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Jorma and Jack Casady
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A CONVERSATION WITH JORMA KAUKONEN  (cont.)

PM: You and Jack Casady have played together for an awfully long time. What's the secret of your longevity?

JK: Well, Jack and I have disagreed about a lot of stuff over the years. But even in our darker years, we've never had a fight. He and I were talking about this. We'd get to places where we wouldn't play for a couple of years, but we've never said anything to each other that required an apology. We've done things that required apology, but never burned bridges that couldn't be mended. It's very odd, and it's good stuff.

PM: He's a remarkable fellow, very smart cat.

JK: Yes he is. In the workshops, my approach to teaching is more anecdotal. I've learned to write some things out. But Jack is the professor, he does a syllabus for his classes.

PM: And he has a website that's about gear, right?

JK: Well, Jack does a Signature model Epiphone Bass. And he started a website that sells them, and we sell that at our site, too. I have a Jorma model Epiphone guitar, and I'm on my way to the NAMM show right after this Nashville trip, to help sell guitars. On my website, I ramble and philosophize. On Jack's, he likes to talk about his stuff, his gear. That's his thing. Both of us heard the complaint that our website looks too professional. We liked that. It's nice to do things right.

PM: Is Jack a regular instructor at the Ranch?

JK: Yeah, he's a regular, too.

PM: What's the profile of the people that come out to the Ranch to study?

JK: Most of the people that come, come for specific teachers. Some are interested in the thing that I do, for instance. Most of them are not as old as me, but then, who is? [laughter] But they tend to be adults who have liked the music, and want to come out and have some fun, learn something new. It's interesting, sometimes we'll get a person that just wants to learn some guitar or bass, and found us on the web, and knows nothing about our background. To me, that's really fun. They take some lessons, and buy a couple of CDs to take home.

The cross section tends to be adults who can afford to buy Collings guitars and stuff like that. But we do have a scholarship program for kids, and we do get some kids who don't have the dough but have a lot of talent. Many are brighter than I was at their age, or twice their age, in some cases. There tend to be more males than females, but that's true of guitar world in general, and it's changing. We have a lot of women coming who are very good players, some are or aspire to be professionals, others just love to play. Rory [Block] usually pulls some good female guitarists who want to study with her, she's such a fine player.

PM: Have you read or heard anything lately that really turned you on?

JK: I just read something by a guy from Columbus who's a Chicago sports writer, can't think of his name, of course. He wrote a thing called Duty, a story about his father dying. But he met Paul Tibbets, the guy that flew the Enola Gay. Basically, it turns into an interview with him. It's a killer. I like stuff like that, I read a lot of historical stuff.

PM: How was Tibbets doing? [He was the pilot that dropped the A Bomb on Hiroshima.]

JK: Good, really good. He's in his eighties, still drives himself around, a crusty old soldier. There's this great part where they go to Branson [a music resort in MO where lots of older folks go, many Country stars have big entertainment halls there]. You know that Japanese gentlemen, great fiddler showman who has the big place there? [Shoji Tabuchi] All the Enola Gay survivors were there, and [Shoji] honored them. He said, "If that bomb hadn't been dropped, I would never be here today."

PM: Whoa.

JK: It was a cool book, you'll like it. continue

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