Getting back to their roots … Larry Keel & Jon Stickley
“The music flows out so naturally when we jam together,” — Jon. Can you take us back to your first memory of picking up a guitar? What drew you to it?
(Jon) My first memory is picking up my dad’s 1970s Guild acoustic when I was too little to play it. When I got to be 11 or 12 years old, my dad showed me a few chords on it, but then I saw the movie Back to the Future, and all I could think about was electric guitar for many years. I think back then, guitars were still part of the American bloodstream, so I was just naturally drawn to them, like cars or cowboys. I don’t know if it’s the same anymore.
(Larry) I watched my father and brother playing guitars (and lots of other musicians who came around the house) since I was born, and when I was maybe 3 or 4, I started playing spoons with them. I got pretty good at that and became known as ‘Spoon Boy!’ But I think my dad and brother got tired of hearing me play spoons, and my brother bought me a guitar when I was 7. Once I got a real guitar in my hands, I could hardly put it down.
What’s the most unforgettable moment you’ve had on stage?
(Jon) My most recent unforgettable memory, other than the dream come true of playing with Larry Keel, was filling in for Billy Strings with a broken finger in Colorado while Hurricane Helene was hitting my hometown of Asheville. It was a pretty heavy weekend.
(Larry) Playing with my brother at MerleFest back in the early 2000’s. He was the one who really taught me how to play and took the time for years to help me get better. To get to play a national festival with him was a major life moment for me.
The Larry Keel & Jon Stickley Duo, Bluegrass, progressive acoustic, and Americana. Your music often blends tradition with experimentation. How do you balance honoring the roots of bluegrass with pushing its boundaries?
(Jon) Bluegrass music has a very strong traditional foundation. And that foundation of high-level musicianship, tone, and timing with the communal spirit of folk music runs through most music that comes out of the bluegrass tradition. Today, people are creating their own style of Bluegrass based on artists who have already taken the music in a whole new direction, so there’s just a crazy evolution going on. Larry and I, like many other amazing players on the scene today, are always drawn back to the roots of good old-fashioned bluegrass. We can’t help but inject our own personalities into it.
(Larry) Bluegrass and old-time music are pretty much in my DNA, coming from mountain people on both sides of my family. My grandfather on my mother’s side is credited with ‘writing’ the super old-timey song “Got a Mule to Ride,” which the Stanley Brothers (Ralph and Carter Stanley) heard and went on to play and record themselves. So, that deep mountain sound is just a natural foundation to my style, I guess. But ever since I can remember, I enjoyed trying to ‘master’ the way the master flat pickers sounded (Doc Watson, George Shuffler, Don Reno, Tony Rice, etc.), but then use what I learned from their licks to create my own sound. I’m from a different time from them, so I’ve heard different music and sonic explorations than most of them ever got to hear. And all those other sounds and styles fire me up and inspire me in all kinds of new directions. Like Jon’s playing! I don’t know if I actually ‘balance’ honoring the roots of bluegrass with pushing its boundaries — it just comes out the way my ear and my mind and my ‘right arm’ tell me to do it.
Are there any dream collaborations or musical ideas you’ve yet to explore?
(Jon) For me the possibilities are endless! The bluegrass world is a very collaborative one, and there are always new people to play with. There are also an infinite amount of ideas to explore, way more than I have time for. I always thought a masked bluegrass band would be amazing. It will be like a supergroup, but no one would know who the members are. Like Slipknot or Imperial Triumphant of Bluegrass.
(Larry) Oh, that’s endless… I have pretty much infinite ideas for new music, all the time. Not that I can always put it together cohesively! And there are more collaborations I’d love to dive into… A few fantasy ones would be with: Ernest Ranglin, Sting, and Willis Alan Ramsey.
New project, a five-track EP, has given you a chance to get back to your roots. It includes three lyrical tracks — two written by Larry and a cover of “Sailor Suit” written in the 1990s by Steve McMurry — along with two cosmic instrumentals written by Jon. What are you most excited for listeners to take away from this release?
(Jon) I hope people really enjoy this take on the two-guitar stripped-down musical format. Anyone who is a fan of Larry and me will be familiar with the progressive work we’ve done with our own projects and will hopefully be happily refreshed by this foray into a traditional sound. This is what you would hear us do around a late-night campfire at a festival.
(Larry) I really hope listeners can instantly feel the brotherhood and love that went into making this project, and that it energizes and inspires them like playing with Jon does for me. I hope this project sheds a whole new light on what’s possible with the acoustic guitar.
Do you see this EP as a turning point or the beginning of a new phase in your music?
(Jon) This is definitely the beginning of Larry and I working together more. Since we recorded this, we’ve done some touring together, and everything has been phenomenal. The shows are high energy and so much fun. We will definitely be playing more shows and recording more together.
(Larry) I’ve wanted to collaborate with Jon for a long time, and now that it’s finally happening, it’s definitely pumping new life into my music. This project is just getting started, and I’m very excited about that.
“Pioneers,” is a delicately picked work of bluegrass-folk that finds Larry revisiting a song written ‘many moons ago’ and breathing fresh life into it with Jon’s contribution. Do you approach composing original material differently than interpreting traditional tunes?
(Jon) Whenever reworking a traditional tune, I always try to say something new that hasn’t been said before. I would never revisit an old tune unless I felt there was something new I could add to it. It’s kind of the same way with my original material. If I start down a road and it feels like a rehashing of an old idea, I just scrap it and do something else.
(Larry) For me, composing is like pulling some musical or lyrical idea completely out of thin air that hasn’t shown itself to me until it’s ready to. Once the ‘hook’ moment starts, I work off that and stay with it ’til it develops into something that feels complete. It doesn’t always work out, and some songs take a really long time to get to where they feel ‘finished’… On the other hand, playing traditional tunes is basically just copying/reproducing the melody associated with the tune, but a player’s individual style and improvisational ideas can give a traditional tune a special, fresh spin.
If you could pass on one lesson to young musicians trying to find their voice, what would it be?
(Jon) Make sure you are staying entertained and inspired by your playing. Surprise yourself. If you stay engaged like that, your fellow musicians and the audience will be engaged as well.
(Larry) Well, it’s probably more than just one single lesson, and some of it might sound cliche… but I still say: practice hard, find your own sound and tones, network lots (don’t be shy!), and never give up believing in yourself and walking to the beat of your own drum.
STICKLEY WEB LINKS
Tour Dates | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | SoundCloud | Spotify
KEEL WEB LINKS
Tour Dates | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | SoundCloud | Spotify