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LL: I must begin by saying how deeply sorry I am for your loss of your wife, followed by the

loss of your mother. How are you doing?

MK: Thanks so much, it hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. I lost my wife, Molli, a year ago, a
lifetime of smoking and over a decade of heavy drinking took her away from me 46 years after we
got together. I had come to terms with her loss—I knew it was coming so I had a long time before
her death to accept it. Mom, although not young, went very quickly, and that suddenness of her
death was what made it so hard—her funeral was the day before the anniversary of Molli’s passing.
To top off the week a very dear friend died soon after that—I was left numb. But I know I can’t
dwell on those losses, that’s a trap I refuse to fall into. I still have a lot of living to do.

LL: So, from Michigan to Mississippi! What was the contrast like living in these two areas?

MK: Actually, the route was much less direct, it was Michigan to Germany to Michigan to
Washington State to Michigan to New Jersey to Mississippi to Massachusetts to Mississippi. And
I’ve just moved to Memphis. Because I come from a small town in rural Michigan the feeling of
Mississippi was much more familiar than that of New Jersey, so it was much like coming home.
Also, the move to Mississippi was to get me
back into an academic career (I taught

management and economics, with a focus on
health care, and getting back to that and away
from corporate life was a blessing). The real
bonus was in coming to the place where blues
was born, my favourite genre of music since I
was in my early teens.

LL: Tell us about the family you grew up in
please? What kind of music were you

exposed to growing up?

MK: Mom was a nurse and dad went from
being a commercial artist and sign painter to
running a paint and art supply store. I have
one older sister and one younger, as well as a
brother who is 2 years younger than I. Mom
loved classical music and dad was a fan of big
band music, while my sister listened to the

popular music of her time (she is 7 years
older). So, I was raised on a mixture of Glenn
Miller and Beethoven, seasoned by the Ink
Spots and Coasters!

Growing up in a rural area I hunted and fished
because that’s what everybody did. I still fish but haven’t hunted in decades. Because my
hometown is halfway between Chicago and Detroit, I not only had access to the radio stations of
those cities, but we were a common stop on tours for bands. As a teenager I got to see the James

Gang, the MC-5, Bob Seeger, H.P. Lovecraft and many other bands, and I was in a few garage bands
as well.

When I was 14, I bought an album called Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues Singers, and I
played it over and over until I wore out the grooves—his guitar playing just grabbed me. I soon