Leo Kottke
(born 11 September 1945, Athens, Georgia, U.S.) is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies. Kottke has overcome a series of personal obstacles including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his hand to emerge as a widely-recognized master of his instrument.
Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke has sporadically moved in a vocal direction, singing in an unconventional yet expressive baritone famously self-described as sounding like "geese farts on a muggy day". [1] In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous and often bizarre monologues with vocal and instrumental selections from throughout his career, played solo on his signature 6- and 12-string guitars.
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Biography
Early life and career
Born in
Athens, Georgia, Kottke moved along with his parents so frequently, he was raised in twelve different states.
[2]
As a youth living in
Muskogee,
Oklahoma, Kottke was influenced by folk and
delta blues music, notably that of
Mississippi John Hurt.
Kottke learned to play
trombone and
violin before moving to the guitar and developing his own unconventional picking style. A mishap with a firecracker permanently damaged the hearing in his left ear,
a condition that would be exacerbated due to exposure to loud noise during firing practice while serving in the
United States Navy Reserve, when his other ear also was damaged.
[3]
After being
discharged from the Naval Reserve due to his partial loss of hearing, Kottke attended
St. Cloud State University in central
Minnesota, but left before completing his studies, choosing instead to
hitchhike around the country,
busking for a living, before finally settling in the
Twin Cities,
Minnesota. There, he recorded his debut album,
12-String Blues
, which was released on the independent Oblivion record label. He recorded
6- and 12-String Guitar
(also known as the "Armadillo album" after the animal pictured on its cover) for
John Fahey's Takoma Records. It remains one of the works most associated with Kottke and has been re-released many times on various record labels.
Fahey's agent
Denny Bruce signed Kottke to
Capitol Records and in 1971, Capitol released Kottke's first major label record,
Mudlark
.
[2]
Pressured in the early 1970s to be a folk singer-songwriter rather than an instrumentalist, he recorded with vocals and backing musicians on albums from this period. In 1972 he released
Greenhouse
, and in 1973, a live album,
My Feet Are Smiling
and
Ice Water
. These albums showed Kottke moving toward an eclectic mixture of musical genres, including folk, rock,
jazz and
bluegrass.
Kottke closed out his contract with Capitol with his seventh album,
Chewing Pine
, in 1975. By now he had also gained an international cult following thanks to his performances at folk festivals. With his 1976 eponymous release, he moved to the
Chrysalis Records.
Injury and new playing style
In the early 1980s, Kottke began to suffer from painful
tendinitis and related nerve damage caused by his vigorous and aggressive picking style (particularly on the 12-string guitar).
[5] As a result, he changed his picking style to a classical style, using the flesh of his fingertips and increasingly small amounts of fingernail rather than fingerpicks, and changing the positioning of the right hand to place less stress on the tendons. He also studied more classical and jazz-oriented compositional and playing techniques. He took a long break from recording and performing and simultaneously moved from his relationship with major labels to the smaller
Private Music label. Private Music was considered a
New Age music label in the
Windham Hill style, and Kottke often found his music categorized as such during this period. After 1986's reflective
A Shout Toward Noon
, he took a brief break from recording before returning with
Regards from Chuck Pink
in 1988.
Later career
Kottke released an album annually from 1989 to 1991, following
My Father's Face
with
That's What
and finally
Great Big Boy
, which featured a guest appearance from
Lyle Lovett. Two years later, Kottke returned with
Peculiaroso
, which featured production by
Rickie Lee Jones. The solo
One Guitar, No Vocals
followed in 1999.
In 2002, Kottke and
Mike Gordon (then the bassist from the band
Phish, which was on an extended hiatus) collaborated on
Clone
, an album featuring
instrumental work and
vocals from both musicians. A second album from the pair,
Sixty Six Steps
, followed in 2005 (by which time Phish was officially disbanded). The duo has toured in support of both albums.
[6] In between these two duet albums, Kottke released a solo album, 2004's
Try and Stop Me
.
Leo Kottke received an honorary Doctorate in Music Performance from the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on May 18
th, 2008, where he gave the
commencement address.
[7]
Tunings
Kottke's guitars are often tuned unconventionally; early in his career he heavily utilized
open tuning, while in recent years he has used more traditional settings but often tunes his guitars as many as two full steps below standard tuning.
Orchestral works, re-recordings and other collaborations
In 1976, Kottke collaborated with arranger
Jack Nitzsche on the release
Leo Kottke
which featured Kottke backed by a small orchestral section on a number of the tracks.
In the later part of his career Kottke has begun reworking and re-recording tunes he wrote and recorded in the early 1970s.
For example, 1999's
One Guitar No Vocals
offered a new instrumental version of 1974's "Morning Is The Long Way Home", with the countermelody opened up from behind the vocal line, stripped of its original trippy lyrics.
[8] Kottke has also combined previously-recorded tunes into new compositions, notably the mini-suite "Bigger Situation", also released on
One Guitar No Vocals
.
In 1990 Kottke and composer
Stephen Paulus created
Ice Fields
, a work for amplified acoustic guitar and orchestra in a
concerto format.
Ice Fields
featured five movements, each based existing Kottke composition, with orchestral backing and interlude sections.
[9] It was premiered by Paulus'
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and has been performed occasionally since but has not been released on record, partly due to the high cost of producing a recording with a full orchestra.
[10]
Kottke has also collaborated on his records with his mentor John Fahey, as well as with
Chet Atkins,
Lyle Lovett,
Margo Timmins,
Mike Gordon, and
Rickie Lee Jones. He has recorded tunes by
Tom T. Hall,
Johnny Cash,
Carla Bley,
Fleetwood Mac,
The Byrds,
Jorma Kaukonen,
Kris Kristofferson, Randall Hylton, and many others.
He has toured with other guitarists playing both solo and ensemble pieces; notably he toured as part of the "Guitar Summit" with jazz guitarist
Joe Pass,
flamenco guitarist
Paco Peña and classical guitarist
Pepe Romero. He is also a frequent guest on the radio variety program
A Prairie Home Companion
.
Discography
#
12-String Blues
(1969)
#
6- and 12-String Guitar
(1969)
#
Circle Round The Sun
(1970)
#
Mudlark
(1971)
#
Greenhouse
(1972)
#
My Feet Are Smiling
(1973)
#
Ice Water
(1974)
#
Dreams And All That Stuff
(1974)
#
Leo Kottke, John Fahey & Peter Lang
(1974)
#
Chewing Pine
(1975)
#
1971-1976 (Did You Hear Me?)
(
compilation album) (1976)
#
Leo Kottke
(1976)
#
The Best
(1976)
#
Burnt Lips
(1978)
#
Balance
(1979)
#
Live in Europe
(1980)
#
Guitar Music
(1981)
#
Time Step
(1983)
#
Voluntary Target
(1983)
#
A Shout Towards Noon
(1986)
#
Regards From Chuck Pink
(1988)
#
My Father's Face
(1989)
#
That's What
(1990)
#
Great Big Boy
(1991)
#
Essential
(1991)
#
Peculiaroso
(1994)
#
Paul Bunyan
(with
Jonathan Winters) (1994)
#
Live
(1995)
#
Standing In My Shoes
(1997)
#
The Leo Kottke Anthology
(1997)
#
Hear the Wind Howl
(released in England and Europe only) (1997)
#
One Guitar, No Vocals
(1999)
#
Clone
(with
Mike Gordon, formerly of
Phish) (2002)
#
The Instrumentals: The Best of the Capitol Years
(2003)
# ''
The Instrumentals: The Best of the Chrysalis Years (2003)
#
Try And Stop Me
(2004)
#
Sixty Six Steps
(with
Mike Gordon) (2005)
Videography
#
Home & Away
(1988)
#
Home & Away Revisited
(2006)
References
- 1994 James Jensen Interview ''Leo Kottke''. Accessed on April 29, 2008.
- Ankeny, Jason Accessed September 27, 2008 ''All Music'' Review
- Accessed on May 30, 2008Life in Northern Colorado interview, May 2007
- Ankeny, Jason Accessed September 27, 2008 ''All Music'' Review
- James Jensen Interview ''Mr. Natural''. Accessed on April 29, 2008.
- "Kottke and Gordon: Calypso-Brushed Guitars" (interview and performance) by David Dye, from NPR's World Cafe November 24, 2005
- OnMilwaukee, Guitarist Kottke receiving UWM honorary degree. Friday, May 30, 2008 Accessed on May 30, 2008.
- Anil Prasad Interview ''Getting to Mouth Off''. Accessed on April 29, 2008.
- Stropes, John. "In Search of the Great American Guitar Concerto", ''Acoustic Guitar Magazine'', March 1991
- "Leo Kottke: Blowing the Saddletank"