December 2010

To be honest, I’m surprised it took me five or so columns of Postcards From Page Side to write about not only one of my personal favorite musicians, but a man whose dedication to his craft is unlike anything I have ever witnessed. A true “musician’s musician,” as he’s been called, “an unknown legend” as a CNN interview dubbed him, and a master of his plethora of axes and student of music itself, it’s no wonder why even Jerry Garcia once dubbed him one of his favorite unknown guitar players, opening the eyes and ears of a different audience to the world that is STEVE KIMOCK.

I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Kimock a few times over the years, and in different settings such as Jam Cruise, or over a glass of red wine backstage – which much like his playing, makes you appreciate patience and maturity to gain the full effect. I’ve also worked for him for HeadCount as his Artist Rep, and having done other small work for his camp and led street team efforts. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is the man loves to talk not only music, but about his gear and the nuiances and intricacies of improvisation – something that he is clearly a pioneer of (he’s been playing for 40+ years, maybe more), and makes sound so effortless.

Besides technical efficiency, which is almost anti-rock star in methodology, Kimock takes pride in tone and draws and blends together on all sorts of genres from jazz, to middle eastern, to rock and everything in between. He has played with some “main” bands over the years, most notably Zero, KVHW, was part of the legendary Phil & Friends lineup in ’99 (and beyond for a spell), a few incarnations of The Steve Kimock Band and most recently Praang and Crazy Engine.

READ ON for more of this week’s Postcards From Page Side…