Angela: Can you turn the impeachment down a little? (pause) Thank you. Its Saturday January 16th and in the studio here I have John Forster. Thank you for making the drive.

John: It was my pleasure

Angela: We have the impeachment trials going on, and I'm so sorry they have preempted you, however we are going to tape this and air it sometime within the week.

John: Great, that's terrific

Angela: My first question ......when you know you're going to be on the radio, perhaps on Saturday during lunch, do you alter your set list? I've seen you live and heard some of your stuff and I'm just wondering ...

John: Oh sure (laughter) I mean, there is some stuff that even I know is way over the edge.

Angela: O.K. maybe my question was actually a warning in disguise.

John: O.K. You want me to not go ...there.

Angela: Well I think you are very funny, but some of the tunes belong in the night club setting that you do so well.

John: Well, you know, I'm going to try to keep your licence...

Angela: That's, I think, my point...

John: ...your broadcast licence. I'll do everything I can to keep you on the air

Angela: ...because I appreciate it.

Angela: Let's start with a tune and then we will talk.

John: Great. Well it is right after Christmas so I thought I'd do a holiday song that I wrote. Its for my son. His cultural heritage is a mixed bag and when the holidays roll around he is not sure...

Angela: What he is supposed to do?

John: ...how to celebrate. So I wrote this song for him and anyone else in that boat. I call this the all purpose holiday carol.... SONG: Carol

Angela: All right! You know its a shame we are not live because we cant have people calling in and commenting...

John: and celebrating with us

Angela: That's it.

John: That one actually, if I can put in a quick plug that's on a new album that I just put out, kind of a front room album called the "Official Bootleg Album"  I record on Philo but this is a just an archival sort of thing, live cuts...some of the cuts are really over the edge, so if you have tender sensibilities this might not be the one for you. There is a live version of this on it.

Angela: Do you feel a pressure to be funny? Is that a burden?

John: No its not a burden. It's a choice. A lot of what I write is not funny, I just don't perform it myself. I write a lot of stuff for other people, I write musical Theatre. I just got back from a week working on a show that's out of town on its way to Fords Theatre.

Angela: Yeah talk about that, that is fascinating.

John: Its a show called Eleanor and its about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and the early years of their marriage and its just a full fledged musical. I'm the lyricist on it and Tom Tierney wrote the music. Its a show that we've been, well like a lot of musicals, takes a lot of work! A musical is very unnatural, I mean it barely works, so to get it to work takes a lot of pushing and pulling- this is a great big production!

Angela: So you are connected with the performers or you are not? You sort of keep a distance, write the words and then disappear?

John: Both. You gotta get it to work, but it is true that it doesn't help the process to get too involved with the performers because you gotta stay objective. If something isn't working you gotta fix it. You know what's weird about musical theatre is that its about self expression but its very collaborative so its really more than self expression. Its about telling a story in a way that works with an audience.

Angela: So lets give them more of a taste of your creativity

John: Shall we do one... here's on I haven't recorded yet...but Ill be playing it at Bodles. Its a song about China. I think China is going to figure in a lot in all of our futures. They are the last big super power left and are a big exporter of things that effect us a lot like acid rain and pollution and stuff like that...anyway this is a song that is a commentary on China as it is constituted now. SONG: CHINA

Angela: Ah, the only child syndrome! How do you make a political statement, or a commentary as you called it without offending someone or is that impossible?

John: I think it does offend... its always going to offend someone.

Angela: Right.

John: Its just...I don't worry about that too much. (pause) So if you are offended feel free to call in and ...

Angela: (laughing) Yeah because you...

John: .....and Angela's going to take care of it

Angela: 'cause you are nowhere nearby!

John: Well don't get....well it is a difficult problem. In China they are exporting all their girls, and it is a serious problem. What I'm really doing, I mean I'm commenting on China, but I'm really commenting on America...

Angela: Yeah, your tag line..

John: And on children. You know that may be a syndrome that doesn't even exist. I don't know. Its supposed to be fun.

Angela: Well what is your juice for writing -listening to the news or not really?

John: I listen to the news a lot but I'm not a news junkie. I mean there's too much news as it is

Angela: We are being pre-empted because of news as we are talking...

John: Right. I mean my juice is just thinking about the news. My juice really is, when I see something that is either very strange or is blatantly wrong, false, the big lie I'm always interested in. Campaign finance which is legalized bribery and no one will say it. So to me when you see something like that- or when you see the tobacco companies denying that tobacco kills people and thinking that it is all right to kill people, that is grist for the mill.

Angela: You don't have a song about that do you?

John: I do

Angela: Do you?

John: Yeah.

Angela: What is that?

John: It's called The Pac Man

Angela: Ohhhh. That on the new one. I haven't heard that one yet.

John: Its on the new one yeah. You should play it.

Angela: Sure

John: You know plunk it in right here.

Angela: And now.... The Pac Man... John Forster... (laughter) SONG: The Pac Man

Angela: So that was great! You asked when you came in about a Tom Chapin album. We don't have it, but ...

John: Its a new Tom Chapin album, its an album that... I've been working with Tom, writing songs with him, for years and years. We have a bunch of songs that have sort of gotten around, like This pretty Planet is a round. I was thrilled to hear, when John Glenn was in space they woke him up everyday with a different song. The first day they woke him up with that Louis Armstrong song What a wonderful woman and the second day they woke him up with This Pretty Planet. I said YES the song has been to outer space!

Angela: Yeah, its a great song.

John: So Tom and I we keep doing these things and Michael Mark and John Cobert also, its kind of a guild. So for 10 years now we have been doing childrens albums. The one we just did is called I'm My Home Town. Its on Sony Wonder and it just got a Grammy nomination!

Angela: That's exciting!

John: Yeah it is very exiting! We are going to troop out there, at least I'M gonna troop out there

Angela: What are you gonna wear!!???

John: I don't know!

Angela: I can't wait to see what Greg Brown is going to wear.

John: I'm sure it will be very....Greg Brown.

Angela: Good!

John: ...go out and network will all the rappers...

Angela: So what are you never asked that you wanna be asked?

John: I'm never asked my shoe size.

Angela: I can see why. (laughter) You are never asked what strings you use?

John: What string I use?

Angela: Yeah you know guitar players are always..

John: Oh, yeah man, yeah...sure... I don't know what strings I use...I use a piano. Piano is bad you know in the folk world.

Angela: Yeah

John: If you play the piano and you are invited to a campfire ..

Angela: What do you do?

John: You know, Kerville is out for me.

Angela: You just don't do it?

John: I don't do it, but you know I have an over the shoulder controller. It is 4 octaves, it is bright red, it really looks sot of high tech. I've been doing some work with that. I also have a box called the strummer made by Overheim and it makes me sound like a guitar.

Angela: That's wild

John: So I get up with my keyboard and I sing Ain't no use to sit and why babe and it just sounds...

Angela: They'd do covers at Kerville? Everyone is pushing themselves was my impression.

John: That would be funny.- A Kerville Cover Festival!

Angela: No one would go, I don't think.

John: The attendees would be covers too.....I don't know.

Angela: Cover each other maybe.

John: Also the clavichord would be a good idea at a campfire.

Angela: Do you play accordion? Not quite he same sound...

John: No I don't.

Angela: Oh you don't? I would think you could! So how about another tune, I want to get as much in here as we can.

John: What shall I do, let me think, let me do my Paul Simon song...

Angela: I'll let you.

John: My tribute to Paul Simon SONG: Fusion Song

Angela: Well John that jig saw of a song that you put together, ASAP calls that yours!

John: Yeah (laughing) that's true!

Angela: : Okay!

John: It's very true. God bless them!

Angela: Paul Simon wrote a musical, did you see it?

John: I saw it.

Angela: What did you think? Should it have closed so soon?

John: No, it should not have closed that soon. I had trouble finding the thing that drove me , that kept me with the story . That is the problem in musical Theatre, or in any storytelling. Its a storytelling problem, and when you have all those elements put together... should it have closed...no! There are wonderful songs in it, wonderful performances in it, but it is a horrible business musical Theatre.

Angela: Yeah, well you are doing musical Theatre, so I thought I'd ask.

John: Yeah, what kind of a day job is that.

Angela: Well I'd imagine the songs were great, and the people doing them would pull them off fantastically but I don't know what kind of experience he has had threading songs together.

John: Well the critics were mad at him because he was arrogant and dismissive of Broadway. Broadway is like the senate, full of hallowed traditions, it is a craft. Actually a different craft from that of pop music or other kinds of music because a song that comes out over the footlights is usually bigger. There is something hard to describe but tee is something different about Theatre music. The criteria, things that you worry about are different. So Simon was not properly respectful of the Theatre professionals and they got him. They will do that. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Theatre is people who love to see you fail as much as they love to see you succeed. It is not as supportive as plumbing lets say, or folk music.

Angela: Well are you allowed to be arrogant, even when you are a folk musician, when you really are damn good, or do you have to have the critics praise you and that is the legal loop, the way it is supposed to be? I wonder if he paid for that..

John: No I think if you feel that way, you must be that way, no matter what the critics do. But you have to realize that there is a fraternity of idiots....OOPS... I'm going to get in trouble here...(laughing) There is a fraternity of people who sit in judgment of you and say No you are not doing it right And you ma be doing something different. You may have a completely different way of doing it. Roger Miller came in and did Big River and he wrote tons of theater rules, but it was so charming that everybody said Roger we love you.

Angela: And there are plenty of example of people who were wrong...the first 36 people who turned down the beatles...

John: Yeah, and what happens with the critics is that they say It's not up to snuff and the next thing they say is It's not up to your usual standards You know, you can't really win.

Angela: No.

John: Whenever anyone has a forum and is judging it puts you in a terrible vulnerable position... and it is so public, a review.

Angela: Pubic...like a frog. Who said that?

John: Who is that?

Angela: (remembering) Dickinson, Emily Dickinson.!

John: Really? Oh that's wonderful.

Angela: It just came to me. We are talking with John Forster this is WJFF I'm Angela Page and it is January 16th. During Folk Plus this week we were pre empted because of the Clinton trial and we are taping to air this during the week and that is why you are hearing us now. John will you do one more tune I know you have to go to Philly.

John: Sure, lets see. Here is a song about Bill Clinton's views on gays in the military. SONG: Serve your Country in the Closet

Angela: Great. We can use that on a couple of shows here at WJFF. Thanks for coming! Do you just tour in the Northeast mostly?

John: Mostly yeah, just to not be away from the family too much.

Angela: To be heard, and yet be a family member.

John: Yeah, it is. Plus for me it is good to stick close to home because the writing is so important to me. I just love to write and it is hard to write when you are on the road a lot.

Angela: Well thanks for coming out! John Forster.

Angela Page Host of Folk Plus Every Saturday 11 - 1 following Car Talk. on WJFF Radio Catskill 90.5 fm in Jeffersonville/94.5 fm in Monticello Hydro-powered Public Radio serving the Catskills and North East PA. Box 797 Jeffersonville, New York 12748 -- End --