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and then something really amazing happened to me. The phone rang one day, and I picked it up

and it was Ronnie Earl. You’re familiar with Ronnie’s music, right?

BiTS: Yes.

CPK: He has 25 albums out. He’s one of the best blues guitar players out there right now and he
and I were friends from back in the day when he was touring with Roomful of Blues. He and a
friend of mine were dating, so when he came to Washington DC, the two of them would spend the

night at my house rather than
go to a hotel. Anyway, Ronnie
Ronnie Earl. called, and I told him I was in
the studio, and he said, well,
you know what, I’d really love
to do a guest on your new
album. I was floored. I said, of

course. And he said, I don’t
want you to pay me. I just
want to do it because we’re
friends. That’s what a great
man he is and so I have him

on three songs which it’s
funny how a lot of the people
who play my CD all over the
world, like right now during
COVID, when I’m not touring
I’ve been putting a lot of my
energy into marketing because the United States is having a lot of very, very, very sadly closing of

nightclubs and festivals cancelled. It’s just been devastating to be a working musician and so I’ve
been putting a lot of my attention in marketing, but it’s funny how a lot of the DJs play the songs
that Ronnie’s on when they air my CD because his guitar playing is just so drop-dead beautiful that
he really played great on my new record, “The Crux”. I was really fortunate to catch him. He called
me out of the blue just to say, ‘’how are you doing?’.

BiTS: That’s absolutely terrific. What is “The Crux”? How do you define the actual title itself?

What is the crux of things?

CPK: The word itself is something that is of major importance. It’s something that stands out as
being vital, important and a turning point. It’s in the lyrics of my song called ‘Blues Companion’
and that’s one of the ones that gets all the airplay. It’s a really driving blues that features Ronnie
Earl on some really incredible driving lead guitar and it’s one of the lyrics from that song.

BiTS: Tell me about the tune on the album called ‘Cerulean’. First of all, it’s a word which you
could win Scrabble with every time. Where did that come from?

CPK: Actually, that song was inspired by… there’s a beautiful beach that my husband and I like to
go to in North Carolina. It’s the Outer Banks at Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers flew the
first airplane.

BiTS: I know where you are.