http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/ju...w-eddie-vedder/Eddie Vedder on music, life & ukuleles
As Pearl Jam celebrates its 20th year, his "Ukulele Songs" explores new vistasBy George VargaOriginally published 7:30 a.m., June 30, 2011, updated 11 a.m., June 30, 2011In music, as in life, knowledge and experience can be valuable tools for growth. But for former San Diegan Eddie Vedder, knowing next to nothing about Hawaii’s most famous stringed instrument proved invaluable when he made his endearing new solo album, "Ukulele Songs."
Then there's the fact that a ukulele only has two octaves, which requires the person playing it to do more with less. Vedder chuckled when asked if that was part of the instrument's appeal. His response was thoughtful and unhurried.
"Well, you just taught me something I didn't know. But that makes sense. I never really put that together, that it (only) has two octaves," said Vedder, who rose to fame after he moved from here to Seattle in 1990 to join a budding young rock band that would soon be known as Pearl Jam. He is now embarked on his sold-out "Ukulele Songs” national tour, which includes a Tuesday night stop at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall.
"There’s a lot about this instrument – and music in general -- that I’ve tried to remain naïve about. Just because I find that, by not knowing about how the notes connect, and by knowing nothing about the instrument, for me, works songwriting-wise. By knowing nothing about the instrument it makes you think you’re inventing things that have never been thought of, (even though) most of the notes and structures have all been exploited in some way over the years. If you don’t know it’s an African rhythm (you’re playing), or a ¾ (time signature), you feel like you’re inventing it, which gives you confidence. So I’ve found it helpful to know nothing about the history of the way an instrument should be played.
"What you're alluding to is boundaries with the two octaves. I think there's a great thing about songwriting, which is that even with the 8, 12 or 16 notes everyone has had to work with all these years, when you put in lyrics the possibilities are seemingly endless. That’s the good news. The bad news is the possibilities are seemingly endless...
"That being said, I'll probably keep playing ukulele, but I don't think I'll make another record with it, or it will be another 10 years before I do. And Stewart Copeland was nice enough to present me with an oud, so..."
Vedder's voice danced playfully over the phone from Seattle, where he was awaiting the start of a rehearsal with Pearl Jam, whose ace drummer, Matt Cameron, is a native San Diegan.
"Now, with a ukulele, your thought process and scope of ideas is much more streamlined and direct and simple, and it ended up being a gift, these boundaries," Vedder continued. "So I feel like I'm really comfortable with -- and, at this point -- welcoming (musical) boundaries. That’s why all the songs I play on 'Ukulele Songs,' none of them are augmented by bass or guitars or djembe. I allowed a cello on one song, under the four-string rule! It was self-imposed boundaries and -- what's the word for it? Shoot! – just trying to be very stern with myself."
What results on the 16-song “Ukulele Songs” is simple, unadorned music that often makes its greatest impact in its softest moments, of which there are many. Vedder performs on an array of acoustic and electric ukuleles that sound especially well-suited to his voice.
True, he opens the album with an inspired voice-and-ukulele version of “Can’t Keep,” one of the harder-rocking gems from Pearl Jam’s 2002 album, “Riot Act.” But he concludes “Ukulele Songs” with “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” a lilting love ballad that was first recorded in 1931 and has since been covered by everyone from Nat “King” Cole to Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas.
In between come a mix of lilting Vedder originals and choice cover versions that span nearly 90 years. The covers includes the country chestnut “Sleepless Nights” (a favorite of both the Everly Brothers and the late Gram Parsons), the Tin Pan Alley staple “Once in a While” and the heartfelt “Tonight You Belong To Me” (on which Cat Power’s Chan Marshall joins in on vocals).
In each instance, Vedder exudes an almost child-like joy at the act of musical discovery. The album isn’t a major artistic statement, nor does it purport to be. But it’s a charming outing that, at its best, sounds gently cathartic, suggesting that the songs could have sprang forth on their own.
“The music was writing itself,” said Vedder, who lives part of the year on the Hawaiian island of Oahu with his wife and two children. “And the lyrics allowed just whatever was under the surface to easily reveal itself, and – all of a sudden – the song was written... It’s easier to be objective and have an appreciation for it, because it doesn’t even sound like something you participated in.”
The flurry of “Pinball Wizard”-like chords that open “You’re True,” one of the best songs Vedder wrote for his new album, sound like an homage to The Who’s Pete Townshend (one of the Pearl Jam singer’s biggest artistic inspirations and a longtime friend and mentor). Is it?
“I can neither confirm nor deny that theory,” Vedder said with a hearty laugh, “at least, not at this point in the venture.”
However, he readily acknowledged, it was hearing Townshend’s ukulele playing on The Who song “Blue, Red and Grey,” from the 1975 album “The Who By Numbers” that made him aware the ukulele had untapped musical potential.
“The song resonated with me as a kid – I was probably 12 or 13 – in 1976,” said Vedder, 46, who first picked up a ukulele more than a decade ago. “That song always stuck with me, because it seemed to legitimize the (ukulele). This wasn’t a souvenir song, a tourist song, which is what the ukulele at some point mutated into. (‘Blue, red and Grey’) always stuck deeply inside me, until I actually picked up my first real ukulele, which was maybe 13 years ago. That’s when I could put my hands on it and know that that (Townshend-inspired) sound existed. And that made it feel like, no question, it was a legitimate instrument and you could write music on it.”
Pioneering ukulele player Bill "Tappy" Tapia recently released his latest album -- at the age of 103 -- featuring former San Diego bassist Kristin Korb. (To watch a video of Tapia rehearsing for his 100th birthday concert, click here.)
Can Vedder picture himself being musically active at 70 or 80, let alone at 100 or beyond? And would he be willing to go mano a mano against Tapia on the ukulele?
"No, but I'd be willing to arm-wrestle him!" Vedder quipped, before grow more contemplative.
"I feel like if I could ever say 'I'm bored,' that would be a small victory for myself," he said. "Now, having kids and the time and energy that requires, I enjoy spending my time doing that. But it’s a roundabout thing -- I don't even know what I'm saying here. I actually look forward to having a little down time at some point, and then that’s maybe when the lute album comes into play!
"I'm not sure. I think music is just something – I have friends who are, and who have been, professional athletes – and the one thing that is nice about my lot in life is you can – how do I say it? – you can just keep playing. And I don't feel like I'm half way there. I'm, maybe, a third of the way there...
"One of the prime examples (of musical longevity) for myself and our group – maybe because we're so close and have such a strong relationship with him – but 'Uncle Neil,' Neil Young, is still working and constantly inventing sounds and songs on his instrument, and changing the sound. That's where you see that there really are no boundaries. And he just keeps going; he's never been satisfied, even with the grand state of what he's accomplished already. The acreage that he’s accumulated over the years – speaking of it as a musical landscape – you can't, the eye can't, see to the edges of that, and yet it still goes further. Maybe that’s what he meant on (the 1995 Young/Pearl Jam album) 'Mirror Ball,' with (the song) 'I'm The Ocean'."
Or, to quote the Young song "Field of Opportunity," from his 1978 album, "Comes a Time": In the field of opportunity / It's plowing time again...
"For us as a band, being with Neil makes us feel like we're pushing ourselves a little bit," Vedder noted. "And then you realize – it's really interesting – not that you're trying to keep up with him, but that you try harder, for sure."
Pearl Jam will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, on stage and on the big screen.
Cameron Crowe, the former San Diego music critic-turned-acclaimed-film-director (“Jerry McGuire,” “Almost Famous”) has been working on a documentary to commemorate the band’s two decades. Entitled “Pearl Jam Twenty,” it will debut in theaters on Sept. 20. It will then be televised on PBS in October, accompanied by a book, a soundtrack album and a DVD.
Not to be outdone, the five-man band will host and headline a Labor Day weekend festival in East Troy, Wisconsin, where the lineup will also include Queens of the Stone Age, The Strokes, Mudhoney, Liam Finn, Joseph Arthur, John Doe of X and Glen Hasard (who is also the opening act on Vedder’s solo tour).
With so much attention focused on the band’s history, does Vedder find he is especially surprised by -- or proud of – any specific facet or accomplishment of the group’s?
“It’s a good question. And, to be dead honest, I don’t know how to answer it,” he replied.
“I think that, in order to keep progressing, there should be some benefits to looking back, to help you determine what your future course may be. But if they are (there), I don’t think they’ve been tangible for any of us… What we’ve learned is that we really do live in the present. And, to be honest, this looking back thing make me feel like I’m glad we have someone as astute and devoted to music as Cameron Crowe at the helm of putting something together that would represent us and tell a certain number of stories that happened over (the past) 20 years.. So I think we’re just happy we’ve survived it and are still friends and more than that, happy that we’re still a working group.
“I’m going to go to practice in the basement (with Pearl Jam) in about 10 minutes and I think that’s the best part, that we’re still working and probably working on a higher level of efficiency than ever before. Just meaning that our level of communication is a 20-year relationship between partners, (where) you kind of know what the other person is thinking; all these things that can really benefit you, just in the songwriting process alone. I think the biggest emotion is a bit of being overwhelmed, in a positive way, by the fact we survived it all.”
