Quick Q and A with Kim Goodhue (The Goodhues Band)
 by Kathy S-B  ·  3 May 2008

Here’s a neat little interview with founding member of the Goodhues Band, Kim Goodhue. It’s very interesting to read about the band’s influences and how their sound has evolved. You can find out all about the band by going to their website. You can get a real taste for their style by listening to their upbeat mix of Celtic and American roots music.

What is it about traditional music that you like so much?

Going all the way back to the 60’s and the folk music “scare” (revival) I was magnetically drawn to the roots sounds of blues revival artists like Koerner, Ray, and Glover, Paul Butterfield, John Hammond (and of course, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt etc.); old-timey string band revival groups (New Lost City Ramblers); traditional bluegrass groups (e.g., Earl Scruggs); and brother-duo and other “family” acts (e.g., the Louvin Brothers, Carter Family). These sounds tended to draw me in much more than a lot of stuff in the singer/songwriter vein and certainly more than the topical protest, Pete Seeger-type vein! I love the pure, unadorned raw qualities. Plus, I guess I’m a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist. I’ve essentially been in this same musical place ever since, but always with lots of room for “new” traditional stuff!

How do you define traditional music and is it any different than Americana music?

Taking the second question first, I’m not really sure what Americana music really is. Maybe this is a new term to define the same thing. I’m talking here of certain distinctive “sounds” that developed, typically in the South, often in isolation from other sounds, to form the threads of our rural (versus urban) musical heritage — delta blues, mountain stringband, ragtime etc. etc. I wouldn’t put more sophisticated, composed stuff like, say, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, or Cole Porter, or Tin Pan Alley in general, into the same box, even though without question these forms are distinctly American (or Americana) too!

Who are your biggest musical influences?

See the names included in the answers to the questions above. Always the Carter Family (although, sad to say, The Goodhues don’t do too many of their songs). Add to that: Joan Baez, early Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Grateful Dead, and recently, the Rankins (from Cape Breton) and Cathy Ryan (great Irish singer from Detroit, USA).

How did you make the shift to Celtic music?

I (we) just finally got bitten by the bug. . . plus it sells gigs in this area! I’d heard a fair amount of Celtic and Irish music but sometimes felt like a little went a long, long way. Then I heard the Rankins. . . and Cathy Ryan. . . and my life was transformed! Also, I bought a diatonic- (do, re, me. . . .) tuned autoharp which allowed me to pick out more intricate melodies and fast old-time fiddle tunes. A lot of autoharp folks were playing these Celtic tunes. So I followed in stride.

What does the Goodhues Band sounds like?

Hopefully like ourselves! With maybe a hint in places of the Flying Burrito Brothers or (as the Salem News reporter offered) the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Beyond this, I simply can’t say.