Q&A With Joel Cage

Conducted by Laura Pope for IMAGES, September 1998

Q: We know you got an early start with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Since you left rock and roll for solo acoustic work, who do you listen to, what are your musical influences?

A: Well, there's quite a bit of time-distance between leaving the Jukes and leaving rock and roll per se, so to answer this question literally would be to say who I've been listening over the last three years - that's when I made the "official" leap over to the folk vernacular. And to further dodge the question , I feel it necessary to say that my influences have not changed despite the apparent genre-shift. To me music is music, and a good song is a good song. It's been many years since I felt an allegiance to a particular artist or style of music. Rather my "influences" come from those highly subjective moments of inspiration that somehow stay with you and rear their heads during the creative process. However, to enumerate a few specifics, I'd have to say the guitar playing of Steven Stills has always had a pronounced effect on my picking style, and of late I've found myself immersed in a study of the writings of Bruce Cockburn. Influences are important but hind-sighted. I tend to keep my focus on where I'm going as a composer, even if I haven't a clue where that my be.

Q: What kind of guitars do you play and why?

A: I am partial to the guitars that I own, most particularly because I can't afford new ones so I make the best of what I have. Luckily, I own some great guitars. I have a 1942 Gibson f-hole - black, beat, and beautiful - that is my principle acoustic guitar. It's been electrified through many a trial and error affair to the point where I can make it sound exactly how I want. Those who have attempted to achieve this will understand just how difficult this task can be. Also I have an old Guild that's been in the family for years and was the first guitar I ever played back when I was 5 years old laying it across my lap playing along with old "New Christy Minstrels" records. I also have two great old Fender Telecasters, one I got as an Christmas present when I was 13, and one I procured while I was in the Jukes.

Q: Its trite, but where do you get your stories from for your lyrics?

A: I am an extremely autobiographical writer. In order to disguise this seemingly narrow frame of reference, I make frequent and boundless use of metaphor. It always leaves me with a sense of achievement when I have written a song that, to me, tells the story of a particular, if not mundane, incident in my life, but when read literally, offers little clue to the reader as to the actual experience as I lived it, but rather forces them to perceive the tale using the imagery that may be provoked from within. I occasionally run into trouble with this approach, particularly with my love songs.

Q: How do you chose your cover tunes?

A: I only choose covers that I really love. This is not so unique. My feeling about singing someone else's song is that it has to say something I might have said myself. I notice this especially when "learning" the lyrics - because I don't really "learn" covers - rather I assimilate them through repeated listening. I've found that if the lyrics are well written and suitable to my view-point on life, love, or whatever, then the "next line" just sort of makes sense and doesn't have to be memorized. Occasionally I will re-write the lyrics to fit my mood, thus personalizing the tune and making it more enjoyable to utilize as a means of self-expression. After that, it's simply finding a way to make the song sound complete within the limits of my chosen media - that is, acoustic guitar and voice.

Q: Is it important for a solo artist to establish a singular sound, or make their mark in some special way?

A: It's important for any artist - no matter what field - to make their mark in some way. By artists I refer to anyone who does anything with tenacity and voraciousness toward the goal achieving their own sense of perfection for no other reason than the pride of being able to say they did it. In this manner, anyone, whether they be a gigolo, stock-broker, seamstress, housewife or musician could be perceived as an artist. Creating a singular sound, to my way of thinking, comes from being honest with yourself and striving to recreate what you might hear in your head in the "real world" - whatever that might be. I've always fallen back on the adage that "No two people are alike" and that the only way to be truly unique is to be yourself - overused perhaps but nonetheless true. I do not offer this up as a recipe for success, however. I think it's been proven time and time again that being different does not translate into being successful.

Q: Tell me a couple of your favorite memories playing before a live audience.

A: One of my favorite live performance stories goes back to the Jukes days. We were playing the Dick Clark Theatre, somewhere in upstate New York. At this particular show there was a group of "young folks" who were "Joel" groupies, and one girl appeared to be quite taken with me in the purest of rock and roll fashion. The security was being especially strict that day and it upset Southside to the extent that he demanded they be removed from the front of the stage. He then proceeded to invite the entire audience of 6000 to "come on up." This happened to occur during my ONLY guitar solo of the night, and as the audience swarmed forth I was driven back to the base of the drum riser, at which point this girl plopped herself down on my lap, and began covering me with kisses while saying "I Love You" over and over again until Johnny and another band member reached down, grabbed me by the arms and lifted me up to safety before I was crushed by the throng. Great! A bit more germane to the present, I recall the night of my first CD Release Party at the Hard Rock in Boston. I was very nervous, this being a new thing for me and all, and had invited many of my fine musician friends to come down and help me kick it off. These were people with whom I had had many experiences and held in the highest esteem. I feared that many would not show, for it can be tough to find these people with a night off, and stopping by someone else's show to perform can easily construed as "work." I'm happy to say that ALL those I invited came, and the night was a tremendous success I hold in the highest regard the respect of my peers - from an "insiders" view, it can be the most rewarding attention an artist can get.

Q: What are your musical daydreams? Have a wish list youd like to share?

A: I have always had a vision of me performing to a sold out show at the Orpheum, setting up my little PA head to my left as I always do, plugging it into their huge PA system and mixing myself from the stage. And then hanging out for the night performing requests from the audience the whole show. My wish list as I stand in the present is simple. If I knew, unequivocally, that there would be just ONE person whom I knew or came specifically to hear me perform, then I would look forward to each and every show I played, no matter where that may be.

Q: Whats the biggest problem facing solo acoustic artists?

A: I can only speak for myself here - the one challenge I face most often is maintaining the faith that what I am doing with my life professionally is on the same page as my goals as a human being (ED- a great pull quote), and that if I just hang with it I will wind up at the end of it all, whether successful or not, feeling that I had lived the life of my choosing and have no regrets. The rest is just window dressing from my perspective.

Q: Why do you feel theres such a huge audience entranced with acoustic music?

A: I wasn't aware that there was. There are so many people in this world today that you could perceive the existence of a "huge" audience for just about anything. There are lots of different reasons people are drawn to the "acoustic" scene. Some are drawn to the "pseudo-intellectualism" that is shared within the community. Others, maybe the older ones, appreciate the musicality involved, rather than the more "scene-oriented" affectations of the trend-followers. Some folks simply appreciate a quiet night out. You can pontificate ad-infinitum, but in the end the truth is that there is an audience out there for every creative style, none all that bigger than others, except where "trend-marketing" comes in, at which point it becomes the "flavor of the month". People respond to advertising and can be steered en-masse in almost any direction, but in music, when trends fade, as they always do, the purest musical forms rise once again to the surface and "the song" becomes the thing. For this reason, I believe that good, honest singer/songwriters will always have a venue amongst the world's music-appreciating constituents.

Q: Commentary on Lilith Fair. Does the world need to hear the male voice and what would you name your all male acoustic festival?

A: I think the world has enough vocalization coming from both of the sexes. It's interesting though that when you think of it on a biological and evolutionary sense - the male role is one associated with violence - hunting, protecting, that sort of thing, while the female role is one leaning toward compassion and sensitivity - homemaking and child rearing. I feel that this is neither sexist nor narrow-minded, but a generality all the same, so it has amused me in the past that music - an art form born of compassion and sensitivity, has been dominated, until this point in time, by the male perspective, and it is no surprise to me that people are now drawn to the female as a source of artistic expression. On the other hand, as we evolve towards a more androgynous social structure, I hope that the female "trend" will wane and the focus will become fixed on the quality of the music itself rather than the gender of the artist.

Q: Do you ever get nervous? How do you keep the audience close and connected to what you're doing on stage?

A: I get extremely nervous before every show - whether it be a small tavern or a sold-out show at a prestigious venue. My "defense mechanism", if you will, is to focus completely on what I'm doing and as a result, I tend to go into a bit of a trance while I play, and travel off into my own world. My hope, although not acknowledged intellectually, is to create a sort of intense "black hole" which the audience might briefly get sucked into, and thereby experience my music as intensely as I do. (ED- Another brilliant pull-quote) This is not always successful, as people do not always want to experience "your world", anymore than they want you poking around in theirs, but hopefully those that do experience the music a bit more deeply and are left with a feeling of having visited somewhere they'd like to return to.

Q: Do you ever just want to play music, without boundaries or definitions? For instance, play a set filled with rock, swing, some blues, covers and originals?

A: I am of the feeling that this is what I do every night. I pretty much play whatever I feel like playing as it is, and for this freedom I am thankful. It's one of those things that keeps me going and for which I believe I will have no regret when I've reached the last page of my existence. This is not to boast any sense of multi-genred virtuosity on my part, simply that I do not feel genre-bound by what I do. I'm able to follow my heart through each and every performance and see where it gets me.

Q: Tell us about your sojourns as a troubadour. Do you like being on the road and how do you stay sane?

A: I've been traveling a bit down to Nashville and Texas. Kerrville was a hoot, a great community temporarily spawned for a few weeks of highly focused music appreciation. Nashville, more of a business town, gave me a nice welcome and on my return trip in September it will be great to reacquaint myself with all the new friends I've made. Of course, there's great things to be said for both the road and staying local. I have a wonderful home life and do not seek escape on the road, but I do enjoy the traveling, the meeting of new people and the experience of new places. I have not traveled as far and wide as I plan to, but there is plenty of time to cultivate the different demographic areas of this country. It's nice to be able to say: "I'd like to see the Grand Canyon, let's get a gig out there," and then to be able to do it. I can't wait to go to Europe. It's all about doing the research, making the contacts and following through. As for sanity, I think it's easier to stay sane on the road than at home. Traveling is a release in a way because you can focus on the one and only reason you're out there -to perform. There's always tons of down time in which to write and relax, so it's almost a utopian existence for me. Also, I travel with Judith, my significant one. She is the pillar of sanity to me. At home there's always more things to do than there is time for, and you're constantly juggling your priorities. That can truly test your sanity.

Q: What do you think about the Internets role in selling and communicating music to audiences?

A: What can you say about technology, it just keeps moving forward at light speed. There are already things in existence that will make any tactile form of music media obsolete. Imagine subscribing to an online media service where you simply tell it what song to play and bam it's deposited on your hard drive for a small fee that's automatically deducted from your bank account. With wireless modem capabilities you could even do this from your car - no more record stores - everything on the Internet. This is the infant stage for the Internet and the, for my money, the sky's the limit.

Q: Are traditional acoustic formats and cutting edge technology strange bedfellows?

A: No, I think they make great bedfellows - technology is a tool, it's up to the artist as to how he uses it.

Q: Could you go over your strategy for breaking into new territory tour-wise?

A: I generally start by picking an area where I know someone. I get a few leads on the various venue types available, i.e. folkie coffeehouses, taverns, concert halls. Then I gather the media info on radio, print. Maybe there's an agent in the neighborhood that will help you with a show - a long shot, but worth a try. I book one gig, and plan to make the trip at my cost for that one gig, as long as I can afford it. Anything else I might get is gravy. Each time you make a trip to a new territory it will cost you money until suddenly one day you realize you're actually making a few buck on these trips and you can start on a new area. I travel to distant areas three to four times per year at cost, and for each area that begins to make a profit, I begin to cultivate a new one. After a while you can string them together into one long trip and, taadaa - you're ON TOUR!! Yeehaa!

Q: What are your parents thinking about this life of yours?

A: My folks have always supported my musical endeavor. I was lucky to start off my musical career with a fairly prestigious opportunity touring with the Jukes, so by the time I hit the streets on my own merits, it was too late to turn back - Not that they haven't made all the rather naive parental suggestions that I'm sure all struggling musicians get - well meaning as they may be.

Q: What are the pros and cons of living in Boston and Meredith.

A: I love both places. There are no pros nor cons, just different environs. I'm looking forward to getting settled in the Lakes Region - I've loved it up here since I first visited as a child, but I'll always have to have a place in the city, and Boston is as good as any.

Q: Describe what its like, as a "New Folk Finalist to be invited back to Kerrville.