A CONVERSATION WITH KELLY JOE PHELPS (continued)

KJP: Yeah, it's good to read books in their original language. I mean, there's a lot of books by French authors and Russian authors that are great, but I'm always a little bit concerned about having to deal with the translator and the translation, and missing the nuance that surely is lost. And it can be amazing. There's a guy, Knut Hamsun, whose books I love.

PM: Fabulous writer.

KJP: To read him, man, you've got to get the right translator. I don't know if it was Pan or Hunger--it was one of the books I was reading, and fortunately enough, this guy who wrote the introduction took pot shots at all the other translators--

PM: [laughs]

KJP: --in particular, Robert Bly.

PM: Really?

KJP: Yeah. And so, obviously, it was curious enough to me that I went to the bookstore and read them side by side, and sure enough...

PM: Wow. What's Hamsun's native tongue, Norwegian?

KJP: Yeah. And there's a guy, he's actually a Norwegian guy--Lyngstad, I think, is his last name--who's translated a bunch of it, and he's great. I mean, as far as I can tell, he's great. But like I said, nonetheless, when you're dealing with quintessential American authors, we're fortunate to be able to pick up on the nuance, the things that are implied--through words almost that aren't used sometimes.

PM: Yeah. And imagine how Hemingway gets murdered in French. How can you avoid it?

KJP: Yeah, how can you?

PM: So are you as solitary a man as you're painted?

KJP: For better or for worse, yeah.

PM: But the friends you do keep, are they musicians, or people from other walks of life?

KJP: Most of them tend to be other musicians or writers. I think it's just that commonality that we have, that you can start a relationship or facilitate one with a lot of unspoken stuff right off the bat, and that makes it easy. So I tend to gravitate that way, I think.

PM: What about spiritual stuff? Do you walk in a particular spiritual way?

KJP: Not really, but there is something there. But I find it more effective if I don't look at it, if I just let it exist and not try to define it. I mean, I've checked it all out, and gone the standard church way and all that, so I've been through those things enough to come up with my own philosophy and my own ideas. And I'm comfortable enough and confident enough in them to not worry about them. But I've also kind of raised the white flag on understanding it, you know?

PM: Yeah.

KJP: So that's why I say I just let it be. I let it sit there, and maybe somewhere down the road it'll mutate, or I'll understand it in a different way.

PM: Are you going to do any dates with Bill Frisell, is that in the cards? He's very busy, right?

KJP: Yeah, he's real busy. And both of us would jump at the chance. There was one that was being discussed just last week, so I would bet that somewhere along the way we're going to do some shows together. Probably we'll do a co-bill thing, and sometime during the show he and I will do some stuff together.

PM: And so there'll be a bass player there, and Frisell will have a little combo?

KJP: Yeah.

PM: I would love to catch that. Well, thank you for your time today.

KJP: No, thank you. You're welcome, man. It's nice to get help with all this stuff.

PM: It's good to talk with you. Your contribution is really unique, you're really a bright light on the scene.

KJP: Oh, that's wonderful, man, thank you.

PM: Take care of yourself, Kelly Joe. We'll talk again.

KJP: All right, brother, thanks.

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