Anne Harris: A Fiddler and Her Love of Music E140

A rock band is only as good as its ability to surprise you, and Anne Harris is built for surprise. She’s the fiddle player you hear with Cracker, and we talk about the first night it clicked that turned into an open invitation to sit in and stretch out. Along the way, Anne explains what makes musical chemistry real: shared taste, trust, and the kind of listening that turns solos into a back-and-forth conversation.

We get deep into the art of live improvisation and why it keeps a show from getting stale, especially when the set can change on a dime. Anne also tackles the difference between a violinist and a fiddle player, and how style and tradition shape the same instrument.

From there, the story widens across projects like Gypsy Blue Review and Halo Rider, and touring with Taj Mahal and Keb Mo as part of TajMo, a gig she describes as a living education in music history.

If you care about live music, real human creativity, and the stories behind the songs, listen through and share it with a friend who still believes the stage is sacred.

Transcript

Welcome And Cracker Show Memory

SPEAKER_06 0:00

This is Anne Harris. I'm the fiddle player with Cracker, and you're listening to Music in My Shoes.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're listening to Music in My Shoes, Podcasting Worldwide. That was Vic Thrill kicking off episode 140. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. I just mentioned this is episode 140. Well, back on episode 19, episode 19, Jimmy, a long time ago, I spoke about seeing Cracker at 40 watt in Athens, Georgia in March 2024. And I said it was a really good show, filled with hits, good songs that were not hits, and it had Ann Harris on fiddle, who I was not familiar with beforehand, that was fantastic, absolutely amazing, really made the show. She played on most of the songs and danced and would go off with Johnny Hickman, kind of taking solos between guitar and fiddle, and a lot of it was just impromptu. It was a really, really good show. It was awesome. Well, today we have Ann Harris joining us via phone from Illinois. Is that where you're calling from, Ann?

SPEAKER_06 1:47

Yes. I live just outside of Chicago in a suburb. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Well, excellent. Welcome to Music in My Shoes. We're excited to have you on the show. Welcome, Ann.

SPEAKER_06 1:58

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Jim. This is like truly an honor, and I'm excited about this.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Well, I appreciate it. So, you know, you just heard what I talked about on the show, episode 19, a long, long time ago. I was amazed at what you were able to do. So let's get right into it.

How Ann Joins Cracker

SPEAKER_02 2:18

When and where, and like how didn't you and Cracker first get together? What was that like? How did it happen?

SPEAKER_06 2:25

Yeah, it was really a musical matchmaking endeavor that a mutual friend of ours, who also used to be the owner of this amazing music venue in Three Oaks, Michigan, called the Acorn Theater. Um, David Fink is the gentleman. He no longer owns the theater, but the theater's still operating. And it's it's an it's a beautiful space, like a restored uh warehouse that stood vacant for many years. And David had the vision, along with his partner, Kim, of bringing great music and theater and art to southwestern Michigan. And it's about an hour and a half drive outside of Chicago. So great, you know, kind of getaway, weekend getaway for a lot of Chicago people. And I had played at that theater for for years since it opened and become very good friends with David and and a very high respect for his selection of artists that he would bring through there. And he reached out to me a couple of years back and and said, Hey, do you know the band Cracker? And I'm like, Well, yeah, I I know the band Cracker. I don't have all the records and know all their music, but you know, I I know the the big songs and and and a few of the kind of lesser-known things, and they're amazing, great songwriting, great tunes. And he said, Well, they're playing here at the Acorn Theater, and I'd like to pitch you as an opener because I think you would just be a really great match with this band. And and David knows that I have spent a lot of my career playing in the blues world with a lot of blues musicians, and and through my time working as a blues fiddle player, improvisational artist in the American Roots genre, I do a lot of jumping up on stage with people I've never played with before and just improvising on the spot and doing stuff. If I if I like a band and I and I dig their vibe and what they're doing musically, and I feel like I can contribute in a in a way that supports their music, I'm always down for the adventure. So I said, absolutely pitch me. I'd love to open for them. And he said, and hopefully, you know, they'll ask you up to sit in on a tune or two so they can kind of hear what you do. Because I just have this feeling that you guys would be such a great musical partnership, musical match. So, so um cracker's management agreed to letting me open. And the band was there, and Lowry was kind of checking out my uh my sound check and he and he dug the stuff I was doing and and say, hey, if you if you want to sit in on a tune or two with us, we'd we'd love it, you know. And he and he gave me a couple of songs and and I was so honored. I got to to jump up there, and it felt like I'd known these guys forever, like musically anyway. It was a really, you know, I had done my homework and and listened to to their to their music kind of to get a sense of the feel of what they're doing. And it was right in alignment with with what I love doing, with the rock and roll and americana and country and folk and even punk and rock. But I'm a real genre blending artist. So that was our first musical date. And then uh every time they would come into the Chicago market after that, they would reach out to me and see if I was available to um to come and and sit in with them. And it and and instead of just one or two or you know, just a couple of songs, it would, it was for as many songs as I'd want. And then it was the whole show. And it just finally um, you know, it was just a very organic thing. It felt right to both of us. And as personality matches, it it was it was really wonderful fit in that way as well, which in some ways is the most important aspect of touring with the band. Right. And at some point, Lowry's like, you're in crack or you're in the band. So I want you to do all the shows that you're able to do. We love having you. And um, it was just a really warm welcome um in every way. And and uh it's been uh just such an incredible ride since uh since that first musical match, that first musical date.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

Yeah, I've seen you with Cracker multiple times since that first time in 2024 that I did.

SPEAKER_05 7:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

And it is just always magic. You know, sometimes when you see something for the first time, it's magical, but then after that, maybe it's not. But it is something that every time you don't know exactly what's gonna happen. You

Improvisation And Onstage Trust

SPEAKER_02 7:20

don't know what songs and what solos, and because it seems like a lot of it's impromptu where all of a sudden, you know, David Lowry's telling you he'll point to you, or go ahead, Ann, or Johnny's doing this and you're taking turns. And I absolutely love that. That organic playing for me is just exciting.

SPEAKER_06 7:41

I I love that you love that. I think that's kind of that's what's so beautiful about live music. You know, like I said, my my time um in the trenches playing blues music, it's all improv. So it's like if I get the soul of a band, if my heart is feeling that, you know, what a band's doing, and I feel I can contribute, it's my favorite thing in the world to go up and and and wing it. And that's what I absolutely do with Cracker, and they trust me to do that, which is such a gift, you know. Um, we don't plan out things ahead of time. You know, the the I never know is am I gonna be playing the solo next? Is that going to Johnny? Um, and then when I get the opportunity to to be like a second guitar player and and have those opportunities of of jamming with with Johnny and just completely improvising and and not knowing where the song's gonna, you know, are we gonna go here? Are we gonna go there? Some things are set in terms of, oh, this is a set amount of time, this is how the song goes, but rarely am I playing something that's that's really, really set. Um, there's you know a few songs in within the the catalog where certain things have to happen, and and those I'm always getting. But I think I'm with you. I'm I love going to see live music, particularly bands, where you just there's gonna be surprise. It keeps things really fresh and um in the in this world of AI-generated music and experiences, I think live music is something that we can all as fans and as practitioners of, we always will have that in our core. It's something that that I feel is irreplaceable. It's part of the human experience and and uh you know it's it's part of the the danger and the beauty of not exactly having a a map and finding it with your your your family, your musical family on stage as you're as you're going, finding your way, journeying, you know, on that on that path. So I I'm glad you're a fan of that as well.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Yes, yes. I mean, I really, really am. And the one thing is, you know, and I went that first time and I'm with friends, but it wasn't just my friends that were talking about what you were bringing to the band. There were people, you know, on both sides of me that I didn't know that were like, man, she's so good. And you just bring this totally different dynamic to the band and your enthusiasm is unbelievable. I mean, you look like you're having fun every moment you're on stage.

SPEAKER_06 10:26

Uh, thank you. It I I truly am, and I'm I I'm blessed in that, you know, I I play with um a few different projects, and and if I, you know, decide to play with a band, it's only because of the pure love of the music. And and my job is to lift the music and and the people on stage to the best of my ability via support to really let the music shine. And in the obviously, in the case of the Cracker Catalog and David and and Johnny's work, it's like, what incredible songs. Like I I just want to like support those and make those shine and find places where, oh, there's a lyric that I just want to underscore with a certain tone because it in my in my head that that's adding to the to the tapestry, to the color of of the sound, and supporting, you know, things melodically as well as musically and and rhythmically when it's called for. So um joy is um is the joy for me is uh being blessed to be able to do what I love and love what I do. I I love music with it's it's such a passion, it's it's a part of me. I don't feel like music is a separate experience because I experience music physically. Um I did study dance for you know several years growing up, and and I have kind of the spirit of a dancer in me as well, I feel, and that that's something that um when I feel my body being moved by the music, it comes through everything the body, the instrument, you know, my head, my heart. I'm uh so I I'm I'm just so grateful that that you know the fans that have been longtime supporters of this band because I I think the the crumbs are some of the most loyal fans you'll ever find in any genre of music.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Oh yes, they are.

SPEAKER_06 12:31

And they've seen the band in so many incarnations with so many different people stepping into different roles through the years and uh including wonderful violin players. So, you know, to be embraced by the fan base is sort of like that's my I I treasure that. That's my um ultimate goal, really, to to be able to support a legacy while also bringing it forward into a new place.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Well, you do a good job of it. So we had Johnny on the show last year for the first time.

SPEAKER_06 13:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

And he's talking about the cover of The Grateful Dead's Loser, and this is what he said.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Ann Harris, our our violinist, uh, when we do that song live, now it features her on a beautiful song. And she and I will get sort of a conversation going between violin and uh and guitar, and that's one of the songs that really uh highlights what we're able to do live. So if you get a chance to see with see us with Ann Harris, boy, you're uh you're in for a treat. She's sensational.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Yes. You know, he had so many good things to say, but I truly believe that's what you see. I mean, it is a conversation between the two of you. It is fantastic, and it just adds so much to something that helps make it so that a band that's been around for for so long isn't a stale band. They are good and they're just as good as they've ever been. And I think that's really a cool thing in the year 2026.

SPEAKER_06 14:05

I I couldn't agree more, and I'm so humbled. Johnny is incredible. You know, I I am a I I'm such a Johnny Hickman fan, and when we play together, we kind of have a an unspoken uh partnership. I mean, I I don't even really have words for it. There are there's certain musical moments or artists that you play with where you get these moments, these flashes of like it's two uh two different entities, but we come together and blend it into sort of this one journey. And I I love playing with Johnny Hickman. He's an incredible musician, and he's definitely a very emotional guitar player. You know, you can he the the way he he plays, you feel you feel it in your heart, and I feel it um on playing on stage with him, and um the two of us having those musical conversations um are it it's so exciting because we're both improvisational players. He he played, he studied, you pretty well you probably know this because you you guys spoke before, but he studied with a with a blues artist, an older gentleman, and when he was just getting started as a teen. And he felt like that was his true foundational schooling as to how to approach his instrument, how to approach music, how to say things without saying too much. Don't just talk to talk, say something. Make the silences as important as the sounds. And if anyone, you know, is if there's anything that makes a great conversation, uh great dialogue, it's it's the magic is in the listening. And Johnny is a listener, as am I, but he he doesn't just uh play and show off a lot of great chops just to hear himself play. You know, he's not that type of an artist. He really is listening, and I'm listening to him. And so when two people are listening to each other in a conversation, those are the conversations that other people like to eavesdrop on because they're fascinating, you know, they're honest, and um, and it and it's like you might have one idea, but because someone says something, you put that idea aside and go with what they're talking about because that's some that's a more interesting place. Or, oh yeah, I never thought about that. That's what's going on between musicians when they're improvising together. It's it's a conversation without words, you know, just using wood and and metal.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Right. It's fun to watch and and it's fun to listen to.

Violin Versus Fiddle Explained

SPEAKER_02 16:57

So let me ask you this question: what's the difference between a violinist and a fiddle player?

SPEAKER_06 17:04

That's definitely the most the question that I'm asked the most because Oh, wait, Ann, I just want to say I feel better because I was embarrassed to ask you. Yeah, so you know, the short answer um is the difference between a violin and a fiddle is a beer. But the longer answer is that it's the same instrument. It's really just references the stylistic um choices that the musician is making. So, you know, generally violin uh players, violin music, the tr using violin to describe the sound is is is usually uh associated with classical music, uh music that you you know would would read on a page, uh, whereas fiddle music uh is truly folk music, music of the people. Uh so that's associated more with uh improvisational forms, bluegrass, country, folk, um, you know, and fiddle all over the world in many iterations, uh, you know, Irish fiddle music, Scottish fiddle music, St. Cape Breton, you know, all of these great fiddle traditions where it's you learn the song by ear, you improvise, and the style doesn't adhere to the strict parameters that classical music has. So I was I was trained as a classical musician when I was little growing up, when I was, you know, a little girl begging to play violin. Um, I got violin lessons and was trained in trained in the Suzuki method, um, which is uh you learn by ear, but I also learned to read music at the same time. Um but I was always, you know, listening to other kinds of music. I loved RB and funk and rock and folk and all kinds of stuff. So the stuff I was studying on my instrument was not the same as the stuff I was playing. And I just eventually wanted to kind of bridge that gap, you know, and find a way to to to incorporate all the other styles that I was listening to that really, that really moved me. And it's no diss against classical music. It's a, you know, obviously uh incredible story tradition there. Um, but in terms of the kind of player I am and the kind of music I wanted to do and the kind of musical statement I wanted to make, um, definitely a fiddle player.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Well, it it definitely works for you. So who were some of your musical influences as you were growing up? Who were you listening to, you know, rock-wise, blues-wise? Who who were some of those artists?

SPEAKER_06 19:52

I was listening to my dad had a me and and mom had an incredible LP collection that I have now currently at my house. And um whatever they were, and they and they loved listening to music. So whatever they were playing on the radio or on the stereo, I would raid my sister's album collection, stuff I was hearing on the radio. So, you know, for me personally, like artists like Stevie Wonder, artists like Prince, Prince was a huge influence for me because Prince for me at that time when I was, you know, a teenager was sort of like opening, like cracking something open that truly hadn't been done before, you know, like in a way that hadn't been done. So um who else? I I I loved, you know, Genesis and Peter Gabriel and Led Zeppelin as well. Um, and then I loved a lot of blues music as well. Uh uh, so it it was and musical theater. I sp I actually got my music degree at University of Michigan School of Music um as a musical theater uh major because I was doing theater for a while. So I truly, and like it's all over the place as you can imagine. Um after I graduated from college, I in U of M music school, I moved to Chicago, and that's when I started playing with bands. I had a group of theater friends of mine who also were musicians, and we started a band together, and that kind of one thing led to another, and I'm like, oh, this is all I want to do. I just want to I just want to play my violin, I want to make music, I want to be in bands. And so um that's that's where the transition to, you know, to playing uh playing live music happens, and I I played with a couple of different people, and then I sort of landed a position in a cover band that was my first like entree into earning a living as a musician, you know, and and doing it. You know, three, four shows a week kind of thing, regularly gigging and honing my sounds during that, you know, say finding the right. There's there's a big learning curve when you go from not being plugged in and kind of playing, you know, acoustic and and studying classical, but wanting to kind of bridge the gap. You need to do that sonically as well. And part of that's just like learning the gear, learning how I want how I could amplify my instrument to get the sound I wanted to get, um, playing around with pedals, um, learning how to save, you know, getting hearing protection. So I wouldn't go completely deaf. Um learning how to play with a really loud situation where you're gonna be the quietest voice up there and you have to amplify it to get over guitars and drums and bass and all of that.

Amplifying Fiddle In Loud Rooms

SPEAKER_03 22:54

So now when you're riding your level, uh say you're like taking a solo and you need to boost, are you relying on the sound person to boost you, or do you have something, you know, like the volume on your fiddle or a pedal that boosts you?

SPEAKER_06 23:07

Yeah, I've got, you know, I've got a boost on my DI. I have um I use the venue uh by LR Bags. In fact, LR Bags is also the company that um once I discovered their pickup for violin, for me, and in my opinion, for what I play and for my instruments, my specific instrument, it's like there's nothing that came close. I had tried a couple of pickups prior to discovering um LR bags, and then once I found the bags pickup, I was like, I'm I never never turned back. And once I found that pickup, um, I used the para-acoustic DI for a while until the venue was introduced somewhere in the teens. And and once I got the venue, I was like, okay, this is great. It's got some um you you can kind of do presets on the tone, and there's a built-in tuner. So you know, in in many, many scenarios, I, you know, I would I wouldn't say most, but uh maybe almost more often than not, when you play in rock clubs and and places like that, they don't know what to do with a violin. They're terrified of it. Because it's like they know what to do with electric guitars. And and when they see acoustic instruments blended with electric instruments, it's it's generally can be very problematic and sonic nightmare. But that's why I I spent a really a long, you know, amount of time finding a way to amplify the natural voice of my violin so that it could get over and blend with uh, you know, in a band setting.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

So do you have an amp amp on stage or just the DNS? No, I just go direct.

SPEAKER_06 24:54

And so I'm using the monitor as as my, you know, I don't I I'm I'm toying around with going in here because it would be really ideal for my style of playing and for what I'm doing. So um Brian Howard, uh the great Brian Howard. Yes, and you should talk to Brian if you haven't. He'd be a great person to have on this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Yes, I have I have talked to him about coming on. He's he's gonna come on with us one day.

SPEAKER_06 25:23

Oh, fantastic. He's um he's really knowledgeable and and and he fat you know in the world of gear, and he's stuck started using within the last six months or so a um an in-ear system that's been working out really well for him. And and I don't recall the name of that company. I'd have to look through my my thread here. Um, but anyway, he said that they just have introduced a violin in ear system as well and is recommending that I I do that. So I I think that's gonna be the the the the future for me. Um just so I have a little more measure of control. But no, I've never I I have played through an amp. I own a little fender, you know, acoustic amp just for certain situations. If I'm playing something locally and there's no sound system, I'm plugging in directly, I can, you know, get a little lift there. But for for cracker, for the bands that I tour with, I just go direct in. That's the most reliable way. And there is a boost on the pickup on the venue, the the DI that I mentioned that I played through.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

So, Jimmy, because he's been in bands his whole life, he went to the University of Georgia and he's hung out in Athens forever. He always asks questions like that that I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. Yet he's got a big smile because you're answering, he's like, Oh, wow, that's cool. And it's always great, Jimmy, for you to to ask those of everyone that we have on because I would never think to ask anybody anything like that.

SPEAKER_06 27:03

Yeah, no, it's great to get different perspectives from people that have been that are in the trenches. So I totally appreciate that, Jimmy. Jimmy, my other little hack is I um I I I play with a DD five. So I have this real, and they don't make the the five anymore, but I I've I've bought several of them on eBay. So I've gone through, I don't know, three or so so far over the years, but there's something about that combination of using just a would and the DD5 um for people that are as you know that that aren't necessarily aware, it's a little um pedal made by boss that is a slight, it's a delay pedal. And delay is just the slight um the the way I have my setting, it it's just gives my instrument this this little warmth, this added um kind of beefiness to the sound that I really like. Um so uh that's that's kind of my secret sauce. Those are the only things I'm I'm I'm using in the cracker setup uh is that DD5, you know, running through my DI uh for the control over tone and everything, uh, and then running through that DD5 just to that little delay just for a little broadening of the sound.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

Is it enough that you hear an audible slap or is it like really, really short delay that's just kind of like it's like it's really, really short.

SPEAKER_06 28:27

It's just for like a feel thing. And occasionally I'll boost it up a little bit, like on the song low, I'll I'll I'll give it that more of atmosphere. You know, I'll boost it up so you can hear the slap back a little bit just because it's that song is about that, you know, that that atmosphere. And then in in some of the other bands I play with, I um I use the uh harmonics, electro, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that red pedal. It's got the presets, which I love. So I've got like several settings that I use, and then I have a I have a distortion pedal that's a boutique pedal I got at a great guitar store in Portland years back called the uh musket. Um I don't know, I don't know that one. Yeah, it's a little boutique thing, and and I've only seen it at this little place I got it from. And I, you know, I'm still I'm searching for the perfect distortion. It's a pedal that when I need a good distortion like recording, it records really well, but it's sort of inconsistent when I play live. So if anybody out there, or if you, Jimmy, have any recommendations, the the trick is you're plugging this acoustic violin into pedals that were made for electric guitars. Yeah. So you just never know what's gonna work, what's gonna be magical, and what's just gonna be like, ah, that's not happening.

SPEAKER_03 29:47

Yeah, all of a sudden you can get feedback and things, right?

SPEAKER_06 29:50

Totally, totally, which is invariably the situation. And and on the level that you know we're touring, we don't have our own dedicated sound team going on every show. So you're reliant upon the the people, you know, in the venues, the engineers that are working those rooms, and and you're given a very limited amount of time, and and there's so many variables that you know I I generally leave you know distortion to controlled situations where I'm doing recording.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yeah, I can see

Singing With Cracker And Creative Flow

SPEAKER_02 30:23

that. So, and besides the violin, you have a lovely voice. You often sing sparrow at cracker shows. Um last year, I feel it once again. Um, you had what was it, Heartbeat came out earlier this year. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, what makes you decide that you want to sing a song versus you want to just play the violin on it?

SPEAKER_06 30:48

Um, well, that's determined by the situation. Like, um, I was totally shocked when when David, you know, when Lowry was like, hey, I really want you to sing this song, this that song Sparrows that I sing. That's the song he heard me sound checking with on our very first musical date. And uh and he he fell in love with that tune. And I'm like, I'd be honored to do it, but it's it's not rock. It's gonna totally interrupt the set and whatever. And and and that's one of the things I love about Lowry, and I love about that band is they're kind of like screw it, like we wanna we they play what they want to play, and they don't adhere to a certain thing. And the only thing they adhere to is their own sense of taste, if they like something or if they don't. And David just wanted to bring my voice along. He he he dugs digs, you know, my voice and digs that song, and and I think his vision was that it would would add depth to the set, like something totally unexpected, give sort of a sonic break from the whole band thing, and then you know, get back in it. And and so I I I love his courage and and and vision to do that. I never in a million, and he's such a creative dude, like I never would have thought to do that, but but I know that when I go to see bands, I love I and I I I guess I just that way as an artist, as a human, I love things that are unexpected or that might be seen as like, oh, that doesn't go with that, but then you put them together and it works in some strange way. And so um that me singing it all is is really uh is is Lowry's just insistence that I I kind of bring my voice to the show and that and that it will work, and and and so I'm I'm super, you know, I'm I'm honored that that he's entrusted me with with adding stuff vocally. And and of course now with the with the golden, touring the golden age record this year, um, having the incredible Megan uh Slankard, who is an amazing vocalist, um having like the girls sing together when we we're we're up there is is a really new powerful dimension to support the stuff happening on that record and and you know on backup harmonies and stuff throughout. And and Johnny and me and Megan are having a ball, adding vocals, uh, you know, harmonies and and these parts to support uh support the music and it that that's been a lot of fun. So I guess your question was like, how do I decide to play versus singing? It's sort of like, well, I do what I'm told to do, you know, there's a song that's got backup vocals, um, and and we're doing the the arrangements that I that's you know, I I love doing that. And and how I I you know, I really just look at singing and playing, it's it's it's all the same thing, you know, it's like the energy comes of expression, um artistic expression manifests in many, many ways, but it's sort of all from the same thing. So whether you're painting a painting or singing a song or playing a guitar or a violin, or it it's all part of this river of art and expression that that flows through everybody, not just people that make a living making music or art, but through all of us. I think humans are creative by nature and and whatever you allow through you, uh, you know, it it will you can you can direct that manifestation into whatever sort of um specialty you're looking to. You know, again, the pen. You could write a poem, or you could, you know, you can make a sculpture or you could write a song or or or sing a sing a tune, and it's all it's all creativity, it's all coming ultimately from the same source.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

I love it. I think now I'm gonna go try something that I wanted to do that I've never done before. I don't know what it is, I gotta think about it. But I'm inspired now. I am inspired.

SPEAKER_06 35:07

You know, and it's not it's not all that deep, really. It's what we take for granted, I think, but when we're reminded of it, it's sort of miraculous. It's like, what do you? I mean, I don't know if you're a cook or not, but like if you do cook, what are you making for dinner tonight? Well, you had to kind of envision something in your head first, and you had to see what ingredients you need or had, and then you're putting this meal together and you're orchestrating these different parts of it, the garlic and the onion and the oil and the whatever you're throwing in that pan, and and you're creating this thing to be experienced um by other humans or by yourself or or however. And and you know, there's there's so many of our senses are pulled into the creation of any one thing. If you're cooking, it's the smells and how things look and how it sounds when something's toasting up or you know, boiling or whatever. And and I I just think that like there's there's I I think that's also why I love so many different kinds of music, so many various genres that seem very different, but in my mind, it's like it's kind of all the same thing, you know? It's all just different ways of expressing it, but it's all kind of that same thing. And the whole point um of the human experience is to is to to actively with consciousness participate in that creation of whatever it is, a great meal, or you know, uh walking down the beach and picking up a pretty stone and and giving it to someone you love or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

I love it. I I've often thought that playing music and cooking are very similar. And you know, one of the things is like you can play a cover and you can try to play it exactly like the original, you can follow the recipe exactly. Yeah, and it's still beautiful, but you can also kind of riff on it yourself and be like, I want to add a little basil, you know, and yeah, and it starts to become more your own.

SPEAKER_06 37:02

Totally, totally. And there's a case to be made for both things, you know. There's some people that do want the karaoke experience and and to mimic as close to the recording as you can. And that's and there's a place and time for that. And and I think there's a that's an art form as well, people that can do that. But you know, taking something and and and making it your own and not and just using the thing that's you're modeling your your version on as a as a template and and not as a the literal this is exactly how it has to be done. That's that's invariably what what you know ends up happening, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Yeah. So I feel that I've learned you're also a motivational speaker. And that's you don't live in a van down by the river, but you are a motivational speaker.

SPEAKER_06 37:50

Oh my god. Well, I you know, I am I I um I'm I'm very uh what do I say? I guess I'm I'm honored and taken aback that you're motivated by my words. I'm just kind of speaking off the cuff and from the heart, but thank you for that. But that's what makes it good.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

You're speaking from the heart, off the cuff. It's just, you know, just a conversation that we're having, and it comes across that way. So you've motivated me. I mean, Jimmy over here, like I said, he's just smiling away. He's loving it, loving it.

SPEAKER_06 38:21

Talk to an artist.

SPEAKER_03 38:22

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 38:23

Well, well, we're all the having a conversation, a human moment here. That's and that's that's so important to to honor. Because again, I don't mean to like come back to the beat down on AI thing, but we are living in in times that are making us question reality. You know, what's real, what's generated based on a real experience, but it's not actually real, you know. Uh and I don't think there's ever really been its time in history quite like this. In fact, we know there hasn't, in terms of that genuine questioning of reality, questioning of the human experience, questioning of like the value of our human experience. Like, how valuable is that? And I think that there's nothing like art and creativity um to immediately um put a put a little bow around, like, well, that's something that is uniquely human. You know, the fact that we're having a conversation about like what's actually human is crazy. It's crazy, right? It is. But that's where we're at. And I think um, you know, the val the value in these kinds of things, your podcast, these discussions, interfacing with people, talking about art and music, it's like that's that's a real experience. We don't know where this conversation is going. Um, but we are all three in this in this moment really aligned around a kind of an unspoken truth that we're all agreeing on. And I'm putting some words around what I'm I'm hinting at, and so are you. But we all we all three, I think, are have a have an idea of of agreement around the importance of of this experience, of a live music experience, of of a of a of a human experience, cooking a meal and eating it and hanging out with someone awesome and making love and all that shit, you know?

SPEAKER_02 40:20

I couldn't agree more. Yeah, I couldn't. We don't want to be you are listening to music in my shoes.

SPEAKER_05 40:27

AI I know, I know, I know, right?

New Albums And Current Projects

SPEAKER_02 40:31

So so besides touring with Cracker this spring and summer, you've had shows with Gypsy Blue Review that you got a new album out. I love the song Going to South Carolina. I really love that song.

SPEAKER_06 40:43

Awesome, yeah. Um, you know, JP Sores is an inspired guitar player. Um, I love that dude. He's a very dear friend. We've known each other for years and years. And um we had and we all have similar friends because, you know, of the blues world and and the the bands within that that we've toured and played with. And uh when he asked me to be a part of this project back in, I guess it was 2018 or 19, uh I jumped at it immediately just because um he he's an incredible musician, great songwriter, I love um great singer uh and interpreter of song. And and we just, you know, he's like a brother. And the his bands with Crispete on drums and Cleveland Frederick on bass, you know, those guys are another musical, extended musical family for me. I'm super proud of that record. And and yeah, going to South Carolina. That's a that's a great, great tune, you know. That that record is a very diverse record. Again, JP like me isn't just your typical um blues player. He actually started in heavy metal, and that was his passion. And through heavy metal, sort of discovered blues at some point and then totally changed his path and went down that route. But he can play so many things and he loves gypsy music. Um, and so he came up with this kind of mashup, this gypsy blue review, which is uh the the group I'm touring with with him at this at this moment, not at this moment, but at this time. And um yeah, he's he's a terrific guy, uh just a world-class player, and and uh again, I love playing with guitar players uh in that back and forth, you know, having that duo situation. Cracker is such a beautiful opportunity with Johnny and and JP with the Gypsy Blue Review. And I've got another like blues rock band called Halo Rider. Um, and it's a trio with me and guitar player Marcus James and our drummer uh Larry Thompson and and and Marcus is an uh another very different from either Johnny or JP. Incredible player, though, and and and and a player that I love having those musical conversations with.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Oh, I can imagine.

Touring With Taj Mahal And Keb Mo

SPEAKER_02 43:08

So in the fall, you are touring with Taj Mo. Yes, Taj Mahal and Keb Mo. Yeah, and I have to think that that's gotta be just you know another really exciting thing to be part of. I know you toured with them last year. What's that, you know, what's it like being with them?

SPEAKER_06 43:29

It's like uh pinch me, you know. I mean, again, coming from the blues world, which is how they knew about me and and and how they reached out to me for that first tour last year, um it doesn't well, I I I'm not gonna limit this to blues. Taj Mahal is an institution in and of himself. If you talk to any musician who's worth their waiting salt, in my opinion, they they've heard of Taj Mahal. And most people can go, oh, I saw him in concert at this time, or I love this record, or there's this Taj Mahal song that was incredible. You know, he's he's played uh he's had just a uh a um such a remarkable career. And and and the story between him and Kev Moe is an incredible story. Uh they when when Kevin Kev is his nickname, you know, his name is Kevin Moore, but when Cab Moe was uh growing up in LA, and I think he was a junior in high school, wasn't the best student, you know, uh but they had a they had a day where there was uh a guest musician that was coming in and and you got to skip class to go to go to the special auditorium and see him play it. And that that guest when he skipped class and went was Taj Mahal. And he was so moved by it was his first contact with actual blues and music and the history of blues, and and he was so moved that he skipped the next class to see Taj and approached him afterwards. And Taj is very much a uh a mentor and took him under his wing, and that's when their relationship began. So when they formed Taj Mo many, many years later, um, and they have two records out now, it's it's the culmination of that long-standing mentorship through the years of Taj Mahal's wisdom and Keb Mo's um learning and growing into the you know a defining Grammy award-winning artist, uh blues musician in his own right. So the two of them together are a force to be reckoned with individually. They're incredible people, uh, and and you know, obviously the the best of the best, and and and the opportunity to be a part of their team because the band is, you know, the best you'll find, the production crew, everyone involved with that organization. They told me when they first um asked me, you know, to do it, and we're just signing the contract and getting everything ready to go. And they said the only rule, this is his his manager and the tour manager was like, the only rule we have is that there are no assholes allowed on this tour. So as long as you're not an asshole, we can move forward with this. So it's it feels like being in, you know, graduate school, or I'm I'm earning my PhD in in music history or something because Taj, uh, I think he's 85 now. Um has the most incredible mind. He is a Grio, uh, which is you if you're familiar with what a grio is, it's an African storyteller that holds the stories for generations from the ancestors and passes them on. He his memory, he can he can tell you about a session he did back in the 50s, who the engineer was on that session, who played what, who was late, who was drunk, who was, you know, I mean, he's a walking encyclopedia of all sorts of genres. And he's also a historian. He's fascinated by the history of places. And he said, you know, when I started playing a tour in the world, I thought, well, you should you should know about a country's uh just some basic stuff about that place before you go. So, you know, he would do a tour of Spain and he'd learn the history of that country, of the Spanish people and the difference between the, you know, this group and this group. And it's it's just wild. So to say it's uh, you know, it's not lost on me what an honor it is to be a part of of that of that tour, of those tours, to be asked back again is just like you know, double Christmas Day. And uh, and I you know, I take none of it for granted. I'm I I I'm a you know student of life um musically. I'm always, you know, you never reach, as Jimmy knows, where you want to be as a musician. You're just always studying, always trying to get better, always listening to new stuff, always getting inspired to continue to to hone your craft and to take risks and and and and that and and to be a part of Tajma is just unbelievable. That is.

Blues Roots And Rock History

SPEAKER_02 48:44

So back in 1968, the Rolling Stones did this thing called the Rock and Roll Circus. And they invited a few bands to come play, do a couple of songs, few songs, and they had, if I remember correctly, I think it was Jethro Tull, they had The Who, they had John Lennon, they had Taj Mahal. And this is '68 when he released his um his first album, his first two albums actually came out in 1968. And when you listen to it, because it actually wasn't released until 1996, and on the album was Ain't That a Lot of Love, which is an unbelievable song. And for me, I'm like, the Rolling Stones have to absolutely love this guy that his first album just came out, and they're putting him up with, you know, Eric Clapton's backing up John Lennon, and you have the Rolling Stones, you have all these bands, and they're like, we want Taj Mahal. And so it made me to get, you know, very curious about it. They put a deluxe edition out, I don't know, maybe 2019 or something. Okay. And it had Karina on it. It had Leaving Trunk, which I that's another song. Like, I'm so glad I got to learn so many songs that I would have never known about. Yeah. And that in 1968, the Rolling Stones knew there was something special about Taj Mahal, and they were 100% correct.

SPEAKER_06 50:16

Well, the Rolling Stones knew, as did all um British rock bands at that time, because that's where they got their inspiration to make music from. It was from black American blues music, though all of their influences, and they, you know, they've always the Stones have consistently um held up their influences and and and given, you know, um credit where credit's due. You know, when they were would come to Chicago and go to chess records, and you know, they I mean they they they were listening to those musicians. And and that's where, you know, blues is really a foundation, as you know, for really, I would argue, all contemporary music, absolutely rock music, and and and British rock musicians were, you know, good for him for paying homage to his influences, to their influences. And and that's what music should be about. You hear something that you you love, and your experience was not growing up as you know, a sharecropper or in the deep south, but you were this British kid, and there's similarities between poverty in one place and in another place, you know, and and how that translates. And they absolutely felt the soul and the magic of blues music. And and in any uh musician, like I said, worth really their salt, especially if you're in rock, you you you know the history, you know how that music evolved has evolved and how it's come through time to become the culmination of many sounds and cultures blending. And I think that's that's one of the reasons why the stones are as great as they are, you know, like they've always lifted a hand. I I remember um, you know, they've helped with funeral expenses for several older blues musicians that died penniless, you know. They they and they and they don't do it for publicity, they do it because it's like they got their influences from a very deep place and they honor that in a really beautiful way, you know, and uh and and it's to all of our advantage, you know, that like rock and roll has had this beautiful journey and birth and development and continues to inspire and grow, you know, other new people coming up. They've got a new record out, right? Uh it's yeah, it's good. Yeah, I've I I've heard the single, but is is it a whole record or is it just a single thing?

SPEAKER_02 52:49

I think the album is I don't know if it just came out Friday or comes out this Friday. I think I just heard another song.

SPEAKER_06 52:55

Yeah, okay, okay, okay, cool. I've just heard one that was getting some airplay around here in Chicago, and I I really dug it, you know. And you know, kudos to those guys for for doing the damn thing, my God.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

Yes,

The Musician Short Film Story

SPEAKER_02 53:08

of course. Well, speaking of Chicago, you were in a short indie film, The Musician.

SPEAKER_05 53:13

Yes, basically doing your homework, Jim. My goodness.

SPEAKER_02 53:17

Basic, thank you. Basically, no words spoken, yet it says so much through the music, which is kind of what we've been discussing throughout this entire, you know, episode. Can you tell us some more about that project? Because I I think it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_06 53:33

Thank you so much. It's it's really funny to say it's an indie short film. Um, and yes, no, no dialogue. It's uh, you know, without words. And uh I was approached because of a um a person that was working, that was consulting with a director. The director was looking for a cellist initially. Um, and then this production person was like, I know this violin player, and I've worked with her before. Um, I I, as an aside, he he's worked with me, and there's a very good dear friend of mine. Her name is Kathy Richardson. She's an incredible singer-songwriter, and she's been the lead singer of Jefferson Starship for the last um 15 years or so. And he Kathy and I have worked, I've been in her band and I've worked with her as a duo. So this this person knew my work very well, and he's like, you know, I I don't know of a cellist, but I know of a violin player that might really work for this this role and and connected me with the director. And and um and then in turn, you know, in talking with the director, I'm like, yeah, I would love to do something like that. Never done a film like that before. That'd be awesome. Do you have the music? And he's like, well, that's kind of the problem. I'm looking for the music. And I'm like, well, I've got, I'm a, you know, I I've got some music as well that might work. And and I ended up being able to contribute. Um, my music is also the music of the the it's the soundtrack of the of the movie, which um it was a real honor, you know, um, to be able to to have my music uh featured and and as to to score a a movie, you know, with just a little indie short. And it's a sweet little film. It's it's I I had a ball doing it, and um, and it's funny how films live on, you know, yes through time. It's uh it's on YouTube, it's free. You know, if anyone's listening and and is interested, you can go, you know, just check it out on on streaming on YouTube for free.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

But yeah, I highly recommend it. It's like you said, it's a short film. When I watch it, my interpretation is, and I don't want to give it away, but I will say that there is there's a a a young girl in the film, and I feel in the movie that you at times are looking at her like it's you when you were young. And that's the what I take out of that.

SPEAKER_06 56:02

I love that you got that. The director actually did want me to to consider that in my, you know, and it's like I don't consider myself an actor. Um, and when you have no words to latch on to, it's just kind of like you just kind of have to feel and emote in a way that that reads. So I thank you for seeing that. That's exactly the direction the director wanted that that statement to be made. And that's that's what I was hoping to do. So I'm glad, glad you got that.

Radical Self-Love Body Butter Side Hustle

SPEAKER_02 56:33

That is awesome. Listen, we're running out of time, but I would be amiss if I did not ask you about body butter, because I remember the first time you brought it up at a show. I'm like, what is she talking about?

SPEAKER_05 56:46

I know I'm insane.

SPEAKER_06 56:48

Uh what I am is I'm a tinker. I do, I love working with my hands. Obviously, that's why I love, you know, being a musician so much. But um, I, you know, I I take skincare very seriously. And I I love knowing what goes on my skin. And I've been making and experimenting with my own body products for as long as I can remember, making my own lip balms and lotions and perfumes and stuff. And and during the pandemic, um, some friends of mine, because they would be the recipients of of of said uh items, were like, you should just, you know, you got some downtime, you're not on the road. You should maybe make this and and sell it because I think people would really dig it. And so just on a whim, I I I you know threw together a website and and uh my daughter drew the the logo, you know, I called the company Radal Radical Self-Love, and and it was a hit. People were really digging it. They're digging it because it's honest to God, the it's an amazing product. I use all organic, sustainably sourced ingredients, and I make body butter and I make face butter, and um I introduced candles this past year, and I have some other surprises that will be coming up. But the body butter is kind of a big big deal. And once people try it for themselves, then they're they're invariably hooked and and it and it just sells incredibly well. I don't do it all year round. I don't make the butter during the summer season because it's it, you know, it does get melty and it's hard to travel with. But um, yeah, but the body, the company is radical self-love. But if anyone were to go to my website, anharris.com, there's links to all of the things we're talking about, the body butter and the movie and and my tour schedule and and all that all that good stuff. But thank you for bringing up the butter. You know, and if it I would love to send you a little tin of butter if you're interested.

SPEAKER_02 58:47

I would be more than happy, more than happy to try out the body butter. I'm telling you, the first time you brought up, I'm like, hey, I'm at this rock show and there's a violinist playing that's great, and then all of a sudden she's talking about selling body butter. I'm like, where are we going? This is great.

SPEAKER_06 59:07

You don't want no one's buying records anymore either. So, you know, there's that.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

Well, you know what? We need to go back to the day where everybody buys records, and everybody that plays music is getting paid their fair share for what they do, and we would all be in a better place today.

SPEAKER_03 59:26

But we have body butter now, so I mean body butter.

SPEAKER_06 59:29

We've got body butter. Yeah, yeah. In fact, um this at this past camp in Athens, I don't know if you knew this or not, but Brian Howard the Great, the bassist that we were just talking about, Brian, he he raises bees. So he brought me some blocks of beeswax, and I made a special for that. Um, and it's sold out like within an hour. Um, I made a special Brian's Bees beeswax lip balm. Um, that was a huge hit at Camp In this year. So I'm gonna be um I got some more wax from him. I'm gonna be making some more special Brian's Bees Lip Bomb um for the fall for some people.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:13

That sounds excellent. I'm not gonna lie, I use uh a nationally named brand. I'm not gonna say what it is, but they used to have Susie was the um yeah the person that would sell this.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:24

Um familiar.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:26

Um I use it every day. But I would be more than happy to try that out. I think that would be fantastic.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:33

Yes, yes, for sure. All right. Well, I'll get your address and I will send you a little care package.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:40

Well, thank you. I appreciate that, Ann. And you know, Ann, I really appreciate you coming on the show. We've been talking about it for some time and trying to get our schedules aligned. Yeah, yeah. But I'm really glad we waited and, you know, just really got the opportunity to see you more in in concert with Cracker and see how genuine you are. You know, we've met several times, and it's just a pleasure to speak with you and to have you on here and and to hear about, you know, everything you're doing and what you're doing with Tajmo and Body Butter and you know, all these different things, and you know, the Gypsy Blue Review, and you just have so many projects going on, and that is just really it's really cool. Uh it just shows that you love what you do.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:29

Oh, I absolutely love what I do and and do what I love, and I'm I'm blessed for that. And I'm so grateful for um you giving me a little bit of time and for this great conversation. You're you really hit so many, you do you did your research, you had great questions, and this was just such a great conversation. I want to like go out for a beverage and and continue it. So thank you for for just being awesome. Really appreciate your your interest in in my in my crazy little world, and and um I look forward to seeing you at a at a cracker show down the road.

Thanks And How To Connect

SPEAKER_02 1:02:02

Well, I appreciate your kind words. I definitely do. And so, you know, ladies and gentlemen, if you do not go to antharris.com and check her out, all of her different things, you are the crazy one. That's all I can say. Well, we reached that point where that's it for this episode of Music in My Shoes. I'd like to thank Fiddle player Anne Harris, who plays with Cracker, plays with Tajmo, Gypsy Blue Review, Halo Rider. You know, I could sit here. She's almost like Peter Buck. She plays in so many bands. So thank you, Ann. We do appreciate you coming on the show.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:41

Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Jimmy. Peace and love to everybody out there. Hang in there, love each other, be good.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:47

We have a lot to be grateful for, so let's keep lifting each other up.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

Absolutely. I'd also like to thank Jimmy Guthrie, show producer and owner of Arcade 160 Studios, located right here in Atlanta, GA, and Vic Thrill for our podcast music. Something you want to say, you can reach us at musicinmy shoes at gmail.com. Please like and follow the music in my shoes Facebook and Instagram pages. This is Jim Boge and I hope you learned something new or remembered something old. We'll meet again on our next episode. Until then, live life and keep the music playing.