RR: That’s an amazing way to look at it, and leads into my thoughts that you are not only passing on that knowledge through your input on the Telecaster, but with your continuing work as a guitar instructor at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch.

GES: Yeah. It’s great. I love it there. I’ve been there for 12 years. I think I came in at the second set of classes that they did the first year they opened. Recently, that’s where I was, up in the Catskills, when we couldn’t get a hold of each other. I was with Jorma.

RR: Have you had a chance to work with Levon Helm at his place in Woodstock?

GES: I’ve never gone there and, again, it’s something I have to do as soon as I have a little time. I’m on the road a lot, but as soon as I have a little time, I have to get over there. I’ve met Levon. I’ve got to play with him a couple times, and, obviously, again, one of the cornerstones of American music.

RR: You’ve participated in many tributes to artists including events like the Kennedy Center Honors where you’ve been a musical director and bandleader. To name a few: tributes to Dylan, Chuck Berry, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters, and one dedicated to Mark Twain. That sounds like a fascinating series of gigs.

GES: Right. The ones that I was involved in, they did for PBS. They would pick different people like Steve Martin, mostly comedians, to do a tribute. I would lead the house band. Somewhere along the way, I got known as a bandleader. That just kind of ballooned into all these other things.

RR: Including your involvement with numerous bands at Live Aid in 1985.

GES: Right. I was working with Daryl Hall and John Oates. They were going to be on the show, and we had a really good road band that had been out on the road for a few years. We knew great horn players. We had David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick from the Temptations actually out on the road with us so we had the best background vocalists in the world. It was a natural thing to fall into us being there if somebody needed a band.

RR: You were with Hall & Oates during their prime years from ’79 to ’85.

GES: They were writing great songs and great records. But, in ’81, MTV came on, and they were ready for MTV. They were aware of it, along with Tommy Mottola, their manager. We had already done a few videos, then MTV came on, and they were ready to take that shit over. And they did. That’s what really turned them into a worldwide phenomenon. Like I said, they were already making great records, but not that many people would have heard the records—not those millions and millions of people all around the world.

RR: You seemed like you had a fairly substantial presence in the videos, as well. You weren’t just the guitarist in the background of this great duo’s band.

GES: I don’t know. I was there. They afforded each guy in the band to do what he wanted. I don’t know. (laughter) It’s tough. We were just doing it. Now, I can look back on it, and sound knowledgeable and real profound about it. But, at the time, it was just what we were doing. “O.K. We just made a record. Now, we go on the road for nine months. Let’s make a couple of videos before we leave.”

RR: You’ve also been able to step out and do your own solo work, as well, over the years. Your most recent solo project was an archival DVD called 50 Watt Fuse.

GES: Right. My wife, Taylor Barton, who is also a singer/songwriter, and has a really good CD out called Spiritual Gangster, did that, she did the DVD. I lived my life before that so they would have the archival footage, but I didn’t know it was going to be for a DVD. She did all the work on that. All I did was, like I say, go to the gigs.

RR: Do you have any pending solo album projects for the next few years?

GES: Yeah. I’ve got a bunch of stuff almost finished, and I’m just really lazy. First, I was a folkie before I got a Telecaster, before I got an electric guitar. From ’59 on, I was into that folk thing that happened. I was a finger picker, an acoustic guitar guy, I was learning all these old songs, and coming at it from that. So, I’ve got a bunch more of that type of stuff, traditional stuff, recorded and I want to get that out because it’s so easy to get things out now with the internet. The record company would never touch that, but I could just put it out. I hope to have that out soon.

RR: Jorma seems to have an easy time of releasing loads of material like that lately.

GES: Yeah. We played together recently, just the two of us, on a small stage, no microphones, no plugged-in guitars, just two acoustic guitars. We just took turns singing songs, and in the middle of the song, if I felt like playing something while he was singing, fine, I’ll play it. If he wanted to play something while I was singing, fine, too. It was if we were in each other’s living room, and we really had fun doing it. Because he’s into that traditional music, too, obviously. We had a ball.

RR: You’ve probably had some nice jam sessions with your wife, Taylor, as well.

GES: She writes really good songs. We were playing earlier today, and we got into the middle of one of her songs, and I was thinking: “Wow—Moonalice could do this song. We could do this. I could sing it, and it would sound great if Molo played this drum part on this bridge.”

RR: Speaking of…coming back full circle to Moonalice, let’s talk about the band.

GES: Moonalice is, I think…I mean, I’m in the band. It’s hard for me to talk about it. (pauses) But, it keeps getting better, and it’s gotten better beyond my initial expectations. And that’s pretty exciting. I’m like this cynical, jaded guy, music biz guy that’s been around for a long time. I thought: “Well, this will be whatever it’s going to be to a certain extent. We’ll have fun. We’ll play.” But it’s gotten a lot better than that. And, now, a lot of nights, it’s pretty exciting. I’m always excited when I’m going to play. It doesn’t matter what I’m going to play; I’m always excited. But now I’m excited when I come off. And that’s a good thing for me.

RR: Moonalice comes into town with their rock ‘n’ roll circus caravan, and one never knows what to expect from the band, but it may just be pretty damn amazing.

GES: On any given night, it has the potential to…uh…I can’t compare it to anything, and that’s not fair, but it has the potential to be something pretty special.

RR: I would think you are also looking to continue to be inspired at this point, too.

GES: Yeah. I’m 57 years old. George Carlin, the last couple years of his life, he’s a legend, right? The last couple years of his life, he walks out on stage, and the audience would stand up and applaud for two or three minutes. He points at his watch and says, “I don’t have time. I’m 70. I don’t have time.” That’s how I feel. I don’t have time to waste it on any bullshit projects. Let’s just do something good, and I’m pretty happy with what we’re doing right now.

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