A Conversation with Bruce Hornsby (continued)

PM: You and I have a great and mutual friend in the superb guitarist, Steve Kimock.

BH: Oh, I love Kimock. He's on this. He's on a track called "The Chill" from my Big Swing Face record.

PM: I thought that was him, because I didn't have any notes. But he's got such a definable sound.

BH: Oh, yeah.

PM: I thought, "Well, that's got to be Kimock there."

BH: Yeah, he's a killer, man. I love Kimock. I haven't seen him in a while, but he's a great one. [see our interview with Steve]

PM: He and I played together for many, many years in the early days of his career. And one time you were--I think it must have been an Other Ones show--

BH: Yeah!

PM: --in Philly, he brought me on the bus to meet you.

BH: Okay, right...

PM: And he said, "Hey, this is an old buddy of mine." And that's where I saw you sitting down and said to myself, "Well, he looks pretty tall."

BH: Well, that was sort of the coming out party for Kimock. He'd been sort of toiling in the trenches for years with the band Zero. But then when Phil Lesh brought him into that group, a whole lot of people found out about him and were really taken with him. And he's had a nice career since then.

PM: Yeah, he's doing good.

BH: Yeah.

PM: So you guys haven't seen each other in recent years?

BH: No, not for three years or so. I'd love to see him, but I just haven't crossed paths with him.

PM: I dropped him an email this morning, so I'll give him a call and tell him you sent regards.

BH: Yeah, please do.

PM: I'm also kind of friendly with [guitarist] George Marinelli, because I live in Nashville.

BH: Okay! Well, George is well taken care of on this thing. He's well represented. He's on lots of the videos--lots of our cure for insomnia videos are on the DVD also.

PM: Ah. Are you guys still friends after all these years?

BH: Oh, sure, oh, yeah, yeah. Good friends. I see him when I go to Nashville. I was in Nashville a lot the last year making this Ricky record, in Hendersonville.

PM: Right.

BH: So I saw George a couple of times. He's busy a lot these days with Bonnie. [Raitt]

PM: Yeah. Another major dude, and just a great person.

BH: Oh, yeah, a great guy.

PM: I love that version of the Grateful Dead song, "Jack Straw" on this record.

BH: Yeah, right. That's for the tribute record. That has become our curse, because at our shows the Deadheads always scream for "Jack Straw," but we never play it.

PM: Oh! [laughs]

BH: No. We're the opposite of like Los Lobos, that plays "Bertha" every night because they did it on the Deadicated record and the Deadheads come out just to hear that song. But "Jack Straw," that's been sort of a this thorn in our side for years, having done that, because so many Deadheads are just so sort of tunnel-visioned, so myopic, they're just so into that one thing.

PM: It's often true, yeah. Two big losses in that camp, recently, with the sad passing of Ramrod and Vince Welnick.

BH: Oh, I know it, that’s sad. Yeah, it's a tough, tough thing. I loved Ramrod. I mean, I didn't know Vince well. But he was a good guy, just had a lot of drama to him, a lot of problems.

PM: Yeah. And Baba Olatunji, as well, but hey, he was a lot older and had lived a long life.

BH: Yeah, he had a great life, yeah. Man, you're really knowledgeable. I can really talk to you. You really know what the hell you're talking about.

PM: [laughs]

BH: It's rare. You have no idea.

PM: Is that true?

BH: Oh, God!

PM: Oh, that's terrible.

BH: Just clueless. I'm talking about these people who--and people are actually, "Okay, well, who is Ornette Coleman?"

PM: Oh my.

BH: And "Who is Ricky Skaggs" even, and who is--I don't know--"Who's Shawn Colvin?" I mean, just whoever.

PM: [laughs] “I can't back up that fast, I'm going to hit something.”

[laughter]

BH: Anyway. So thank you for being so knowledgeable. Well, you're obviously a musician, too.

PM: Yeah, and a Nashville songwriter, and all that.

BH: Right.   continue

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