I think that same feeling applies to the people that I get to make music with. They deserve the best from me every night, and the only thing that makes the gig bad is if that focus gets broken and you can’t deliver for them. It really doesn’t matter to me if there are a thousand people or two people in the audience. I am thrilled to share music anywhere there are people that want to hear it. Baggetta said to expect new music in the set the trio had composed on the road, which would soon be recorded at BIG EGO in Long Beach, California, upon tour’s completion. The opening act had completed soundcheck, photographer Jim Leatherman had again auspiciously documented the interview (and later the show), and mssv had a gig to play. I’d not thought to ask particulars for how the three had merged as mssv. They are teachers and friends bringing so much to bear in mssv output. Stephen Hodges and Mike Watt play with Baggetta because they love the music, despite the labor of driving across the country and back. The human reactions.- “Egg or oatmeal?” Each day has choices, some rather ordinary. Eventually Baggetta “swiped” one of his father’s guitars, tried his hand at playing along to various records, eventually even fIREHOSE, thus determining he should try composing his own music.- Relationships matter, in particular his father’s encouragement and resulting family-home kitchen-table duets. His father, a fan of Chet Atkins and jazz standards, was keen to share his love of guitar with Mike. Baggetta’s parents have been supportive of his musical inclinations since he was a young teen.Aware the allotted 30 minute interview would soon expire, Baggetta was ok to wrap up some loose ends: His mindfulness to deflate my preconceived notions was bracing, yet refreshing. Like I said, I just want to make music honestly at full-tilt every opportunity I get, because we never know how many more times we might get to do this incredible thing.Īs I type, it occurs to me that Mike Baggetta’s responses might be so nonpictorial that conveying the enthusiasm he has for making music, or the full sound of mssv, would be no picnic. Every truly great musician I know or have learned about, by and large, does not define themselves by genre, so I don’t really think that is anything new from me, either. So why should I just be a “rock guitar player” or whatever? That’s not the point of music to me, anyway. I’m also a husband, son, dishwasher, dog walker, sometimes-cook, friend, etc. I don’t define myself solely by one role in life, “artist” or whatever. So to me, staying away from being pigeon-holed into one genre makes a lot of good sense. I think everyday life has a big influence on what people create too, based on their viewpoints that are in turn shaped by their life experience. I also find that as a human being, we all fill many different roles every day, different but equally important roles. It’s pretty simple to me: I love all kinds of different music equally. But I was happy to hear him say, “I love Davey Williams!” Perhaps, also, too reflective of my own creative framework. His hesitancy to be boxed in was logical, and my intentions in querying further about “what makes you tick” were perhaps hackneyed. And in Gainesville and greater Florida he’d indeed found like-minded musicians. ![]() Yes, the unconscious influence of place might factor into his craft, but his creation purpose - the telos for composing and performing - was honest engagement with people, and much of that was via music. I gathered from him that what mattered above all else was, well, human relationships. I pressed about regionalism, its influences, and found Baggetta’s responses a touch anomalous. But I think Bo Diddley lived down there for a while… I sure like his music. Plus, I’ve never really been a big Tom Petty fan. Of course things influence me and I am who I am, but I guess I don’t really think about it that way. I really like Gainesville and there are some really cool people and things there, but that’s the same for anywhere. So it’d be hard to be defined by just one place anyway. Plus I’m from Western Massachusetts, lived in NYC for 15 years, lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, for six years and met my wife there, then we only moved to Gainesville two years ago. The world is so vast and has so much to offer in so many different ways defining myself by one place felt short sighted. I never really wanted to be known as an artist from, but rather just an artist in the world. I have a habit of trying to, in some way, kind of ignore that geographic thing to some extent. Myself a Floridian, a believer in “place as inspiration,” I asked Mike if ‘gators, Spanish moss, the region’s then-and-now music makers, and humidity had consciously manifested in his work. For the past two years, Baggetta and family have resided in Gainesville, Florida.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |