Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (L-R): Chris Luquette, Frank Solivan, Danny Booth, and Mike Munford – photo by The McTell Brothers
This is the first in a series of interviews we’ll be doing with some of our favorite musicians.
The first subjects of our needling are Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen. They are a renowned bluegrass band out of northern VA. Nominated for the IBMA’s 2012 Emerging Artist of the Year award, they play bluegrass, newgrass, and blues-grass. But we would be remiss to confine Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen’s music to just these genres. They are, like all the best bands, eclectic and unique.
Frank is an accomplished chef who often combines his shows with his great food. His CD release show, in Washington, DC, on April 20 includes a multi-course meal prepared by Frank.
We met with Frank and his band in the green room of Ashland Coffee & Tea (www.AshlandCoffeeandTea.com ) before their February 22nd gig. That night they announced that they had just signed to Compass Records. Their new album, “On The Edge”, will be released on April 30th. Check out their tour schedule and music on their website, www.dirtykitchenband.com. “Like” them on Facebook www.facebook.com/frank.solivan.and.dirty.kitchen, and be sure to catch them live sometime.
Thanks to the entire band: Frank Solivan, Chris Luquette, Mike Munford, and Danny Booth for taking the time to answer our questions.
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen talk about getting flashed, The Walking (Almost) Dead, their musical beginnings, dream musical collaborations, and the “hazards” of being both a chef and musician:
Frank Solivan: (to his band) OK, watch your mouths, guys.
Brian: First question: How old were you when you first started playing music?
Frank: And who are you asking?
Brian: Everybody, I guess.
Frank: I didn’t know a time where I didn’t have any instruments around. My whole family plays music.
Danny Booth: I played a little keyboard when I was 10, but I really started when I was 11. Playing bass.
Chris Luquette: Started messin’ around on guitars probably when I was around 10 or so. It’s been about 12 years now.
Mike Munford: Late bloomer for me, started at 15. Banjo at 15.
Frank: I guess I kinda started when I was 6, maybe… When I started playing fiddle and guitar.
Brian: If you could play with any living musician outside of bluegrass, who would it be?
Frank: (whistles) Stevie Wonder. That’s the first person that comes to mind. I could probably think of about 20 more.
Chris: Right away, for whatever reason, I’d say Derek Trucks, man. I’d love to just, like, get right up in Derek Trucks and… get some of that.
Brian: He’s a monster.
Danny: I thought Chris was gonna say Duane Allman.
Chris: Well, he said “living musician”.
Jeff: Yeah, someone you could conceivably play with in real life.
Danny: John Paul Jones.
Jeff: He’s alive.
Mike: Well, that’s an interesting question. I mean, there are certainly people I idolize outside of bluegrass, like Oscar Peterson, who’s a great jazz pianist. Now, I don’t know jazz at all; I can’t see it as a likely combination, but… you know.
Brian: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you onstage?
Mike: The what-est thing?
Everyone: Strangest!
Brian: Probably an uncomfortable question…
Frank: Underwear thrown right in front of me. That’s always really strange.
Brian: Has that actually happened?
Frank: Yeah.
Jeff: Like, multiple times?
Frank: Mmm-hmm.
Mike: It was his underwear, though.
Frank: It was my underwear, that’s the weird thing…no… But they were big! They were large, women’s underwear. First time it happened to me, it was at Grey Fox when I was playing with the Navy band.
Danny: Ahhh, this is definitely not the PG version, but, uh… I got flashed.
Jeff: I don’t know how many of these answers we can put on our blog.
Frank: Alright, I actually did get flashed by about 10 women, in Haines, Alaska. That was the coolest, maybe not the weirdest, but the coolest.
Chris: So, for the clean version, I played a folk festival one time, and we were in the middle of the song, and as soon as the end of our set was over at noon – we played, like, 11:30 to noon – at the next show at this stage, there was gonna be this cultural meeting… they were having a parade of Scandinavian heritage from one side of the park, and Asian heritage from the other side… And the Chinese heritage came, and there were people dressed as a dragon, they had the big dragon… There were these guys just, BANGING on drums, and they had no idea that there was a show going on; they were just thinking of the parade. But those drums carry for about 2 miles wherever you are, so we’re in the middle of this song and all of a sudden just, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, you know? And at the time we couldn’t really see ‘em from stage, so it was kinda like… “what’s going on?”. And then obviously they realized they were way too close to the stage, and there was still a program going on… So they got quiet again. That was kinda strange to just have all of sudden, like, Chinese New Year’s celebrations happening right as we’re on stage just, full-force.
Jeff: Someone didn’t plan that very well.
Frank: What about you, Mike?
Mike: Not that many strange things, but just one time playing with a local band in Baltimore… New Grass Revival was gonna play later that afternoon. I look up and Bela (Fleck) is sittin’ at the soundboard, mixing our sound or something, and it’s like… “What is he doing out there? He should be up there with this instrument that I’m playing… maybe I should be elsewhere, parking cars or something.”
Frank: One more – this is really weird, uh, when I was-
Jeff: Is it clean?
Frank: They’re all clean, dude. Nobody has been muddy or dirty in any of these yet. We haven’t gotten dirty yet. I have dirty ones, and you guys aren’t of age for me to talk about those ones yet.
So, anyway… I was just outside of Phoenix, playing with the Navy band… we were playing at this big bandshell, and 5000 people were supposed to be there, and so we’re setting up… and they save this area up in the front for older folks to come, and they start trucking them in in these buses from old folk’s homes there. And, you know, we’ve soundchecked for 5000 people; this is a BIG place. And we brought all of our gear out, and so on, and so they sit there… And the next thing you know we’ve started into our first song, and people that couldn’t walk are walking all of a sudden, and they’re like zombies, coming to the stage with their arms extended – “LOUD. LOOUUD!” – And, literally, pounding on the stage with their hands – “TURN IT DOOWWN! TURN IT DOOWWN! IT’S SO LOOUUD!”
Brian: Like a negative geriatric mosh-pit?
Frank: Dude, we were totally being, like, attacked by the people that were in wheelchairs, you know? They got wheeled in! They were, like, standing up pounding on the stage yelling at us that we’re so loud.
Jeff: They were conserving their energy for that moment.
Frank: That was the weirdest thing, I think. I mean, after the first set, we all went and, like, hid back in the dressing room, and people were pounding on the door – “I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE IN THERE! YOU NEED TO TURN IT DOWN!” I swear to god, man, I’m not even exaggerating!
Brian: That’s pretty intimidating. (pause)
(B): What instrument do feel yourselves most proficient at?
Frank: Anymore, mandolin, I guess. Once it was fiddle.
Jeff: You’ve shifted?
Frank: Yeah, well, the fiddle takes so much energy and time and dedication, which I don’t have anymore… I mean, it’s an instrument you’ve gotta play everyday.
Danny: Bass. I like to play guitar, but… I suck.
Chris: Yeah, we all… emphasis definitely is we all play lots of different instruments, but I think we’re all pretty much…
Frank: Drawn to what we’re playing, yeah…
Chris: …Kind of are playing our first instrument.
Mike: That goes for me, for sure. I play guitar, too, but my banjo’s stronger.
Chris: You haven’t heard Munford play jew’s harp yet, so…
Frank: Or fiddle!
Jeff: I’ve always been confused whether it was called jew’s harp or jaw harp.
Mike: Jaw harp is really, uh…
Frank: (imitating hick accent) Play that jaw harp! Play that old jaw harp!
Jeff: I’ve heard it said two different ways, and I’ve always been uncomfortable saying “jew’s harp”. Wasn’t sure if it was gonna be insulting to somebody…
Chris: In this day and age, it could be, I guess.
Mike: It’s not quite PC, but it’s true.
Brian (to Frank): How does being a chef affect your music and vice-versa?
Frank: Well, when I cut my finger… that really affects my music. And then when I eat before a show, that really affects my singing… in a negative way, especially the burping into the microphone…
Chris: “How ya’ll–burp–doin’?”
Frank: …I mean, the name of the band is Dirty Kitchen, you know? I try to project that I love food, which I do.
Jeff: Don’t we all?
Frank: Right, but I mean in more of a, like, epicurean kind of way, you know?… It can mean a few different things, but anymore it means mostly being epicurious to… really into food. There’s a podcast you can check out, called “The Epicurious”.
Jeff: Interesting.
Frank: Yeah, it relates to food, these days. As opposed to the, uh, Greek, uh, whatever it is… god, or whatever. (laughs)
Brian: Greek god of food?
Frank: I don’t know if that’s it…
Jeff: Is there one?
Frank: I can’t remember any of the other…
Chris: (answering Jeff) Oh, yeah.
Frank: Actually, let’s look it up real quick! (whips out iphone)… Well, there’s epicurious.com…”epicurious defined”…”a person who lives in the constant pursuit of great food, drink, debauchery, and open-minded…” yadda, yadda, yadda…
Danny: “The pursuit of debauchery”. (everyone laughs)
Frank: I like that part…
Mike: The endless pursuit…
Frank: The endless pursuit of debauchery! (throws two devil horns in the air) YEEAAHH!
J&B: Thank you, guys!
Frank and the band: Thank you! It was fun.
(Note from McTell Brothers:After the interview, we looked up the etymology of the word “epicurean”, and this is what we found: The word epicurean is derived from the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 – 270 B.C.).