Coming in 2023: Cooking with Fats
A C&O Radio Sketch featuring Fats Kaplin
American music treasure Fats Kaplin (seen here at 18 in a white tie on tour with folk hero Roy Bookbinder) grew up in New York City in the 1960s. And from a young age, his twin passions have been cooking and rural Southern music. In the first of our series of music interviews coming soon, see, hear, and taste Fats' amazing story! You'll find we're all more connected than you might think.
Cooking with Fats
"The greatest thing about growing up in NYC in the 1960's for me was the folk scene," Fats Kaplin told C&O. "Pete Seeger and the New Lost City Ramblers, who I saw on his show, Rainbow Quest. Some of the artists on the scene at that time were Jim Kweskin, Dave Van Ronk, John Fahey, the Incredible Stringband. Through their music, I became aware of all the 78 reissues that were available at the Lincoln Center Library. And then I became deeply immersed in rural string bands, blues and early jazz. There was a rawness and a fire about a lot of this music. To this day, it still reaches out and grabs me. As a teenager, I didn’t like anything that smacked of being commercial. I didn’t listen to Top 40 Radio. I just wanted to hear Charley Patton and Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers. Musically, whatever I do, no matter how far I’ve branched out, those roots are still there.
The idea of being an itinerant fiddle player greatly appealed to me as a teenager and I went on the road at 17. My first recording and extended touring was with the country blues guitarist Roy Bookbinder. I did two albums with him for Nick Pearl’s Blue Goose label in New York City.. My immediate family were all artists and, I think, were a bit baffled with my fascination with rural southern culture."