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Matt Kelly Keeps Kingfish In Motion

by Marc Blaker

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I caught up with head Kingfish Matthew Kelly at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA on June 28, 1999, the final show of their tour. Both sets were an enjoyable mix of old and new tunes featuring Jenni Muldaur and Anna Rizzo on many of the vocals. With Barry Sless (DNB) on lead guitar and Mookie Siegel (DNB) on keyboards and vocals we were treated to some jazzy/spacey jams on "Iko Iko." Vince Littleton (Merl Saunders) is one great drummer, and his work on "Mona" was worth the price of admission. Newcomer Mike Sugar (formerly of Jambay) really sparkled on bass.

With bottled waters in hand we sat down in the dressing room for an informal post-show chat.

MB: Will you continue touring with this band?

MK: Well, I quit Ratdog because I was getting a little bit of road burnout. It wasn't Ratdog per se; it was just the cumulative effect of 30 years of being on the road. I got to the point where I decided I'd been there and done that and I needed to do something else. I moved to Hawaii and then this record came out, "Sundown on the Forest". We needed to do some promotional dates and we've been having a lot of fun. So definitely we'll do more dates. As far as getting out there, you know - road warriors, we don't want to do that. I'd love to do some fun dates if we get some good offers.

MB: This was your only local show. Will you play more in the Bay Area?

MK: I'd love to. The problem is that Mookie and Barry are from Baltimore.

MB: And they have other jobs.

MK: I don't know if you know that they're playing with Phil & Friends.

MB: I'll be there.

MK: Me too.

MB: The Dave Nelson Band has such great energy. You must like having some of that energy in your band.

MK: Fabulous! Absolutely fabulous!

MB: Kingfish has had many lineups over the years.

MK: The last two Kingfish configurations were basically the same lineup. We had a different bass player.

MB: Billy Laymon? (of DNB)

MK: No. Billy sometimes fills in but this tour we were using Fred Cambell who's on the album. Fred has retired from the music business and is working for a computer firm in New Jersey so we picked up Mike Sugar who's just been phenomenal. I'm excited by this. We've been having fun. This is a fun band. Definitely we'll do some more dates.

MB: The song "Sundown on the Forest" is dedicated to Julia Butterfly Hill. (Northern California environmental activist who's been living in a redwood tree for over a year) How did that come about?

MK: Actually the song was written before Julia shimmied up her tree. (laughs) While finishing up the album I was hearing a lot about Julia. I heard some interviews with her and I was very impressed with her as a person, as a woman, of conviction. It just seemed appropriate. The song is about saving the Rainforest or it could be the redwoods. I wanted to do something to give back to her. She's done so much for the rest of us.

MB: Have you given thought to a benefit?

MK: Well, not for her personally, but Ratdog did a few benefits for that particular cause.

MB: Jenni and Anna are a great fit.

MK: Anna has worked with us on and off for years. This is the first tour Jenni has done. As you know, she's on the album. I like having women in the band; it adds a whole new dimension.

MB: You obviously don't mind if people tape your shows. (A huge rig was right in front of the stage).

MK: Someone had some serious microphone setup out there. I'd love to get a copy. I like good room mics better than boards. The boards are a little brittle or something. They don't catch all the stuff.

MB: After tonight's show, one could conclude that the longer jams have been replaced by more tunes.

MK: It varies from show to show. Some nights we do really long jams. For this particular club I felt it was appropriate to do more songs, it was that kind of room.

MB: "Juke" has been in your repertoire since the beginning.

MK: (laughs) I've done that song for years and years. Actually I've got some more instrumentals that I do but for some reason we haven't broken them out.

MB: I really like that new song.

MK: The slow one? I couldn't hear my voice on it. But I love the song. I felt like I was singing it better here in the dressing room but when I got on microphone I couldn't really hear. Anyway, I'm glad you like it. That was kind of an audition.

MB: I hope to see you soon in the Bay area.

MK: We'll see what we can do about that.

MB: Thanks for your time.

MK: My pleasure. Thank you.