1.. WHERE WERE YOU BORN, WHERE DID
YOU GROW UP?
Oak Ridge, Tennessee USA, lived there until I graduated from Oak Ridge
Highschool when I was 18. Went on to continue growing up in Murfreesboro,
TN, Athens, GA, Nashville, TN, and currently Chicago, IL.
2. WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MUSICAL MEMORY?
Playing one string tub base with my
family at our Church fall festival. We would play traditional Italian
folk songs, then serve spaghetti at a Church dinner.
3. WHAT WAS THE FIRST RECORD YOU OWNED?
I think it was a "josie and the pussycats"
45 off the back of a box of cereal.. my first album was an 8-track of
The Beatles blue album.
4. WHEN AND WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST PERFORMANCE?
Probably the above mentioned Church
festival, or singing Christmas songs with my family at one of our Christmas
Eve openhouses. I played at Classical recitals from age four on.. and
started singing my own songs around 1984 or so.. I remember playing
a resturant with my sister Rita in a horribly named combo of "now playing"..yipes!
5. WHO IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST MUSICAL
INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?
Son House, hands down, when I first
heard Delta Blues recordings he was one of the folks that most caught
my ear. I really admired his passion and he really got me singing full
force. That changed my whole outlook on singing and gave me the confidence
to start making my poems into songs.
6. WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE CONCERT
YOU'VE ATTENDED?
That's a tough one, I've been lucky
enough to see many great performers. Mike Scott pops to mind as one
of the most moving performances I've seen.
7. WHAT IS THE WORST JOB YOU'VE EVER
HAD?
Probably spreading gravel in Middle
Tennessee, although the worst is any job where I'm bored.
8. WHAT IS THE BEST JOB YOU'VE EVER
HAD?
Playing music, what a blessing to have
folks want to hear you play. I'd do it every day if I had the chance.
9. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE ARTIST (ALL
MEDIA)?
This is really tough, probably Son House
again, but I listen to Lambchop and Neutral Milk Hotel more often still.
10. WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE
BOOK
Wow, this changes constantly..I'm currently
getting lost in "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, on my train commutes
to my office job.
11. WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE INSTRUMENT?
This changes through the years.. singing
is the easiest for joy, curretly I miss my Martin D-28 guitar, but the
cello will always have a warm place in my heart
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG YOU'VE
WRITTEN?
Ever changing, usually the latest song,
like the newest child.. My current favorite is a duet with my friend
Jason Adasiewicz (piano and baritone sax) called Fuzz, it will hopefully
be on my next album.
13. WHAT IS THE FAVOURITE SONG SOMEONE
ELSE HAS WRITTEN?
The current favorite is "I'm Still Here"
by Tom Waits
14. HAVE YOU EVER COLLABORATED IN SONGWRITING?
Yes, but I mostly write alone.. Fuzz
is a type of improve collaboration. I've written with my sisters and
a few friends.
15. CAN SONGWRITING BE TAUGHT OR IS
IT A GOD-GIVEN TALENT
I'm sure it's both, and I hear examples
of that all the time. I have a hard time with songwriting assignments,
but for some folks it's an office job, so it must live in both realms.
I try not to have limits with my ideas about music.
16. WHAT SINGLE THING HAS HELPED YOU
MOST IN YOUR CAREER?
Playing with Lambchop, they taught me
that being in a band can be a loving giving experience, and forced me
to improvise until I've found myself confortable playing with anyone
who asks.
17. WHAT SINGLE THING HAS HINDERED YOUR
CAREER?
Poverty
18. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE DRINK?
I
drink water most often, but I like Scotch Whiskey from the Highlands
if I can get it.
19. WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE POLITICIAN
Right now my least favorite fills my
mind. These are tough times indeed to be an American.
20. ( THE ADVERT) IN LESS THAN 100 WORDS
DESCRIBE YOUR LATEST DISC.
Mountain songs, a little folk, a little
blues, a little country, and lots of laying on your back in a field
looking at the clouds.
DEANNA
VARAGONA
