The last time Leo Kottke came to Healdsburg was over three years ago—on March 7, 2020. If the date rings a certain bell, it’s because exactly one week later everything changed: COVID was declared a pandemic, and most public gatherings in Healdsburg and indeed many places were shut down for almost two years.
Kottke’s concert came two days after a sold-out Charlie Musselwhite show at the Raven. And aside from a couple performances of a Raven Players production (Love a la Carte), it was the last live event at the theater until October 2021, 19 months later, when Todd Snider and Lily Winwood snuck in with a show.
Those attending may remember the 2020 show as, perhaps not surprisingly, haunting. “Leo is great to work with, a masterful artist, and the audience was really impressed with the show,” recalls Tom Brand, executive director of the Raven.
In the intervening three years, Kottke, like most touring artists, has had to contend with the impact of the pandemic: reduced income, reduced opportunity, reduced audiences. He has not released any new music since that year’s Noon—his third collaboration with Phish bassist Mike Gordon—and even that album was his first in 15 years.
But with his upcoming Raven concert, Kottke announces he’s back: He follows his local appearance with two nights at Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage, then continues on the road to Portland, Boulder and beyond for the rest of the summer.
To say Kottke is just a cult guitarist falls short of his impact. Though hardly a household name, people who know the songs “Eight Miles High” or “Sweet Emotion” are more likely to know versions by the Byrds or Aerosmith. But one could argue in all seriousness that his versions are better. They are certainly more evocative, and have become something akin to hits for his loyal audience.
Ironically, all feature his casual baritone, a voice that he himself likened (in a quote that’s followed him around like a lingering aroma for decades) to “geese farts on a muggy day.” That self-appraisal dates to his first album, entirely instrumental, performed on 6-string and 12-string guitar and released on John Fahey’s Takoma label in 1969.
Both Fahey and Kottke were part of the first wave of what later became known as Americana, with their roots in traditional music enhanced by a modern intelligence and sophistication. Fahey, who died in 2001, was foundational in the American primitive style of music that Leo Kottke has come to personify.
He followed that debut with his first on a major label, Mudlark (Capitol Records, 1971), which featured “Eight Miles High.” His version boldly kidnapped a radio hit and turned it into something even more mysterious, psychedelic if one will, an acoustic tour-de-force that became an underground radio hit.
That song was followed by “Louise” from 1972’s Greenhouse and “Pamela Brown” from 1974’s Ice Water, both of which solidified his standing as a singer-guitarist, perhaps to everyone’s surprise.
Though indubitably a solo artist, Kottke has recorded three albums with Mike Gordon, bassist for the band Phish—their debut pairing Clone (2002), the calypso-influenced Sixty Six Steps (2005) and most recently Noon (2020).
Throughout his career, Kotke, now 77, has performed despite hearing loss that dates back to his years in the U.S. Naval Reserve. His own style has impacted his health as well: Severe tendonitis from his picking style that developed in the 1980s led him to change his playing techniques, but it didn’t noticeably reduce his output. He released 10 albums between 1981 and 1999.
The music world may have moved on—his absence from recording roughly corresponded to the rise of Taylor Swift—but the basis of Kottke’s talent and appeal is his bedrock musicality, rooted in the complex rhythms and harmonics of his compositions and adaptations.
His live concerts are characterized not only by his complex playing and surprising repertoire but his wry humor. He may not be as funny as Todd Snider, but he’s a heck of a lot better guitar player than he is—or, for that matter, almost anybody else.
Leo Kottke appears solo at the Raven Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg, at 8pm on Friday, July 21. Tickets $40 at raventheater.org.
