Listen - Bare Bones And Branches
Lewis & Clarke
Eons above and beyond the current "freak-folk" trend, Lewis & Clarke’s modern folk continues to thrill and amaze audiences. These Woodsmen from Pennsylvania resonate authenticity, unparalleled songwriting and other-worldly excellence. Harps, guitars, flutes, drums, analog synthesizers and piano yield a subtle form. Their performances have been hailed as “Superb, and very real.” (The London Examiner). Lewis & Clarke just finished touring in the company of their latest LP “Bare Bones and Branches” and performing numbers to be released on a newly recorded album (Eve Miller of Rachel’s contributes cello) entitled “Blasts of Holy Birth.” Put ears to the tracks while new father/songcrafter Lou Rogai sheds light on this berth.

BM: What's goin on with Lewis & Clarke?

Lou Rogai: Whatever do you mean by this? What isn’t going on with Lewis & Clarke? Everything and nothing.

BM: You have gone through some personnel changes. Who is in the line-up presently?

LR: It’s not like that.

BM: There is no line-up? L&C is a one-man ship?

LR: No, not a one-man ship, it is crafted for many, but navigatable by one. There are players sometimes, and sometimes just myself.

BM: Ahh…Are you about to release a new record?

LR: There is a new record almost completed...Here we are speaking of the resting stage between the larva and adult stages of musical incarnate undergoing complete metamorphosis. So before the year 2006 there will be released a new recording.

BM: Who is the host?

LR: The host is the source of joy and inspiration. Delboy records will host the release in Europe. Here in the US, there are a few interested hosts. it may inevitably host itself.

BM: What is the new record all about?

LR: It is about the nervous cream of dreamers and rolling out the red carpet. It is entitled “Blasts of Holy Birth.”

BM: Does the title refer to anything in particular?

LR: It certainly does. I began the album while awaiting our son, Julian Pompeii. So it is for him, as well as the birth of a new chapter of life, if you will, and as life itself as a work in progress in which there are pulses, or blasts, of monumental impact.

BM: How old is Julian?

LR: Julian is 8 months old. He has brought forth the best 8 months of our lives, Adrienne and myself. A gift.

BM: Will you be playing any shows before touring in the spring?

LR: Yes, there will be shows. Secret shows, forest shows and gallery shows.

BM: You don't have plans to play were people normally go to live music?

LR: No, not unless they are all-ages venues where bar noise does not interfere with the music making. We played BAR in New Haven and that place had an impressive and respectful audience, so we will return there. But for the most part, it seems strange to perform music in a contradictory setting to that of its intent.

BM: Environment is key. How long has Lewis & Clarke been going?

LR: I think the first Lewis & Clarke songs came to be recorded in 2001. There were some floating around before then, but they were not aware that they were attached to a projectural thread. They kind of hung out for a while and were finally released on an EP. The Bright Light EP.

BM: How many recordings have Lewis & Clarke released thus far?

LR: Some thousands of copies of three different amalgamations (Bright Light EP/7") Bare Bones and Branches (Delboy-Europe) and Bare Bones and Branches (Summersteps-US).

BM: Do you find it difficult to fulfill both the producing and performing roles in Lewis & Clarke?

LR: It’s all the same to me... its all part of the same process; just different points along the way…Are there really people who do not fulfill those roles? Like boy bands? Perhaps you can just float along on a coattail or something, but that certainly doesn’t seem like an interesting challenge.

BM: Are you noticing a new wave of creativity in the current fare of music?

LR: I think there is always a constant flow of creation happening on an independent level, and it will never be found in the center of it all. I try not to pay attention to the current fare, although it sometimes can’t be avoided. The good ones, in my opinion, they are off to the side...The back roads, if you will...

BM: Is the term independent synonymous with purgatory?

LR: If you mean purgatory as a place or condition of suffering, then sometimes, yes. It can also be synonymous with the Promised Land as well. It seems to be a blend of both because it does take a little bit of suffering to achieve anything worthwhile, call me old fashioned...but I had a free lunch once, and the taste of it displeased me. That’s the whole thing. Do you want homegrown or pre-packaged convenience items? I will take the homegrown, please. And so will anyone who I connect with.

BM: What was your impression of New Orleans Mayor Nagin reaction to the emergency response in New Orleans?

LR: He is calling everyone out, and more power to him. Maybe he should run for president

BM: Do you think after speaking out he will survive as a community leader and politician?

LR: Maybe on the back roads. And I sure hope he does survive as so, and then some. Hopefully people wake up to what is really going on, and see through any scapegoating.

BM: Was your impression a tone of blame at the time of his interview?

LR: I think that tone is inevitable, but he was not just spouting blame, he was sharing his frustration and outrage. I think he did not cross the line into what the right will now call "scapegoating." How could he do anything less?

BM: His reflex was human and necessary.

LR: Imagine that. A politician acting human, being human.

BM: Have you felt a similar responsibility as an artist whose work assembles groups of people to listen?

LR: I must admit, there is less of urgency than what would be involved with the devastation of the city of New Orleans. But in a sense, it is the plight of the meek. Humility, right? Can you still have that attribute and be heard, accomplish goals? I sure hope so. Again, it’s off the beaten path. A friend, she told me that she feels like she is at the farmers market when she comes to a Lewis & Clarke show in the city. Not because its some overall wearin' flannel flyin' nonsense, but because she feels like its a taste of the homegrown in the city. Thanks, Sarah...

BM: Do you find it difficult to participate politically when the polarity of politics has become anti-magnetic?

LR: There is a magnetic political force that is powerful enough to keep me stuck on the left side of the spectrum.

BM: Right. But being stuck the left when the right has such repelling strength fulfills the dysfunction of keeping people away from the whole operation.

LR: Yes, I agree...there should be an awareness of the whole, but when one end is so repugnant, you have to seek shelter at the opposite end. And that may very well be blinding you of the big picture. So get out there and check it out. I recently attended a "mixer" with middle-aged suburban republicans.

BM: How was that?

LR: It was like any other test of endurance...I wondered later if it broadened my horizons and if now I see the big picture, the pie in the sky.

BM: Were you a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

LR: Oh no I was a sheep in a pigsty. So you see what I am saying?

BM: Do art and politics even belong in the same room?

LR: Sure do, and I thought the very same thing. It is hard though to break it down to basics and realize that these are people and I am going to be a person as well. A human. And without politics, long hair, short hair, SUV’s or bicycles, football or skateboarding, there is a basic human contact that can be achieved. All of these variables we have created can make us forget. In respect to what you are saying about art and politics...what does life have to do with politics? What does art have to do with life? I knows plenty of artists who are merely politicians….know(s)…ha-ha

BM: Lou, sorry to bring politics into this interview I was distracted by the Roberts Chief Justice hearings on NPR. I can’t help saying this but our "leaders" are rapidly hammering nails in each other’s coffins. Despite your views, you tend to take a more subtle approach to conveying them through your work. Are there political angles to your songs?

LR: If you gaze into the eyes, you can read the soul…. ha-ha. A political angle? Sometimes. Like on a micro or even macro-socio political angle. But mostly the angles are obtuse. Some are complementary or supplementary. But truthfully, I prefer to stay away from angles, I prefer curves.

BM: Are you hitting the road soon?

LR: Lewis & Clarke will tour the US and Europe again this spring.

BM: Will you be touring with other bands?

LR: Working the angles on that one into curves as we speak...

BM: Who have you toured with in the past?

LR: The only proper band I have teamed up with for more than a couple of shows were The Mighty Rime. Sure is nice to play with people you admire, and have not ended up with because of politics.

BM: Who and what are inspiring you out there these days?

LR: The goodness is coming from my family, the woods and the pond. I like Ali Akbar Khan, today I am inspired by pat's drawings and Eve's cello playing, K Records artists, yoga class and our cat urinating on our bed. Ahh, the little things in life.

BM: Is your cat in protest of your new little guy?

LR: Yes, I think that he is experiencing less attention, so he is letting us know about it. He is pulling a Mayor Nagin impersonation and calling us out...and it worked!

BM: Every time!