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KF: Oh man! I started playing around 1984/85, and I would say for the first five to eight years,
I never really even thought about that. It was just for the love of it, and I thought that I would
have to get a day job doing something else. But the real turning point was this music store that
I would go to every day after I graduated from high school and seeing other musicians that
actually only played music. People like Robben Ford would frequent this music store and
different people like that and just seeing that is what made me go, man, I’m going to try and

make this a living and then the blues scene helped that out because it was easy for me to dive
right into the Southern California blues scene and play gigs. All through high school and
everything, I was playing little gigs, but you know how it is. You just play gigs here and there,
but you don’t think you’re really going to make a living at it. So it was that music store that
really was such a good inspiration to pursue music as a living.

BiTS: You made your debut album “I’m Here And I’m Gone” in 1999. Had you made an album
before that with somebody?

KF: Oh yes. I had been in the studio doing different things because in LA at that time you could
always find somebody with either a home studio or regular studio playing gospel music and all
of those different things. So I was definitely comfortable recording and things like that, but
that was the first time I’d done something for myself.

BiTS: I gather that for a short while, you worked with Charlie Musselwhite.

KF: Absolutely. I worked with Charlie Musselwhite for about two years.

BiTS: He’s not only a wonderful harmonica player but one of the nicest people I’ve ever
interviewed [laughing].

KF: Absolutely, and I’m so fortunate. I’m going to actually do a gig with him in October, and I’m
really looking forward to it – reconnecting with him and hanging out [chuckling].

BiTS: You did a bit of work with Kim Wilson as well. Do you like working with harmonica
players?