from #85 – Musicians
Jeff McRae
“I’m a semi-pro musician born into a family of musicians, music teachers, and music lovers. But I’m the only one of us who also writes. I play all kinds of music—from traditional jazz (dixie) to theater—you name it. I gig maybe 50 nights a year. Music and poetry are intertwined in so many obvious and subtle ways. I love how music and poetry are both structured and improvised, sometimes simultaneously. I love how poetry is so often described by the language of music but it is music that captures the ineffable serendipity of life in a way poetry never quite can. In my own work (and life) music and musicians have been inexhaustible, thought-provoking primary sources. I grew up surrounded by Bach, Beethoven, the Beatles, and by the music my parents made. I idolized the guys in my dad’s bands. I devoted hours and hours and hours to study and practice—both poetry and music. They cross-pollinate. I found my footing as an adult on the bandstand when I realized I could hold my own, had something worth saying, worth listening to—when I realized I could play—and it continues to be the arena of becoming. Same for poetry. Playing with words sometimes results in interesting connections and ideas that make sense, too—where I figure out who I am. Poetry and music have been through lines, horizon notes for me. Now, one of my great joys is listening to my kids mess around with Bandcamp, improvise on our piano, and pick out songs on the same guitar passed down to me all those many years ago.”