The Fractured Folk of Andrew Kerr by Richard CuccaroA pair of mischievous eyes peer out from behind spectacles. The Chesire Cat grin says that he knows something you don't. No big surprise… he knows a lot that you don't. A wiry, somewhere-near-six-footer, he lives by his wits and more nerve than five cat burglars. The stage is Andrew Kerr's real home and when he's on, he wants you to know that he owns it. The collateral is a sense of glee and an infectious mirth that he pours like honey over everyone in the room. Although he can write a sensitive song as well as anyone, his specialty is raucous comedy. While Luka Bloom was turning L.L. Kool J's Rap plea "I Need Love" into a violin-tinged ballad, Andrew's laser-quick mind was boring it's way through the hard-core delights of rap acts Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane. One of my favorite experiences in a small venue is hearing the folked-up history of his attempt to become a white-boy rapper. Any audience treated to the ballad of "Special K" should be ready to feel a rapturous uplift similar to that achieved in a Pentecostal church. Laying down a churning funk of a guitar strum, with the audience clapping a steady rhythm, he rants:
I had a limp like a pimp, blue suede pumas and a Kangol hat I was in touch with my roots, I was young, gifted and black I was crazy cool, I was old school, I had mad style, I could freestyle Had a master plan, a million records my man I was laying low but in control Acting ill, but feeling chill Spinning lovely, my freshness never fails Clap your hands and say I love you Special K Clap your hands and say I love you Special K
…the audience responding "I love you Special K!" Then, describing his moment of truth:
I turned 17 and my fame it hadn't progressed too much I looked in the mirror and I saw skinny, white and out of touch And as my career began to sputter and choke You know I did the only natural thing I made just a minor transition into …folk
Before building to a final crescendo, he reels off a dead-on imitation of a Sugar Hill Gang riff, then one from Public Enemy, leaving the audience delirious. Beginnings In response to my inquiry about early influences, he stated: "My earliest musical influences were the cheezy songs on pop radio. I loved New Edition, Hall and Oates. I used to buy K-Tel records which featured the latest greatest hits by Eddie Rabbit, Rick Springfield, etc. Then in high school, I started getting heavily into rap. I loved Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and Big Daddy Kane. Thankfully, in college, I found my way to the singer songwriters of the 70s: James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin...those were the folks who really inspired me to play guitar and write songs. Livingston Taylor was one of my biggest live inspirations. After I'd been playing guitar for about 6 months, when I was around 21, I went out to one of his shows in New York, and came home the next day and decided to become a professional musician. I sucked of course, but that's when I made the decision. It took a good 10 years to actually make it happen, but that's where it all started. During college, I wanted to be a comedian or an actor, but I just wasn't all that funny [sorry "K" this is just not believable!], and acting seemed so tough to figure out as a career, so I decided on music. As I look back now, it's kind of cool to see where comedy, rap and folk have all really integrated into what I do. Parental Influence "My mom took me to see Hall and Oates at the Meadowlands in New Jersey when I was about 10...man they rocked! When I was 16, in 1986, I went to see New Edition at Madison Square Garden...that was right after Bobby Brown got kicked out for cocaine use. I still have the concert T-shirt featuring the 4 remaining members (Ronny, Ricky, Mike and Ralph), and the Force MDs on the back who where the opening act. Those were rocking times indeed. My mom listened to a lot of the folkies of the 60 and 70s. She played way more Bob Dylan than is healthy, really." Epiphany of the Performer "I hated high school. The only part I liked was the last three weeks of my senior year. I was the scarecrow in our rendition of The Wiz. I got to ease on down the road... and got my first taste of the limelight. I got a standing ovation and was a star for the last three weeks... that's the moment I got hooked on performing... I really got into music late for a musician. I loved performing since that play, but it took me till I was about 22 years old to figure out that I wanted to play music for a living. I didn't pick up the guitar until I was 20 and didn't write my first song until I was around 23 -- and man was it horrible!" A Brush with Finance Andrew combined performing with a job advising others on investing. It led many of us rubes to suspect that he was a financial wizard. Pressed for details, he came clean: "The interest in finance... ya know, I really didn't have any. When I got out of college, I needed a job and I started working in human resources at a temp agency. That somehow led to a job in the Benefits Department of Salomon Brothers doing 401k administration, which led to a job with Merrill Lynch doing 401k investment seminars all over the country. I never planned it - I just needed a job... all the while, I was playing music by night... Stories from the Road "I've had some fun experiences...one of my favorites was playing a show in Southern Illinois at a little coffee shop that was run by this small cult. They let me stay in their cult compound overnight...and the cult leader was also a guitarist. Really cool guy...I haven't heard about them burning themselves to death yet, so I guess they can't be all bad. I've also stumbled into some interesting events by accident, like the recent annual Sheep Run in a small town in southern Montana... oh yea, and a whole lot of crosses on the side of the road! Goals as an artist Andrew's latest CD is entitled Rock Star. The title suggests a skewed look at his early goals in the music "industry." He told me: "My goal used to be to be to become a rock star. That's really changed for me over the past few years. I realize that I love what I'm doing and my goal is now really just to make enough money to survive while continuing to do what I love. I'd like to have a family and a career and a great balance in my life. Ok, so I just want a perfect life, is that so much to ask? From the early "Me and Buddha," to "Special K" to the more recent, "Girl, I Want to Rub You Down," complete with body English, Andrew's comic masterpieces have to be seen as well as heard. If you have a chance to see him live, don't miss it! Live from New York Andrew splits his performing schedule with a group of other performers, alternating between touring and playing solo and as part of the group "Live from New York," with Teddy Goldstein, Edie Cary, Sam Shaber, and Anne Heaton, all wonderful solo artists. Together, they form an ensemble that has found wide acceptance for its richly textured performances, alternating from wrenching emotional ballads to humorous pieces that range from biting satire to flat-out buffoonery. (Now, Andrew, behave yourself!) Andrew stated: "I really love playing with LFNY. It's really amazing how that has developed. When we did our first Live From New York show, we all knew each other from the New York scene - actually from the Fast Folk open mic - but we weren't particuarly close. The first show was a showcase at NERFA - Sam put it together. Over the past few years, we've all really become best friends. We all talk to each other daily. Some days, I talk to all 4 of them by the end of the day. It's become an amazing support system in what can often be a rough business. It's like we're office mates and one of us will get a bad phone call and we'll lean over to the cubicle next to us (which just happens to be 1000 miles away) and commiserate!"The members of "Live from New York" take time out for a photo-op after a feature performance at the 2002 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. From left to right: Teddy Goldstein, Andrew Kerr, Sam Shaber, Edie Carey, and Anne Heaton Andrew will be appearing live in NYC at the Bitter End on Wednesday, November 6th at 8:30pm with a full band All of his other November shows are outside the New York Metropolitan area and will be posted on the Acoustic Live Web site. To get updates on Andrew's appearances, purchase CD's or listen to music clips, visit his web site at www.AndrewKerr.com
Venue of the Month: The Rosendale Cafe by Richard Cuccaro 434 Main St., Rosendale (914) 658-9048 Shows at 9:00 www.rosendalecafe.com Heading up to Rosendale form New York City, we drive up the NYS Thruway to Exit 18, New Paltz. At the end of the exit ramp, we turn left onto Route 299 and follow the signs in New Paltz to Route 32 North. As we drive up Route 32 from New Paltz, ten minutes or so northward, we arrive in Rosendale.Crossing an iron bridge over Rondout Creek, and making a left onto Route 213, Rosendale's Main Street, we've turned back the clock and have taken a trip back in time. The storefronts lining Main Street are from another era, some of them dating back to the 1800's. The Grange Hall, with it's peeling paint and overgrown shrubbery seems to pre-date most of the architecture.
Plunk down a few automobiles from the 40's and voilá … instant movie set! The Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant, and a warm, inviting performance space, hosts live musical performances each week on Friday and Saturday evening.
The acts range in styles from jazz, to folk, to ethnic, and old-timey (bluegrass, etc) and Americana. Some high-profile performers who have played the cafe include Lucy Kaplansky, Richard Shindell, Cliff Eberhardt, Ray Bonneville, Kelly Joe Phelps and the late Dave Van Ronk. We asked the propietor, and very gracious host, Mark Morganstern, some questions about the history of the cafe. For instance, what has been his backgound in shaping his extraordinary musical taste? He stated: "I think I became musically conscious around junior high school. My brother was a big fan of Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck, Nina Simone, as well as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and a host of folkies like Oscar Brand, The Kingston Trio and other things like flamenco guitar. I started out with guitar lessons, then switched over to the bass fiddle when a high school teacher convinced me to join the orchestra. So I played both in the dance band and the orchestra enjoying them equally as well. I was lucky to get into the North Carolina School of the Arts and studied bass. Thanks to the music history teacher I got to hear music from all over the world. Early on, I formed the opinion that music was music and you didn't have to listen to only one kind. I think that idea affects the way I book the cafe. We offer Mbira music, blues, jazz, also what is known as "free" jazz, world music, etc. Basically, if it sounds like music (performed at a high level) I'm interested. The cafe used to occupy a smaller space across the street. It moved to its present, larger location a few years ago. Mark recalled: "My wife, Susan, and I moved to Rosendale in 1989. We moved north until we could afford a home. I started adjunting at the community college and Susan met a lot of good people and found play groups for our son Luke. One day she walked into a failing antique/performance space storefront, on Main Street in Rosendale where nothing much was happening at the time, and agreed to take it over. Susan's idea was to have a coffee house. So, with a partner, we turned it into a small cafe. I was a vegetarian at the time, and many people were interested in that kind of food, so that's the cuisine we chose We served homemade desserts and organic coffee. At one point, nine years ago, Susan reminded me that I had worked as a professional musician and should look into presenting some artists. I began a search of the local jazz musicians and struck gold. We have some world class musicians and very fine folk artists living in our valley. I got a boost from legendary booking agent, Sean LaRoche, when I went looking for performers, He sent Cliff Eberhardt, Lucy Kaplansky, Suzzy Roche, and some other fine people to us in one season. He did this without us having a track record. From the beginning we seemed to have good luck presenting concerts." "After 5 years our land lady wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the space we were renting. It seemed like it might be over. But Susan determined that we'd just have to get our own building and keep going. It turned out that the guy across the street was ready to sell his building which included a store front. So in the summer of 1999 we moved, remodeled, and opened a larger, more music friendly version of the Rosendale Cafe. This time we went for a decent PA, mics, etc. Over the years we've added sound enhancements to theroom, like clouds, bass corners, etc. Most of the musicians are satisfied with the sound quality. The larger space meant more room for diners and the cafe seemed to really catch on. Vegans and Vegetarians, and people willing to try a different type of cuisine are almost always pleased." We asked him who some of favorite artists are. He said : "I have a lot of favorite artists and can't mention them all in one paragraph. Part of the enjoyment and intrigue of presenting live music is the interchange that goes on between the artist and myself. Just like anyone else in the audience, the musicians who most touched me with their gifts are the ones I think of: Sheila Jordan (jazz singer) Ron Carter (jazz bassist) Dave Van Ronk, Kelly Joe Phelps, Chris Smither Dave Carter & Tracy Grammar, Missy Raines & Jim Hurst, Vance Gilbert, Rani Arbo, Bruce Molsky, and so many others." This month's eclectic mix of musicians includes mbira master, Forward Kwenda of Zimbabwe, Texas singer/songwriter, Eric Taylor, and our old buddy, national flatpicking champion, Orrin Star. See our listings for details, and get up there!