Quick Q and A with Joe Crookston
 by Kathy S-B  ·  30 April 2010

I’ve been a follower of Joe Crookston since I saw him at Summerfest a few years back. His enthusiasm and energy are contagious. His music is beyond memorable. He has won many awards for his songwriting and has an incredibly wonderful career ahead of him. Learn more about Joe on his website.

Here's a video of Joe performing at last fall's NERFA conference in New York.

I love what one critic had to say about you: “This is not reviewer hype. This guy is flat out good.” That goes without saying. How does it feel to be a “star” in a genre that is pretty much below the radar?

A STAR? HAHAH I definitely don’t think about myself as a star . . . but am very proud of the way things are progressing and well . . . you know the honest truth is that I approach every show like this: We are the stars. The audience is the star. The other artists on the bill are the star. I mean that. I think what matters to me most is that WE have an experience together and that the show is not about ME! It’s about all of us. I think when that WE experience happens, audiences come alive and come back again and again. So yeah WE are all the stars!

You’ve got two terrific recordings to your name. If you had to describe each recording in only three words, what would you say?

Able Baker Charlie and Dog (2008) = Collected Narrative Chronicles
Fall Down as the Rain (2004) = Spiritual Sonic Philosophizing

You’ve been traveling quite a bit since you released your last CD. Do you have any memorable experiences that you’d like to share?

Hahah Oh Yeah. . . . I love to travel. It gets me moving, seeing new things and it gives me perspective on my music and my life. I’ve always loved to travel by train. One time I decide to travel to concert in Seattle on the train. Heading west in Stanly, North Dakota and the train ran into a HUGE snow bank in the middle of a white-out blizzard. The train died right there and froze to the tracks for 39 hours. We couldn't get off because it was –6 degrees and it was in the middle of nowhere! I pulled out my guitar and banjo and entertained the entire train for almost 2 days. Stuck on the train. It was the ultimate concert setting. Sold a ton of CDs and made lots of friends . . . it was about 4 a.m. and I was singing “Amazing Grace” cheek to cheek with an Amish guy in one of those huge wide brim hats . . . it was weird. And I loved it. I like it when music is spontaneous and involves the audience in the moment.

I’ve read that hearing Harvey Reid and the Horseflies at a Kent State Folk Fest changed your life. Is that true? If so, have you had the chance to have a one-on-one with Harvey since then?

Yes at the Kent State Folk Festival I first saw Harry Ried. He was all dressed in black and was fingerpicking like a madman in the main student center at Kent. I didn’t know much about acoustic folk music. I thought at the time he was Johnny Cash! I sat there with about 16 other students watching him and it blew my mind that someone could pick a guitar like that. I have seen him play twice, and would LOVE to meet him and even play a show with him. He also introduced me to Irish tunes and banjo and traditional music. He recorded up in VT in a cabin. I thought he was living the life! At that point I was studying Classical Guitar and from that weekend on . . . I began to write songs and delve into more acoustic/folk/traditional music. The Horseflies . . . everyone was talking about this weird band from Ithaca, NY. On the main stage at the Kent State Festival they came out at night with a banjo through a wa wa petal, keyboards, Fiddle dripping with effects . . . after a relatively folky evening of music, the Horseflies came on stage and tore the house down. Half the audience got up and LEFT! The other half stayed and danced through the entire set! I was one of the dancers . . . Judy and Rich from the Horseflies play on my Able Baker Charlie and Dog CD.

Where do you see yourself a year from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now?

Basking in the riches and fame!! Hahah really I have been playing and singing my entire life so far, and it really is THE way that I know how to express myself. I won't ever stop. . . .

Let’s see . . . in May I will be at the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead MA! Then next year, Jan 1, 2011, I am releasing my new recording. I'm very excited about this new recording. . . . It’ll be a bit more personal and be produced in a slightly different way than the last one. Less solos, more texture and layers . . . but the main thing is that the songs will be highlighted. . . . I just love the craft of songwriting. I like to take my time. I feel like I want to put out ART not Product.

10 years from now? At the beach sipping a margarita . . . planning my next musical tour!