Participants: C. A. Murray (Host), Jonathan & Benji Burchfield
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY016039A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:09 My name is CA Murray, 01:10 and allow me once again to thank you 01:12 for sharing just a little of your 01:14 no doubt busy day with us. 01:16 To thank you once again for your love, 01:17 your prayers, and your financial support 01:19 of Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 01:21 We are convicted and convinced that we could not do it, 01:24 we're called to do without your partnership 01:25 and your assistance. 01:27 So when we say thank you, 01:28 we mean that from the bottom of our heart. 01:30 Got an exciting program today, because of the subject matter 01:33 because of the people that are here. 01:35 Sometimes you meet people that are just really neat, 01:37 cool kind of guys who do what they do well, 01:40 and who are special people, fun to be around, 01:43 good sense of humor 01:45 and yet dedicated to the cause of Christ, 01:47 and bring a certain elan to their craft 01:52 that makes it just fun to be in their presence. 01:54 I'm talking about 01:56 Jonathan and Benjamin Burchfield, 01:58 who we will call air from now on Jon and Benji 02:01 because Jonathan and Benjamin 02:02 are just too much to go through. 02:04 That is, I agree, I agree. 02:05 And I already got their permission, so it's okay. 02:08 But two really neat guys, 02:10 who've been here I guess 02:12 a year or two or three or four or five or six? 02:15 Many times, several times. 02:17 And who always bring 02:20 such a beautiful skill set to their work. 02:23 These guys play well, 02:25 and rather than have them compliment themselves, 02:27 I will compliment them gelatinously 02:29 because they are good at what they do. 02:32 And nice guys. 02:34 You know, before we get started 02:35 and I wanted to go back to because, 02:38 when I hear you talking not long in your conversation, 02:40 your mother comes up, 02:41 who had a great influence 02:43 on who you are and what you do. 02:45 Now, let me ask you one of those. 02:47 I must say to get this tough stuff out of the way. 02:49 Okay, I'm gonna ask you one of those 02:50 high concept ontological questions 02:52 that we toss it now and again, 02:55 because of the skill set you bring. 03:00 Answer this from or wrestle with this for me if you will. 03:04 Is there a difference 03:08 between performance and ministry? 03:13 And is there an intersection between the two? 03:16 Does performance ever meet ministry? 03:20 Is performance one thing and ministry another? 03:22 I know those when a person gets up in a secular setting, 03:25 he is performing. 03:27 When a person gets up to minister, 03:29 there is an element of performance, 03:31 because you got to bring your best. 03:33 So is there a difference 03:34 between performance and ministry? 03:36 Do they ever intersect at any given point? 03:39 In your minds, since you guys are such good musicians, 03:42 you're technically good at what you do. 03:44 Is there a intersectional performance in ministry? 03:46 Great question, I think they do intersect. 03:49 I really do, I think even evangelist 03:51 who speak are performing. 03:56 I think people sometimes 03:57 get more out of the presentation 04:00 when there is a little bit of performance in the aspect. 04:05 That's my take on it. 04:06 When we were living near Chicago, 04:09 we were influenced heavily by our organist and pianist 04:13 at our church, Alfred Young, and Steve Nelson, 04:16 and they were performers, 04:17 say all over the world they toured. 04:20 And they told us as very young children 04:23 whether you are performing for an audience 04:26 or evangelizing, just join them, 04:30 just bring someone to Christ. 04:33 They said, "If you're performing, 04:35 do the best that God gave you the ability to do." 04:38 It'll be absolute best because that's your witness 04:42 to do the best you can. 04:44 God doesn't want anything sloppy. 04:46 And so, I think it's a great idea to just, you know, 04:49 polish things and present them clearly 04:51 so the person understands 04:53 what you're playing or what you're saying, 04:55 what you're doing. 04:56 See that's, that's, that's sort of co... 04:59 I cosigned that because I think your job 05:01 is to do the best technical job that you can. 05:05 You've got to practice, you've got to rehearse, 05:07 you've got to bring as much skill 05:09 as God has given to you. 05:11 Your job is to perfect that, 05:13 and do the best you can with what you have. 05:15 And then you just put it out 05:16 and let God turn it into ministry, 05:17 but you've got to do your best. 05:19 I mean, you're playing the instrument, 05:20 you're plucking, you're blowing, 05:21 you know, you're doing that. 05:23 You've got to do the best you can. 05:24 Absolutely. Absolutely. 05:26 There's no shortcuts either, there is... 05:27 You know, and it's an honor to pour yourself into it. 05:32 Nobody wants something that you've sort of do halfway. 05:35 Who would want that, just do a good. 05:38 God did it good, 05:40 let's just honor God and do the best we can do. 05:43 Do the best you can. 05:44 And I say that because both of you 05:46 but particularly you, Jon, 05:48 when you play, you sort of leave the planet. 05:51 You know, there's this if 05:53 to watch your face when you're playing is a treat 05:56 because you really get wrapped up 05:59 in what you are doing. 06:02 That comes with a price, I played, 06:04 we did a concert at Colorado, and a lady said, 06:07 you know since you get into that other place, 06:10 it's unfair to your audience 06:12 that because you're leaving them out, 06:14 you're disappearing. 06:15 Yeah. 06:17 And I said, "Well, no, 06:18 I think I can do a better service to you, 06:19 if I really get into what I'm doing." 06:23 And that she understood after that, 06:24 but she thought it's rude to close your eyes 06:28 while you play for instance. 06:29 Well, I close my eyes a lot. 06:31 You do. Yeah. Yeah. 06:32 The good news is she said, 06:34 "I understand, I see where you're coming from now." 06:37 Yeah. 06:38 To my mind when I see you do that. 06:41 I want to go with you, you know, okay, 06:43 he is going somewhere and I'm coming, you know. 06:46 So if you enter into the spirit of the music, 06:49 you actually transported me. 06:51 And I think that's what you're trying to, you're there... 06:53 That's right. 06:54 And your job is to bring me with you. 06:55 So if I, if I listen, if I imbibe what you're doing, 06:59 I'm there with you, you're taking me along. 07:01 And you do it too, Benji, not as much as your brother. 07:04 Your brother kind of just, he just kind of floats away. 07:06 Yeah. 07:08 He is the floater. 07:11 For me, I just take aim 07:12 and try to hit a few right notes. 07:13 Yeah, yeah. 07:15 And you do it well. 07:16 Let's walk back to growing up. 07:20 Smoking on guys as you said. 07:22 Give me some of the flavor of your home growing up 07:25 because three of you are now professional musicians. 07:27 Mark joined you in that, 07:29 but a lot of this stems from your mom I'm told. 07:32 Lots of, both of our parents were musicians. 07:36 They were evangelists, so dad played his guitar, 07:39 mom played an accordion and they had tent meetings. 07:43 They had a big tent they rented, 07:45 and they had sawdust everything, 07:47 but in the Smoky Mountains, 07:49 and the reason we were there is our dad had a calling 07:53 to minister to the folks 07:55 where he grew up in a place called Happy Valley. 07:59 But the first home we lived in, there was no... 08:04 I think there was a floor 08:05 and if I'm not mistaken 08:07 it's Ben was just visiting it the other day, 08:09 it's an old cabin 08:10 and when I was actually born at the time 08:17 when we lived there, but there is no bathroom, 08:19 so there is no running water in it. 08:23 I mean it's very primitive, there's no electricity. 08:27 So for two years is a really a primitive place. 08:32 However, our dad was in the meantime 08:36 building a nice little place up the mountainside. 08:39 So by the time I was two years old, 08:41 we had a place, even that, 08:43 that had no bathroom 08:45 for another couple of years in it, 08:47 but much nicer than the way we started but... 08:51 Yeah, so mom influenced us classically, 08:54 and dad influenced us in the Appalachian music. 08:58 So we try to mix and intertwine those. 09:01 And you can feel it in what you do. 09:03 But your mom was college change 09:05 or school trained in what she did. 09:07 She actually went to the conservatory in Chicago 09:10 studied piano, classical piano. 09:12 She is a Norwegian lady, 09:15 of Norwegian descent from Wisconsin. 09:18 So dad being Appalachian and Bluegrass, 09:22 mom was classical, 09:24 but they met in Chicago. 09:27 How did Wisconsin get down to, yeah. 09:29 Thousand miles apart and somehow they met and... 09:33 Must have been a blind date or something. 09:35 It was, we were told that was blind date. 09:39 But they realized they both love music 09:42 and have a great camaraderie. 09:45 But they were both teaching there in the Smoky Mountains 09:48 in a two room schoolhouse. 09:51 Mom taught one through four, dad taught five through eight. 09:55 Oh, my soul. 09:56 Yeah, that will challenge you. 09:58 When did you... 09:59 What are your earliest memories 10:01 of picking up something and playing? 10:04 And did they encourage it all because 10:06 and I say that because I wanted to do violin and, 10:09 but I didn't want to practice, and my mom said, 10:11 "Okay, you don't want to practice. 10:12 We're not going the throw those anyway." 10:14 I could see you playing violin. 10:15 But I just, so I just got, 10:17 I've got an 1889 German violin sitting in my closet, 10:20 I don't know how much it's worth. 10:21 I picked it up years and years and years and years 10:23 but I didn't practiced so she said, 10:25 "Oh, we're not gonna throw them anyway." 10:26 Obviously, you guys weren't enforced, 10:27 it's something that was kind of in the DNA. 10:29 It was in the DNA and my first noise that I made. 10:36 We didn't have much money 10:38 to buy actual instruments in that day. 10:41 I was like seven years old, 10:43 and I just started banging on pots and pans. 10:47 Anything I could get my hands on. 10:49 Later in school, I would play the school desks, 10:53 and we'd get in trouble from the teacher... 10:56 Playing the desk. 10:58 So my first audience, 11:00 you were talking about performing earlier. 11:01 I was performing in second grade for the class 11:05 on the desk making drum beats, 11:07 but my first calling though musically. 11:12 It was around second grade 11:14 was when Jon brought home a snare drum 11:19 and he bought it from his friend 11:21 for like three dollars. 11:24 And I was so mesmerized and drawn to that 11:28 and I started hitting that and that's when I said, 11:32 "Mom, I want to become a professional drummer." 11:35 This was in second grade. 11:38 From there it stemmed out, then piano lessons. 11:41 I'm thankful for my piano teacher. 11:44 Clarinet, fifth grade. 11:46 It was a Christmas time, he took that snare 11:50 and then you tied it around you went Christmas caroling and... 11:53 I did, I did 11:54 The little drummer boy. 11:56 The little drummer boy. 11:57 I used my dad's leather belt to tie it around. 12:01 It's same belt he used to give me 12:02 a whipping with but... 12:05 You know, we did a live nativity scene 12:08 for one Christmas when we were little children. 12:10 He was the drummer boy 12:12 and we had a hound dog from the Smoky Mountains, 12:15 and we put tape cotton all over it 12:18 so it became the little lamb that I held, you know. 12:21 My dog hated that. 12:24 But there was always music involved in all that stuff. 12:28 But to answer your question. 12:32 The rooms that mom and dad 12:36 were living in were lined with guitars. 12:38 Dad had so many guitars, 12:41 so as a little child I would go around 12:43 and just hear the sound of, 12:44 I would rake my fingers over the strings. 12:47 And I remember the sound of a vibrating string 12:52 did something to my heart. 12:53 I just, there's something about that it was soothing. 12:56 I loved the way it sounded, so I could play anything, 13:01 but I would just go around and just, 13:03 just hear all these sustained notes 13:07 and that was many years before I ever played a note on them. 13:12 Just the sound of it captivated me. 13:15 When did it occur to you 13:17 and both if you take a stab at this 13:18 that this is something that 13:21 you're either called to do with that, 13:23 you were going to kind of make your life, 13:24 it was kind of in your soul and you realized. 13:27 Yeah, this is what I'm gonna be. 13:29 Oh, for me was when I was a band director. 13:31 I was teaching grades five through 12 in Nashville. 13:36 And Jon was solo guitarist at Opryland Hotel, 13:42 and the doors just seemed to keep opening for us 13:46 to do conferences and concerts 13:49 as a duo, that's how it started. 13:52 Yeah. Yeah. 13:54 I was going to ask that because you play well together, 13:56 you've been doing it all your life of course. 13:58 Was that something planned or just the fates 14:01 and I use that term advisedly, 14:02 kind of push you together to work together because, 14:04 you work together so well. 14:05 You got another brother 14:07 who is married to another musician 14:08 who had his own thing going. 14:09 But you guys are kind of in tandem. 14:11 You know what? 14:12 I don't think we planned it to be honest, 14:16 I think it was all in our soul the desire for, 14:20 but when we first moved to Nashville 14:24 over 30 years ago, 14:26 I was recording classical guitar works for a company. 14:31 One was called a Classic Christmas. 14:33 All Christmas with a lot of Spanish influences. 14:36 And with no intention of performing it, 14:40 in front of anybody, they just said, 14:42 we want an hour's worth 14:43 of beautiful classical guitar stuff. 14:46 Well, I did that, 14:47 but then we were asked to do a wedding for somebody 14:50 and they said, 14:52 while you're doing this wedding for dear friend of ours. 14:55 Could you stay over and play 14:58 for our church the next day, 15:00 which I did 15:02 and by playing a couple little tunes for the church. 15:06 Their radio station said, 15:07 "Do you mind if we play your songs on radio station." 15:10 I said, "No, that's fine, I got a couple of CD's here." 15:14 And then churches began to call, say, 15:16 "Do you do concerts?" 15:17 Well, we said, "We never have, I guess we can do that." 15:21 So that suddenly they just began calling because of that. 15:25 Yeah. Wow. Wow. 15:26 Well, let me walk you through something 15:28 just before we go to our first song 15:29 because I'm anxious to play it. 15:31 Because you both have piano background, 15:33 that was kind of your base and we discussed this from, 15:36 from the little I know people who tend to master piano 15:41 can go off in many, many directions. 15:43 And I don't know why that is but it seems to be that way. 15:46 And I want to walk through because, 15:48 Jon, you started on piano and then moved to guitar. 15:51 Yes. 15:52 And that was for what reason? 15:53 I was 14, when I was really getting into the piano 15:57 and I thought I had 15:58 the greatest teacher in the world. 16:00 Oh my goodness that I love my teacher. 16:02 And she was showing me such wonderful things, 16:05 and then suddenly she came with the announcement, 16:07 "I'm moving out of state," and I was just, I said, 16:11 "I'll never get a teacher like this again." 16:13 And I just didn't want to go and look for a teacher, 16:15 and so I thought, I got all these guitars around, 16:18 I think I'll just start playing guitar. 16:20 And that's how I started this, 16:22 because I lost my piano teacher, 16:25 but the minute I started 16:26 at the age of 14 to actually play. 16:29 I just used my piano books to learn my guitar. 16:33 It's all the same notes, different fingerings, 16:36 it's all the same notes. 16:38 Did you ever do any formal studies 16:39 or just, just you just... 16:41 No formal studies, 16:42 the piano books especially like 16:46 when I get sheet music from mom, 16:48 her repertoire like you know her songs like, 16:51 "Claire de Lune" for instance. 16:52 I just took that and well, a C chord is still a C chord 16:56 and it made sense. 16:58 Yeah. Yeah. You know. 17:00 Yeah. Yeah. 17:01 Very natural. 17:02 Benji, you play so many things, 17:05 piano bass again, 17:07 but let's begin to stack up, you play... 17:10 Jack of all trades. Yeah. Yeah. 17:12 Master of all trades 17:15 And you also play, 17:17 is it's the pennywhistle it's called? 17:19 Good question. 17:20 One of them is a pennywhistle. 17:22 Then there's a low whistle. 17:23 The low one is the Howard Low D whistle, 17:26 but we re-titled it to the river dance whistle, 17:30 because when I saw the river dance, 17:33 they were playing the same one and I did some research on it, 17:36 I saw, I was absolutely mesmerized 17:41 with the sound of it. 17:42 The sound is, it's so haunting. 17:44 I mean he was so incredible so I found it and ordered it... 17:49 and just I'm self-taught on those whistles. 17:52 Yeah. 17:54 The clarinet had a little, that helped a little bit 17:59 'cause a clarinet is harder to play. 18:02 But and then on the mallet instrument, 18:05 the mallet thing I play it's called the malletKAT and it's, 18:09 it's got to sound modules 18:11 with over a thousand different sounds. 18:14 So I can even make an oboe sound 18:17 like it's playing in tune. 18:19 You know, 18:21 the reason I'm playing that is 18:24 when I was in college, Alfred Young, the professor, 18:29 their music professor said, 18:31 "You know, you would be better off 18:33 learning all the percussion instruments 18:36 instead of just playing drum set 18:38 'cause I wanted to just be a drum set player. 18:41 Yeah, so that's how it happened. 18:43 I say how much the world would have missed 18:44 had you gotten your wish. 18:47 We will be bereft but indeed we do not. 18:50 I want to go to Claire de Lune just now, 18:52 so that we can actually hear these guys play 18:54 because they do such a beautiful job. 18:55 I've heard this over the years, 18:57 because you've played it here before some years ago, 19:00 but it never ceases to enthrall me, 19:02 it's such a beautiful tune, and you do it so well. 19:05 So let's, let's play now. 19:07 Claire de Lune, this is Jonathan and Benjamin 19:10 Burchfield. 21:56 Beautiful. Well done, well done. 21:57 Very well done. 21:59 Jonathan, tell us that story about 22:00 the guitar that you're playing there you're saying. 22:02 That is a Martin guitar. 22:05 The Martin family 22:07 out east in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. 22:12 Had one of the fellows died about four years ago 22:16 suddenly at the age of 48. 22:19 To commemorate his life, 22:21 they built 48 of these classical guitars. 22:25 And I'm playing the 12th one that they built. 22:28 So it's made out of Engelmann spruce on the top 22:34 and mahogany on the back and sides, 22:36 and it's a real soft soothing instrument so. 22:41 So it's a real pleasure to play that instrument. 22:44 Did you inherit your dad's guitars 22:45 or do you have a collection of your own? 22:47 Have my own because most of the ones 22:49 I have were made for me by particular Luthiers, 22:55 but this one is the only one 22:57 that isn't made is this Martin but I, 22:59 I saw it and I thought of 23:01 such a beautiful instrument 23:02 I got that on my own but all the others, 23:05 our people spread throughout the United States 23:08 that just enjoy building 23:10 and they've been kind enough to make me instruments. 23:13 Now, when you say 23:14 'cause that fascinates me, it made for me, 23:16 okay. 23:18 A suit made for you, they measure you, 23:21 sleeve length, inseam blah, blah, blah, yada, yada. 23:24 How does one make a guitar for you? 23:27 Is there a certain sound you're looking for 23:28 that they're trying to replicate? 23:30 There is a sound and there is also a feel. 23:35 Now, for instance one of my builders 23:36 is a fellow in California. 23:40 He builds wood that I love. 23:43 For instance I love Jacaranda wood. 23:45 So he makes sure there's Jacaranda in the instrument. 23:49 He carves the neck in a way that fits my hand nicely. 23:54 He used a Sitka spruce 23:56 which is comes from the north east somewhere 23:59 and it has a slightly different sound than this Engelmann 24:03 that I'm playing today. 24:05 And then he makes the thickness because he sees 24:08 how I lay my arm on it, so he'll make a certain... 24:12 Notice it also with most of these instruments, 24:15 I tend to have a heavy arm when I play them well, 24:19 I'm hugging it too tight 24:21 and that can really stop the really nice resonating. 24:25 So you know if there's an arm rest 24:27 like a violin would have. 24:29 Well, that way I don't stop to resonate 24:32 'cause I kind to tend to hug the instrument. 24:33 Okay, so they really tailor it to 24:36 how you play and what 24:37 and what your body does when you are playing. 24:39 Even the strings, 24:40 he makes it just close enough knowing 24:42 how I get under the string 24:44 and how I tack the string 24:46 and that way they know just how 24:48 high or how low to make it. 24:50 Boy, Ben, you don't get to get all that stuff, man. 24:52 I'm worry, man. 24:55 Well, I used to play the real marimba 24:57 and that was made out of wood. 24:58 Yeah. Yeah. 24:59 But some of your mallets were made for you though. 25:01 Yeah. Yeah. 25:02 Yeah, I had some mallets made for me by a carpenter. 25:05 Now what we're looking for when we're making mallets, 25:07 the length of or thickness of wood 25:10 or how to put up your fingers that kind of thing. 25:11 Yes, both. 25:12 Yeah, thickness, length, 25:15 the size of the mallet, everything. 25:17 Yeah. 25:18 Incredible. 25:20 When you are playing, can you tell when... 25:26 and I got to use kind of pedestrian language here, 25:28 when you, when the audience, when you've got the audience 25:30 when they're with you, 25:31 when they're kind of on your wavelength, 25:33 can you feel that, when you're preaching 25:35 there is a bounce back for one of a better I think. 25:37 There's something that's coming back from that audience. 25:40 You can tell they're kind of with you. 25:41 Do you feel that when you're playing also? 25:43 Absolutely. Yeah. 25:44 Sometimes I just feel it 25:46 and sometimes I can actually hear the audience responding. 25:49 Yeah. 25:50 If there's conversations, you know, 25:52 they're probably not with you, you know but when they're... 25:57 When you can hear everything in the room 26:00 and your music literally 26:01 bounces off the wall and comes back, 26:03 you know people are paying attention. 26:04 So when they're real quiet and you look 26:07 and you see in the eyes, that's when they are attentive. 26:09 Yes. 26:10 And of course, the most of that is after 26:15 when people tell us what's going on but during... 26:20 Yes, you sure can tell. 26:21 And, you know, if they're into songs like Claire de Lune, 26:25 or if they'd rather have, you know, 26:27 some more spirited peace. 26:30 You can kind of tell 26:31 what they're in the mood for it, so... 26:33 But we don't rely on that, 26:34 because some of our crowds might be a little stoic. 26:37 They don't know how to respond until it's all done with. 26:40 Yeah. 26:42 Matter of fact, 26:43 we were doing a concert one time 26:45 with a major group, we're on a tour with a group, 26:50 and we were at this one place 26:53 where there's one cluster of people 26:56 that were so quiet. 26:58 They didn't respond to anything and were thinking, 27:02 boy, that cluster of people, it's dark so you couldn't see. 27:05 And I thought these people aren't into this whatsoever, 27:09 and then after the concert here came that cluster 27:13 and it was all of our relatives 27:15 and they're stoic. 27:17 I don't why they're so stoic. 27:19 And they said, "We loved it." 27:20 And well, I do, if I would have known it was them, 27:22 well, they're not gonna say a word, 27:24 they're not going to do anything. 27:25 I didn't know they were in the crowd that night. 27:27 Yeah. Yeah. 27:28 You got to kind of feel 27:30 sometimes silence can be disinterest or sleep 27:34 and sometimes a little buzz is excitement. 27:36 I remember years ago we went to New Zealand, 27:38 and I'm accustomed. 27:40 If you go up in the black church, 27:41 there is this call and response kind of thing, 27:44 for every out, there is something back, 27:46 and it lets you know right away 27:48 if you're reaching your audience. 27:50 It's very easy. 27:51 When you go to other audiences, when we were in Australia, 27:53 Danny, we're all down and I'm preaching 27:55 and I get nothing. 27:56 So you step it up, you know, I think so you step it up, 27:59 you know, still nothing. 28:01 And at the end 28:02 we were at the door and everybody is very, 28:04 you know, effuse you with their praise 28:07 and but nothing during the messages. 28:08 Oh, we never say, that's impolite. 28:10 You know that's, we would never say anything during the sermon, 28:13 and I'm really breaking out sweat 28:14 trying to get some response 28:15 and it's just not what they, what they do. 28:18 As far as your formal education, 28:23 where did you guys go to school? 28:25 We went up north in Bourbon, Illinois, to south of Chicago, 28:29 went to all the schools there and then went to all of it 28:34 Nazarene University. 28:36 I went to the conservatory 28:38 and studied jazz drumming there. 28:41 Yeah. 28:43 I tried to go to college there, I lasted one month, 28:48 and then I was invited to leave. 28:51 They didn't feel I was right for college, 28:55 and I was so interested in guitar 28:59 and just wasn't interested in the big thick books. 29:02 But you know what? 29:04 The Lord is so merciful I, 29:07 I remember being heartbroken when they asked me to leave. 29:12 I went home with stack of books thinking I can't believe it, 29:15 this is it. 29:16 What am I supposed to do now? 29:18 And I was asking the Lord, is there another plan you have. 29:21 I'm trying to pray to Lord, 29:23 and that night in the middle of the night, 29:25 one of my very all time favorite 29:28 traveling groups called and they said, 29:30 "Would you like to tour with us? 29:31 And I said, "When?" 29:33 They said, "This week, starting this week." 29:35 And I said, "You know what, I sure would." 29:39 And so as that week, 29:41 I was gone on a tour as a teenager, 29:44 and we were the backup group for Roy Clark, 29:47 the country singer and, and so the Lord was merciful. 29:51 He knew I was going to be invited to leave college 29:54 and he already had a plan 29:56 where my little education then would be 29:59 sitting around with seasoned guitar players 30:02 and learning that way, that's what I did. 30:04 It occurs to me 30:05 there are some who does have a calling on their life 30:07 and a gift that supersedes what you can learn in school. 30:10 There are lot of people in this industry, in television 30:13 who are, who are really at the high end of the game 30:16 and they have had some basic education, some none. 30:19 But they just sort of put their nose to it, 30:21 did what they had to do and out of that those talents 30:24 that were there were just, were just developed, 30:27 and it seems to be that way with you. 30:28 So then I ask this question. 30:30 How much of what you do now 30:32 is a consequence of what you got in school 30:35 or your focus and growth after school? 30:38 Well, Benji has a degree in music. 30:41 So he probably has a whole lot more benefit 30:45 when he got in school than I do. 30:47 It's that you've expanded so much though since school, 30:49 you know. 30:51 I have, I have. 30:53 There again I'm thankful 30:55 for the people that mentored me, 30:57 and influenced me. 30:58 Yeah, I was influenced by listening to records 31:04 even when I was before school, when I was a kid, 31:06 dad would put on the Chuck Wagon Gang. 31:10 You remember that group? I do not. 31:13 So listen to that classical, but, yeah, after school. 31:18 I'd hear groups like River Dance. 31:21 Oh, yes. 31:22 And that's why I was influenced to play that low D whistle. 31:28 There're too many groups to name. 31:30 Yeah, see, I hear this fusion when... 31:34 I'm a New York guy and we didn't go to theater too much, 31:37 but my wife and I, 31:39 we want to see the River Dance three times. 31:42 And if it hadn't left, we probably go on to see it, 31:44 because, first of all just fantastic stuff, 31:46 but all of that is fused in what you do. 31:48 You hear the country elements, you hear the Ozark elements, 31:52 you hear the classical elements, 31:53 and you definitely hear the Irish elements. 31:55 And it makes a really beautiful thing 31:56 and it's in everything that you do. 31:58 Everything is a fusion of all of these kinds of things. 32:00 If we're listening, you hear, oh, yeah, and you hear, 32:02 oh, yeah, you hear that, yeah. 32:03 Yeah, absolutely right. 32:05 You know I was influenced by New York guitarist 32:09 named Tony Mottola. 32:10 When I was very young, I would put quarters on the turntable 32:14 to slow his notes down 32:16 and just try to pick out all these beautiful chords. 32:20 Very popular guitarist up there. 32:22 And then later in life made a Christmas CD 32:26 where I do his influence was in some of the songs. 32:31 And I incorporated that and suddenly I got a letter 32:34 in the mail and it was said, "Anthony Mottola" 32:38 I thought well who is Anthony Mottola? 32:40 And I opened it up and said, 32:41 "I was just listening to your CD, 32:45 I just love the stuff you did and he signed, Tony Mottola." 32:49 And I wrote him back and I said, "Tony, 32:51 you're a great influence on me. 32:52 Did you recognize your stuff in the songs I..." 32:55 Because he was talk about a CD he just got. 32:58 So I never would have guessed 33:00 to have gotten a letter from him, 33:02 but it was just by listening to his records 33:04 that it just got into my soul and then in my mind. 33:07 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 33:09 It occurred to me that you just began to grow 33:12 both of you as you began to do it, 33:14 you know, in a lot of other things. 33:15 I want to go to "Near my God to Thee." 33:17 But let me make this commercial for them. 33:19 If you really want good seasonal stuff, these guys. 33:23 You got to get this really. 33:26 After having listened to for last several Christmases 33:29 at my in-laws just really all of the stuff is good. 33:33 But their holiday stuff is just step up to me, 33:37 it's just, you know, put it on, 33:39 you let it become the background of your day. 33:41 It's just there, it's present, it's present, it is pleasant 33:44 and just kind of moves your day along. 33:46 Really, really good stuff. 33:47 Our next piece is "Nearer My God to Thee." 33:49 Anything you want to say to set this up. 33:51 Absolutely, you know on the Titanic, 33:55 historically the final song that was played 34:00 while the ship was going down was "Nearer My God to Thee." 34:05 So that's why we put it with a little bit of Titanic melody 34:10 in there with it. 34:11 That's how this arrangement came about. 34:13 Excellent, you'll enjoy this, "Nearer My God to Thee." 36:46 Amen. 36:48 Now, that you mention, I'm looking for, 36:49 I saw the rest on the armrest, I'd never seen that before. 36:53 They're just, it didn't occur it was there 36:55 and how your hand kind of fits around 36:56 how an instrument can be built for you. 37:00 Benji, I'm gonna ask you, how long did it turn, 37:02 take you to master the whistle or the whistles? 37:05 I'm still trying to master it but... 37:08 You know, come to think of it in fourth grade, 37:11 I had to take that class in school, 37:13 is called the recorder class or the tone nuts. 37:17 I loved that class. 37:19 I didn't pick up whistles until oh, 37:22 it was a former agent of ours gave one to me as a gift, 37:27 and I don't remember what year that was, 37:29 and I just started messing with it and it took. 37:34 I don't know it took a few years 37:35 to really start learning how to bend the notes. 37:38 You know, I roll the fingers to get that Irish bend. 37:43 So let's put it this way, 37:46 it's a little easier than playing the clarinet. 37:50 Well, praise the Lord. Yeah. 37:52 Yeah. Yeah. 37:53 Now, you actually whistle at the beginning of that song. 37:57 Lot of practice to do that? 38:00 It took some, I think I got that from dad, 38:02 because he used to whistle a lot in the mountains. 38:07 And I would practice whistling even while I swam laps. 38:12 Because it's impossible to whistle 38:13 with water on your face, 38:15 but it just makes me work harder. 38:18 Work harder. Yeah. 38:19 Yeah, so. 38:21 Do you guys and I need to ask, practice every day 38:24 or do you practice x number of hours per day even now? 38:27 Individually, not as a group. 38:30 I have a guitar in my hands every day. 38:33 Because I'm constantly writing things 38:35 writing original music, planning to record things, 38:39 our next CD is going to be called, 38:40 "The Whistler." 38:42 So it'll be a lot of whistling on it. 38:45 The artwork is done and it's a picture of Ben 38:48 walking up what looks like Chilhowee Mountain. 38:51 But dad walked up there and he whistled. 38:53 So there's always something to do. 38:57 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know. 38:58 I don't sit around and play scales anymore, 39:01 but there's always playing 39:02 to do and working on material things. 39:05 If and when you have to miss a day, 39:07 do you feel any change 39:08 or are you at the level now where you can skip a day 39:11 and not feel any kind of diminution of your skills. 39:14 What happens if I learned my lesson, 39:17 there were times on these last 25 years 39:20 of touring that I would get busy and not play for, 39:24 you know, two or three days before a concert. 39:27 It was the hardest concert ever 39:30 because your fingers 39:34 are not moving fast, 39:39 they're sluggish. 39:40 Where as when you play all the time there... 39:42 Whatever you're thinking they're going to go there. 39:45 So I learned don't miss, you know, 39:48 a day we're going to understand 'cause things happen, 39:50 But don't miss much more than that. 39:52 The worst thing too is if I miss too many days 39:56 the tips of my fingers get very sensitive. 40:01 So I can be in front of audience and I realize, 40:03 you know what, that hurts to play these chords, 40:05 doesn't it. 40:07 I can't let the audience know that but if I play every day, 40:11 that toughness stays there and there's no, you know, 40:14 no pain in playing these chords. 40:17 Well, you get so enraptured. 40:19 Sometimes it looks like you're in pain, so it's not... 40:23 And they'll not know. 40:24 Sometimes it is pain and yeah, usually it's just, 40:27 you're emotionally caught up. 40:29 And what I say for young people, 40:30 because it's even at your skill level 40:32 as long as you've been doing this, 40:34 as well as you do it, 40:35 you still need to practice every day, 40:36 at least get your hands on your instrument every day. 40:38 It doesn't go away, you've got to stay with it. 40:40 You know it's a... 40:42 The old saying is, "If you miss one day, 40:46 you'll know it if you miss two days, 40:48 your teacher will know it if you miss three days, 40:50 your audience will know it. 40:51 That's true. 40:54 Same with you, Benji. 40:55 Do you practice every day or put some time in every day. 40:56 No, it's not the same with me. 40:59 I can take a month off and be fine, 41:02 because percussion is different, string players, 41:04 yeah, I can see where they have to stay on it, 41:08 they build those calluses, different with drummers 41:12 and percussionists and whistle players. 41:15 Yeah. 41:16 If I was playing clarinet, yeah, 41:18 I'd have to practice every day 'cause that takes jaws. 41:19 Do you have a regimen that you follow 41:21 as far as playing, trying to get to. 41:22 No, I just do what inspires me. 41:26 I've got a couple of synthesized keyboards at home 41:30 and I arrange music on those. 41:34 Well, I don't wait for the inspiration. 41:36 If you do that, you'll never do anything. 41:39 Sometimes I force myself to sit down and play something 41:42 on the keys until a song starts developing. 41:47 So that's a new thing for me, starting to write coral. 41:52 I like layer even though I'm an instrumental 41:54 so I love good lyrics. 41:57 Working on one now called, Hallelujah and Amen. 42:01 And I love the word, Hallelujah. 42:03 Because it's, you know, you talk about music 42:05 being the universal language. 42:07 Hallelujah is the universal word 42:10 'cause it's pronounced the same in every country 42:13 around the whole world. 42:14 Yeah, nice. Yeah. 42:15 Is there a pecking order 42:17 as far as your creativity is concerned? 42:20 Both of you sort of put it being in a pot 42:21 or do you kind of bring something kind to digest it 42:23 or you work on things together 42:25 or do you work more individually, 42:26 then bring it the final thing together. 42:28 Every which way you could imagine 42:31 sometimes for instance so... 42:32 Well, one of the Christmas CDs. 42:35 I heard a pianist in Canada playing a lick is like... 42:40 I thought, wow, that's so percussive and cool. 42:43 So I came, I grab my guitar and I started playing that 42:47 and I said, "Do this on your marimba." 42:50 So Ben started doing it 42:51 and suddenly I started thinking in my mind 42:53 of this familiar tune that would go with it 42:57 so it could happen in any which way. 42:58 Or I can tell you who that pianist was, 43:01 it was Anthony Burger. Yeah. 43:03 And we put that with carol of the bells. 43:06 Oh, wow! Yeah. 43:07 Yeah. Yeah. 43:09 Which jazzes you more, 43:10 the kind of contemplative meditative pieces 43:13 or the piece with little more cayenne in them. 43:16 You know what? 43:18 Depends on the crowd and a day. 43:19 First of all, first of all... 'Cause I like both. 43:22 That's an amazing question. 43:23 I don't think I've ever heard anyone ask that question before 43:27 so that is a really an amazing question. 43:31 There are times I just want that impressionistic 43:35 contemplative so I could say, 43:37 I don't know what would happen that day. 43:39 You know it could be something that gets you. 43:42 But then there's times I love. 43:46 There's a style that guitarists are using now called... 43:51 Well, it's just a real aggressive right hand style. 43:55 And once you learn it, you love that, 43:59 that energy that you play with whatever chords. 44:03 So I... 44:04 Now I can't live without that, but oh, 44:06 there's a time for Claire de Lune, you know, 44:09 that's just dreamy and soft and you know ambient, 44:15 so that's both. 44:16 So when you're stuck in your concert, 44:17 you try to cross flavors a little bit, you know, 44:21 a little bow for... 44:22 Absolutely, everything. Yeah. Yeah. 44:24 Hits every age. Yeah. 44:26 Little tidbits, a classical little tidbits 44:28 of grassy bluegrass type stuff that we grew up on. 44:33 Gospel you know just different flavors. 44:36 Yeah, we're gonna run out of time 44:37 if I don't so to get chop-chop here we've got. 44:41 Let's see, "Wayfaring Stranger" which I've heard you do before 44:45 which I really, really love. 44:46 This is a nice piece. Yeah. 44:48 Yeah. So Wayfaring Stranger. 48:01 You know, it occurs to me that when you just buy a CD 48:05 of you guys, you miss half the fun. 48:06 Because half of it is watched you guys play, it really is. 48:11 It's not quite a complete experience 48:13 unless you get to see. 48:14 First of all, all the instruments 48:16 that are being played, and then the joy 48:18 that you get out of playing them 48:20 but you do have in your collection 48:21 and looking at your work a DVD. 48:23 Talk to me real quick about that? 48:25 You know, every song we're playing here 48:27 we finally went to a church. 48:29 Someone invited us to come to the church. 48:31 So we got a bunch of cameras. 48:33 Let's just have you do a concert and let's film it, 48:35 and that's, that's really what we did 48:38 as the audiences were sitting there, 48:41 but DVDs do say a lot more than a CD does. 48:45 Yeah. Yeah. 48:46 And people are so visual now they want to kind of see, 48:48 so you have, you have taken care of that. 48:50 I want to run to "Be Still My Soul" 48:53 before we leave you this night. 48:57 Anything to set this up, Benji, Jon, Be Still My Soul. 49:00 This is your arrangement so if you want to. 49:02 You know what? 49:04 To me it's what we all need to do, 49:07 we need to be still and let God minister to us, that's all, 49:11 that's what that song would mean, 49:13 so it's done very softly and very beautifully 49:15 and let God just move how He wants to. 49:18 Excellent, Be Still My Soul. |
Revised 2021-06-01