Look Who’s Talking
How did the College Folk Society get started?
I’d been poking around, trying to find people who wanted to start a bluegrass or old-time band. My friend Andrew Sun ’18, who’s a great musician on fiddle and mandolin, wanted to do informal jam sessions open to everybody. We started this term, when a few of us met up to spread awareness by playing a couple tunes in the library and around campus.
Did you grow up with folk music?
Everyone on my father’s side of the family is a musician. My aunt was a fiddle champion of southeast Alaska. My grandfather collects string instruments. My father plays cello and Afro-Cuban hand drums. I was more of a classical musician growing up; I played violin and cello. I picked up the ukulele in high school and that transformed me as a musician. I didn’t really break into the folk music thing until college. I started playing banjo about a year and a half ago. It was probably the most important decision of my life.
How so?
It has put me on a really fun path and opened up this whole section of heritage and culture of the United States and Irish music.
What’s next for the College Folk Society?
We’ve been doing jam sessions every Monday evening. We were just recognized by the Council on Student Organizations, so we can apply for funding. There’s this really cute little Dobro at Hanover Strings that we’ve got our eyes on.
How many students are jamming with you?
Usually we have five to seven people. It’s a rotating group, so all in all we’ve had maybe 10 or 12.
What are the society’s goals, beyond purchasing that Dobro?
What we see long-term is an expanded presence on campus. I hope we can ramp up until it’s got a solid following and becomes a way for people to come make music. I think that’s something that people would really like and should have access to here.
The banjo is the butt of most bluegrass humor. Do you have a favorite banjo joke?
Banjo players spend half their time tuning and the other half playing out-of-tune. My other favorite one: I asked my banjo teacher back in Oregon to recommend a good banjo mute so I could play indoors at night. He emailed me a link to an Amazon listing for a sledgehammer.
Is there much interest in folk and old-time music among students today?
I think that live music performance on campus is stupidly dominated by a cappella groups. I mean a cappella is fun—I was in an a cappella group for years—but there’s only a handful of student-driven bands on campus, and most of them are more in the rock ’n’ roll and pop realm. So I think we’re in a unique position, especially with our emphasis on helping people grow as musicians and playing informally with less of a performance focus.
Where did the Filthy Filthy Mountain Boys come from?
That’s the performance name for when people from the College Folk Society are playing gigs. I like to think of it as a self-aware post-bluegrass band name; a little tongue-in-cheek. The idea is that when people from the Folk Society are playing gigs together, money that we make we throw right back into the club for buying instruments and equipment.
Have you tried busking on Main Street in Hanover?
I have busked a little bit on benches, solo. I might make two bucks if I’m out there for an hour or two. It’s mostly just for fun. There’s just not enough foot traffic.
What do you find appealing about bluegrass?
I’m drawn in by the fact that a lot of people in the United States are unaware of the strong folk musician tradition we’ve had going on for at least the past 150 years. I think there’s a lot more to it than old-school country music and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Your Twitter handle is @hobbitpirate. Please explain.
I guess I embrace the hobbit lifestyle most of the time. I’m usually a barefoot person. It’s been a little cold for that lately. When I’m home in Oregon I’m barefoot year-round. On campus I usually have a carabiner with some flip-flops clipped to my belt loop in case I go into the dining hall or a public bathroom. No one wants to step on the FoCo floor barefoot. I’ve also been fascinated with piracy for years, mostly because of the commitment to radical rejection of arbitrary authority and complete autonomy.
Spoken like a true Portlander. What are your five Desert Island Discs?
1. Two Shoes by The Cat Empire. They’re an Australian genre-defying ska/rock/jazz/Latin sort of deal. Very happy music.
2. Graceland by Paul Simon. Can’t get enough of it.
3. Emphatical Piratical by Captain Bogg & Salty. They’re a Portland pirate rock band. Good fun.
4. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger by River City Extension. They’re a fun New Jersey-based band that just broke up this month but they played at Friday Night Rock last year. It was one of the best, exciting music things that ever happened at Dartmouth for me.
5. White Lighter by Typhoon. Another Oregon band. Indie rock mini-orchestra.
