Working With Chet Atkins - An Interview With Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor is a broadly accepted able fiddler, arresting in country music and in classical music. A adolescent prodigy, O'Connor began belief guitar at age 6. As a jailbait he won civic championships on the guitar, mandolin as able-bodied as the fiddle. His advisers were Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson and Applesauce violinist StГ©phane Grappelli. He has recorded abandoned albums for Rounder, Warner Bros. Records, Sony, and his own CD bandage OMAC Records. He has won two Grammy awards, one for his New Nashville Cats anthology and addition for his Appalachian Journey anthology he did with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer. He was alleged Artist of the Year by the Country Music Affiliation six years in a row (from 1991-1996). One of the a lot of approved afterwards Nashville flat musicians in the 1990s, O'Conner's violin can be heard on endless hits. In his career, O'Connor has beyond agreeable genres, composing, arranging, and recording folk, classical and applesauce music. His Dabble Concerto has accustomed over 200 performances authoritative it one of the a lot of performed concertos accounting in the endure 50 years. He has composed six violin concertos, cord quartets, cord trios, choral works, abandoned unaccompanied works and a new Symphony. He has formed and recorded with a advanced array of artists, such as Chet Atkins, James Taylor, Michelle Shocked, Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck, StГ©phane Grappelli, The Dixie Dregs and Wynton Marsalis. One of his a lot of accepted compositions, Appalachia Waltz (appearing on the anthology of the aforementioned title), has been adopted by Yo-Yo Ma as allotment of his reside achievement repertoire. O'Connor hosts an anniversary dabble affected (the Mark O'Connor Dabble Camp) in Tennessee and anniversary Cord Camps in San Diego and New York. O'Connor is currently active in New York City. TR: I apperceive you grew up in Washington. Can you acquaint me a little bit about your aboriginal music influences? MO: Well, Chet Atkins was absolutely one of those aboriginal music influences. I was a guitar amateur first, alpha about age 6. TR: Yes, in actuality I've apparent a video of you and Chet and Paul Yandell arena on a television actualization from the eighties. You were arena lead. A TNN actualization I believe. MO: Yes, that was "Gallopin' Guitar". Somebody has afresh added that video on my Facebook page. I was a classical guitar amateur initially, and afresh I aswell advised flamenco guitar and assuredly country and bluegrass. TR: And this is afore you anytime even affected the violin? MO: Yes. At age 11 I got absolutely absorbed in bluegrass and country guitar, and I was able to absolutely draw afflatus from all the abundant guitar players that were recording in that era; of course, Chet Atkins, and Jerry Reed, and Doc Watson and some of the bluegrass guitar players like Tony Rice, and Norman Blake. I played a lot of guitar through my boyish years, even afterwards starting the violin. I kept my guitar arena up appealing able-bodied and afresh I recorded an anthology of all guitar music if I was 16 alleged "Markology." And I anticipate "Markology" adeptness be the best guitar plan I've anytime done in my absolute life. I had some appropriate guests on that album, including Tony Rice, Dan Crary, David Grisman and Sam Bush. It was the anthology Chet Atkins heard. It was the aboriginal time he anytime heard of me. Just about a year afterwards that anthology was released, Chet wrote me a letter and he was really, absolutely nice. He said, "I heard your anthology and I absolutely admired it," and he arrive me to appear see him whenever I was in Nashville. It took me awhile to get to Nashville to accept a affair with him. I anticipate I was 22 or so if I assuredly went to Nashville and met Chet in his office. I bethink the chat like it was yesterday. I was sitting in Chet's office, and he said, "You're a accomplished adolescent man. Area are you living?" I said, "Well, currently I'm active in Atlanta, Georgia." and he said, "Well, you should be in Nashville," and I said, "Well, what would I do here?" and he said: "Anything you wish to!" Of advance I was absolutely destroyed away. He asked me afresh what I capital to do and at that point I was affectionate of absent for words, so I blurted out, "Well, I assumption be on television," and as anon as I said that, I acquainted affectionate of ashamed because I absolutely alone said it because I didn't absolutely apperceive what to say -- I was adolescent and awkward. But to my abruptness he said, "Well, I anticipate you can do that - I'll achieve a call." So he alleged Ralph Emery over at TNN, and the buzz chat lasted alone a few minutes. He got off and he said, "Well, what's your agenda the next brace of weeks?" So in just a bulk of account Chet had set that aboriginal television actualization up for me and that is area I went on with Chet and we played "Gallopin' Guitar". TR: You were allotment of the abode bandage there on TNN weren't you? MO:Yes, but that was abundant later. That was afterwards I got to be a actual acclaimed affair amateur in Nashville. After that antecedent TV actualization with Chet I began to do a lot of affair work. I got to be actual active and I was nominated for Artist of the Year for several years, and I accept that "Galloping Guitar'" is from 1983. I started my own actualization on TNN alleged "The American Music Shop" in 1989. TR: So you were active in Nashville from '83 or so? MO: Yes, alpha in 1983. I lived there for 15 years afore affective away. TR: Acquaint me a little bit about how your accord with Chet afflicted afterwards that antecedent breach that he gave you with the TV show. Did you accept added opportunities area you could play with Chet on stage? MO: Yes, there were lots of opportunities and they came in the way of reside performances as able-bodied as flat recordings. He started accepting me as a bedfellow on his own recordings and he even played on one of mine, and I bethink in accurate that I played absolutely a bit on an anthology he did that Mark Knopfler produced. TR: The "Neck and Neck" album? MO: Yes. It was actual agitative to be able to plan with him, and I aswell concluded up aperture up some of his shows on the road, and already in awhile he had me play with him in concert. But I anticipate the a lot of memorable affair for me to accessory with Chet was blind out in his appointment and learning. TR: What was it like if you went to his office? MO: It was absolutely great. We were able to adhere out and play and I would apprehend him try out new account and new things on the guitar, and honestly, I heard him play some of the coolest accepting in those clandestine sessions. He generally played an acoustic guitar in those settings, and he would play a little abnormally than what he did in shows or in recordings. He would play some altered kinds of repertoire that you would never absolutely apprehend him play on albums or in his concerts. What I bethink mostly about that is that in his concerts, he would play mostly added of his country appearance and a little bit of jazz, and in his albums, he would play a little bit added of a abreast style, sometimes a bendable applesauce style, but about his office, he would play absolutely affectionate of eccentric, abstruse abstracts -- things that he would be alert to, say, on a almanac if you transcribed it, or he would plan out arrange or renditions of things. I bethink a lot of Spanish stuff, things with a Latin influence, some classical-oriented accepting and absolutely some of the a lot of admirable guitar plan I've anytime heard. TR: Do you anticipate he played that accepting in the appointment because he didn't anticipate it was acceptable for bartering absolution or that maybe a reside admirers would not like it? MO: Perhaps. I anticipate that he was actual acquainted as a ambassador and as a above almanac characterization arch that in adjustment to achieve a almanac that was commercially viable, you accept to accept an admirers that you're aggravating to target, and maybe he acquainted like some of that accepting was just his own claimed music. Maybe he didn't necessarily charge to absolution it on an anthology because he didn't absolutely apperceive what admirers he would be aggravating to go for. But it was absolutely absorbing that he was so accomplished in all of guitar music, and his appetence and his adeptness forth with his address was able to absolutely awning the abounding ambit of guitar music - the a lot of that I've anytime heard. And he absolutely aggressive me. I would agreement absolutely a lot with it because I myself had advised guitar and admired all the altered styles. We had a lot of that in common. TR: So would you guys in actuality jam in his office, or did you mostly just allocution with him? Were you arena guitar or dabble as well? MO: A lot of times, he would play something for me, and afresh he would consistently wish me to play. I got a faculty that he was like a kid in a bonbon abundance because he capital to play something for me that he'd been alive on. He capital to accept an admirers that absolutely accepted and accepted what he was doing, even if it was just one person. I anticipate every individual artist in Nashville accepted Chet but I anticipate he acquainted adequate arena absolutely altered things for me. It was aswell affectionate of a master-student thing, area he capital to not alone appoint me in the music he was playing, but aswell advise me at the aforementioned time. That was something that I really, absolutely accepted and I anticipate he knew that. TR: Obviously, you acquainted that professionally and musically those were benign moments for you? MO: It absolutely was. At times I had to compression myself. I bethink thinking, "Oh my gosh, I get to go over to Chet Atkins' place, just adhere out for an hour and afresh he takes me out to cafeteria and pays for it!" (laughs) MO: Chet would alarm me and say, "Mark, why don't you appear and appointment me Thursday afternoon," and so I would just pencil it in my agenda and afresh actualization up. If I got there he would say, "Mark, I've got something I wish to you hear," and I never knew what it was traveling to be. Sometimes he would play something that he'd been alive on for a recording or a show, or sometimes he would just get out the turntable -- this was in the '80's, so it was afore CD's. He would get out a turntable and he would play me abstruse accepting that he knew about and it was like a music history assignment every time I showed up. One time he played me this absurd recording of a accompanist from the 1920's that I accept was singing what articulate like, "I'm so alone I could cry," and it articulate just like Hank Williams, but the alone aberration was it had been recorded about 15 or 20 years earlier. And I looked at Chet and I went, "Oh my gosh! Does Hank Williams apperceive him?" It was an old atramentous dejection singer. And I said, "So you anticipate Hank Williams got his appearance from this man," and he said, "Well, it sounds like it, doesn't it?" And we were sitting there in the appointment and we were accepting this epiphany together, and I've never, anytime heard that recording since. I don't apperceive area it came from or who it was, and nobody's anytime mentioned it afore or aback to me. MO: It was just so absorbing every time. And we did plan on some things together. Already in awhile he'd say, "Hey, I wish you to play on a actualization with me, so let's plan up a song," and it could be a Beatles tune, it could be an old dabble tune, I never knew what he had in mind. And you apperceive I accept his ancestor played the fiddle. TR: I accept he played piano too and was a music teacher. MO: Chet played a little bit of dabble himself, and there's not abounding humans absolutely apperceive that because he never absolutely did it professionally. But he in actuality would aces up the dabble now and afresh because he admired it, and it reminded him of his adolescence and his forefathers, and so that was addition affiliation that he and I had. So we had the guitar connection, and afresh aswell he had the adulation of the dabble that not abounding humans knew about. What's absolutely absorbing and acrid about Chet as a bartering almanac ambassador is that he was one of the producers forth with Owen Bradley that in a faculty accounted the dabble not bartering or abreast enough, and he started authoritative recordings with the strings, what was afterwards alleged "the Nashville sound". He admired the dabble and was acceptable accompany with Johnny Gimble. But ironically, he was affectionate of amenable for abbreviating the bulk of bribery in country music for a continued aeon of time. If I showed up to Nashville, the dabble was appealing abundant out of favor, there was absolutely no bribery on recordings anymore, and Chet at that point was retired from his almanac controlling days. With the dabble accepting out of appearance he couldn't absolutely advice get any affair plan for me but that was something I was able to do on my own afar from Chet. But Chet absolutely helped me by accepting me on television, and he put me on his annal and he put me on stage. So suddenly, I started to achieve some advance in the recording arena and I'm abiding that Chet was actual afflicted with how I helped accompany aback the dabble into recordings in Nashville, and I anticipate he was very, actual appreciative and delighted. TR: There was something accounting about you in the Los Angeles Times talking about what a abundant assortment of styles you play., and that you've beyond agreeable boundaries with the altered styles of music that you do. Do you feel like that's something you had in accepted with Chet? MO: Yes, I anticipate so. There's a absolute parallel. As an instrumentalist, I acquired a ample allotment of my ballyhoo and acceptance from Nashville. It was absolutely an important affiliation with Chet because he was the advocate in Nashville. Everything that I could possibly do or achieve was compared to Chet and his career, which was tremendous, and I ample that there was no way to anytime achieve annihilation abreast as abundant as Chet was able to accomplish. And so it gave me a lot of delight that he admired me and accurate me. As continued I'm aggravating to become a abandoned instrumentalist, it was accustomed to attending to Chet. Chet absolutely is the alone one who was absolutely able to do it to such a abstruse admeasurement and accept a absolute abounding career with it. TR: There are so few humans that accept been actual acknowledged as abandoned instrumentalists, and acutely you're one of them. MO: It took absolutely a bit of time for me, and the eras were different. But it was abundant for me to be able to say that I knew Chet and I was able to play with him and apprentice so abundant from him. If I came out with the New Nashville Cats anthology the almanac aggregation said, "Who do you wish to do the liner notes," and Chet was the aboriginal accepting to appear to mind. I was so blessed that he not alone did it, but he absolutely accepted the accomplished project, because that accomplished affair absolutely just happened because of Chet Atkins and what he did for instrumentalists in Nashville. TR: I accept a catechism about the instruments themselves, the guitar and fiddle. As a abandoned instrument, are there some similarities amid them? MO: They both accept strings. TR: That's the alone similarity? MO: Able-bodied technically, it's just a accomplished altered thing. You adeptness as able-bodied play piano. It adeptness as able-bodied be piano and violin, because it's so different. Now, a lot of humans end up arena the guitar because it's a amusing instrument, you use the guitar to accompany a singer. TR: Yes. MO: But actual few humans excel as soloists on both of those instruments. Now today is a little different, but absolutely if I was a kid and absolutely if Chet was a kid, you hardly begin a accepting that did both instruments abandoned with any success. So it absolutely is a altered blazon of thing, although if I best up the violin, I already had seven years of guitar training, so I was able to aces up things faster because at atomic my fingers were affective and I was cerebration about music and I knew how to apprentice music and my ear was adequately able-bodied forth in its ear training, and so things confused abundant faster for me than if I would accept started algid for sure. TR: I was traveling to ask you a catechism about the way you play. Obviously, you accept all the abstruse chops for these instruments. How does affect or activity appear out in your playing? MO: Well, I alarm it like this: With the violin, I am able to abduction an affecting activity that is abysmal central me, and I accept to yield it aback to my childhood. There was something about the music and my adeptness to play aback afresh that absolutely helped get me out of a struggle-filled childhood. It accustomed me to get out of poverty, and to acknowledge nice people. It was a way out of my house, area I would accept apparently been affected into alive activity with my ancestors members. I would accept been alive activity blazon jobs afterwards academy and not practicing. TR: You're talking about concrete activity jobs accompanying to your ancestors situation? MO: Yeah, and there was aswell the actuality that I was accomplished at age 12 and started to achieve money with my arena - that absolutely afflicted them, and so they accustomed me to play. TR: You're talking about your parents? MO: My ancestor mainly. My mother was acquisitive that I would play, but mainly my ancestor was the one that bare convincing. TR: He was the one that fabricated the decisions in the house? MO: Well, you know, times were boxy and he had a son with two easily and a back. He would wish me out there accomplishing activity and architecture and all the accepting he was doing. He formed harder the accomplished day, until 10 at night every day. I apparently got my plan belief from my dad. And I accomplished what it meant if he accustomed me to not accept to do what he did. So I never took it for granted. I accomplished and I accomplished like there was no tomorrow. I've never, anytime abandoned those feelings, so if I play music even today there's this affectionate of affecting acuteness that I can acquisition in my violin arena that makes me anticipate of that little boy that capital to ability out and acquaint the apple that he could absolutely play. TR: Is this something that you approved to back to acceptance in some of your cord camps? MO: Yes, abnormally if humans are accepting a harder time accepting motivated and focused. I absolutely do anticipate that music brings humans together. How abroad could I accept got my acquaintance with Chet Atkins? It was absurd that a 22-year-old artist would appear to accept a accord with Chet Atkins who was in his sixties at that time. It was alone accessible through this appropriate band of music. I never knew a absolute granddad, but vicariously I got something agnate through the relationships with my earlier agreeable mentors, including Benny Thomasson, Stephane Grappelli and Chet Atkins. I was advantageous to be able to be about these role models and I acclaim them with acceptance me to acquisition a appropriate activity to lead. They showed you by archetype how to accept some affectionate of moral compass, and to ability out to altered communities. It's important to consistently be searching to try to do acceptable things through music.Biyang Distortion Analog TR: You can do a lot through music and humans don't apprehend it. MO: Yes. TR: What is the arch anamnesis you accept about Chet? MO: About a few months afore Chet died, I got a buzz call. I bethink I was out in the yard. I was active in San Diego at that time, so I had larboard Nashville and I wasn't seeing Chet consistently anymore, and it had been absolutely awhile aback I'd endure apparent him, and just out of the blue, the buzz rang and they alleged out to me that anyone from Nashville was on the phone. So I ran up to the abode and got the phone, and it was Chet. And I said, "Oh my gosh! How are you doing?" He said, "Fine. I just capital to acquaint you that I adulation you," and it was like the apple just chock-full -- It was just so -- it was just so shocking. TR: He was adage goodbye? MO: He was adage goodbye. It was so heartfelt. And I said "Chet, I adulation you too -- you apperceive that." and he said, "I just capital you to apperceive that, and how abundant you beggarly to me," and afresh maybe a ages later, he was gone. MO: It's very, actual agnate to what Stephane Grappelli did appropriate afore he died. We were at this abode calm a brace of months afore he died and he affective my duke and just didn't wish to let go. I absolutely accept the mentor-student accord is one of the abundant things in humanity. And to be able to acquaintance it with Chet and aswell Benny Thomasson and Stephane Grappelli has just been a accurate advantage for me. Those adventures with these advisers are one of the affidavit why I put on my dabble affected and try to ability out to kids today. TR: Mark, acknowledge you for demography the time to allege today. MO: Acknowledge you so much.