yourGigs (yG): What is it that draws you to the old time blues?
C.W. Stoneking (CWS): I guess I like things that sound like they have a primitive sort of sound to them, an ancient sound. It doesn't have a lot of things that modern music has which annoys me, it still sounds real.
yG: So do you connect with any modern day music?
CWS: No; I don't dislike it, I just don't really care about making music that makes me think about a disco, or you know rock 'n' roll, that sort of thing. It just doesn't appeal to me.
yG: So you started playing guitar when you were about 11, was there anyone in particular that introduced you to the blues, or did you just happen to stumble across it one day?
CW: Yeah I just kind of got into it myself. I played guitar for a few years and I listened to all different types of stuff and [the blues] was one of the things I liked and I just met up with some people who wanted to play that sort of stuff. So I started playing in this band and then went out on my own after that.
yG: So who would be your biggest influence from that rag-time blues era?
CW: Um, I don't really have one, my whole thing is about being influenced by lots of things ah, yeah no one artist really.
yG: The way you play and record your music is very authentic to the old-style blues, but you also have a stage persona that embodies what those blues men were all about. Is that more of a stage character that you put on, or is it more, paying respect to the blues by embodying every aspect of the genre itself?
CWS: I don't really think it's either, it's just a part of my personality, you know. If you talk to anyone from my record label or my wife, you can talk to anybody about what sort of person I am, you know. I'm not some sort of cartoon character.
yG: Last time you talked to us you hadn't visited Southern USA. Have you managed to get there yet?
CWS: Yeah, we toured down there; we went through in April we played down in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Orleans.
yG: How was that?
CWS: Yeah it was great, it was really nice, New Orleans is a really unique place. I met some good people down there.
yG: What was the response like to your music there?
CWS: It wasn't huge but the actual audience response was really good, people were really getting into it.
yG: I heard you lost your banjo in New York. Did you end up getting it back?
CWS: Nah, I guess now it's being sold to someone by someone else.
yG: That's disappointing.
CWS: Yeah it was a bit of a drag but I got insurance before I went there, I got money for it so I bought some new instruments.
yG: The inspiration for Jungle Blues is really amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about how the experience changed you, and how it affected your music?
CWS: It didn't really affect me I guess; I have had plenty of weird chapters. I couldn't say this was the weirdest one, I guess it sounds pretty good - yeah it's pretty exotic. I guess with the music itself it was more like me trying to meld all my musical inspiration into one record and make it sound coherent. It's got a jungle-y, tribal sort of sound to it. The style is sort of a mix up of 1920s Calypso and blues. A lot of people say I just sound like old music but really, it's not the same sound.
yG: You're currently touring around the nation, what's the plan for after the tour?
CWS: We are touring in November and December and we are doing the Falls Festival and a few other festivals in March next year. I am hoping to head back to the States in April and then Europe for the middle of the year, and then I am thinking about doing a regional tour in Australia around September. I got these friends in New York that I want to bring over to do sort of a Vaudeville tour in all the back blocks, maybe not even go to the cities.
Alex Hahn
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