www.peerlessguitars.com
www.gomezamps.com
www.bigbends.com
INTRODUCTION:
On January 18, 2007, Scott Detweiler was interviewed by Louise Foster on KPFK Los Angeles (Pacifica Radio, 90.5 FM in Los Angeles and 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara). The original appearance on the station was to have been with Bobbee Zeeno (in October 2006). Bobbee had invited him on the show after discovering him at the Pasadena Blues Festival in July 2006. (Although Bobbee had played Scott's "The Angels of New Orleans" on his show in October 2005, and had met Scott casually at an art gallery opening in North Hollywood a few months after that, Bobbee would not experience him perform live until the Pasadena Blues Festival). Due to the dynamic nature of radio, that original radio appearance was cancelled only a few hours prior to airtime. However, it was cancelled with the promise to Scott that he would be invited to return to the studio on a future date. On the afternoon of January 18th, (2007) while performing at the NAMM Show, at the Peerless Guitar booth, Scott got the call from Bobbee, inviting him to come to the station that same night to be interviewed by Louise Foster. Scott and his wife, Elsa, arrived at the studio at about 10:30 that evening. They had made the 40 mile drive from Anaheim to Hollywood after an exhausting all-day performance at the NAMM Show. Scott had played thirty minute sets, every hour, from 10am until 6pm. (He would repeat this feat three more times, over the next three days at the show.) He was exhausted but energetic for the interview and for what would be his first meeting with Louise Foster. She created a comfortable atmosphere within which Scott talked openly about such things as his music, hurricane Katrina, his philosphy about the blues and the imprint on his life and career by mentor Ellis Marsalis. His comments about Peerless Guitars (www.peerlessguitars.com) would be the first mention of the guitars on American radio. The following is the entire interview, including the off air dialogue, as transcribed from the video shot by Elsa Detweiler.
THE INTERVIEW:
FOSTER: Anyway, you're listening to KPFK and I'm Louise Foster, as you know, and I have the priveledge of having someone in my studio with me tonight, Mr. Scott Detweiler. Did I say that correct?
DETWEILER: You sure did, how're ya' doin'?
FOSTER: Okay. Dressed sharp!
DETWEILER: Thank you.
FOSTER: My gosh, you look really nice.
DETWEILER: Thank you.
FOSTER: You're all dressed for the weather.
DETWEILER: Tryin' to stay warm.
FOSTER: Yeah, I'm checking that accent, you are from N'awlins, huh?
DETWEILER: Uh huh, I sure am.
FOSTER: Yeah, as if I couldn't tell (laughs).
DETWEILER: Mm Hm.
FOSTER: How long you been…are you still living there?
DETWEILER: No, I live in California, in the Los Angeles area, in Encino.
FOSTER: How long you been here?
DETWEILER: I been here for a while.
FOSTER: Okay….
DETWEILER: You know, my family's back in New Orleans, most of em'..
FOSTER: But you still got that accent, though (ha ha).
DETWEILER: Yeah, it's hard to lose that, you know…
FOSTER: Yeah, but you don't want to lose that. So, have you been back there since
Katrina to see your family?
DETWEILER: No, I haven't been back. At first, I just, my brother told me, "Man, you gotta be ready for it, it's just….devastating, you know, to see it, and uh, that's pretty much where it's at. I think I'm ready to go back now, but um, he just said it's heart wrenching to see…
FOSTER: Okay…
DETWEILER: Everywhere you look, I mean, even things that aren't destroyed your see the yellow line…
FOSTER: That's true
DETWEILER: You know, from the water
FOSTER: Yeah, from the water.
DETWEILER: And, you know, it's just not the same. I still have friends livin' in trailers in driveways…
FOSTER: I've been back there twice, and I did see progress but I also see something where nothing has happened at all and also I see people living in their trailers waiting for their homes to be built or whatever's going to happen to the homes. But the one good thing about it is they still have that pride and the positiveness about things…
DETWEILER: That's right
FOSTER: And the music's still flowin, the food is still goin. I thought since you told me you were from New Orleans that you might want to bring us some treats in here, but uh…
DETWEILER: Hey, I'll have to bring y'all some…next time I'll bring you some gumbo
FOSTER: You still can cook, though
DETWEILER: Oh yeah!
FOSTER: You can cook? Can he "burn"?Can he cook? (to Elsa Detweiler, who was videotaping the interview), ha ha ha…
ELSA DETWEILER: Yes!
FOSTER: His wife says "yes".
(all laugh)
FOSTER: Okay
DETWEILER: That's right…
ELSA DETWEILER: a very good cook.
FOSTER: I guess you guys want to know "Who is Scott?" Well, let me tell you who is Scott. Who is Scott? Blues singer?
DETWEILER: Yeah, I sing the blues and I play the guitar…. Actually, I have a lot of different kinds of music, um, that I've written, I've got a couple of operas, I've got some chamber music, but it's all blues based. I studied in New Orleans. I studied with Ellis Marsalis, privately, orchestration, and I also studied at Loyola and UNO (University of New Orleans).
FOSTER: Oh, wow…
DETWEILER: And, uh, when I came out here I studied with Henry Mancini, writing for strings
FOSTER: Biggies, huh?
DETWEILER: Yeah, but the blues is something that's come kinda….I'd say, recently, as far as my life goes. I'm 44 years old. When I was younger, I never thought I'd be playin the blues.
FOSTER: Really?
DETWEILER: I just thought…matter of fact, when I first started playin, I'd look at like "Red House", or some of these songs, you know, and say, "Aw, three chords…". It just didn't look challenging. But I think, my own experience is, what I've realized is that, why you don't see a lot of youngsters playin blues is because when you get to be up around this age, or even older, you know, and you have experiences, um, to talk about…
FOSTER: You can sing the blues? (laughs)
DETWEILER: (smiling) You can sing the blues, you know, you've suffered, you've lived, and uh, you appreciate the good things and you know a little bit about some of the bad things, hopefully not too much, but, that's where I see myself right now.
FOSTER: That's life, huh? So what actually really made you make that turn? Were you inspired by a particular artist, or, like you said, an incident in your life?
DETWEILER: Um, you know what? Actually, B.B. King. I've always liked B.B. King. I saw him over at the Universal, well, now it's the Gibson Apitheater, but, I think it was about three or four years ago, or, maybe not that long…
FOSTER: Uh huh
DETWEILER: And, I don't know, I just, I guess my writing and stuff started to go that way. My string quartets that I wrote in 2000 (string quartet number one and string quartet number two) are very blues based. And, actually, a lot of it is scored Dixieland, which is what I call "scored Dixieland for strings" and it is actually scored. So, I guess it's been kind of an evolution towards that, you know.
FOSTER: So, you can write a blues opera….
DETWEILER: Um…
FOSTER: …with strings? (laughing)
DETWEILER: Yeah, you can write a blues opera, I mean, I wouldn't say my whole opera is blues but it's definitely based on blues scales and rhythms from New Orleans, definitely.
FOSTER: And so which instrument do you favor?
DETWEILER: The guitar.
FOSTER: The guitar?
DETWEILER: Yeah, I been playin guitar for, you know, 25 years, and that's what I play when I perform live and I sing. But when I record in the studio or when I produce other people I do play other instruments. Mostly bass and piano.
FOSTER: Okay. Let's talk about your new project. Is this your first CD?
DETWEILER: No. I've got, uh, well, I've got seven CDs that I've released on my own but I also have…there's a lot of live stuff out there, too, you know, on the internet and MySpace and stuff like that. Um, what's goin on right now is I'm workin on an album…I've got a cut here, "Katrina Brought The Water" and that's a blues song that I wrote…
FOSTER: I can imagine.
DETWEILER: Yeah, it's definitely, well, it's about what's happenin with my family. Most of them are okay…my brother ended up havin to move to Houston.
FOSTER: How does he like it there?
DETWEILER: He likes it because his whole neighborhood moved there (laughs).
FOSTER: That's right (smiling), I have some friends that moved to Dallas and then the other people went to Houston, so it was a good thing for Houston cause it brought a little culture there, huh? (laughing).
DETWEILER: Yeah, he told me, well, we're real close, um, he told me that his whole neighborhood is over there and see, my brother didn't lose his home, but it's still, the whole lifestyle changed. He's got two little girls, the schools, a lot of the schools aren't open, you know that. And so, he's just lookin for their future, so he went ahead and moved over there. And the area he's livin in, like I say, it's a bunch of his neighbors…
FOSTER: Oh yeah..
DETWEILER: In fact, New Year's Eve I think it was 10 couples and their kids all from his neighborhood in New Orleans.
FOSTER: And "Second Linin'" in the middle of Houston! That was pretty interesting, I'm sure.
(laughing)
DETWEILER: That's right, you know.
FOSTER: Yeah, well, let's check it out and see what we think about "Katrina"
DETWEILER: Okay, great.
(As the song "Katrina Brought The Water" plays, Scott Detweiler and Louise Foster continue to talk off the air.)
FOSTER: It sounds good. I mean like, if I'm listenin to music…
DETWEILER: Well, you know cause you hear all kinds of music…
FOSTER: In the first notes, I can tell right away if it's good…
DETWEILER: Yeah, that's what the publishers say, too. So I'll take that as a complement.
FOSTER: So, Ellis Marsalis, huh?
DETWEILER: Yeah, I would study at his house. What happened was I went to him…this was right
when Wynton (Marsalis) first won the Grammy..
FOSTER: Oh, yeah.
DETWEILER: Right around the time when he won the Grammy for classical and jazz. Ellis, really, I don't think he was well known outside of New Orleans. He was playin jazz clubs and uh,
FOSTER: He is the dad, right? (of Wynton Marsalis)
DETWEILER: Right. I went to a jazz club where Ellis was playing (on Monday nights with guitarist Steve Masakowski at Tyler's Beer Garden, on Magazine street in Uptown New Orleans) and uh….I had been in college for four years and felt I didn't know anything about music, so I went to the club and I introduced myself on a break and told him that I wanted to study with him. That's how it started. And I learned a lot. He taught me a whole lot. The thing about Ellis was, from what I have heard, Dolores (Ellis' wife) would get the kids all dressed up and they would go to where he would be playin in hotel lobbies and they would all sit there and listen. That's why I always dress when I play. You know. Treat it…give it respect.
FOSTER: He still plays right?
DETWEILER: Yeah, and he is still recording. In fact, they have their own label, Marsalis Music. And Ellis has several CDs out. He is still playin at Snug Harbor (jazz club in New Orleans). A friend of mine just went down and saw him.
FOSTER: I know he had a good time.
DETWEILER: Yeah…..and GEAUX Saints!
FOSTER: Yeah.
DETWEILER: Louise, where are you from?
FOSTER: San Diego.
DETWEILER: Oh, really? You got kin in New Orleans?
FOSTER: No but I got friends.
DETWEILER: Oh, okay, here's my brother (the line of the song, still playing, that says, "Oh my
brother's gone to Houston")
FOSTER: Yeah…you should go back and play at the Jazz Fest.
DETWEILER: I've tried to get that gig so many years, Louise.
FOSTER: Did you have Ellis try for you.
DETWEILER: No I didn't. they say "A man can never be a prophet in his own country" and I think that's right.
FOSTER: They also say "you can't toot your own horn".
DETWEILER: I know Stravinsky and all those dudes had to come over here cause they couldn't get paid in Russia and all of those places.
FOSTER: That's like a lot of those R&B artists. They don't make money here but they go to Europe and get it.
DETWEILER: Yeah, I was treated well in Europe and we have been treated so nice by the people from Korea from Peerless Guitars.
FOSTER: I was in Korea.
DETWEILER: Oh yeah?
FOSTER: Yeah, I worked for Armed Forces Radio.
DETWEILER: Oh really?
FOSTER: They are really nice over there. They like to have fun, they dress nice dress …
DETWEILER: Yeah, I went the Philippines and they were nice, too.
FOSTER: Okay now (the song is ending), is there another song on the CD you want us to play?
DETWEILER: If y'all want. You could play the first one, "St. John Bayou".
FOSTER: We'll play it at the end of the interview.
("Katrina Brought The Water" fades and the interview is brought back on the air.)
FOSTER: Hittin a couple of high notes there, huh? (at the end of "Katrina Brought The Water")
DETWEILER: Tryin. You know. (laughing)
FOSTER: I like that, very nice.
DETWEILER: Thanks.
FOSTER: Yeah, we were talking during the music so I'm going to have to listen to it again later.
What label is that on?
DETWEILER: It's just independent, Detweilermusic.
FOSTER: Now if a person wants to pick up your music, is it available?
DETWEILER: It is. It's available, you can go to www.detweilermusic.com. (spells it out)
FOSTER: So what did you do before the internet? Knocked on the radio station's door, "Can you
please play my record?"…(laughing). So, the people visit your site they can see everything about
you, huh?
DETWEILER: Yeah.
FOSTER: So, what about live performances?
DETWEILER: We'll be at, I'll be with my band this coming Thursday night..well, I'm at the NAMM show tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. I was there all day today at the booth for Peerless Guitars,
www.peerlessguitars.com (spells out the website), of Korea, of which I am an endorsee, I'm
performing at their booth throughout the show. And then, next Thursday, January 25th, I'll be at Cozy's (www.cozysblues.com) with my band.
FOSTER: Oh, you'll be at Cozy's?
DETWEILER: Yeah, Cozy's on Ventura and Hazeltine
FOSTER: Right up the street
DETWEILER: It's gonna be a great…I love to play at Cozy's, we play from 9 until 1 o'clock. I got a great band with me.
FOSTER: That's next Thrusday night?
DETWEILER: Yeah, I got some, some guys, some of these brothers, they're older than me, t hey played with Marvin, Patrice, Patti…they played with a lot of great people.
FOSTER: Marvin Gay, Patrice Rushen and Patti Labelle?
DETWEILER: Yeah, and Patti Labelle. (all laugh) I knew you'd know who they were. I knew I
didn't have to say those last names but anyway, I'm real lucky to play with those guys. I play with a lot of really good people, um, the bands vary because they're so busy. That's gonna be a great show and then I've got, comin up after that, I'll be at Jax Jazz Club in Glendale on Brand Boulevard.
FOSTER: So you have plans to take it on the road?
DETWEILER: Yeah, actually, I do. I've got some festivals comin up that are in the works that I think are gonna happen so we'll be movin around.
FOSTER: Well that's great, we're really glad that you could stop by and give us an advance before you, we see you on TV accepting your Grammy and say, "Oh, I know that guy"…"I remember when"…(smiling). Yeah, I like your music and I like what you're doing and I want to wish you all the best. Want to tell us about the next song that we're going to listen to?
DETWEILER: I sure will. The next song that we're gonna listen to is also gonna be on the upcomin
CD and it's called "St. John Bayou". It's about a guy that gets stuck in a hurricane down in New Orleans right by Bayou St. John, that runs through the city, and he gets rescued by a lady and then she does a snake dance for him, right there on the side, on the banks of Bayou St. John, which is where they used to do all the voodoo dances back in the day, if you know anything about the stories…
FOSTER: Marie Laveau?
DETWEILER: Right. What happened is that they get together in the…."biblical way" right by the fire and he turns into a snake and she does a dance with him.
FOSTER: A video comin next, right?
(all laugh)
DETWEILER: Yeah, that's what we need, a video. (all laughing)
FOSTER: Well, that's quite interesting. I want to thank you for stopping by and remember you are going to come by, you owe us some gumbo!
DETWEILER: Oh yeah, definitely.
FOSTER: Yeah, we're going to keep you up on that, take care of yourself and we'll look forward to the music.
DETWEILER: Thanks a lot. God bless.
FOSTER: Alright, let's go out with this one (playing St. John Bayou).
(off air)
FOSTER: Thank you.
DETWEILER: Thank you. I appreciate it.
END OF INTERVIEW
