Ralph White On Calypso, African Ostinato, & the Dead

Ralph White: One of those incredibly well-kept secrets you expect Austin to harbor.

Listening to Ralph play banjo on the grass at the Church really got me thinking about my generation. Why were Dave and I the only two people sitting there with Ralph when later that night kids would flock to all the local parties to hear untold numbers of mediocre bands play utterly vacuous music for hours and hours without a word of complaint? I think Bob Dylan once nailed it--I'm paraphrasing--, "Kids today have no sense of history in their music."

Every song Ralph played was both a work of art and a lesson about something he's lived through. He could sit and talk forever about why he played each song he did, and we were glad to listen.

Listen to Ralph White on our compilation.

W & A: First off, it was great to sit outside and hear you play & talk about the songs you performed the other day at Church of the Friendly Ghost. There's a lot of history in the songs you played. Can you describe a few you played that day (like the Calypso one, for example) and where they originated?

R.W: I just learn whatever songs either really inspire me or just seem to come my way-that seems to contradict itself, but it's true-the most recent song I've learned is "Ripple" by the Grateful Dead. I've never been a fan of theirs in any big way, but I heard that song and just had to play it. As I think about this, I realize that songs, whether you write them or steal them, are magical vehicles; they can take you places where no car can go. I'm trying to let an attitude develop in me to where every time I play a song it takes me and whoever is listening somewhere magical. It's hard to do that without a plan or a teacher-but back to question:1-the 1 calypso song in my rep was learned from a "sing out" magazine-it fused with an algerian melody i've been playing on banjo -it sort of morfed into the piece on the wood banjo-"money is king" by,i think an artist known as 'the growling tiger'-i saw the words printed out in that zine -they're just too good to pass-another song i played that day, 'if i lose' is an old trad mourtain song-i started playing it years ago when it just got into my head-those old appalachian mt. tunes are african ostinotos in desguise-loops of magical rythmic tonalitys-i played that kind of music(fiddle music) for years before i started writing songs , so that shits an influence-question

You seem to have a real good friendship with the instruments you play. Could you talk a little about the different banjos you like to play? What about accordions, which are your favorites to play? Other instruments?

this is weird-but i learned(and am still learning) that your instrument can teach you by taking up the kalimba-i could talk for hours about 'banjo'-alot of my originol stuff is composed on a frettless 5-string banjo tuned in a low version of standard banjo tuning-i need to special order strings to match this tuning-my favorite accordian is a b-flat 3-row butten
diatonic one.my special affair is with kalimbas and banjos and i have several of each.?

How long have you been writing and playing songs? What got you started?

ive been writing songs for about 12 years -i've been 'writing' fiddle tunes for 25 years or so.?

What prompts you to write a song? Are there any general kinds of experiences that lead to a new song?

this ones too contradictory for me-some of my favorite songs came out of pure misery, and some from
seemingly nowhere-so i can honestly answer that i dont know what promts me to write a song and there may not be such a thing as a general expeirance (maybe theres a song for everything)?

I wanted to break up my question about your influences into periods because there seems to be so much history behind what you do. Who are the earliest songwriters you've been influenced by? Any before 1900?

you know-its music not song that first inspired me to play-i didnt start thinking a whole lot about lyrics until i
started singing-so much singing is inspiring!thats a hard question for me-i like to think about all the songs that i havnt heard-like if there was no recording industry and the music one vally over was totally different(maybe its still like that in ways)?

What early 20th century American songwriters have really hit you? What about non-Americans?

its weird but i cant think of any one particular songwriter that has influenced me from any time period(i hope that this dosnt make me aloof)exept that by the time i started writing songs i was allready too overwhelmed and influenced by music-i wanted music to help ground me. like right now the lyrics to 'ripple 'are devestatingly beautifull-and the greatfull dead suck-i mean they didnt even write their own stuff, had lyricist do it, just like big corporations design commercials-my point being not a judjement of the dead but that music and lyrics, too can have wonderfull runaway magic that just isnt logical.so i guess i'm too obsessed by just playing my own stuff to even buy records these days-i still get totally moved by music all the time tho-hearing people live and radio, wharever-and as i've repeatedly expressed, the song 'ripple' is my currant inspiration-and i heard it in my car late at night being played magicly superbly by jimmy dale gilmore(whom i'm not a huge fan of either) the question of what kind of pre1900 music to me is inspiring would all the great trad. folk music from just abuot anywhere, from what little ive heard is really good music.i like all those old mountain banjo songsters like doc boggs and clarence ashley but i havnt studied their sound or listened to that stuff as i much as i should.?

How does Austin affect your music? Where else have you lived and how has it been different in other places?

austin-i probably have all kinds of twisted feelings about that(this) situation that is austin-austin is a city in country full of citys that i have lived in all of my life-really strange that i feel so little about it-maybe it affects my music by not affecting it-you see i have also travelled most of my life under various circomstances and austins just part of america and my
perception of what that is is in a state of pathos(i read howard zinn) right now i like the alleys in south austin in the late evening.so maybe because it sounds like i dont give a shit about austin, austin dosnt give a shit about me-but austin is a music business town and i hav e hard time taking my music to the clubs etc and i'm just not real competitive also, but it puts me in a bad mood to not be playing out more-its an issue.i also make a decent living as a self employed tree trimmer and have been doing that off and on here for 30 years or so and i actually like doing that ( this contributes to the 'issue' because i like playing music more)?

Where would you like to be in two years?

9i would like to be able to bring more people out to the shows i do get here and therefore be able to get more shows here in two years(thats not much to ask for)?

What's on the horizon? Collaborations, recordings, tours, etc.

ahh the horizon-its vast-i really feel lucky to have these hybrid banjos and kalimbas they seem to make more sense than guitars and keybords they blow my mind and i'm just now dipping into theyre waters -so 2 years down the road i'll be closer to swimming-if recording and touring come into the picture it will be because someone with money might consider what i do worth investing in-that would be nice.