Interview: Don McLean

Don McLean’s epic song “American Pie” laments “the day the music died” – the 1959 plane crash which killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper – and also tells a beautifully cryptic story about the subsequent evolution of rock ‘n’ roll and society. An enduring classic, it spent four weeks at Number One in 1972, and in 2017 was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

But McLean wasn’t a one-hit wonder. The American Pie album also included the hit song “Vincent”, a meditation on Vincent van Gogh and his masterpiece painting “Starry Night”. Other notable Don McLean songs include “Dreidel”, “Wonderful Baby”, “Since I Don’t Have You”, “Castles in the Air”, and a hit cover of Roy Orbison’s “Crying”. His most recent album was last year’s Botanical Gardens.

This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for the 8/16/19 Don McLean concert at the Libbey Bowl in Ojai, California. It was done by phone on 7/10/19. (Publicity photo)

Interview: Greg Kihn

Greg Kihn kihn-tinues rocking and rolling with the recent release of his album Rekihndled, his first set of new songs in over 20 years. And he’s clearly still got the magic touch. Fun-filled songs like “The Life I Got” and “Big Pink Flamingos” jump out of the speakers, and fit smashingly with Kihn’s acclaimed body of work.

Kihn got his start with the legendary Beserkley Records, with his first solo album coming out in 1976. Things really took off when “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)” went Top 20 in 1981, and two years later “Jeopardy” hit Number Two, aided by a clever and memorable video that received lots of airplay on then-young MTV. “Jeopardy” was denied the top slot by Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” – no shame there! Kihn has also written six novels, and he spent 16 years as a popular DJ in San Jose.

The following interview with Greg Kihn was done by phone on 7/25/17.

Interview: Herb Pedersen

Herb Pedersen has contributed his instrumental and vocal talents to recordings and performances by a wide range of artists over the years, including John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, and many, many more. His band memberships have included bluegrass powerhouse The Dillards in the late Sixties and early Seventies, and the Desert Rose Band with ex-Byrd / ex-Flying Burrito Brother Chris Hillman.

This interview was for a preview article for the 5/3/15 performance by Hillman and Pedersen at the Plaza Playhouse Theater in Carpinteria, California. It was done by phone on 4/22/15.

Concert Review: Weird Al Yankovic

Review of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s concert at the Chumash Casino, 6/16/11.

Interview: Weird Al Yankovic

When “Weird Al” Yankovic was sixteen years old, he gave a home-recorded tape of original and parody songs to Dr. Demento, who broadcast them on his radio show. This was the beginning of Yankovic’s career in comedic music, which really took off in 1984 with his hit song with “Eat It”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” with a hilarious video which spoofed Jackson’s own. He has released many other popular parodies, including another song by Jackson (“Fat”) and songs by Madonna (“Like A Surgeon”), Queen (“Another One Rides The Bus”), Nirvana (“Smells Like Nirvana”), Coolio (“Amish Paradise”), and Chamillionaire (“White & Nerdy”). He also writes a number of original comedy songs. His new album, ALpocalypse, is being released in June, 2011.

The following interview was conducted by phone on 6/13/11.