WJGM Interview

The WJGM Interview

WJGM: When did you start writing music?

KB: Of course, I can't really pinpoint a day or year when I began to write songs.
Ever since I picked up a guitar, I suppose, which would be five-and-a-half years
ago, I've been inventing my own way around it - combining lyrics with chords - and
as time progressed, I somehow became the songwriter I am today and will grow
to be in the future.

WJGM: Why do you write music?

KB: I write music because it comes to me. Because songs jitter in my head until
I figure them out on a guitar and with my voice, and with words. So it's the love of
the art, and my song-singy mind that haunts me. I suppose the reason I share my
songs is for the love of performance. One of the greatest feelings in the world is
that connection when people dig your stuff; a person who you've never really met
or talked to who gets it. It's one of the amazing things about music and maybe the
reason - no matter how much it hurts me, and how much I fail in writing, which can
often be a painful process - why I keep coming back for more.

WJGM: Has Ani DiFranco been any sort of influence to your style?

KB: Everyone asks me that. I don't listen to Ani at all. Never have. Not that I don't
like her, it's just that I can't get into her for some reason.

WJGM: What was your purpose for writing "Blah Blah Blah," and what is it's meaning?

KB: The song is actually called "The Six Year Old Song." It's a love song about
really digging someone from afar, and whenever you try to get near them and clue
them into how you really feel, your mind just goes to jello and you end up acting
oddly and nonsensical. When I wrote it, I actually had a fantasy of being at an
upcoming gig I had, where I knew this guy I had a thing for would be there - my
sort of adoration from afar - and this song came to me as a soundtrack to the
vision. You like that song?

WJGM: Yes, very much. Have you ever played any gigs?

KB: Yeah, I played at a coffee shop in my area last May with my band, which
consists of two percussionists - a set player and a kid who plays hand drums
like congas and stuff. In late August, I played at a little local theatre in my area
called "The Attic Playhouse" opening for another local folk artist named Steve
Kessler. Lately, I haven't been seeking many gigs, though I've been opening
for folk artists every couple months for a woman who holds "house concerts"
in my area. House concerts are a popular gig for up-and-coming folk
musicians trying to get established. I open for these musicians with about three
songs.