A Conversation with Robbie Fulks (continued)

PM: I thought your wife Donna was really hot on the duet of "Gonna Take You Home and Make You Like Me."

RF: [laughs]

PM: I'm told that she's got a voice-over career where you are. Is that so? Can you tell me about that?

RF: Yeah, that's what she does. And she just does great in it. She's been doing it about, let's see, close to ten years now. If you ever hear a J. C. Penny's commercial, she's the female voice for them, and she does--

PM: Unbelievable.

RF: Yeah. That's probably around a third of her work right there, because they cut a lot of commercials. They've got a lot of sales and stuff.

PM: Damn! That's a good career, if you're the voice of J. C. Penny.

RF: And especially because it's gone on so long. She had Sears Kenmore before that, so that was another big one. But then, when that ended, J. C. Penny's came along--because you can't do them both.

PM: Oh, right, of course.

RF: So she picked that up maybe seven or eight years ago, and you hardly ever see any commercials where you get the same voice going to seven or eight years. It's been a real good account to have, and it allows me to be on the road a little longer than another guy like me would be on the road.

PM: [laughs] So you have kids together, right?

RF: Yeah, we have two kids, and then I've got that one from earlier.

PM: And how are all the kids doing? What are they up to?

RF: Well, the old guy has done really well. He's a pilot now. He graduates from flight school this year, and he's doing flight instruction and some other stuff, flying a little Albia, worked for ATA for a while this year. And the two younger guys are eight and five, so they don't really have careers yet, but--

PM: [laughs]

RF: --they're smart little cats.

PM: Oh, that's funny. So lastly: what about religion or spirituality? Any affiliations or inclinations in that domain?

RF: No. I went to church when I was a kid, I was a Christian when I was a kid, and not exactly brought up that way, but I was pretty religious when I was a kid. Then I veered away from it, and right now I'm just a practical atheist, but not really a committed logical atheist, if you know what I mean.

PM: Yeah.

RF: I'm really utterly skeptical about those claims, and so I'm not a church-goer, and I'm not really a believer. I think human beings are really our highest value, and I operate day-to-day life that way. That tends to lead me to live without a lot of precepts that are basically Christian. But, I mean, the Ten Commandments--at least seven of them are just kind of the way I live anyway, so I don't think it's really a lot different than a Christian life except that I don't believe in the afterlife, or in Jesus as the embodiment of God.

PM: You're not oriented toward the payoff, just the process.

RF: Yeah.

PM: Right. Well, I'm looking forward to the show on the 24th, and to meeting you. And I just really enjoy the new record, I'm loving it. We look forward to having you on the cover. And thank you for your time today, Robbie.

RF: Well, thank you very much for writing about me. I look forward to meeting you, too.

PM: Okay, catch you soon.

RF: Thanks, Frank. Bye-bye.

Note from the designers: Most of these concert photos of Robbie were taken by Joan Hathaway, DJ at WMBR in Cambridge. Her very cool weekly radio show, Three Ring Circus, is broadcast to greater eastern Massachusetts on Friday afternoons from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., but can be heard at your convenience anywhere on earth via WMBR's website. Joan spins new & upcoming releases in many styles and often features a musician interview with live performance--coincidentally, Robbie Fulks was her guest on the July 1st program. (3RC shows remain archived for two weeks, so if you're reading this before mid-July 2005, you can check out Robbie on the radio).

The 6-shot-set of live images on page 5 was snapped by Nick Barber: his band Elvis Fontenot & The Sugar Bees, purveyors of a high-energy zydeco-infused dance music tagged "swamp 'n' roll," can be counted on to provide maximum enjoyment wherever they play (mostly in the UK). And all the killer exterior images were made by photographer Jim Herrington--do visit his site if you haven't yet had the pleasure, it's quite remarkable. Don't miss the classic portrait of Robbie Fulks (the hands) in his People section.

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