60. Kevin Breit (Part 1)

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Kevin Breit is a humble Canadian treasure. And a hell of a unique guitar player. And a nice feller. I’ve known Kevin for about 20 years at this point, although I haven’t seen him much over the last 10, sadly. When I first got to know him, he was at the tail end of a run in Norah Jones’ live band, and had played on most of her recordings as well. He was bowing out of that gig to be able to spend some more time with his young family, but was already a seasoned vet in the studio, having played on records for folks like Rosanne Cash, k.d. Lang, Hugh Laurie, Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole, Jane Siberry, Serena Ryder, Taj Mahal, Irma Thomas and countless others. As impressive as that list is, it was his quirkier solo records that I found most interesting. His guitar playing had a big influence on me, particularly his unusual voic eon slide guitar. His string of under-the-radar albums that he seemed to be churning out almost for his own amusement were some of the coolest music I knew of. From the slide guitar based “Empty” to the mandolin orchestra of “Maybelle” and the reckless abandon of “Folk Alarm”, not to mention the inventive “Supergenrous”, I loved all of it. Kevin is well known in his native Canada, but also well-respected internationally, as his session track record suggests. With multiple awards including a Maple Blues Award, Gemini Award, National Jazz Award, Canadian Folk Music Award and two Juno Awards for his recordings, as well as for his work on albums that have a collective 10 Grammy Awards, Breit’s unparalleled creativity is infinite. Breit’s latest release, the 11-track instrumental “Johnny Goldtooth and The Chevy Casanovas” features his interpretations of a mythical character in a twang world. Enjoy my conversation with Kevin Breit, and please subscribe to the podcast for free on iTunes!

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