with a chuckle. When Kaukonen
met Kantner and began playing
with the fledgling Airplane, he had
to up his wattage yet again.
"I wasn't loud enough," he says.
"Each change I made had to do
with the people I was hanging
around. In this case, it was a de-
sire to be louder than Paul Kant-
ner — deep, significant musician
stuff."
Kaukonen was hardly the wail-
ing rock-guitar hero, though. "I
had no idea about playing lead
guitar," he acknowledges. "I was
still doing finger-picking like I did
on the acoustic guitar.
"Fortunately, Mike Bloomfield
came to town with the (Paul) But-
terfield Blues Band, and for some
reason he took pity on me and
started showing me electric gui-
tar things. I said 'Oh, boy, this is
really fun."'
The outsider's orientation
worked to Kaukonen's advantage,
however. Blending his learned
rock techniques with his well-in-
grained blues and folk sensibili-
ties, he crafted a distinctive style
that, along with guitarists in the
Grateful Dead and Quicksilver
Messenger Service, defines what
became known as psychedelic or
acid rock.
Kaukonen kept it up with the
Airplane through 1972. When
Slick became pregnant in 1970,
grounding the Airplane for a bit,
Kaukonen and Casady formed the
bluesier Hot Tuna; they eventu-
ally decided they preferred work-
ing in their offshoot group and
continued it as a full-time en-
deavor until 1978.
During the intervening years,
Kaukonen continued to record,
produced instructional videos and
worked on his musical craft. He
spent some time in Woodstock
with The Band's Rick Danko, who
helped him develop as a singer.
Kaukonen concluded that he's
"a country blues singer" and de-
cided to take his music in that di-
rection. The Land of Heroes
reflects that; it's a rootsy affair,
with Kaukonen playing dobro and
lap steel in addition to guitar.
When he's not making music,
Kaukonen works on his farm,
though he admits to being "not
much of a farmer.
He would like to use his farm
to host guitar workshops during
the summer.

Performances

Jorma Kaukonen will appear
tonight at the Ark, 637 1/2 S.
Main, Ann Arbor. Doors open
at 7:30; show starts at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $14.75, available
through Ticketmaster, (810)
645-6666; or at Schoolhouse
Records, 523 E. Liberty, Ann
Arbor.

PLAYBILL

BROADWAY COMES TO SHAAREY ZEDEK LAKER FAMILY CONCERT

•

The Hit Musical

"That's Life!" is a new musical for all ages which comically explores contemporary Jewish
life in America. Told through funny and poignant vignettes, "That's Life!" features an
original score by twelve critically acclaimed New York composers and lyricists. The New
York Times calls this melodic, touching show from off-Broadway a treat! Don't miss it!

Sunday, December 10, 1995 7:00 P.M. Free admission
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 27475 Bell Road, Southfield