(logo swooshing) (light music) (light music) - [Carolyn] I am Carolyn Currie, - [Carolyn] I am Carolyn Currie, singer, songwriter, mother, and lover of music.

singer, songwriter, mother, and lover of music.

Join me as I listen to and speak with some of Maine's premier musical artists on Sound Waves.

some of Maine's premier musical artists on Sound Waves.

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One, two, three.

(jaunty guitar music) ♪ Well I was reading the paper the other day ♪ ♪ When I spotted an ad for someone to play ♪ ♪ Down at the local bar and gril ♪ Just outside of town ♪ ♪ Always fancied myself a star ♪ If I could learn to sing and play a little guitar ♪ ♪ Yeah, a couple of lessons from Billy ♪ ♪ I'd be getting down ♪ So I bought a B-8 with a Marshall stack ♪ ♪ With a Les Paul custom banner rack ♪ ♪ And I practiced till my fingertips was blue ♪ ♪ And when I got my chance ♪ Ready or not ♪ The waitress screamed up ♪ Is that all you got ♪ Might have bitten off a little more than I could chew ♪ ♪ She said, small potatoes is what she called my act ♪ ♪ Small potatoes ♪ She said, but don't you never come back ♪ ♪ Tiny 'taters ♪ What she said to me ♪ She said, small 'taters ♪ Is all you'll ever be ♪ Oh yeah ♪ Well, I've chanced into her just after her divorce and ♪ ♪ She asked me if I was still singing and I said, of course ♪ ♪ She asked me if she'd come over to the house ♪ ♪ She wanted to jam out ♪ I still remember just what she said but ♪ ♪ Way she said, it just knocked me dead ♪ ♪ And ever since that night ♪ She's all I think about ♪ She says, now, I don't mean to be unkind ♪ ♪ I know you are a legend in your own mind ♪ ♪ But you're small potatoes ♪ What she said to me ♪ She said, small potatoes ♪ She said, now don't you never come back ♪ ♪ Small potatoes ♪ Ah, that's what she said ♪ Tiny 'taters ♪ Whoa, that's all right with me ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh yeah ♪ (guitar) ♪ Well, now it's been some time and I've hit my stride ♪ ♪ But I keep a small law firm on the side ♪ ♪ But my musical future ♪ Never looks so brighter ♪ 'Cause I bought that girl a diamond ring ♪ ♪ And now she always comes to hear me sing ♪ ♪ Every Saturday night down at that local bar and grill ♪ ♪ Well, she runs the sound, she takes care of me ♪ ♪ Plays a little bit of bass, sings harmony ♪ ♪ Were ♪ Small Potatoes ♪ That's what we call our act ♪ Small Potatoes.

We keep on coming back ♪ ♪ Tiny 'taters ♪ What well always be ♪ Small potatoes ♪ Oh, that's all right with me ♪ Oh, that's all right with me ♪ I said, that's all right with me ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm getting hungry (laughs) (lively music) - When did you decide you wanted to be as opposed to a player of the guitar?

I mean, people play guitar, but you are a guitarist.

- Well... - When did you wanna become a guitarist?

- You know, it just happened.

- Yeah.

- It took me... - Yeah.

- I didn't decide to be a guitarist.

It said, Denny, you're gonna be a guitarist.

- How old were you?

- About nine.

- Oh.

- About 9, 10.

And my aunt gave me a guitar that she got with S&H Green stamps.

Remember those?

(laughs) - I do sadly.

(laughs) - Had three strings on it.

And I just sat there all day just, and I can remember my aunt going, "Geez, don't you know anything else?"

(laughs) You know, but... - Yeah.

- Anyway, that was the... And then when around 13 or 14, I started playing with groups and things and it just was such a natural thing.

I don't know.

I can't explain it.

It's like I already knew how to play.

- All right.

So I need to backtrack a little bit and talk about your childhood and your parents.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- You had... Again, you come from from Maine country royalty?

- Pretty much.

Yeah.

- Your parents were?

- Hal Lone Pine and Betty Cody.

- Okay.

And they started recording on RCA in the 1940s?

- [Denny] 40s, yeah.

And as it turns out, Chet Atkins was on their recordings quite a bit 'cause he was just a side man then.

And that's how he ended up meeting Lenny and then producing Lenny's first two albums.

And they became lifelong friends.

And I got a chance to open for Chet a little after that.

And my mom got up and yodeled and it was... They all used to play at this, you know, what is it called?

The Wheeling West Virginia Jamboree or something like that.

- Yeah.

- And that was sort of before Nashville became... - The thing.

- The hotspot.

Yeah.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

And she has a star on the sidewalk down there next to Merle Haggard and.

- Oh, how wonderful is that?

- She was gonna be big, Colonel Parker tried to sign her.

And that's Elvis's manager.

- [Carolyn] So she was gonna be big.

She wasn't big.

- [Denny] She gave it up at that point because they wanted her to leave the kids.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

Okay.

- [Denny] And spend a few months doing whatever.

And she had had it between traveling with dad and boarding us kids out all the time.

She finally said, you know... - Yeah.

- It's time for me to be a mom.

And she quit show business and got a job in a shoe shop and raised us three sons.

- Wow.

And... - Yeah.

Now that's a mom.

- That is a mom.

- That's a mom.

- Wow.

So you never went on the road with your folks?

- No, I was too young.

Yeah.

I wasn't even born when Lenny and them were.

My brother Dick, older brother Dick and Lenny were called the two noisiest kids in radio.

And they said Lenny had a washboard that he would play.

- Yeah.

- And a little... (blows raspberry) Horn on it.

And they sang songs and, you know, just created ruckus, I guess.

(laughs) - So.

All right.

And then you came along and you were the quiet one.

- Oh no, I wasn't the quiet one.

(laughs) No, no.

I discovered the guitar one day.

My mom used to, even though she wasn't on the road, she was still performing here and there and you know, we'd do variety shows at the church and stuff like that.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

- And we'd perform but she was having a rehearsal at the house.

And I remember asking the dobro player if I could look at his guitar.

And I remember lifting up the cover to the... And the smell of beer and cigarettes came out.

And I said, "Whoa, this is what I want to do."

(laughs) - So was that the moment?

Was that the moment?

- No, that was just one moment.

♪ 1, 2, 3 ♪ Bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ And if you ain't been there, you can appreciate ♪ ♪ Just how hard it can be for someone like me ♪ ♪ To straighten out 'fore its too late ♪ ♪ Bad habits sure hard to break ♪ ♪ I ain't hurting no one ♪ Trying to have some fun ♪ I'm just trying to get through life without too much pain ♪ ♪ Though I may seem ♪ A little too extreme ♪ Well, if I could do it again, don't you know ♪ ♪ That I do it the same.

♪ Pass the chips and the beer ♪ Pass that smoke over here ♪ Now hand me my old guitar ♪ 'Cause I'm ready to play ♪ Though I may seem ♪ A little too extreme ♪ I howl at the moon ♪ Party till the night of day ♪ 'Cause those bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ And if you ain't been there, you can't appreciate ♪ ♪ Just how hard it can be for someone like me ♪ ♪ To straighten out 'fore it's too late ♪ ♪ Bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ Going to the four ♪ (bass and guitar) ♪ When my doctor looks at me ♪ He just shaked his head and said ♪ ♪ How do you do it Denny, you should be dead ♪ ♪ Your blood pressure through the ceiling ♪ ♪ 30 pounds overweight ♪ There's only so much that your body can take ♪ ♪ Well, I know I should listen ♪ Take his advice ♪ No smoking, no drinking ♪ I thought about once or twice ♪ ♪ He said, luck of the draw ♪ The roll of the dice ♪ Seems like everything bad ♪ Is the spice of life ♪ So past the chips and the beer ♪ ♪ Pass that smoke over here ♪ Now hand me my old guitar ♪ 'Cause I'm ready to play ♪ And it feels all right ♪ Play some Lenny tonight ♪ Well, I'm gonna howl at the moon ♪ ♪ Party till the night of day ♪ Because those bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ And if you ain't been there, you can't appreciate ♪ ♪ Just how hard it can be for someone like me ♪ ♪ To straighten out the 'fore its too late ♪ ♪ Bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ You know what though, Billy ♪ I'm going to straighten out 'fore it's too late ♪ ♪ Curb my need to celebrate ♪ Time's running out to negotiating and I'm ♪ ♪ Watching out for my prostate ♪ But those bad habits sure are hard to break ♪ ♪ Ooh, we all got 'em (laughs) - [Carolyn] Tell the world who Lenny is.

I could do it, but you're gonna do it... - Well.

More articulately and... - Well.

- Smoothly.

- Lenny Breau, first of all was my brother.

- Yes.

- [Denny] And he was Betty Cody and Hal Long Pine's son.

(indistinct) He was a man.

He was a man.

- Yeah.

- And he started playing at about three.

He ended up when mom and dad got divorced.

- Yeah.

- When we were living in Canada.

And we came back to the States and dad and Lenny stayed in Winnipeg.

And that's about the time that Lenny started really getting into jazz.

- [Carolyn] Okay.

- And that kind of broke them up because dad stayed country and Lenny got into the jazz thing.

And just recently, I found out about a CD that Lenny had done with Levon Helm and Rick Danko from “The Band”, right.

- Where did you find that?

- It was online.

- [Carolyn] Oh, interesting.

- It's called the Hallmark Sessions and they're playing jazz.

- Yeah.

- I would've never dreamed that Lenny and two guys from “The Band” did an album playing standards.

Very cool.

- But Lenny was primarily a jazz musician.

- He absolutely was.

But he was world-class classical.

- Yeah.

- World-class flamenco.

I have a “Readers Digest” a lbum at home where he's playing with Segovia and Sebicas and it's like pretty cool.

(classical jazz guitar music) - Yeah.

So how influential was he to your music?

- Extremely.

Extremely.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, he's the one that taught me how to “Chet” pick.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- For one.

- And he also taught me a lot of valuable life lessons.

One in particular I can remember, we were at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston and we walked in and the band was terrible and the guitar player just was terrible.

And I said, Lenny, I said, "He really sucks, doesn't he?"

And he goes, "But he's got a good sound."

And I went... - Okay.

(Denny imitating blipping) You know, be humble.

Don't say anything unless you got something nice to say, you know.

- That's actually, that's a very good lesson.

- It was very profound at the time.

- Well, and it's a small world.

- Yeah.

- You know.

- Take that, gets back, huh?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

(laughs) And I think you get further in life with a little humility.

- But as far as his influence, I mean it's never ending.

It's still happening.

- Right.

- I still listen to stuff now that 30 years ago I didn't have a clue what was going on.

And now I've got more... - Right.

- More information and more under my fingers.

So it makes it a little easier to kind of comprehend.

But at the same time, it's just so far that I'll never... - Yeah.

- Quite understand everything, you know?

(laughs) - And he died quite young.

- Yeah, he was murdered when he was 43 out in Los Angeles.

And still an open case actually.

- [Carolyn] Is it really?

- [Denny] Yeah.

Yeah.

We still get a call from the LAPD and unfortunately we'll never know.

- What a staggering loss.

- Yeah.

Really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

- A waste.

No.

- Really didn't, you know.

- Yeah.

- Wonder what he'd be playing like now, anyways.

- Yeah, that's... What would you like him to know about you?

Because how old were you?

You were in your 20s when he died.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

He was 11 years older than I am.

- Okay.

- I was probably in my late 20s and I'd like him to know that I admire him so much and his music is gonna last forever.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

- And I play the way I play because of him.

- That's a huge thing.

- You know.

- Yeah.

So much of him is in my playing.

(lively music) - Do that finger style now.

- [Carolyn] Were you close when he was alive?

- We were very close when he was around and he came to all my gigs and... - Did you play together?

- Oh sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, we did.

The one thing I think I probably regret the most is all the times that we sat around the house and he was just playing.

- Yeah.

- [Denny] And he'd say, "Oh, here's a Bill Evans tune that I'm working on right now."

And I should have put a recorder down there.

- I know, I know.

- I should have put the recorder down there and recorded every one of those.

- I know.

- I never dreamed he'd be gone.

- No.

- [Denny] I never dreamed, you know, so.

Here we go.

1, 2, 3.

(lively guitar music) - [Carolyn] So you're about to sing for us a song that you wrote called Colorado.

- [Denny] Correct.

- When did you write that?

- Oh, gotta be a good five, six years ago.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- What inspired that song?

- People that are in love but can't be together.

- Have you had a lot of that?

- No.

- [Carolyn] Okay.

- No, I never have.

But I put myself in those kinds of situations when I write a song and try to feel the way they may feel.

- [Carolyn] Yeah.

- And I think it was inspired from “Four Strong Winds - Yeah.

- Do you know that song?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

I do.

- You know, and I'll be back and... - Yeah.

- You know, if you're still willing and you know.

- Yeah.

- We've been through this a hundred... It's just two people that... - Yeah.

- Love each other but can't really be together.

- So.

Yeah.

And I think... - I've known a lot of people like that.

- Yeah.

Well so I've heard the song and there's this great longing in it and just, but the taking off the, going to Colorado and I don't know, it just... - Nothing left here, you know.

- I know, but... - It's a desperation.

Sad but hope, you know.

- Yeah.

But it's interesting 'cause it was more about not just living apart but but absenting yourself from a relationship that was going... - Absolutely.

- That was kind of circling the drain.

- But if you're still willing, I'll come back for you.

- Yeah.

- You know, so it has hope too.

- Yeah, I like that.

I like the way it is hopeful.

- But I wasn't thinking of that when I wrote it.

It just fell out.

- Well listen, thank you.

I am so looking forward to hearing you play that song so.

- [Denny] Thank you.

(somber guitar music) ♪ Maybe someday we'll see eye to eye ♪ ♪ Turn the corner on the past ♪ I guess we didn't try quite hard enough ♪ ♪ To build something that would last ♪ ♪ We might as well have been on different planets ♪ ♪ What's the difference ♪ No one's home ♪ This love worth coming back for ♪ ♪ Maybe we're better off alone ♪ I'm headed out to Colorado ♪ Nothing left here holding me ♪ If you find that you change your mind and you wanna know ♪ ♪ Colorado, where I'll be ♪ Colorado ♪ Waits for me ♪ Waits for me ♪ With no regrets, I'll roll up my bed ♪ ♪ Take what I need for the ride ♪ ♪ I'm headed west ♪ To clear my head ♪ A place I know on the mountainside ♪ ♪ Where I can see for miles for all the good it does me ♪ ♪ If I can't make sense of this love I'm in ♪ ♪ When I get my strength, I'll come back to you ♪ ♪ If you are still willing, but until then ♪ ♪ I'm headed out to Colorado ♪ Nothing left here holding me ♪ And if your find that you change your mind ♪ ♪ And you wanna know ♪ Colorado ♪ Is where I'll be ♪ Colorado ♪ Waits for me ♪ Colorado (graphics whooshing) (gentle music)