Rhymes
and Reasons
As the evening sun faded in Mission Valley, Joe Rathburn,
one of San Diego's hardest working musicians, was making final preparations
before starting his weekly Thursday night show: Folkey Monkey. Joe, who has
been organizing this unique songwriter showcase since 2005, made adjustments to
the sound, moved chairs, and talked with members of the audience as they
tumbled in off the sidewalk and found their seats. Each week Joe invites a
guest performer to share the stage at Folkey Monkey and each week the guest
chooses an influential artist (this week's guest Jim Earp chose Neil Young)
whose songs are covered throughout the night's set. Folkey Monkey is a sacred
space for the performers and the audience where music is the main reason for
everyone gathering under the dimming lights of Milano Coffee Company.
Musicianship, fun, and good vibes are the end result.
These days
Rathburn is focused on his music and performances for a lot of good reasons.
But, his recipe is increasingly rooted in an advanced social ideology – that
music can change the world, one listener and one song at a time. You wouldn't
be surprised to hear that Joe plays music like most of us breathe – all day
long, almost like a reflex. His creative output ebbs and flows through periods
of quiet time, when he focuses on writing and composing, and through hectic
periods of playing several different gigs every week. "Since I was very young I
remember this feeling of having to create, my imagination getting the better of
me at every turn, sometimes to my detriment," he says, explaining his
compulsion.
In the old
days, Rathburn made music for many different reasons. Growing up in Grand
Blanc, Michigan, he got started trading guitar riffs with his buddies in eighth
grade as a hobby. Hanging out in his friend's house listening to Beatles
records and doodling on his fret board laid the foundation for a future
interest (and, ultimately, career) in music. That's where part of this story
begins. Somewhere along the way, however, Joe's musical compulsion led him down
some uncommon roads toward some unexpected discoveries about music and himself.
Pure
Magic
On a rainy Halloween night, Joe, his good friend Ray, and
Ray's older brother had a date with destiny. Ray's older brother, who went to
school in Detroit, bought tickets to a concert at Cobo Hall, downtown. He
generously invited his little brother and his brother's buddy, Joe Rathburn.
The headliners were none other than Simon and Garfunkel. Joe remembers the
night as a pivotal point in his path with music. "Man, that was huge! Not just
the concert, but also the whole experience. I mean just us kids and big bro
going down to the big city," says Joe, recalling his stroke of luck. "It was
October 31st, and it was raining. To this day there's just something about
driving in the city in the rain that I love because of that night." Rathburn
saw two greats of the time, live on stage, singing to a gigantic audience. He
experienced the power of music to connect and move an audience – over 12,000
large – and he was hooked. The concert touched him and would change his life
forever. "The show was pure magic," he says.
In the
months after that fateful night, Joe began exerting himself a lot more,
learning music theory and guitar scales. He spent more and more time learning
how to make the music that was in his head and how to create his own musical
compositions. As his knowledge grew, his skills improved and his imagination
expanded. "[That process] began my true understanding of music," he recalls,
"not just by memorizing chords from chord books or listening to a record a
thousand times ... I could use logic to connect what I heard in my head to what
I felt in my heart."
Part Musician, Part Jester
By the age of 17, Rathburn was playing bass for the local
dive bar's band-to-see. The gig was at a shady locals-only spot, suitably
called the Hideaway, and Joe was entering a phase in his musical career when he
would be introduced to a broad range of local and touring acts that would
further his own development and expand his musical horizons. It was at the
Hideaway, during a gig, that he made the acquaintance of one Rob Namowicz –
their relationship would introduce Rathburn to new bands and styles of music
that he hadn't yet encountered and he'd come face to face with some of the
era's greatest music legends. "I got to open for the Guess Who, James Gang,
Chuck Berry, Kiss," recalls Rathburn, "and [we] even headlined over Rush on
their first American tour. Those were heady days indeed!"
Over time,
and as most rock and roll stories go, Joe's took a turn toward the less
reputable. Armed with a collection of sharp guitar riffs, a well-rehearsed
stage presence, and an extensive repertoire of cover songs, Joe found himself
entertaining his audiences week after week, part musician and part jester. "It
was all about just having fun and making a buck." But, Joe had more potential.
"Things started to change the night I fell off a bar stool, drunk, on a New
Year's Eve while singing Jimmy Buffett's 'Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw?'"
Having exceeded or matched the skills and talent of his peers at the time, Joe
fell prey to the scope of his own initial vision – he needed to grow and he
decided to grow up. "I was cheating everyone I met from encountering my full
potential," he reflects.
By hook and
by crook (and as the result of a love story that we'll leave for another time),
Rathburn outgrew himself, shedding his jester skin, and in many ways took the
best of what he'd become and began leveraging his talents to serve those around
him through music and through intention. He'd always had his own creative
drive, but he had also learned how to entertain – that was how he made his
living. "I may have never set my sights [on a direction]; I just did what came
naturally to me. [Music is] the only thing I know how to do, really."
Joe's
creative side began to shine through more clearly as his mentality toward his
career matured. He began to blend two distinct sides of himself in an effort to
find a balance between his own creative drive and his ability (and need) to
earn a living. The familiarity of cover songs has always served Joe well on
stage by allowing uninitiated audiences an opportunity to easily connect with
his live show. Over the years Joe has encountered a very broad cross-section of
audiences and has drawn the conclusion that familiarity is a necessary
ingredient for any performer's success. "I think people are losing a focus on
music. They're focusing on other things and I feel that in order to bring them
back to music, you've got to give them a certain amount of familiarity," he
says.
A
Better World
In the early 1990s Joe began performing at a cafe/shop/arts
center in Mission Hills called A Better World. Joe became a regular fixture on
their stage and it was there that he discovered the power of on-stage
collaboration. "From 1994 on there was a sea-change in how I was approaching
music and I was seeing the creative side of the acoustic scene in town, being
led by people like John Katcher, Dave Howard, Jeff Berkley, and Joel Rafael."
One night after his solo show, the stage manager suggested that Joe double up
on acts as a possible way to bring more people into the show. "I was incensed.
I was insulted," Joe remembers humbly. But, much to Joe's surprise, he found
that sharing the stage was really enjoyable! Later on, this discovery would
give rise to the format for Folkey Monkey, which blends both the familiarity of
cover songs with the more engaging presence of multiple musicians on stage.
Folkey
Monkey is a gateway for connecting to other musicians and expanding the
audience's range of experience as well. As some of Joe's fans have transitioned
from what Joe calls his "cover side" to his "creative side," there have been
those who didn't transition easily. At one of Joe's gigs in downtown San Diego,
a gentleman made a comment that took Joe aback. He tells the story. "A
gentleman came up to me at the Tin Fish and said 'Hey, we went to the Folkey
Monkey the other night and you weren't there.' And I said, 'Yeah, I was playing
another gig.' The guy said, 'It was great, but it was two hours of music I'd
never heard.' I had to say, 'That's what it's all about!'"
Joe
remembers when his peers consumed new and original music like it was candy.
"When I was playing back [as a teenager], people knew the lyrics to every song,
they knew the liner notes to every album." He's seen that those old
affiliations have slipped away. One reason for this phenomenon, in Joe's view,
is that the radio markets focus on relatively narrow niches these days. So,
listeners become very focused on one niche alone, which means that people have
a less broad experience with music.
But, Joe is
still very grateful for his work, his opportunities, and his audience. Folkey
Monkey represents his commitment to moving us all forward through music we know
and through music we have yet to discover. "What I try to focus on is music
that brings people together and music that makes the world a better place."
Folkey
Monkey is a strange name for a songwriter showcase, but the name has caught a
lot of people's attention and for Joe's audience, the event is commonly a
staple part of their weekly schedules. The event was originally created for Hot
Monkey Love, an eclectic music venue on El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego's College
area. Joe's guests were often of the folky singer-songwriter genre. Hence the
event took the name Folkey Monkey. When Hot Monkey Love moved to a new location
a couple of years later, Joe took his residency to Milano Coffee Company, in
Mission Valley, and kept the name. The cafe's lantern-like interior lighting
and bougainvillea-shrouded windows set an ideal stage for music fans to rest
their feet and take in San Diego's more refined guitarsmiths. The first event
with a guest performer (none other than Jim Earp) catalyzed a shift in momentum
for the showcase. Joe remembers, "[It was a] magical moment. The magic is that
chemistry between me and [my guest]. That's when the thing really kicked into
gear and it hasn't stopped since."
The
Positive Music Association
Lately, Joe has been writing and performing at home, in San
Diego. But he's also discovering common ground within the context of the
Positive Music Association
(www.positivemusicassociation.com), an organization that also views music as a
force with untapped social purpose. Joe sees his music as one more way to
spread alternative perspectives. "I see a world in which we fight, not each
other, but the ignorance and fear that keeps us apart and stops us from
achieving what we're perfectly capable of. A world where the economy is based
on human knowledge and spiritual growth and not technological and military
growth."
The
Positive Music Association represents a viewpoint regarding music in society.
Their website states, "The PMA is about seeing music not only as entertainment
but as a means of creating positive change in the world." So far, Joe's work
has tested his expectations of what music can do. Sometimes it was the audience
who benefited and other times it was Joe, himself, who was transformed. The
Positive Music Association represents a global direction while Folkey Monkey
provides him with his own local voice. With future records still to be made,
Joe is well grounded and clear about which way he's headed.
In
preparation for his future albums, Joe has also begun building a comprehensive
recording studio at home, so that he can increase the amount of time he spends
being creative. In addition to hosting and coordinating the Folkey Monkey, he
writes a weekly newsletter to keep his family of listeners up to speed on the
world and his own creative part to play within it. He is neither impatient
about his growing success, nor is he a slouch when it comes to blazing new
paths for himself and for others. "What I've always known is that as long as I
keep playing music and as long as I keep trying to grow, I'll have something to
say and I'll have something to play and I believe there'll be people out there
who want to listen to it."
Don't miss
Joe Rathburn's Folkey Monkey every Thursday night at Milano Coffee Company,
8685 Rio San Diego Dr., Ste. B, San Diego, CA 92108.
Learn more
about Joe Rathburn on his website at: www.joerathburn.com.
Learn more
about Milano Coffee Company online at: www.milanocoffeeco.com