
G|———————-|
D|———————-|
A|———————-|
E|———————-|

Lyric:  “She  was  gone   by  dawn”
Notes:   B    A    G     F#   E

The final long vowel (“dawn”) lands on the lowest note. The descent does the emotional work before the listener has processed the line.

Ascending lines sell hope!

The inverse is true. If your lyric is about longing, possibility, pursuit, or unresolved yearning, an ascending line carries that forward motion. Ballads often save the ascent for the chorus payoff. The verses may arch or settle, and then the chorus lifts, suggesting the feeling of the song is still reaching for something.

A lyric that wants to feel aspirational but lives on a descending melody will always feel slightly resigned, no matter what the words say on the page. Flip the contour and the same words start to sell the hope they were trying to describe.

C major ascending phrase (standard tuning):

e|——-0—1—3—|
B|–1–3————-|
G|——————-|
D|——————-|
A|——————-|
E|——————-|

Lyric:  “And  one  day   we’ll  fly”
Notes:   C    D    E     F      G

The final long vowel (“fly”) lands on the highest note. The rise carries the forward motion the lyric is reaching for.

The arched phrase is a workhorse!

Most verse lines are arched, because most natural speech is arched. They rise into a peak and then resolve back home. Use arched phrases as your default. Save the explicit rising and falling contours for moments where the emotion of the lyric justifies the special treatment.

A common amateur mistake is making every phrase the same shape. Verses all arched, or every line rising into the chorus. Vary it. The contrast between a rising line and a falling line is one of the strongest expressive tools you have, and it costs you nothing but attention.

Vowels want length!

Prosody isn’t only about emphasis. It’s also about the vowels themselves. Long vowels (the “I” in “mine,” the “o” in “alone”) want longer notes. Short vowels (the “i” in “sit,” the “u” in “cup”) want shorter notes. Match the duration of the note to the natural duration of the vowel and the line sings smoothly. Pit a long vowel against a sixteenth note and the singer has to rush the syllable to fit, which sounds stilted regardless of the pitch choices.

This is one reason country and folk lyrics often end phrases on words like “moon,” “rain,” “alone,” “gone.” Those are long-vowel words that sustain naturally on whole notes. The instinct of a good lyricist is to pick words whose vowels want to ring out where the melody asks them to ring out.

A ten-minute rewriting exercise!

Pull up any song of yours that isn’t quite landing. For every line, mark the contour: rising, falling, or arched. Now ask yourself a single question: does the contour match the emotional content of the line?

– If the line is about loss and arches upward, you’ve found a rewrite target.
– If the line is about hope and falls downward, you’ve found a rewrite target.
– If every line in the verse has the same shape, the verse will feel monotone and you can break it up by changing the shape of one middle line.

You don’t have to change the words. You often just need to change the shape of the melody.

Putting it together!

Prosody is a discipline of listening. Strong syllables want the strong beats. Long vowels want long notes. The shape of the line wants to match the shape of the feeling. None of this is complicated, but all of it requires slowing down a little on the lyric side and letting the words guide the melody as much as the other way around.

The songwriters whose lyrics feel inevitable are almost always the ones who’ve internalized these habits until they don’t have to think about them. The rest of us can get there the slow way, one line at a time, one rewrite at a time.

Write with your hands on the guitar, by all means. But say the line before you sing it, and check the shape of the phrase against the shape of the feeling. Your songs will thank you for it.

PART 1 

PART I – Prosody For Guitarists

PART 2 

Rick Landers – Photo credit: Steve Pendlebury Media

Every guitarist has written a line that looks great on the page and fights the melody when you try to sing it. Here’s what’s happening, and how to fix it in 30 seconds per line.

Every guitarist has written a line that looks great on paper and then fights the melody when you try to sing it. The words are right. The chord progression is right. But something is still off. In almost every case I’ve seen, the culprit is prosody.

Prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of spoken language. It’s the reason “REC-ord” (the noun) sounds different from “re-CORD” (the verb). It’s the reason a lyric can scan perfectly on the page and still land wrong when you sing it. When a melody fights the natural stress of the words, the listener feels it even if they couldn’t name what’s wrong.

This is a two-part piece. Part 1 covers syllable stress, the first and most underused tool in matching lyrics to melody. PART 2, covers phrase contour and how the shape of a melodic line carries emotional weight.

The Strong Syllable Rule

Every English word of more than one syllable has a pattern of strong and weak syllables. “Guitar” is weak-STRONG. “Music” is STRONG-weak. “Am-BI-gu-ous” is weak-STRONG-weak-weak. Native speakers never have to think about this; we just know it.

When you sing a word, your melody assigns emphasis to syllables through pitch and duration. Higher notes and longer notes feel more accented than lower, shorter ones. If your melody emphasizes the wrong syllable, the line sounds awkward even when the listener can’t articulate why.

A classic example: a songwriter writes the word “forever” onto a melody that lands the high note on “FOR-ev-er.” But “forever” is “for-EV-er.” The melody is fighting the word. The listener’s ear expects the emphasis on “EV,” gets it on “FOR,” and the line feels stilted.

This is a fixable problem, once you know to listen for it!

The “Say it, don’t sing it” Test

Before committing a line, say it out loud in the rhythm of your intended melody. Not sung. Spoken, with the same emphasis pattern your melody is about to use. If the spoken version feels natural, the sung version will too. If the spoken version sounds stilted or robotic, the melody and the words are fighting each other.

This works in reverse too. If a line is bothering you in a song you’ve already written, speak the words in the rhythm of the melody. The awkwardness will either disappear (meaning the problem is elsewhere) or it becomes obvious.

Three Ways To Fix A Line That Fights Itself

In order of how much they cost you as the writer:

1. Change the word. If “forever” is fighting your melody, what about “always”? “AL-ways” starts with the strong syllable. If the emphasis in your melody lands on beat 1, “always” sings naturally where “forever” won’t. This is usually the cheapest fix.

Source: The Green Room PR

Reba McEntire will begin releasing music capsules each month, thematically curated songs from throughout her career paired with brand new recordings that spotlight the road ahead for the iconic entertainer. The first release, ONE NIGHT IN TULSA, centers songs around her home state and will be released this Friday, April 17 via MCA and is available for pre-save HERE.

On April 9, McEntire previewed the project during a special performance at her restaurant Reba’s Place, where she debuted a new song and title track of the first capsule “One Night In Tulsa.” Written by Neal Coty, Kylie Frey and Thom McHugh, the song marks a return to the ’90s country ballads that cemented McEntire’s place as one of the genre’s most definitive voices of heartbreak.

ONE NIGHT IN TULSA

• “One Night In Tulsa”
• “Tulsa Time”
• “Oklahoma Swing”
• “Does The Wind Still Blow In Oklahoma”
• “No U In Oklahoma”

Each digital music capsule pairs a newly recorded song with carefully selected tracks that trace the evolution of one of country music’s most enduring and influential voices. In tandem with each music capsule, tailored playlists will launch to further illuminate the defining eras of McEntire’s career. Beginning May 1 with “The Making of Reba,” the first playlist captures a young McEntire finding her voice through classic country heartbreak, laying the foundation for everything to come. The playlists serve as a companion piece, offering fans a deeper, more expansive look at the moments, milestones, and music that shaped her legacy.

About Reba McEntire: 
Multi-media entertainment mogul Reba McEntire has become a household name through a successful career that includes music, television, film, theater, retail and hospitality. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Hollywood Bowl member has more than 50 award wins under her belt, earning honors from the ACM Awards, American Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, CMA Awards, GRAMMY® Awards and GMA Dove Awards. Reba was also a 2018 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, in addition to multiple philanthropic and leadership honors. Reba has celebrated unprecedented success, including 35 career No.1 singles and more than 58 million albums sold worldwide. Reba earned her 60th Top 10 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, extending her record for the most Top 10 hits among female artists. Reba’s Top 10 success spans five straight decades, landing her in the singular group with only George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton who have the same achievement. Most recently, her latest single, “Trailblazer,” featuring Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert, garnered an impressive 2.6 million on-demand streams in its first week, marking a new personal best for Reba in the streaming era. The Oklahoma native and Golden Globe® nominated actress has multiple movie credits to her name, a critically-acclaimed lead role on Broadway in Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, and starred in the 6-season television sitcom Reba. Reba has also proven to be a savvy entrepreneur, with longstanding brand partnerships including her Dillard’s clothing line and western footwear collection REBA by Justin. She has even added restaurateur to the list with Reba’s Place, a restaurant, bar, retail and entertainment venue in Atoka, Oklahoma. Her book Not That Fancy landed on the New York Times bestseller list. For more information, visit www.Reba.com.

Images: Courtesy of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

True grit, in the name of Jack Elliott (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931, Brooklyn, New York) was on the road when he was fifteen years old to become…a cowboy. The son of a surgeon, Abraham Adnopoz, and school teacher, Florence “Flossie” (Rieger) Adnopoz, his Wild West dream was inspired by “The Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry and his remarkable horse, (Touring) Champion, when Gene’s rodeo showed up at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott with his trusty “steed” – a Martin D-28 with unique inlays & art – photo credit: Dan Dion

Many moons later, Jack would take on the moniker, “Ramblin'” when the legendary folk singer, Odetta, introduced him to her mother, Flora Sanders, who noted how he could carry on with his stories – (“Oh, Jack Elliott, yeah, he can sure ramble on!”) The young Jack, inspired by the Gene Autry rodeo set off for North Carolina hitching rides where he connected with Jim Eskew’s Rodeo, a traveling show that made its way along the East Coast of the United States.

“When he’s learning a song he kind of tries it on like a pair of gloves…He’s got a way of doing things that’s uniquely his own. He makes a song his own. That’s the beauty of it.” – Tom Waits

It didn’t take long – three months – when his father, Abraham, and mother, Florence, tracked him down and brought him back home to finish school. But, during his time with the rodeo he befriended a true cowboy and rodeo clown, poet, Brahmer Rogers, who played guitar, banjo and sang.

Inspired, Jack taught himself how to play guitar and five-string banjo and while back in New York he met the legendary folk musician, Woody Guthrie. Jack and Woody struck up a kinship, with Jack living with the Guthrie’s for a couple of years. Woody was diagnosed in 1952 with Huntington chorea hereditary disease, institutionalized in 1956 and passed away in 1967.  Jack had embraced Woody’s music and the man, and continues to honor him carrying the lyrical extent of Guthrie’s portrayal of America’s fault lines, promise and vision.

“His tone of voice is sharp, focused and piercing. All that and he plays the guitar effortlessly in a fluid flat-picking perfected style. He was a brilliant entertainer…. Most folk musicians waited for you to come to them. Jack went out and grabbed you….. Jack was King of the Folksingers.” – Bob Dylan 

Jack toured the U.K. and Europe with banjoist, Derroll Adams,  and he was signed to Topic Records where he recorded three albums and he landed a gig on U.K.’s television series, Hullabaloo, presented by  folksinger, Rory McEwen. And while in England, Jack became a staple of the English folk and skiffle scene with his interpretive music and ability to captivate audiences with his style and yarn spinnng tales. Tenacious and driven, his musical education included teaching himself various guitar fingerpicking styles, as well as harmonica to better portray songs of  folk, country, blues and bluegrass tunes, and what may today be referred to as traditional Americana.

“I’d recognize Jack’s right-hand rhythm across a fairground. They reset atomic clocks to it.”  – Tom Paxton

Back in the States, “The Rambler” was known for his down-to-earth style and his performances of Woody’s songs with Guthrie once saying, “Sounds more like me than I do.”

“Nobody I know—and I mean nobody—has covered more ground and made more friends and sung more songs than the fellow you’re about to meet right now. He’s got a song and a friend for every mile behind him. Say hello to my good buddy, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.”  – Johnny Cash

Later, Jack took on the role of mentor with a young Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) and would introduce him as his “son”. And Jack would become a sought after entertainer, working with many who are now fellow folk and country music icons: Phil Ochs, Odetta, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, and more during an era of what some called, “The Folk Scare”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jack’s recording history is extensive with his first album, Woody Guthrie’s Blues (1956 – Topic), recorded by music historian, Alan Lomax, in England. The album featured six songs by Guthrie, including such riveting tunes as, “1913 Massacre,” and “Talking Columbia Blues,” a home grown solo project with Jack on vocals, guitar and harmonica.

The next year, a second album, Jack Elliot Sings (1957 – 77 Label), another home recording with music critic, Richie Unterberger, noting “it’s a good no-frills set…” Liner notes were written by Alex Korner, a musician considered, “a founder father of British blues”.

More across the pond albums would follow: Jack Takes then Floor (1958) and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott in London (1959), Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Sings Songs by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers (1960) and “Jack Elliott Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie (1960). Then back in the States in 1962 he released what many consider one of his finest recordings, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (1962).

“Colorado had a reputation. Smoke a lot of dope, lot of pretty girls. It was a fun place to play, me and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot covered 12 cities in a broken-down RV full of strange characters. It was like Ken Kesey’s bus.” – John Prine

Many more albums would follow and in 1996 he would be the recipient of a Grammy Award for South Coast (South Coast label) – Best Traditional Folk Album, then again in 2010 – Best Traditional Blues Album in 2010 for “A Stranger Here”.

Holstering two Grammy awards and four Grammy nominations, Elliott is respected as a genuine American treasure. And in 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Jack with the National Medal of the Arts. More recently, Jack’s daughter, Aiyana (Elliott) Partland, filmed, directed and produced, The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack, that presented perspectives on Elliott’s life and their relationship, attaining an impressive Special Jury Prize from the Sundance Film Festival.  In 2016, he became a recipient of a Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award.

“In giving new life to our most valuable musical traditions, Ramblin’ Jack has himself become an American treasure.” – President Bill Clinton

Jack’s life experience is deep and straddles a panoramic view of American life, and with his drive and artistic curiosity he’s sought and grasped its traditions and its raw and spirited tangled roots. From the mountains of Appalachia and the Rockies, the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott has lived the hardscrabble life of a road dawg musician, starting from a New York island…

Guitar International is honored to offer its readers our conversation with The Rambler, who was astute, congenial and an engaging conversationalist, as we talked about his guitars, music, musicians, long haul truckers, logging, seafaring, old friends and his next gig: May 22, 2026, at The Freight in Berkeley, California, with his band and friends: Sean Allen, Paul Knight & Kendrick Freemen and Friends: Jason Crosby, Maria Muldaur, Eric & Suzy Thompson, Mike Beck, Lowell ‘Banana’ Levinger, Jessie DeNatale & Kathy Kallick.

TICKETS TO JACK’S MAY 22 FREIGHT SHOW AVAILABLE HERE!

******

“Ramblin’” Jack Elliott with his Martin D-28 with custom-unique inlays.

Rick: Let’s start with the projects that you’re working on now. I know that you’ve got a band, and I think you’re going to be playing in California in May.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes, it’s May twenty-second in Berkeley at the Freight and Salvage, about a hundred miles away, it’s about a three and a half hour drive.

Rick: Are you going to be playing solo or are you going to be with a band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’m gonna be with a band.

Rick: Who’s in your band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: (Lowell) “Banana” Levinger, who used to play with Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods, “Come on, everybody, let’s get together and love one another right now.” First time I met him was in Cambridge. 1965 or so. Made a trip to Woodstock, New York, on two motorcycles. And we had very bad weather, big, heavy, heavy rain and wind.

Rick: Oh, wow.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he had to leave his wife in a driveway. Take the rear wheel off. I took Jesse and his rear wheel on the back of my motorcycle. Drove up ahead, found the garage, got the tire fixed, went back, found this wet wife. It was a wet day, everything was wet.

Rick: Yeah, kind of dangerous.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And we got to Woodstock and then I didn’t see him for about a year. And then we happened to be neighbors, he was playing at a nearby gig on the same street in Oklahoma City with me, and I went down, we had a beer together.

Rick: Ridgetop, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, it was not far from him. His house on Ridgetop was about 10 miles away from where we found a place to live and rented a nice little house on the bay there. Tomales Bay. Where are you located?

Rick: I’m in Northern Virginia, Reston, Virginia.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I was there once. Just to visit a friend or his parents. (Performed – Herndon-Reston Folk Club – The Tortilla Factory)

Rick: Yeah, we’ve got some pretty good clubs here. Do you know The Birchmere?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I played there one time, with Guy Clark.

Rick: Oh, did you really? Oh, very cool.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, it was a wonderful time. And we were put up by a veterinarian who takes care of lions in the zoo. And he had a biplane, a Stearman. And we were gonna go for a ride with him, but the guy had to be somewhere else.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: So, who else is in your band?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: My bass player is Paul Knight, who’s an excellent bass player, he plays on a guitar sized bass. It’s electrified, but not a solid body, it’s a hollow body, like an acoustic. Bananas’ guitar is a five-string guitar. Never seen one before.

Rick: I once interviewed Roger McGuinn and he had just gotten his 7-string signature model from Martin.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I think that’s a Russian guitar. They play 7-string guitars in Russia. I think that’s the only place they do. There’s gonna be another guitar player who’s a very, very good electric guitar player. And I played with him several times, and a drummer who’s an excellent drummer.

I’ve got several other famous musicians who are playing with me there, too. Maria Mauldar. and Jason Crosby. No relation to David. I didn’t get along with David. He had a lovely boat. A schooner. And I love sailing. I used to visit the schooner and its captain when David was not around.

Rick: That’s funny. Do you know Gordon Bok?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes, but I haven’t seen Gordon in a long time. Sailed with him in the sloop, Clearwater. He was the mate on the Clearwater. He sings a lot of sea shanties.

Rick: Yeah, I wrote a song about a white whale off the coast of Chile. It’s called “Leviathan”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: When I was a kid, my next door neighbor, Captain Bob Hinckley was the first mate on the largest ocean liner on the Atlantic between World War I and World War II. The SS Leviathan, which is a fancy word for whale.

And when he was a kid. Oh, like, about 14 years old, he sailed in a whale ship out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was one of the largest whaling ports. It was 1912, the last year they ever had a whale ship come out of New Bedford. Charles W. Morgan. It’s the name of the ship.

Rick: It’s an interesting history. This morning I watched The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and I thought your daughter, Aiyana, did a nice job.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I think so too, I enjoyed the movie a lot.

Rick: Yeah, how’d you find the experience of actually doing the filming and being part of that?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – photo credit: Michael Avedon

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Well, it wasn’t too hard playing Ramblin’ Jack. Because, I got to do it for another movie once before. I’ve starred as Ramblin’ Jack on three different documentaries, one was in Texas. One was in Sausalito, California, mostly about boats and people who love boats. And the other one was the one that Aiyana did, which was very good, and won a prize.

Rick: Oh, cool. Let’s go back several years, and we’re going to cover a little bit of ground that I know you’ve covered several times before. But, I think it was 1951 when you went to Madison Square Garden and you saw Gene Autry.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, that was in 1940. I was nine years old.

Rick: Well, there’s a lot of bad information out there, so…

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: There is, there certainly is.

Rick: So, what was your impression of seeing him? I mean, he was a huge.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: As a child, I thought it was wonderful. I had never seen a cowboy. I loved everything about the rodeo. Up to and including Gene and his horse, but…the following year, Roy Rogers was the star. And I liked Roy pretty much too, and his horse, Trigger. But I was beginning to get a lot more fascinated about real cowboys and there’s quite a lot of difference between Gene Autry and the real work of cowboys.

Rick: So, did you ever meet Gene?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I did meet him later, when he was in his 90s, and I was in my 60s. And I shook his hand at a big dinner down in Palm Springs. I was hanging out with an Indian actor friend of mine, American Indian (Floyd Red Crow Westerman) who acted in movies, and sang and had a voice like Johnny Cash. He was in a movie called, Dances With Wolves.

With Gene, I said, “Hello, I saw you when I was nine, and I play a Martin. And he said, “Good!”. And that was it and I realized that I was a little too perspicacious about his old age. And now I’m 94, probably older than he was then. This is thirty years later and Gene’s in heaven, or somewhere nearby.

Rick: That’s sweet to say that. I interviewed Les Paul when he was 94. And he was quite astute and he kept at it until he was 101 years old. He played that week up in New York City at the Iridium, the same week he passed away. But, he had a long, good life. And he was quite astute when he passed away at 101.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: The day after Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday I went to see Les Paul in the Iridium. I went with my manager who was married to a guitar player, Roy Rogers.

Rick: The slide player?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes. And they’re also acquainted with the movie actor, Roy Rogers, and they visited Roy at his home ranch, when Roy was living. And they have a lot of Roy Rogers type paraphernalia around their house decorations.

Rick: And Gene has a museum, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, as a matter of fact, last night I couldn’t think of this trick rider’s name, but when I was 15 I ran away from home and got a job on a traveling rodeo outfit, the J.E. Ranch Rodeo. They hired me as a groom and gave me a string of six horses to take care of in a big tent. We went from Washington, D.C., where I was hired to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And we sucked up approximately 30 tons of coal dust into the train. And when we unloaded the horses and bulls and cattle from the train in Pittsburgh I had to wash my hands and face, and every half hour on the trip, so I didn’t come out totally blackface. My first job was helping to unload bucking horses out of a box car.

Rick: Wow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It wasn’t a box car, it was what they call a baggage car that had been converted into a cattle car. We were unloading them out of that into a truck and taking them over to the indoor rodeo in Pittsburgh. We were there ten days; it rained a lot. We had a clown on that show called Brahma Rogers. He played a five-string banjo and guitar and sang cowboy and hillbilly songs. They didn’t have Country Western at that time. That was a new name for the music. I was gone for three months. I got a guitar and started to learn how to play.

Rick: Is that the Gretsch you had in the early days?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, the first was a cheap guitar made out of cigar boxwood. It was called a Collegiate. It was about 12 dollars. After three months of trying to play on that miserable guitar my fingers were getting like elephant’s feet, because it had very bad action with the strings about half an inch off the fingerboard.

Then I took some lessons from a Cuban gentleman, and he was very nice. And he told me that he knew of a Gretsch guitar that was for sale in the window of a music store down on Third Avenue under the Third Avenue L. That’s an elevated train. And I went there, slightly shopworn from sunburn. And they sold me that Gretsch 75 for $75, and I thought it was worth a lot more. And that I had when I met Woody and was hanging out with Woody Guthrie for three years. And then I met my wife in 1954. We got married, went to Europe in ’55.

We toured around Europe for three years with the Gretsch on a motor scooter, over the Alps in a blizzard. Never hurt that guitar, had a really firm case for it, a hard wooden case. I brought it back and went to the same store where I bought it, the Gretsch and bought a D-28 Martin dreadnaught which was a really nice guitar.

“The Rambler” with his Gretsch 75.

Rick: Yeah, that would have been Brazilian rosewood.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes. So, I retired the Gretsch temporarily and left it for safekeeping in a closet in the House of Usher where I met June, my first wife. Usher; his mother was a painter and taught painting. And my bride was an art model who modeled for painters. And she modeled for art schools. She was also an actress.

Rick: I noticed on that D-28 that you were playing, it looked like you or somebody had changed the fretboard because of the inlays I saw on it. I’d never seen inlays like that on that D-28.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: That’s right, that was done by a friend I’d met who went by the name Guthrie Thomas, like Dylan Thomas. That wasn’t his real name, of course. He was a cute kid and was really good with Mother of Toilet Seat.

And he said he worked for Martin Guitars, which may have been true, it may not have been true. He was good with Mother of Pearl and he produced a series of little images up and down the neck of things he was fond of. I didn’t give him a list of what things I would like on the guitar. I just left it totally up to him, I think. Maybe I did give him some suggestions, like one was a Kenworth truck with smoke coming out of the smokestack.

Another was a horse. I later got a painter friend of mine in Colorado to paint. She had painted a lot of horses. She’s a horse painter. She’s still alive. I gave her a photograph of a bull rider making a very good ride. She copied it in pencil because the pick guard had come unglued from the guitar and there was a rough, bare wood section with no protection. So, she sanded it smooth and drew a pencil drawing copied from the photograph and filled it in with paint, oil paint. And covered it over with a piece of transparent plastic to it…wouldn’t be injured by the guitar pick and the pick guard is still on the guitar. I still play on that Martin.

Rick: Doesn’t it have a dolphin or fish on the fretboard as well?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I believe there was. I don’t have it here in the house. My bass player, Paul, who is an excellent sound man and knows how to speak to sound.

Rick: So, you’re going to be playing in May.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, May twenty-second. And it’s one day before my grandsons’ birthday. They’re gonna be 17. They’re catching up with me and they’re about one foot taller than me.

And they’re just babies, but they’re champion volleyball players. They love sports and they’re very good students in high school. They’re graduating this summer.

Rick: That’s a milestone. It’s nice to have grandbabies.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It certainly is. It’s very nice, very nice! I never went to grandpa, grand parenting school. I don’t know what to do. But, every day I’m learning new tricks.

Rick: Well, that’s part of life, right? You know, things…you keep learning as long as you can and experiencing things. Maybe that’s the purpose of life, you know, to explore and discover new things.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Keep her full, as the sailors say, the square rigger sailors from olden times, you know, clipper ships. “Keep her full and by,” steer small.

Rick: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: “Keep her full and by,” steer small.

Rick: That’s clever and that’s probably true, right?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, not the stuff you see in movies. Because when you do this, you end up having to do this! That’s called steering all over the map.

Rick: Let’s talk, a little bit about songwriting. When you’re writing a song, do you have an idea of what you’re gonna play, or do you noodle around?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’ve only written three songs and I don’t know how to write a song and I have no idea when or if I can write another one, but I hope I can, and I would love to. I wrote one song that was about a trip to New Orleans where I met a banjo player named Billy Farrer.

Rick: Hmm.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he’s like the star of the song. And in fact, he was a very great banjo player. I think my song helped to make him a lot more famous than he would have been. And he appreciated that, and we became good friends.

Rick: So, what was it like living with the Guthrie family?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, well, Arlo was three years old when I moved in with them in 1951, and I was nineteen. I’m 16 years older and I was 19 and Woody was 39 or 40, about 20 years older than me. Yeah, when I was 20, Woody was 40. They lived in a small apartment. The apartment building was owned by the Trump family [smiles], you may have heard of them.

Rick: I have.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: A little-known family in Queens.

Rick: Uh-huh, yep.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: As a cowboy, I never appreciated Queens or Brooklyn. I like some things about New York City though, I like the Empire State Building, I like the Brooklyn Bridge. I love the West Side Highway with all the transatlantic liners that used to come in there and blow their foghorns.  I’ve always been romantically attracted to ships.

Rick: Well, I was thinking about this, this morning, that you’re a romantic. Even as a little boy you left home to become a cowboy; that’s a true romance.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I was reading books by Will James.

Rick: Uh-huh, yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Somebody turned me on to a book called, Lone Cowboy: My Life Story, by Will James. That was his autobiography. It wasn’t entirely true. Of course, as a naive young kid, I believed everything I read. Later, I found out that Will James was not born in Montana, by the side of the trail. He was born in Montreal.

Rick: Oh, he’s a Canadian.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And he spoke with a French-Canadian accent. And couldn’t get a job working in Hollywood as a cowboy. Because they thought he didn’t speak like a cowboy with that French accent.

Rick: That’s funny you should mention that. When I was doing some research on you, I  started doing a deep dive on Gene Autry and his best friend ended up being Mr. Haney on the tv series, Green Acres.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I never was much of a film theater goer, film watcher. I met Jack Nicholson one time. And I saw a movie that he made. I had actually gone to see this movie called Five Easy Pieces. And in the end of the movie, he’s hitchhiking up to Canada, and he gets a ride in a very cool red Kenworth log truck. A big one, and I said, “Jack, that was a beautiful log truck!” and he says, “Why, Jack, I didn’t know you were a movie goer.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: So, did you do a lot of hitchhiking when you were young?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: From the time I was about 17 or 18 until I was about 22 or so, I did a lot. In fact, that’s how I learned how to drive a semi, driven about 30 semis as a hitchhiker.

Rick: Really?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: The driver gets tired, he says, “Can you drive?” And I said, “Yeah, a little.”

Rick: He wants to sleep!

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: You drive for a couple hours, I need to get some sleep, I’m falling asleep, okay; change drivers. And I started liking it. I’ve never turned one over.

Rick: Well, that’s good.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I’ve never had a wreck of any kind with a semi.

Rick: Yeah, my father used to drive a truck pulling trailers.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Oh, boy.

Rick: Back in the ‘60s…

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah. And I’ve driven log trucks, too.The first time I drove a log truck, it was a fully loaded log truck. It wasn’t empty, it was loaded. But it was on a paved road. And I was going slightly downhill along the Skagit River Valley in Oregon, coming off of Mount Baker.

It was just me and my dog and the truck driver. My dog was a good driver. He’s a Husky. Huskies are born drivers, they love to drive, but you shouldn’t teach your dog to drive. You can get in a lot of trouble.

And I think from that first time, you know, like, he was memorizing everything I did. And so, I didn’t teach him, but he learned by watching me.

Rick: That’s funny. That’s a good story.

During the early mid-Sixties, when the Beatles came out and all those British Invasion folks came out. Then they kind of took over the airwaves. Did you have to reinvent what you were doing or did you just keep plugging on, you know, being Ramblin’ Jack Elliott?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: No, I didn’t do anything to change what I was doing. I thought what I was doing was perfect the way it was. And I didn’t need to be influenced in any way by the Beatles. In fact, in the beginning I didn’t realize what an old crotch I am, see, but that was in 1965.

Rick: That’s right, yeah, ’64, ’65, great, right.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And I had to go to Newport Folk Festival, and I had just recently made friends with a very scary man that I used to always walk on the other side of the street.

Rick: Hmm, okay.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Great songwriter, Tim Hardin.

Rick: Oh yeah, “If I Were A Carpenter”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And that became one of my favorite songs. And then I met Tim one day and he had a motorcycle, we’re talking about motorcycles. I found out he’s really a cool guy then.

There was the Newport Folk Festival. It was having difficulty getting tickets. People had to fly in from the West Coast. But, they sent Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary. A special detail to get us tickets and make sure to get Tim and me on a plane to fly to Newport, Rhode Island, for the Folk Festival.

Rick: Yeah, ’65, wasn’t that when Dylan came out electric?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Uh, no this was ’64, And it was ’65 when he went electric, and I wasn’t in Newport at ’65. I was in England. And the Beatles were getting popular in ’65, and I didn’t know who they were; didn’t know nothing about them. And I was visiting an English friend of mine who was at Newport. Bob Davenport and his wife Tarbi.

Rick: Really? That’s wild.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: They were watching the Beatles on TV. We stayed overnight at their house. He and I saw the Beatles, and he loved them. And I wasn’t too sure about it. I was more in love with just plain old cowboy music and the Carter family. And Mississippi John Hurt and Big Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly. And anything else was not, not music.

Rick: You had your fix on the style and the genre, as they say.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I was locked into that. I didn’t even care for Gene Autry at all anymore by that time. I’d outlived him.

Rick: Okay, so when you were in England, who were you listening to in the English scene? I lived in England for a couple years. And then I hitchhiked through Europe and, you know, to Greece. And then I was going to go to Turkey and India, but there were issues between Turkey.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Absolutely. EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) was the name of some political group.

Rick: They were fighting or something, I couldn’t even see the Parthenon, because they cordoned it off. And guys are walking around with rifles.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wow, I was in Greece three times. I love it and I liked the food.

Rick: So, when you were in England, who were people listening to? I know there were Pentangle and Davy Graham, John Martyn.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I knew Davy Graham.

Rick: Did you really? Oh, cool.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, he was a good friend. And I knew his mother. I was like a friend of the family. I’d known him when he was a kid. He wore some kind of a homemade fur suit. Looked like a bear getting out of a subway train.

Rick: I think one of his claims to fame is the instrumental, “Angie”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I may have heard it, but I’m not familiar.

Rick: Yeah. Yeah, I’d expect if you heard it you’d recognize it.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I knew Rory McEwen and his brother Alex. I knew the guys who started the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club (1957-1961), at Wardour  Street in the Charrington’s Roundhouse Pub in Wardour Street directly across the street from the Windmill theater that had the only naked lady in England.

Rick: I lived in Coventry when I was there and I worked for Virgin Records for a short period and ended up going down to Abbey Road.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I only met one… some of the Beatles one time.

Rick: Yeah?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I had just been to a wedding, Kris and Rita Kristofferson.

Rick: Yeah. Rita Coolidge.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And the next day they were recording in Hollywood at Sunset Studios and I went to visit them. And, uh, when I got there I walked in from the back parking lot and bumped into Kris and Rita in the hallway. They were having a cigarette, taking a break. And so, they needed to relax for a while, Kris says. “Hey Jack.” I go into Studio A, there’s some people that love you down there. Studio A, okay. I walk down the hall, I open the door and walk in. There’s a room with about 20 people.

And they’re all looking through the window, two people are playing guitars and recording and I don’t recognize anybody, I look into the window and I do recognize one guitar player, David Bromberg. And the other guy is a guitar player from the Beatles, but I didn’t recognize him.

Rick: Was that George Harrison or John Lennon?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: George Harrison. And I didn’t know what he looked like. I didn’t know who he was. But, I did recognize this beautiful Swedish film star. I can’t remember her name now, but she was a very famous movie star and there were no seats available. So, she got up and sat down on her boyfriend’s lap next to her and gave me her seat.

Rick: Oh, how sweet!

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I just said, “Thank you, ma’am”… Sat down, because I’m…Don’t know who’s who at all, except Peter Sellers.

Rick: Oh, that was Britt Eklund.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: That’s right, Britt Eklund. Lovely. I’m sitting right next to her, elbow to elbow. I turned around, to see if I can recognize anybody back there, because there’s three or four rows of people back there. And I recognize one person, and he’s winking at me. He’s the drummer from the Beatles.

Rick: Ringo, yeah.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Ringo is winking at me. And then I just turned around and watched the show, and a few seconds later, a New York guy on the inner sanctum opens the door that’s to the engineering room booth. And he says, “There’s too many people in this room!”

That’s a real New York invitation. So I left. Feeling rather rotten about it. But, I bumped into Ringo a few days later at a Willie Nelson concert. I went back to say, “Hi!” to Willie, and I end up with Ringo, with our arms around each other, like we’re old friends taking a photograph. And I was so stunned, I never even thought to ask the photographer if I could have a copy of that photograph…I have never seen it. But, I did meet Ringo again, one time when Phil Ochs died. I was playing in a tribute concert in Madison Square Garden.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: And, Ringo’s coming down the hallway, and we met head on and he picks me up. He’s very strong, being a drummer. Flips me over his shoulder.

Rick: That’s hilarious.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Now I’m kicking and I’m swatting Ringo on the butt. “Put me down! Put me down! For about 100 feet, and he finally did put me down, but he walked a long ways through the hallway, crowded. All the way backstage at Madison Square Garden.That’s the last time I ever saw Ringo. We were good friends for about 12 minutes.

Rick: Well, that’s still pretty special and probably special for him because I remember seeing the photos of the Beatles early when they were probably the Silver Beatles.They’re all wearing cowboy boots.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Really?

Rick: So, they liked cowboys. If I run through…I did this with Les Paul. I started mentioning names, and he would give me quick one-liners of his experiences with them, or what he thought of them. Can I do that with you?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yes.

Rick: Let’s start with John Prine.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I toured with John on three or four occasions. Loved him a lot. We had a lot of laughs. It was always fun. The first time, I was coming from California, I was gonna fly to meet John in Colorado and tour. These ski towns in the summertime, in the Rockies.

And I went to visit a neighbor friend here in Santa Cruz. I was living in Santa Cruz at the time and this woman had what they call the Santa Cruz Costume Bank. If you were gonna have a party and wanted people to dress up like Halloween she would supply you with whatever you wanted to dress up in. And I was visiting her one day, and I was due to go to Colorado the next day.  And she had a friend who I didn’t know. He was a black comedian, a very likable guy and funny. He had just rented a motorhome and he came by and he said, “I just rented a motorhome and I don’t know where to go. I want to go to someplace nice.”

She said, “Jack here is going to Colorado to tour with John Prine, let’s take him there.”

Zoom.

An hour later, we’re going Highway 17. She’s in the kitchen making some snacks for us, standing up on Highway 17. You can’t stand up on Highway 17. Bad curves, bad… They have dangerous wrecks there every week. We ended up in Colorado. And, our first gig was somewhere towards Denver, but it was in the mountains, west of Denver. Our comedian friend ended up performing on stage. Just for the fun of it.

I can’t remember his name, I’ve never seen him again. But, he was funny enough, we loved him. And the audience all found him very funny and it was unexpected, of course, because it wasn’t announced. John was traveling with his manager and a couple of other friends in a van. I had this motorhome. So, we’d take turns swapping over and riding in with each other in different vehicles. And, lots of love and lots of fun.

Another time I opened for John in an old theater in Monterey, California. I just went there to see a new friend of mine who’s really a great singer-songwriter from Houston. Used to be married to Johnny Cash’s daughter, Roseanne Cash. (Rodney Crowell)

Rick: Did you ever meet Townes Van Zandt?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah, I toured with Townes on one occasion. And he was traveling in a van with his bass player, and I think I was in my truck. I don’t think I was riding in the same vehicle with Townes. And I liked him a lot.

Rick: He was supposed to be a pretty smart fella.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Awful smart, very, very smart guy and I love that song he did about, “All the Federales say they could have had him any day.”

Rick: Oh, ”Pancho and Lefty!”

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Yeah.

Rick: I had an opportunity to play in Raton, New Mexico. He has a song about the snows of Raton.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Raton. Yeah, it’s right on the border of Colorado.

Rick: That’s right, and so what I really liked about being there and performing there, I actually performed at a cemetery, performed a song about some miners who passed away in 1913 and 1923. Anyway, I was pleased to be able to play.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wonderful. I can have a visual image of what that looked like going over Raton Pass on I-25. And the first town you get to is, uh, is near Trinidad, and it’s called Lulu. And there was a song Woody Guthrie wrote, a song about some coal miners who were on strike and the company didn’t like that. The miners went into a little cave they dug, about 11 feet deep. And they had their pregnant wives down in there. And the company, all thugs came with guns.

There was some fire. They set fire to all their tents, so they moved down into a cave in the ground. And then some women from Trinidad hauled some potatoes up Wallenberg in a little cart. Sold some potatoes and brought some guns back. And he put a gun in every hand. And the redneck miners, they mowed down them troopers. They did not know that we had these guns. You should have seen them boys, them bull boys run. And that was the end of that, and there was like 31 kids got killed. And there was another song like that, that Woody wrote that was equally sad and bloody, and hard to take, called “The 1913 Massacre”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rick: Didn’t he call it the 1913 massacree?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I don’t know. I call it massacre, but he might have called it massacree. Might have called it that. I sang it in a tribute to Woody in Washington, D.C. And they televised it, but they didn’t play that song, they said it was too long. I think it was too sad. They don’t want the audience to suffer too many sad stories, especially about coal miners.

Rick: It’s  a coincidence that I wrote a song called “1913 Stag Canyon Number 2, which is about miners who passed away in 1913 and their sons who passed away in 1923. That’s why I was invited to Raton and the Dawson cemetery to perform for about 500 descendants.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Oh, well, bless you! Great. I have a friend who plays guitar, and he lives in a little town, south of L.A., on the beach. He had a little recording studio in the garage and he was working as a television truck coordinator. I could call up a driver and say, “Meet me at Hollywood and Vine with truck T25 at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow.”

And we’re gonna do a shoot, blah, blah, blah. He had a four-wheel drive and he drove me to a poetry gathering in Alpine, Texas. And we stayed with one of my favorites, Cowboy Joel (Joel Nelson), the guy that ran the Alpine gathering and that guy didn’t drink whiskey, but one of my friends taught me earlier, if you’re in Texas and you go visit, you should bring a bottle of whiskey.

So, I brought him a bottle of whiskey. He never opened it, but we had oatmeal breakfast every morning, and he would read us some poetry. And one of his favorite poets was one of my father’s school chumps; gave me a copy of this book of poetry by a guy who lived in Hawaii in a little cabin. He was a retired Merchant Marine sailor. And it was poetry, romantic poetry about having a cabin full of all kinds of trinkets that he gathered around the world when he was a sailor. And he would read us poetry.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – photo credit: Dan Dion

Rick: Thank you. So, what about Steve Earle?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: I like Steve Earle, a great guy. We’ve always liked each other. He sang with me at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

Rick: Nice guy, I interviewed him a couple of years ago. What about Odetta?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Odetta was the one who gave me the name, her mother gave me the name Ramblin’.

Rick: Do you have any advice for people, whether they’re young or they’re older, any lessons learned?

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: See, I don’t consider myself a real bona fide music lover. I love some music and I hate some music. But, a music lover, in my mind, is somebody that says, “I love all music.” I think anyone who likes all music is probably deaf.

Rick: And I just want to let you know that I appreciate your legacy, what you’ve done and what you’ve done for American music over the years. I want to thank you.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It’s very, very nice to meet you, sir. And I’d love to maybe read a copy of your magazine. I’ve never had the pleasure.

Rick: It’s on-line and it’s free. Lots of interviews of a lot of people you know. It’s a passion of mine. And good luck to you and I hope you have a wonderful life.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: It’s been pretty good so far, thanks a lot. And I’m looking forward to another 100 years. I’m not gonna ride any bulls anymore or any of that stuff, but I really wanted to be a cowboy. Still do.

Rick: Thank you very much, Jack.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Wonderful. God bless you. Great to meet you. Thank you so much. I enjoyed it.

BONUS VIDEOs – RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOT & FRIENDS

(John Prine – Arlo Guthrie – Jerry Jeff Walker – Beck – Sarah Lee Guthrie)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Following the death of Musikmesse (which was more significant than NAMM for many years), several guitar trade shows emerged in Europe. Guitar Summit is the most important one. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Organized by the German magazine Gitarre & Bass since 2017, this fair was designed as a 360° event that combines a trade show with a music festival, workshops, and masterclasses.

Over time, the fair has continued to grow: in its 2025 edition, it welcomed over 11,300 visitors, featured more than 470 international brands spread across the venue’s different levels, and hosted over 100 workshops, masterclasses, and live concerts during the three-day event (September 26–28).

The fair is usually divided into themed areas that help organize the large number of booths. The booths are spread across four floors, including specific areas for electric guitars, acoustic guitars, basses, and the popular “Pedal Show.” In 2025, innovations in digital modeling and the presence of independent luthiers in the Boutique section stood out in particular.

Silent Fair

This trade show describes itself as a “Silent Show.” This concept is one of its cornerstones and sets it apart from traditional music trade shows (such as the former Frankfurt Musikmesse or NAMM), where the constant noise can often be overwhelming. Here’s how it works in practice:

Equipment testing with headphones: The golden rule for exhibitors is that open-volume amplifiers are not allowed at the trade show booths. If you want to test a guitar, bass, or pedal, you do so almost exclusively through high-quality headphones. This allows you to hear the instrument’s true nuances without being distracted by noise from the neighboring booth and lets visitors hold conversations at a normal volume without having to shout.

Silent stages: Even the workshops and demonstrations held in the middle of the exhibition halls use this system. The audience receives wireless headphones as they approach the stage, and the musician plays and speaks through a monitoring system, so that only those wearing headphones can hear the performance. This allows multiple stages to operate simultaneously on the same floor without acoustic interference.

Soundproof rooms: For those who need to feel the sound pressure of a real amplifier, the event offers specific solutions: Ampfinity, a special area where you can test selected amplifiers and speakers using a professional switching system, often in isolated booths, and soundproof cabins installed at some large booths where you can close the door and play at full volume for a few minutes without disturbing others.

Nighttime concerts (the exception): The Silent concept applies primarily to the exhibition area during the day. At night, the event moves to the Mozartsaal, where rock, blues, and metal concerts are held using traditional sound systems at festival volume.

The “Silent” concept aims to protect attendees’ hearing health (preventing tinnitus after 3 days at the show) and ensure that the focus remains on sound quality and technical discussions between manufacturers and musicians.

Musicians I saw there: Andy Timmons, Tosin Abasi, Misha Mansoor, Plini, Alex Skolnik, Mike Dawes, Billy Sheehan, Michael Weikath & Sascha Gerstner (Helloween), Sacha Dunable (Intronaut), Mattias Eklund (Freak Kitchen), John Browne (Monuments). It’s also common to run into Europe’s most popular guitar YouTubers.

Some of the items on display that caught my eye:

Fretlook: Fret markers, neck side markers (glow in the dark) and body decals – fretlook.com

Franck Bichon: Removable shoulder pad for guitar strap – https://bgfrance.com/en/bg-rocks-straps-and-guitar-accessories/461-comfortableremovable-shoulder-pad-for-guitar-straps.html

Dan’s Guitar Store: Precision playing picks – https://www.dansguitarstore.com/precision-guitar-picks-explained

Plick The Pick: Ergonomic picks – plickthepick.it

Tonewood Amp: A device that uses an acoustic guitar’s own body and soundhole to create a range of enhancement effects – tonewoodamp.com

Valeton: GP-5 pedal multi effects processor – valeton.net/product/gp-5

Maytrem: Fully customizable guitar vibrato system that can bend chords in harmony – maytrem.com

More info at guitarsummit.de/?lang=en

Source: Song Cage PR

Song Cage – A new browser-based tool gives songwriters one place to capture lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure, with context-aware chord reasoning, a modulation panel that maps the way back home, and built-in tools for breaking writer’s block.

Song Cage, a new browser-based songwriting app, launched this week with a distinctive design philosophy: no generative AI anywhere in the product. Every chord suggestion is deterministic music theory, labeled by its functional role and explained in plain language given the surrounding chords and the melody underneath.

Song Cage is designed for the pre-DAW phase of writing, the space where a songwriter sits with an instrument and a notebook, developing an idea before any recording begins. The app combines four layers (lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure) on a single canvas with two interchangeable views. Sheet view feels like a notepad, letting words flow naturally. Timeline view snaps every word onto a beat grid with syllable-level precision, so prosody can be shaped directly on the grid.

Key features include:

Context-aware chord suggestions. Every suggestion is labeled by its functional role (diatonic, borrowed from a parallel mode, secondary dominant, tritone substitution) and hovering reveals the reasoning for why it works given the surrounding chords and the melody beneath. Named progression patterns such as the Pop progression, 50s progression, and Andalusian cadence are flagged automatically.

Modulation with return routes. The modulation panel includes a Key Map showing harmonic distance to every key, pivot chords for smooth transitions, and full cadential routes (V-I, ii-V-I, tritone substitutions, extended paths). Unique to Song Cage, the panel also surfaces return routes, so the songwriter can take a harmonic journey into a distant key and find the way back home without getting stranded.

Lyric writing tools for writer’s block. A Words panel that follows the cursor offers rhymes grouped by syllable count, slant rhymes, synonyms, a Word Collider that pairs words from two semantic pools via a random bridge word, and semantic drift chains for wandering through an idea space.

Multi-user collaboration. Songs can be shared with up to five editors via email invitation or share link, with background sync across devices.

Guitar-first design. Real chord shapes on a mini fretboard, capo awareness, voicing carousel, and strum preview on every chord block. Piano voicings include voice-leading optimization.

“I built Song Cage for the thing I actually do with an instrument in my lap, before I hit record,” said Steve Canfield, founder and developer of Song Cage. “Nothing in this tool generates music for you. Every suggestion is real theory, and everything is aware of everything else. Change a melody note and the chord rankings reshuffle. Place a chord and the suggestions for the next slot recalculate. The craft stays in the user’s hands; the tool just makes the reference books live in the same canvas as the writing. The UI is designed for quickly getting ideas out without friction.”

A native iOS and Android capture companion, for recording voice memos and sending lyric and chord fragments to an inbox in the desktop app, is in development and expected for release later in 2026.

Song Cage is available at songcage.com. Free and paid tiers are offered, priced in line with comparable songwriting tools.

ABOUT SONG CAGE
Song Cage is a browser-based songwriting canvas for the pre-DAW phase of music writing. Designed and developed by Steve Canfield, it combines lyrics, chords, melody, and song structure on one grid, with built-in writer’s-block tools, context-aware chord reasoning, and multi-user collaboration. Song Cage is the no-AI alternative in a category dominated by generative tools.

Source: Guitar International PR

Yesterday’s guitar donation to Guitars 4 Veterans (G4V) was very special. The guitar an all-solid body Gruene Saratoga with Honduran mahogany b/s, Alpine spruce top (aged 15 years), maple binding, natural abalone inlay with a headstock torch donated by Gruene guitars owners – John  and Peggy Byers of San Antonio, Texas.

(L-R) Rick Landers presents a Gruene Saratoga dreadnaught to Robert Grealy| G4V Chapter Coordinator | Washington D.C. Region.

John retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and donating this to G4V’S was chosen to support and honor our military veterans. John had provided a few of his fine guitars to a local veterans’ group before he passed away from cancer.

At the most recent graduation of veterans who successfully completed G4V’s free guitar lessons program, Rick Landers, publisher/editor, Guitar International magazine, served as an intermediary to present the guitar to Robert Grealy, Washington, D.C. Region Coordinator, of the outstanding veterans support organization.

The high end guitar will be sold by the support organization with proceeds to go to buying entry level guitars for the novice guitar playing vets, many disabled and working hard to meet their challenges, and learning to play has been a huge, sometimes life saving success!

CHECK OUT GUITARS 4 VETERANS HERE!

Source: The Green Room PR

Diamond-certified superstar Thomas Rhett celebrates his 25th career No. One as “Ain’t A Bad Life” ft. Jordan Davis tops the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart this week. Written by Thomas Rhett, Ashley Gorley, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron and Mark Trussell, the track “takes on a bright, acoustic sound, injecting a fresh breath of optimism” (Holler), delivering “charm and catchy melodies” (Country Central).

This achievement stands out not only for its sheer volume, but for the remarkable speed and consistency with which he’s dominated the charts in the 14 years since releasing his very first single.I’m really grateful to the fans, country radio, and everyone who’s been on this ride with me—this one means a lot.”

Joining “Beautiful As You” and “After All The Bars Are Closed,” the acclaimed single marks the third No. One from Thomas Rhett’s newest album, ABOUT A WOMAN (Deluxe). The “energized and upbeat” (Forbes) 25-track project born of charismatic craftsmanship, feel-good energy and his beloved awestruck romantic authenticity combine in a creative high-water mark. It also features collaborations with Lanie Gardner, Blake Shelton, Teddy Swims and Tucker Wetmore—showcasing why he continues to be one of Nashville’s most versatile hitmakers.

Thomas Rhett recently announced his return to the road this summer, bringing his “bombastic, good-time energy” (Esquire) to venues across the country on the SOUNDTRACK TO LIFE TOUR. The 20+ city run will feature two special stadium dates this July with longtime friend Niall Horan at GEODIS Park and Hersheypark Stadium. In addition to his headlining tour, Thomas Rhett is appearing with Morgan Wallen on his Still The Problem Tour and will make his highly anticipated return to the U.K. this summer for a three-night run at Wembley Stadium with Luke Combs.

Pairing a laid-back perspective with a vocal drenched in casual country soul, Thomas Rhett has spent just over a decade building one of country music’s most consistent hitmaking careers with more than 16 billion streams and armfuls of awards, including eight ACM Awards—among them “Entertainer of the Year”—two CMA Awards, five GRAMMY® nominations and trophies from the CMT Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and iHeartRadio Music Awards; he has also received five CMA Triple Play Awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12-month period.

He’s just teamed up with GRAMMY®-nominated global artist and producer Marshmello on their new single “Where We Go” and recently released a fresh take on “Georgia On My Mind” as part of ESPN’s official campaign for the 2026 Masters Tournament. For a full list of upcoming dates and new music updates, visit ThomasRhett.com and follow along on Instagram // Facebook // TikTok // Twitter / X // YouTube.

Source: SAW PR

The Songwriters Association of Washington, in association with Spotlight on the Arts and with grant support from the City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts, will present the first-ever Fairfax Folk Festival on April 24–26 at Fairfax City’s newest music venue, Mackenzie’s Tunes & Tonics. The festival is hosted with the support of venue owner Josh Alexander.

The three-day event will feature more than 35 of the area’s most gifted performers and award-winning songwriters. The performance schedule is pictured below and will be available on this website and at SAW’s website.

The event is free to attend but we are accepting tax deductible donations from members and sponsors and would appreciate a donation to SAW to help with costs.

For inquiries, please contact the festival at president@saw.org