064: Kent Klineman
Good morning! This is Play It Like It’s Music. I’m Trevor, thanks for listening.
On Wednesday, November the 11th of 2020 music is not content, it’s connection.
I don’t know about you but I’m really struggling to hold it together mentally this week. After all the goings on and the buildup and whatnot, nerves are fried and it appears the Big Conversation is just going to keep getting more and more perverse for all parties involved.
Not like it’s that unusual, things are perpetually unchained if you look in the right places. But let me tell you, I did something yesterday that gave me an unusual amount of energy and inspiration: I brought my stuff over to a guy’s house and we played some music together.
In the same room.
Woah let me tell you.
Bananas, right? I brought out the cello and the bass and plugged it all in. He had an array of drum machines and synths all wired up and we just went from scratch. YO! We didn’t stop for like an hour and a half. It was weird, just showing up to play. Like for fun. But that’s what it was: FUN.
Who knows when this pandemic is ever gonna ease off - people are still catching it and those numbers aren’t going down like you might wish. But for us musicians it’s a total killer. We totally had our masks on and sat real far apart like sane people will, but it felt pretty rebellious just to be doing it at all. Which is a problem.
Music is the thing we’re supposed to be able to do to heal ourselves, to get connected, to feel whole and all the rest of it. Folks haven’t really been able to play properly for over six months now and man does that lack take a toll.
I remember going for little dryspells in between gigs, then playing and having my body just remember and exhale and want to go back and do it all over again. There’s some somatic signal that makes everything ok for a little while, like a feeling of “this is what you’re here to do”. Know what I mean?
Here’s hoping we can all get back to doing what we’re here to do, sooner rather than later.
Today on the show we have Kent Klineman of Blind Pony, a great character actor who you might have seen in TV shows like “The Practice” or “Better Things”. He also acted with Brian Dennehy in “Death Of A Salesman”. Guy’s a veteran, and he happens to also be a musician and songwriter.
I was happy to catch up with him for an engaging chat about his upbringing and approach and attitude to all things music and art. He’s a fantastic dude and it was an honor to have him on the show this week.
Quick ask: if you believe this show deserves a wider audience, please tell a friend:
It’s an honor to have him on the show.
Press PLAY above to hear my conversation with Kent Klineman.
Or subscribe in your podcast app: Apple Podcasts - Spotify- Stitcher - TuneIn - Overcast - Pocketcast
Thanks for listening to Play It Like It’s Music. Thanks so much to Kent Klineman for spending some very generous time with us. You can find him on Spotify, Youtube, IMDB and on Wikipedia.
The book Kent mentioned is called "Start Your Own Band" by Marty Jourard, keyboard player for The Motels.
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to 64 shows! If you believe this show deserves a wider audience, please tell a friend:
Follow me on twitter @trevorexter and talk to me on there if you have thoughts about the show.
We're all contending with a mutating professional landscape, jacked revenue streams, a catastrophic global pandemic and plenty of other noise out there.
But you gotta keep playing:
We don't draw any lines here between scenes or styles.
As always, thank you for listening and remember to play it like its music.
You can check out my music on bandcamp and other places. It’s all at my website, trevorexter.com. Sign the mailing list on substack to get this show sent right to you the very moment it comes out.
Music is a beautiful thing and it makes the world go round.
Big love to your ears.
Trevor
(Did you press play yet?)
.
.
.
If you like this stuff, help it spread by sharing it!
* Subscribe to the show directly in your podcast app: Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Stitcher - TuneIn - Overcast - Pocketcast
* Hear all of our guests in rotation on “Playlist It Like It’s Music” (Apple/Spotify)
* Hear my songs: the “Trevor Exter Playlist” (Apple/Spotify)
* Vibe out, here are 200 songs I like: (updated regularly on Spotify)
* Take lessons with me online!
* Hire me to produce your podcast.
* More @trevorexter.com
psst… sign up for emails:
Get full access to "Play It Like It's Music" by Trevor Exter at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe