Interview by Joanne Gardner, music booker for Norris Hot Springs

Gregory Rawlins sent an email to Norris not long ago. A friend of his — Laddie Ray Melvin — had played Norris last year and told the La Grange, Oregon based musician it was not to be missed. Scheduling Gregory’s gig was challenged with the impending arrival of his newborn son…now six weeks old and sleeping happily while Gregory spoke to me from his La Grande backyard recently.

JG: What’s happening in La Grande, Oregon on this day?

GR: I just put a pacifier in my newborn and I hope we have some quiet time together.

JG: Is he coming to Montana?

GR: He’s coming to Montana! Oh yeah, this will be a family outing. My wife’s never actually been to Montana so this is a vacation/why don’t we have a wonderful show at some hot springs. But — back to the backyard. I’ve lived in La Grande off and on for about eleven years but I was born and raised in Port Orchard, WA across from Seattle. I came here for college in 2001 and left and came back a few times and finally settled. Cleaner air and less stress — it’s a good place.

JG: Tell me about when you started playing music.

GR: My interest in music has always been there. My father is from the Midwest — Indiana — from him you get old timey bluegrass — Bob Wills to Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard — country. My mother is from Bremerton, Washington. She was much more into psychedelic rock as well as softer rock — Cat Stevens or Moody Blues — music my father wouldn’t ever heard of. That’s the mash up I come from.

JG: Like everybody — those influences stick with you.

GR: They do. When I got to La Grande I got involved in theatre pretty heavily and I started hanging with friends with a lot of instruments and all of a sudden there was impromptu jamming. I got started playing guitar late in the game — I was 23 or so. I had so much fun, it was a culmination of the performing arts. I had primarily studied poetry and then done theatre, so performing music was a great apex of all that. I was completely smitten by it and wanted to do as much as I could. I had a great friend in the theatre department — Mike Surber – and after about six months we just decided to move to Seattle and start a rock band.

JG: You and everybody else in the world.

GR: Right. You never hear about ANY body else doing that. (laughing) We moved there in November of 2003 and by Feb of 2004 we were playing our first show and then we started meeting people and practicing and played all over Seattle for a couple of years.

JG: Sounds like it happened really quickly.

GR: I guess it can be chalked up to pursuing musical ambition with the potential of friendship and poetic and romantic collaboration — between two romantics. We played for a year or two, toured the West Coast and a lot around Seattle and at some point Mike and I got tired of the city and without any ill will, we just moved back to La Grande. We found ourselves playing with a fantastic musician named Luke McKern, and were playing some shows in September of 2005. FEMA had called his father who had a mobile laundry truck and Mike and I got onto the crew and went to New Orleans for a year doing relief work — which started a whole new musical avenue.

JG: So now you’ve got second line in that musical mix along with Bob Wills, Cat Stevens and grunge, too!

GR: Having grown up in the Puget Sound, I was bred on a lot of grunge -   Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, dirgy, dirty, angsty rock and roll — bled into Pixies and Modest Mouse. But as soon as I got to New Orleans I just devoured the blues — old blues — Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, R.L. Burnside — it just flipped my world upside down. Never cared for the Chicago Blues too much — not as intimate for me, but to hear Leadbelly, who bridges the gap between blues and folk — it took me to a whole new musical avenue. I started working on fingerpicking more and last year rediscovered John Prine and Townes Van Zandt and some old Jimmie Rodgers. I’ve been a formally educated poet but have been playing catch up on the guitar. I’ve been working on my mechanics of late.

JG: How do you tie all those influences into the show you’ll be doing at Norris?

GR: I think the number one most uncomfortable question is “what is it that you do?” (laughing)

JG: All these different music styles you’ve brought up are rooted in authenticity.

GR: I couldn’t have said it better myself. I want to bring that to the table — more images, more stories, more periodesque working class — the blues men bring that. Everyone’s been heartbroken, cheated on their woman or man…from Woody Guthrie to Leadbelly to John Prine. I’m all about the positive and cultural change music can bring.

JG: You’re the perfect fit for Norris. It’s a wild place. You can enjoy your delicious organic food poolside while listening to great music.

GR: The way I got tipped off to this place was through Laddie Ray, and he went on and on about it. I love to play for people who really listen, he had that experience at Norris.

JG: We’ll see you and the whole family soon.

GR: Can’t wait…

You can hear more from Gregory Rawlins at www.lagrandemusic.com and see him in person at Norris on October 21. More information on Norris, including hours, directions and menu   can be found at www.norrishotsprings.com or by calling 406.685-3313.