Page 31 - BiTS_12_DECEMBER_2024
P. 31
BiTS: I gather that you're coming back to the UK in the next year then, anyway.
JP: Yeah, in springtime I'll be back and have a nice good tour in the UK. Be playing
all over, so you'll find me.
BiTS: Are you coming by yourself or is there a group of people that's going to come?
JP: It's usually myself.
BiTS: Just yourself, is it? Okay, let's talk about the album, please. “Things Done
Changed” is the name of it, and it is unusual in the sense that it's a Smithsonian
Folkways album, which I haven't seen a copy of for a long, long time. How did that
come about? How did the album come to be made? Where did you go to, to make it?
JP: It was made in a few studios in Chicago under the wonderful leadership of my
buddy Alex Hall. A great musician and a great recorder of records.
BiTS: I gather you wrote all the songs yourself,
is that right?
JP: Yeah.
BiTS: And did you go into the studio with them
all set, or did you change any as you were going
through the recording process?
JP: Of course, you have to change some and
alter some depending on what works, what
makes a good song and performance among
friends that know how to make a good record.
So you've got to adjust things accordingly.
BiTS: Do you have a favourite track on the
album?
JP: No, they're all good.
BiTS: [Laughs] I love it. Absolutely fabulous
answer. Tell me what's happening to you in the
near future. Have you got any big events coming up?
JP: The biggest event in my life is good rest. I've been thoroughly on the road since
February. So I'm actually happy to be winding down for a month or two, with the
exception of a nice concert at McCabe’s, where I used to take banjo lessons in my
teenage years. And then I'm going up to Northern California to the fabulous DeFord
Bailey Festival at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. So that's going to be a wonderful
time because DeFord Bailey is one of my heroes.
BiTS: And one of mine too. It's a long, long time since I heard him or anybody speak
his name, to be honest with you?
