A CONVERSATION WITH DREW EMMITT  (continued)

PM: Freedom Ride is a very joyous record, you know? It has a great positive vibe of fraternity. There's a generosity of spirit there that moved me. I figure that's gotta be your personality, that's who Drew Emmitt is, right?

DE: I like to lean toward the positive, I'm definitely an optimist. Any blues that goes into the tunes has an up side. I don't much venture into the darker areas, musically or personally. I go the other way, try and lift myself and people up.

PM: Sure, Lord knows there are plenty of songwriters and musicians handling the dark side of life.

DE: Indeed.

PM: It's amazing, isn't it, what's happening to Bluegrass? I mean the sudden spike of interest due to O Brother. It was as unpredictable as, say, blues suddenly hitting the top of the charts or something.

DE: No kidding, it's been real interesting.

PM: I think it's great that Tim O'Brien is the new President of the IBMA. [International Bluegrass Music Association] He's just the guy to pull it all together and get the most out of the situation. If bluegrass plays its cards right, it could stand to capture a lot of the floundering country market.

DE: I think that people really want to get back to roots music, and something that's real and has depth. Country has become so formulaic and polished, so Top 40. The young people that are coming out to see us don't want anything to do with that. People don't want music that's being dished out like fast food, you know? They want something good.

PM: I know you're about to leave on a Leftover Salmon tour. Will you also tour with The John Cowan Band behind these tunes, or play these tunes with Salmon, or...?

DE: A little of both. See, some of these tunes are songs we've been doing in Salmon for a while, so they'll be in the repertoire anyhow. "Full Moon" and "Solid Ground" are in that category. "Bend in the River" and "Lonesome Road" are from Ask the Fish. Those tunes had only been recorded on live records, so I wanted to do them here again, in the studio.

PM: Ah, I see.

DE: But there's definitely going to be more shows with John, because that's how I want to promote this record. That's how we played it.

PM: And you guys have a great vocal blend that's a big part of Freedom Ride. Aside from John's major group of guys, a host of other luminaries appear on the record that I want to mention or discuss. What's Vassar Clements like, for instance?

DE: Oh, he's an awesome guy. He's still 18. The cat's an amazing spirit, very young at heart, and youthful in his appearance as well. He's spry, I don't even know how old he is.

PM: What's his trick, he works out or eats right, or neither?

DE: I couldn't tell you. He smokes a pipe, no cigarettes. I think he just has a really good time. He's very avant-garde. He's been high profile for a long time, and there's nobody like him.

PM: Oh yeah, I dig that. He looks like such a classic redneck, and then he plays so beautifully weird whenever he gets the opportunity.

DE: We just let him go. I love the solo he took on "Rainmaker."

PM: That's a badass jam, all right.  continue

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