1 10 2 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/9a3e548b211ce0246126f742db306e0c.pdf?Expires=1787184000&Signature=Cq23rhtozaJeCtiFYCTSB29E3onLg1BaiYuByOF8oxawiyho68tQiqf7ShWacFKiFZ3KIRtzZvELE8fiLae4kH%7ErYLDKDyGe%7EWGLQdd7BwU%7EkLpd7O5twT5kL5mJjRVl0wWn6q89JHmM9AOsw9mAtE92iWQBTAfwQvH-WHYxFSjDl3Q6b0Jlh4-d5KjShGHZuWvbPgUMKe8jdXTgkgdX65X-bWB3AsisSxzQPVr%7E9muv3wmodUJDixp35yqMd7qgd0intHviF5S%7Eu1bx0IGzpj6wGxRhSJFZF1GWvjmWvH9kihA7fhYJSMt7eZCKI-I9iG-SAnFoqx4Zw7iPH4ysIQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 5033af181b351768ede244dd0618b7e8 PDF Text Text TRANSCRIPT - PETER KFOURY Interviewee: PETER KFOURY Interviewer: JAKE MATHIS, TRENTON MOORE, RA’SHAUD GRAHAM Interview Date: AUGUST 11, 2017 Location: Charleston Length: 59 min. JAKE MATHIS: All right, so, the recorder is on. So, this class is an oral history class. So, it's based off of interviews. We conduct interviews roughly every Thursday. Going into these last weeks, interviews are being conducted every Tuesday and Thursday for our final project, in which we'll compose an essay just about our interview experiences. A lot of it is based on just the musical history of Charleston, and then we'll be just conducting an interview with you. We'll start with like early life, and then, yeah, your music influences and hopefully just talk about your career goals and highlights and stuff related to that. PETER KFOURY: All right. I brought you a CD, too. RG: Thank you, sir. PK: You can play it for your class, if you want to. RA’SHAUD GRAHAM: I guess I'll start us off this morning. So, my name is Ra'Shaud Graham. Can you tell us your name, sir, and where you're from? PK: Peter Kfoury from Charleston, originally from Manchester, New Hampshire. RG: Okay, I got you. And so, we kind of did our research to come up with some of these questions. Can you tell us about your childhood lifestyle in Charleston, your upbringing? �Peter Kfoury 2 PK: Well, actually, I was brought up in New Hampshire, yeah, and my family, my dad was Lebanese. My mother was Syrian. And so, I was brought up with a lot of Middle Eastern cultural influence, which is how I got into the type of music that I play now. RG: Go ahead. Ready? TM: And so, I researched that you found a way — or when did you start to get interested in your childhood in trying to incorporate, you know, Middle Eastern music with the jazz, American jazz? PK: Well, when I was probably twelve or thirteen years old, I went to my dad and I decided I wanted to play guitar, because at that time, you know, I'm just slightly older than you guys, and at that time, you know, rock and roll was really hitting, the Beatles were coming to America, everything was, you know, really breaking in rock and roll. And everybody wanted to get involved. So, he said, "All right, we'll get you some guitar lessons," and so I got a kind of a... crappy, cheap guitar and started taking some lessons. And after a year or two of taking guitar lessons, I was actually getting pretty good on it. But then, one day, I realized, you know, everybody and his brother plays the guitar. So, I've seen this other instrument when we've gone to family parties and weddings and stuff like that, this instrument called the oud, which is pictured on the front of the CD you have there in front of you. And it turns out the oud is the ancestor of the lute, and the lute is the ancestor of the guitar. So, this is like the great-grandfather of the guitar. And so, I went back to my dad and I said, "You know," I said, "What about this instrument, the oud?" And he said, "Are you really interested in that?" And I said, "Yeah, I really am. I'd love to check it out." So, we found a very inexpensive and not very high-quality instrument, and he �Peter Kfoury 3 called a friend of his who was my first teacher, a man named Fred Elias, who was—is still living at the age of ninety-four now, ninety-four years old. And he was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. He is Lebanese also himself, and he played, violin was his primary instrument, but he also played the oud a little bit. And so, he started teaching me. And I got hooked very quickly and really fell in love with the instrument. And for the first probably—no exaggeration. I would say for the first maybe four years that I played that instrument, I didn't miss one single day of practicing, not one, 365 days a year. And I probably played at least anywhere from an hour to three hours a day when I first started playing it. So, after about a year of lessons with Mr. Fred Elias, he went back to my dad and said, "I've got nothing left to teach him. So, I don't know what else to do to teach him anymore." So, I started studying on my own, and then when I went off to college, I went to the University of Hartford in Connecticut and took about six months of lessons with a man at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His name was George Mgrdichian, who was Armenian extraction, and he was in their Ethnomusicology Department at Wesleyan University and I studied with him for a while. And it was around that time that I really started blending the Middle Eastern music with jazz and... rock and funk and different, just different influences that were around me at the time. The University of Hartford had quite a very successful jazz department. Jackie McLean was a very famous jazz saxophone player, and he was involved there. So, I really started playing with a lot of jazz artists when I was there, and that's how I really started blending the two. �Peter Kfoury 4 RG: A question about the — how do you pronounce the instrument again? Say it again. PK: "Ood." RG: The "ood." PK: Yeah. It rhymes with "food." Just drop the F. It's easy. RG: If we were to listen to the guitar and the oud, I guess, in some details, can you describe to me like the distinct difference? PK: Well, the first thing... are either one of you musicians? Men: No, sir. PK: No. Okay. Well, if I say frets on the neck, do you know what I'm talking about? RG: Somewhat. PK: Those are those little metal bars on the neck of a guitar. Okay. Well, an oud has no frets on the neck. That's number one. So, that means that the scale is free. So, in Western music, you know, if you take a C scale, you've got C, D, E, F, so forth. In the Middle Eastern music, you may have a couple of different notes between the C and the D. You know, you may have not just a C-sharp or a D-flat, but you've got a quartertone, because there's no bars telling you where to put your fingers, so you can be anywhere in that range. So, in a lot of the Middle Eastern scales, you have very fine differences in tones, which is, if I had it here with me and I played, you would hear the difference. And that's kind of what gives the Middle Eastern music its more exotic sound, is the range. So, number one is the fact that the oud has no frets on the neck. Number two is the scales that �Peter Kfoury 5 are used in Arabic or Middle Eastern music are different than the Western scales, so they just—it just has a, you know, whole different cultural sound. And the rhythms are often different, as well. So, am I going to mess up your microphone if I tap here? Men: No, sir. PK: So, in Western music, you know, you hear mostly 4/4 rhythms. In rock and roll, it's either... [00:07:55 taps out rhythm] But in Middle Eastern music, you might hear... [00:08:03 taps out different rhythm] See? All kinds of different rhythms going on. So, there's a lot of things that make it different. And the other thing that makes the oud different than the guitar is the guitar was made to play chords. In other words, chords are several notes played at the same time, right, and strummed, whereas the oud is more of a single-line instrument, more a melody, yeah, more a melody instrument. So, it would be more like a trumpet than a piano, but with strings, okay? TM: So, to continue on the oud, do you know just how old the instrument is, like where it dates back to in history? PK: Thousands of years old. You know, the exact number of years, I'm not exactly sure, but I know if you go way back at least a couple of thousand years, there's examples of the instrument. The early ones were a little smaller than the modern ones. Almost all modern ouds have eleven strings. There's ten pairs and a single bass string. And in the past, you may have seen eight strings, maybe ten strings. Almost all modern ones have eleven strings. I know that when the Moors invaded Spain, the Moors being from North Africa, and they invaded Spain, they brought the oud with them. And that's where the oud became the lute. And if you listen to Arabic music and you listen to Spanish music, like �Peter Kfoury 6 flamenco. You've seen flamenco dancers? Those very fancy, all right. If you look at those two cultures, you'll see a lot of similarity in the music and in the rhythms, and that's because a lot of that Arabic stuff got brought from North Africa into Spain. And then, in Spain is where the oud morphed into the lute and then the lute eventually into the guitar. So, if you listen to flamenco guitar, you'll hear a lot of the same rhythms that you hear in the Middle Eastern music. RG: So, with these, I guess it's kind of like a double question. Why did you feel inspired to fuse the two types of music, and was it hard? PK: (laughs) Well... you know, people say to me all the time, they say, "Well, that must be a very difficult instrument to play." And my response to them is that any instrument is difficult to play well, okay? You can play any instrument poorly, but any instrument is difficult to play well. So, as far as the fusion aspect, you know, I'm multicultural, right? So, my family were immigrants and they brought a lot of the culture with them. My parents were both fluent in Arabic, but then they wanted us to assimilate. You know, they wanted their kids to be American. So, they didn't teach us a lot of Arabic. (00:11:39 speaks Arabic) I speak a little Arabic, but not a lot. But the influence of the culture, whether it was the food or the dancing or the language or the music, whatever, was always there, you know. It was just part of how I grew up. So, to me, in learning the Arabic music, and then growing up, you know, when rock and roll was becoming really popular and, you know, jazz was becoming more mainstream and Miles Davis and John Coltrane and people like that, so it was almost a natural thing to want to fuse the two. It just kind of happened. And I don't even know that �Peter Kfoury 7 it was a conscious idea for me to say, well, I'm going to fuse Middle East music and jazz and so forth. It just kind of happened, because those were the influences that were there in my life at the time. Was it hard to do? It's still hard to do it. (laughs) It's hard to make, you know, it's hard to make good music that encompasses both influences. But every time I write a new tune, you know, it's a new effort. It's a new commitment to making that fusion work. TM: So, usually when someone would say, you know, American music, it's got a lot of different varieties, so when we say Middle East music, is that specific to one thing, or does the Middle East have like a specific sound, like besides the lute or... PK: Yeah, that's a good question. TM: the freedom of the genre, I suppose. PK: That's a good question. Yeah, the music is, the oud is played in many, many different countries, and it's one of the principal instruments of Arabic music and still is to this day. So, whether you're in Iraq or Iran or Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, all over that part of the world, the oud is played. Now, there's different style ouds. There's what's called an Arabic style and a Turkish style. They look different. They're tuned differently. One is bigger than the other. They use different tunings, and they have different sounds. If you were in the Middle East and you heard—and you were of that origin and you heard a song on the radio, you'd be able to tell me if that song was Egyptian or Algerian, because it would sound a little different to you. It would sound like, for example, if you listen to something from Louisiana, you could say, well, that's Cajun, or something from Kentucky and you say, well, that's bluegrass, you know? You, as an �Peter Kfoury 8 American, you'd immediately hear the difference. So, if you were from that culture, you would immediately hear the difference between something from Tunisia and something from Egypt or Lebanon. The language is a bit different. Again, I'm not fluent in Arabic, but I know that... people from Egypt may even have a hard time understanding people from Morocco. Even though they're both speaking Arabic, it's different enough so that they can kind of, you know, not understand each other that well. So, yeah, the music, the music is different depending on what part. The instruments are somewhat different. And, again, there's commonalities, you know. There's things that they'll have in common, but there's also clear differences, depending on what region you're from. TM: Yes, sir. So, would you have a favorite branch of Middle Eastern music that was your favorite? PK: That's a good question. As far as oud-playing specifically is concerned, I would say that although my family is Lebanese and they play more the Arabic-style instruments and music, I actually play a Turkish-style instrument and I favor that music a little bit more than the Arabic style, just because of the style of the instrument, the sound of the instrument, the rhythms that they use are a little more complex, and so forth, so that that appeals to me a little bit more, even though that's not my direct ancestry. Yeah. TM: So, throughout your whole musical research and your early experiences, did your family support you through it all, or did they just think that that could have been some dream and you need to focus on something else? PK: Well, they did. They did support me and I played music professionally for several years and I still do. But I think you know, sometimes your family has—if you're �Peter Kfoury 9 lucky and you come from a good family, they have an unconditional love for you and they're going to support you regardless of what you do. But my teacher, the one who is now ninety-four years old, my first teacher, he was the one that I listened to more, because he was the professional musician. He was the one that had spent his life, you know, playing gigs for a living, recording for a living, you know, just scratching from job to job and so forth. And, you know, unless you're in the very, very, very high echelon of the music business, it's not easy to make a living. You know, you really work your butt off to just make a living. So, after several years of playing, he actually — we had a talk one day, and he said to me something I never forgot. He said, "My advice to you is to continue your romance with music but don't marry it." So, I made a decision. I actually moved to—I went to one year of college at the University of Harford that I mentioned to you earlier and then I quit school and I moved to the middle of New York City to play music when I was like nineteen years old and I played there for several years. But my mid-twenties, I made a decision to go back to school and finish school and I was also very interested in science and healthcare specifically. So, I went back to the University of New Hampshire and finished my work there, went to Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis, graduated with a degree in human biology and as a Doctor of Chiropractic and I have been practicing chiropractic now for—let's see, two days ago, I started my thirty-ninth year in practice. So, I've been seeing patients for thirty-nine years, almost thirty-nine years, thirty-eight years. TM: That's impressive, sir. PK: Yeah. �Peter Kfoury 10 RG: Here's another question, I guess, and then we'll go into some more things about your music here in Charleston, but if you had to define music, what would you say? PK: Define music? RG: Yes, sir. PK: (laughs) That's a pretty broad question there, my friend. You know, music can be anything from listening to the cricket outside your window to, you know, the London Symphony Orchestra, so, and anything in between. I mean, that's such a broad question. Music can be found anywhere. All you have to do is, you know, I'll give an example. I saw a YouTube video the other day of a guy who his washing machine was malfunctioning, and it was making this noise, but the noise it was making was like this very steady rhythm. So, did you see this? TM: Yes, sir. PK: Did you see that? So, his washing machine is going... (mimics rhythm) So, he gets his guitar out and he starts playing along with the rhythm and he makes up a whole song around this (mimics rhythm), you know, washing machine thing. So, there you go. You know, music can be made anywhere and from almost anything. And, you know, you guys are too young, but if you eventually have kids, you'll see. You know, you'll have little kids and they'll be two years old and they already got their drum sticks or they're already playing their air guitar or they're singing or whatever. They're making music. It's almost just an innate thing. TM: Yes, sir. So, you kind of got your feet wet with the music industry, well, about nineteen years old when you went to New York City. Did you have any PK: I actually started playing professionally when I was sixteen. And I played in �Peter Kfoury 11 the New England area and then moved to New York at nineteen. TM: Okay. Once you started, you know, your music career, did you have any goals or aspirations, like once you started? PK: Well, (laughs) yeah. Like everybody, yeah, you want to be rich and famous and change the music world, you know, and get everybody to listen to what you're doing. And sometimes that happens, but, you know, 99.9 percent of the time, it doesn't, and you wind up collecting the audience that you collect and being as successful as you can be. And eventually, you know, you come to a point where it kind of depends on what camp you're in, like I described earlier. You know, if you're someone who has to make their living playing music, that's hard. You know, it's not easy. It's a tough, it's a tough road to go, because like the people I know, for example, in this town that are full-time professional musicians, they have to have like four gigs a week. They got to be out there playing at least four nights a week. If they're not playing four nights a week, they're not paying the bills, you know? So, it's a grind, because, you know, you might have one gig that's a regular gig and they love you and everything is great, and then, you know, one day the club manager comes to you and says, "All right, man. I'm sorry. We got to let you go. I can't do this anymore. I can't afford it," or whatever, you know? So, you lose that gig. You've got to scratch and claw to find another one. So, it's tough. So, I think eventually, if you're, like in my case, where I'm not playing music for a living at this point. I make money playing music, but I don't depend on it, you know, for my next meal, so to speak. You get to a point where, you know, you just want to make yourself and other people happy. You know, you want to do what you want to do. You �Peter Kfoury 12 want to play the kind of music you want to play and you gather and collect an audience and it's. The music business is completely different now than it was when I was coming up, you know, completely different, because it's all social media and it's, you know, like this album here that you have in front of you, that's on iTunes and Amazon and Spotify and CD Baby and all those things. Those didn't exist when I was coming up. You know, in those days, you were lucky you got a record contract or recorded an album. If you're lucky, it showed up in the record stores and you got to tour with it. That's it. Maybe it got on the radio. That's it. You know, now you've got a million different outlets on the Internet and all kinds of stuff. And in a lot of ways, it's actually, in a lot of ways, actually harder now than it used to be. It's more difficult. And why do I say that? I say it because every time when I check my account once a month or something, I look and it says, well, you had like fifty hits on Spotify. You know, people downloaded your music. You know what you get for that? You get like two cents. (laughs) Seriously. Every time someone downloads a song of yours off of one of those sites, you get like, you know, two cents, three cents, ten cents, something like that. So, it's, you know, it's pretty minimal. JM: If you can tell us about — I was reading in your biography and stuff on the Internet, and if you can kind of tell us more about what may be the motivation to want to create like a listening room in Charleston, just like more info on that. PK: Okay. That's the World Music Café, what you're talking about, right? And, yeah, after playing several gigs in Asheville, where there is? That's the card there. Then flip it over, and that's where. My fiancée, Pam Rea, and myself, we got to talking about it, and it became apparent that Asheville had probably four, maybe as five rooms that you �Peter Kfoury 13 could consider listening rooms. Now, what is a listening room? Well, in music, a listening room would be considered a place where people go strictly to listen to music, as opposed to a bar that happens to have music playing or a restaurant that happens to have music or a concert hall that holds like a thousand people or more. A listening room would be a place that holds sometimes as little as thirty, sometimes as many as a hundred and thirty people, but it's where they strictly go to listen to music. And we realized that Charleston had none. The only one that we had that could qualify as a listening room was a place called The Mezz. I don't know if you're familiar with The Mezz, downtown on King Street up above the old Sermet's restaurant. And The Mezz was strictly for jazz. Now, it was very nice and everything, but if you weren't playing jazz, then you weren't going to play there. And it's now closed, as well, unfortunately. But that was the only room that could be considered a listening room. Otherwise, Charleston had zero. So, we thought, well, you know, we want to kind of kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. So, we decided to start this series called the World Music Café, and the objective was, number one, to create a listening room and, number two, to present more world music in Charleston, because although Charleston has a pretty good music scene in a lot of ways, it has very, very little in the way of ethnic influence or world music. So, we wanted to try to give a forum to people who play different kinds of music and give other people an opportunity to hear them. So, we approached John Holenko and Hazel Ketchum. They're a married couple, and they run Hungry Monk Music, which is a, Hungry Monk Music is a music school in �Peter Kfoury 14 West Ashley. And in their school, they have a room that probably holds about fifty people and we asked them if they'd like to host this kind of adventure and they were all for it. They thought it was a great idea. So, we just celebrated our first anniversary this past Friday. April 7th was our first-anniversary show, and because, you know, we have other jobs and lives outside of music, we only do it once a month, but the first Friday of each month, and we produce this show called the World Music Café. And at each one, we have three or four artists play, and each one plays like a twenty-five or thirty-minute set. And we've had everything from Brazilian to French to Irish to African to Middle Eastern and you name it. We've had musicians come in from all over the world and play. Sometimes they are from Charleston. Sometimes they might happen to be passing through Charleston, whatever, but we'll get them to come in, play these twenty-five, thirty-minute sets, and it's been extremely successful. People just really love it. But, yeah. JM: You said in West Ashley's community newspaper that as a musician, it's difficult to overstate how demoralizing it can be to have to battle through the noise of a bar, to have to battle through the noise of a bar crowd to be heard. What exactly did you mean by that statement? PK: Well, if you're playing, especially if you're playing original music, you know, you're playing music because you created something. It's like, it would be like an artist painting a painting and having nobody look at it. You know, nobody just walked by it like it didn't exist, right? So, if you're writing music and you're playing original music, when you play, the whole objective is to have people listen. But if you're playing in a bar or a restaurant where people are just drunk and, you know, screaming and yelling and so �Peter Kfoury 15 forth and nobody gives a crap what you're doing, then it's kind of, you know, it's demoralizing to try to get out there and get your stuff heard. So, that is why we wanted the listening-room concept. And it's different. You know, there's nothing wrong with music in bars and so forth and restaurants. Fine. People want to have a few drinks and dance and be rowdy and so forth. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that. It's just a different kind of dynamic that we didn't have, where people really don't want that. They just want to go and have a really quiet, mellow evening, maybe have a glass of wine, and really listen to what somebody has created, you know? That's just a whole different dynamic. JM: Okay. PK: Yeah. JM: One of the big questions is, where do you get your inspiration when you're creating music? PK: (laughs) Well, that's an age-old question to which I don't know if any artist of any genre has ever had an adequate answer. But, it's a very question to which I do not have a very good answer. I could say that it just, it just comes, you know. And sometimes it's kind of a subconscious blending of what's gone on in your life over the last, you know, weeks, months, years, whatever. And then, you know, one influence connects with another influence in your brain and a tune comes into your head and then you sit down and you try to play it on the instrument and then it, you know, it goes from there, kind of takes on a life of its own. But it's hard to say where that inspiration comes from, you know. Who knows? It depends on what your belief is. It �Peter Kfoury 16 either comes from your subconscious. It comes from the universe. It comes from God. Who knows where it comes from? JM: You have a track out called "At the Heart of Two Worlds." PK: Right in front of you. JM: Okay. Right there, yeah. And is the name of this track, is it talking about like the mixing of the Middle Eastern music with like rock and blues? PK: Correct. JM: It is? PK: Yeah, that's exactly what it refers to, yeah. JM: Okay. Have you, throughout your musical career and stuff, had you had like a breakthrough where it seemed like the style of music you were making began to like sprout or become more noticeable towards the public? PK: Yeah. You know, my story is a little different, because, like I was telling you earlier, you know, I decided to go back and take up an entirely different profession, which I am very, very grateful for and has been very good to me and, thank God, I've been able to help a lot of people over the years. But also, I have three children, and when they were eleven, eight, and five, their mother passed away. So, I wound up raising three kids pretty much by myself. And so, music kind of got put on the shelf for a while. I never stopped playing, but I didn't play professionally for a lot of years, because I had kids to raise, you know? So, when I went back into playing music more professionally in the last several years, really putting this album out just a couple of years ago started to really get people listening, because, as I mentioned earlier, you know, it's all over the Internet and the �Peter Kfoury 17 different outlets and so forth, so you get a lot more exposure that way. JM: Okay. Where was like the first place you ever performed in Charleston? Can you remember the very first place you ever performed? PK: In Charleston or way back? JM: Just in Charleston for now. PK: In Charleston? JM: Yes, sir, and like what was the feeling you had when, you know, you first performed here? PK: You know, I'm trying to remember where I very first performed in Charleston. I want to say it may have been one of two places. At the end of Piccolo, there used to be a world festival kind of thing. They had it over in Hampton, right here in Hampton Park. And I know I played at that. That was one of the first things I played. That would have been back, you know, late eighties, early nineties, maybe. And then, I played at a couple of places at Folly Beach, which I'm not even sure still exist, but a couple of clubs down there, you know, yeah, and a couple Downtown. But some of the places I played, you know, clubs and nightclubs and that kind of thing, they come and they go, you know. Some of them don't even exist anymore, but those are the ones I can remember, but that was a while ago. JM: Overall, can you remember like the feeling, especially like your first time ever performing, like anywhere? Can you kind of tell us, you know, the felt at the time? Were you nervous, happy, excited? PK: Well, you know, this is one of the reasons the World Music Café has been so successful, is because the musicians that we have come and play there, they can make �Peter Kfoury 18 more money playing other places and so forth, but for them to have an audience that is in a hundred percent attention to what they're doing is totally worth it. Every musician that has played there wants to come back and do it again, because they so rarely get an audience that's in rapt attention to what they're doing. We have, just the other and night, there was a fellow who plays blues, roots blues. His name is JoJo Wall, and he played for us on Friday night. And he was nervous before the show, and this guy has played hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of shows. And why was he nervous? Because usually, he's getting up there in a bar where nobody cares, and he's, you know, and he just gets up and he plays. But this, he had everybody focused directly on him. It was a whole different feeling. So, there's no scarier feeling than to have everybody focused on you, but there's no more rewarding feeling than to have everybody focused on you. So, you know, it's the most risk, but it's the most reward, as well. JM: Have you had people, at your event, have you had people that actually, from the audience, been able to get like gigs, things like that from people that's listening to them, you know, since they are full-on, you know, paying attention. PK: Yeah. We absolutely have, yeah. We've had a lot of that happen, where people have been not discovered, so to speak, but have used World Music Café as kind of a stepping stone to other gigs. Absolutely. Yeah. JM: How is the music culture in Charleston different to the music culture that you kind of grew up to? Did you notice like a difference? PK: Good question. Yeah, yeah, and with all due respect, the music, there's some very good music in Charleston. It's, you know, but the music here is really kind of white- �Peter Kfoury 19 bread, all right, in the sense that it is, as I mentioned earlier, there's not a lot of ethnic influence. You know, and where I grew up, you know, if you're walking down the street, you could be just as likely to hear Middle Eastern music or Irish music or African stuff or Puerto Rican music or whatever, you know. You'd hear all kinds of ethnic stuff going on, reggae, whatever. Here, it's not as much that way. You know, it's country, it's rock and roll, you know, maybe it's jazz, maybe it's a little blues, and, you know, but there just wasn't as much ethnic influence. But I think that's changing as time goes forward. JM: And do you think you might have had a big impact on that, like especially in Charleston? PK: Maybe some impact. I don't know about a big impact, maybe some. JM: Okay, and the last question for me is, can you tell us like what was the lowest point in your musical career and what was the highest? Do you have any of them stick out to you? PK: Well (laughs) This is kind of a silly thing, but I remember one time I felt the worst was I actually played a gig where I was part of a backup band, and I think at that point, I was playing guitar for a woman singer who was the, at the time, was Miss New Hampshire, very pretty girl and a pretty good singer. And after the show, I was helping to, you know, we were packing up our stuff and I picked up her guitar case not realizing that she had put her guitar in it but had not latched the case. And so, I picked up the case and the guitar flew out of the case and went bouncing across the stage four or five times and it was a really nice Martin acoustic guitar, but it wasn't a really nice Martin acoustic guitar after it bounced four or five times. It had a �Peter Kfoury 20 couple of big cracks in it, and that was the lowest, I think, I ever felt, because to a musician, that's like dropping a baby, you know? It's like dropping an infant on its head or something, you know. And so, that was not a good feeling. I think one of the better feelings, you know, there's been a lot of, fortunately, a lot of high points, I'm lucky to say. I think when we did the CD release party for this disc here, At the Heart of Two Worlds, that was great, because I got to play with, you know, the people that I recorded with on this album and for a really good audience and it was like, that was like birthing a baby, you know. That was like just a whole new thing and very rewarding to get that out there. TM: Well, sir, I kind of want to talk about the album a little bit more. What was your influence for writing it? PK: Well, you know, the album, there's thirteen tunes on the album. Eleven of them are original tunes, and there's two that are covers of jazz standards. But the tunes that, you know, I couldn't really say, because they were written over time and at different times and with different influences and so forth. But as the title of the album would suggest, At the Heart of Two Worlds, you know, the goal and the hope is that, you know, there's so much conflict and strife in the world today that, you know, hopefully, to try to bring people together over some music is really the goal, really what we're trying to do. TM: All right. Well, do you have a favorite track yourself from that record? PK: That's like asking if you have a favorite kid. (laughs) You can't answer that well. You know, I can't really say that I have a favorite. I like them all for different reasons. One of the most fun ones is my fiancée is from Missouri, and sometimes I nickname her when she gets her Midwest out. I call her Midwest. That's her nickname. �Peter Kfoury 21 So, there's a tune on there called, "Ok Midwest," and that was written for her and it's kind of funky, funky tune, you know. I think that's one of my favorite ones to play. You know, it's kind of fun and funky, yeah. TM: Well, whenever you were performing, you know, in the bars and stuff and they were, I guess, overrunning your sound, how did you deal with that? How did you, I guess, keep your composure, because you had to feel disrespected and whatnot? So, how did you just keep the motivation and composure to stay on stage? PK: That's a good question. I view those kinds of gigs, which, once in a while, I still do, like, for example, on New Year's Eve this past New Year's, I played, geez, it seemed it was forever. I think I played for like five hours or something at the New Sermet's over there on James Island for, they had three dinner seatings on New Year's Eve, and I played through all of them. (laughs) And you know, people having dinner. It's New Year's Eve. They're having dinner. They're talking, whatever. It's fine. And I knew that going in. It's background music. That's okay. As long as I know going in what to expect, then I don't have any, you know, big expectations. It's not a concert hall. It's a dinner thing, you know? So, that's number one, is knowing what you're going into. If you know that you're going into a concert setting, then you expect people to be quiet and listen. And you know how it is if you're in a concert setting or a movie theater and there's somebody like talking loudly next to you, it's really annoying, right? But you also know that if you go to a party where people are talking and drinking and so forth, you expect that. So, it's all what, you know, your expectations. But as far as how you deal with it when people are paying no attention, I've, in my �Peter Kfoury 22 mind, I view those as paid practice sessions. And so, I'm getting paid. I'm going to get up here and I'm going to try some new stuff. I'm going to practice some stuff that I, you know, because, still, I don't care how long you've been playing, you still got to practice, you know, and you still got to get better. And, so, I use those as paid practice sessions. I say no one's really paying that much attention. They're not going to know if I make a little mistake here or there. So, I'm just going to use this and mentally as a paid practice session, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to use it to get better. TM: Yes, sir. So, a really frequent question that Dr. Taylor tends to ask is, do you think Charleston has its own sound, the Charleston sound? What's your opinion on that? PK: That's a very good question, as well. You know, I imagine you're talking to a lot of people as part of this process, right? TM: Yes, sir. PK: I would hope so. And, you know, there's a lot of people who know far more about the history of jazz and so forth in Charleston than I do. And I could give you a couple of names, if you don't already know who to call. But I think... I have to say in my opinion, and they may disagree with me, I don't think so. I don't think so. I think there's a lot of terrific musicians from Charleston. There's a lot of people who came out of Charleston who went on to have amazing musical careers and really very talented people. But I don't think that there's a Charleston sound per se as much as there is like a New Orleans sound or something like that, you know, or a Detroit, you know, Motown sound or that kind of thing. I don't think that there really is a trademark sound. Now, some people might disagree with me. I don't know. I think we might have come somewhat close to that back in the twenties when the Charleston itself was popular �Peter Kfoury 23 and, you know, that kind of thing. But I don't think it really solidified into what I would call or I perceive as a Charleston sound, in my opinion. TM: Yes, sir. So, I don't listen to a whole lot of jazz by any means, but I'm more of like a rock or heavy-metal type person. But whenever I hear, say, a guitarist from my favorite band, even if he's doing a cover for someone else, I can pick that out. Does jazz work the same way, and your type of music work the same way? PK: Good question. If you have an ear for it, you know, like you're attuned to that, so you hear the differences. You know, to a lot of people, the casual listener and they're listening to a jazz saxophone, well, saxophone is saxophone. But if you really are attuned to it, you will hear a difference in the sounds from player to player and that they have a unique either sound or a unique style or both and you know immediately that that's, you know, this person or that person. So, yeah, that, yeah, and I think it depends on, you know, what you're most interested in, because, you know, you're most interested in, as I affectionately call it sometimes, heavy mental, but (laughs) TM: Oh, thank you. It doesn't put me to sleep, sir. PK: (laughs) But if that's what your ear is attuned to, you're attuned to the fine differences in it, you know, whereas I might hear the difference in jazz or in a Middle Eastern piece, yeah. TM: Yes, sir. Well, being from around Charleston now, do you have a good relationship with the local artists, as a general rule? PK: Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think I do. I would say yes, I think I do. There's different kind of segments, you know, and I think you would find that anywhere, because if you're a jazz musician or a jazz fan, those are the circles you're going to run in. If �Peter Kfoury 24 you're a blues fan, you're going to run in those circles. If you're classical, you're going to run in those circles. So, I don't see where there's a lot of overlap, but I don't think that's true anywhere. I think it's, you know, people who are into a certain kind of music tend to run with those same people, but for the most part, yeah. TM: So, you would say musicians would stick together, then, just because? Is that what? PK: Well, musicians of a certain genre, I think, yeah, yeah, because I don't see where there's a lot of association between the heavy-metal community and the classical community, you know what I mean? They're not really speaking the same language, you know? TM: Well, it depends how you evaluate the history of it. PK: Well, this is, yeah. I'm open to your experience, as well. TM: But you would say it's kind of — it's easy to build relationships with the same genre of musicians? PK: Well, I'm not sure if I'd use the easy. I think some genres can be a little on the cliquey side, you know, and, in fact, just the other night at the show when I was introducing a tune, I was kind of jokingly referring to jazz snobs, because there are people who are, you know, jazz snobs and there's a certain kind of way that you do things in jazz and if you don't do it that way, they kind of look down on you. You know, like they, well, that's not real jazz or something like that. But you know what? I think you find that in just about any phase of life. You see people like that. TM: Yes, sir. Well, you talked about it a little bit, but today you would say the music scene is kind of, I wouldn't say it's bad in America, but with like technology and �Peter Kfoury 25 iTunes and YouTube, it's definitely not at its strong point. But I guess if you could change anything about just like where music is today in America, what would you change specifically? PK: Are you talking about music, or are you talking about the music business? TM: The music business, sir. PK: Business, yeah. Well, geez. PK: I don't think... I don't think the music business is reality-based. You know, it's based on, you know, star power and hero worship. I mean, if you look at, how many times, for example, have you been to a concert where it was a band that you never heard of and has, you know, virtually no following and everything and they're amazing, you know? They're just really, really good. And but do they — does the world know about them? No. They know nothing about them. And then you'll see someone on national TV, and they just suck, you know? They're awful. I mean, that happens all the time, right? TM: Yes, sir. PK: And so, I think there's no fairness in the music business, you know. Really isn't based on talent and quality. I don't know what it's based on, you know, because there's so many artists that are, you know, have huge levels of popularity that just really aren't very good. TM: I do agree with that, sir. Like, what happens in a recording studio is a little bit different than on stage, because like what you're talking about is one of my favorite "heavy mental" bands, all that remains, I went to one of their concerts. They're beautiful on the albums and stuff, but they messed up their best song and other songs nine times over. But then you have, you know, a not-so-popular band after them that just perform �Peter Kfoury 26 amazing live, but, you know, their songs might not be the highest quality, but they're five-star in person. PK: There you go. And I think that's true in a lot of our culture, is a lot of it is illusion, you know, because there's so much you can do with technology. It's just not real, you know. And you can take, you know, a model and make her look like she's the most beautiful thing in the world and then you see her in person and you go, "Whoa, that's the same girl?" You know, it doesn't look — you know. So, there's just there's a lot of illusion, whether it's in music or art or, you know, theater, movies and so forth. There's just a lot of fake stuff going on. So, you know, ideally, I'd like to see it become more real, you know, just real people making real music. For example, my fiancée showed me this little, I guess it was a YouTube or a Facebook video or something. And it was some ten-year-old kid and he's playing guitar and it sounds like he's just, you know, shredding it. He's going crazy on this thing, you know. And she goes, "Wow, that's pretty amazing. He's only ten years old." And I said, "Honey, he's doing this with these foot pedals and effects. He's not really doing much of anything. Anybody who's been playing for ten minutes could make this sound, you know?" TM: That happens a lot at like school talent shows or something, people just trying to steal the show, but then he sounds just like, you know, Ozzie Osbourne or something like that. PK: Yeah. TM: Yeah, the reality just needs to come back. PK: That's what, if I could change that, I would, but I don't have a whole lot of hope that that's going to happen. (laughs) �Peter Kfoury 27 TM: So, I'm afraid as evolution commences, it might just get worse. PK: It might. TM: Swell. That's all I've got for you. PK: Okay. TM: We do appreciate your coming out. PK: Well, thank you for having me. I'd like to ask you a question. I'm a little curious about what exactly is the purpose of this venture, and where does all this information go from here? TM: It will be used for research or class assignments for, you know, future classes. Right now, this is going to be our final project, so we're just kind of showing what we've learned, that we've learned how to, you know, conduct a proper interview, just, you know, keep the interview alive, and just try to put our feelings down on paper and compose a legitimate final essay just depicting the stills we've learned and the history that we've acknowledged and what we have learned in just interviewing people, because this is an aspect of oral history as it is. You know, just an interview right now like we're doing is how, you know, a lot of things was passed down through thousands of years like Romania or whatever your literature type could be. So. PK: So, does this get archived somewhere and accessed for your students? JM: Oh, yes, sir. We'll have you sign an agreement if you're willing to allow us to put it in the archives. If you are, then we'll have you sign an agreement saying that, you know, you give us permission to do that. PK: Okay. JM: But really like kind of like he said, all right, it's also the reason why we're �Peter Kfoury 28 doing all these interviews, things like that is to figure out Charleston's sound, you know, its music, things like that, kind of see what makes, you know, Charleston's musical culture what it is. And so, by doing these interviews, things like that, we're able to kind of get the big picture, you know, and kind of condense it down to size and see what, you know, all the different types of artists is, you know, how they're making. PK: Cool. Are you interested and have you talked to — I'm sure you've talked to many other people, right? TM: Yes. PK: Because there's two other people that come immediately to mind, I don't know if you've talked to, is Charlton Singleton. Do you know Charlton? Well, he's the conductor of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra, the big band downtown. And he's very, very, very, very well-known, very famous and a great trumpet player and a terrific musician. And he would know every single thing that's happening in the jazz world in Charleston. The other guy is Osei Chandler. Do you know Osei? I don't know if you listen to reggae or if you like reggae, but he has the longest-running reggae show in the entire country and he's right near on the NPR station 89.3 every Saturday night. His show is on every Saturday night. And he knows more about reggae than anybody I've ever met and also jazz, as well. But he's extremely knowledgeable. He's a DJ, you know, a radio DJ, not a wedding DJ. And, you know, he's been — he's got two active radio shows now, and he's had many more in the past. But he'd be a really excellent resource, too. JM: Okay, well, thank you. TM: That does sound very nice. PK: Yeah. I don't know. How did you happen to pick me or pluck me out of this? �29 Peter Kfoury JM: Oh, well, Dr. Taylor, he actually like — he's the one that kind of set — . End of recording. Edited by ML 8/15/18 � https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/da7dfcaeee7e7cb938bc43a8aee13cba.mp3?Expires=1787184000&Signature=RWPxwVmpWV9AwufJf5M1f2fsN1pJ3ypWvkCiv3892tIf47VFBPONEcS1ZVuqOtM1IRe1SkT2NNUMbIMMZaZjzHnWj9yjGb58SjM6nQeQL3KHAVW%7EBGoU0XUanSBiYt1yDRtXVwSgAFaGoiM2LX-Cjj%7EJ5NyF7ZTRsRCDixP6X-gC9LenPmyZW4esfHjzhcYhNerz5LvJXDN5l8YKnwms2HKXxdTEtrnqTund-mWmejBM7M3VAe5YEHgv3vrdlTrZd%7E8lPyD661Y9WH0Rwo1fakn1-MFXsyPE1n4qcBacG9UuyORuE8Q8DfCT9XcpzYDWR3La9iOsUv35iociRe7tfg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 1e8abf2faf54a43a93b5eaf358b808ee https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/066cfd1c1890a6dccb2eb43b2ecaee11.jpg?Expires=1787184000&Signature=NZsjXdJ6JK-KjqzPNmNojRiT2X3mvV7oG3seKnqAvpW9DupsvMnkwTQyzLJ2GCqbVmmlyPN3H4VksuTHgGYv8qKQ6wKKL%7E0qr8TchURBN5JXvipe4dGC1pxViDJKi9372ZaGB07SqbULe4kOVd1FQFO2WP8SfTGueD0sUiCimA0fHPtlrvw9gKYdrw0UcNPWh5mhItydSTvSQi08yDOFAaHoIjN%7EHB6FQhaU-qn%7EpvAij9PHgOoGedD0EjTDw9sHRUdY%7E8%7EQ%7Eg27K-MjZTRMBtuuhhDp41l0E7LWENpbzmGcelaGwCUJIpDyc116ihktyWeF-aBmSwls1j2wXzjRDQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM ef8e140de4b375e0f86bffe9613e10b3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource The oral histories in this collection were produced by The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel. Founded in 2008, The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel seeks to deepen understanding of the Lowcountry’s rich history and culture through the gathering and presentation of recorded memories from area residents.<br /><h3>Search Tips</h3> Interviews may be browsed by scrolling to the bottom of this page and selecting "View all items".<br /><br />When using the search bar, we recommend putting quotations around your search term, and selecting the Boolean search option, as illustrated here:<br /><p><img src="https://gdurl.com/aYPj" alt="aYPj" /><br /><br />To view interviews of a specific theme, please see the search tips in each series below.</p> <h3><strong>The Citadel in War and in Peace<br /></strong></h3> With generous support from the <a href="http://www.schumanities.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities Council of South Carolina</a>, The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel collected thirty interviews with Citadel alumni regarding their experiences during WWII. Journalist and historian Jack Bass conducted the interviews during the Fall of 2008.They serve as a powerful testament to the veterans' experiences and their critical contributions to the war effort.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /><ul><li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- World War II"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- Korean War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- Vietnam War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- The Second Gulf War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- The War in Afghanistan"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Working Charleston</strong></h3> Working Charleston documents the on and off job experiences of the longshoremen and lawyers, the bartenders and carriage drivers, hospital aides and high tech workers who make Charleston among the nation's prime tourist destinations and vital centers of global trade.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /><ul><li>"Working Charleston"</li> <li>"Charleston City Workers"</li> <li>"Lowcountry Foodways"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Charleston and the Long Civil Rights Movement</strong></h3> <span><span>These interviews explore how community activism continues to shape modern life in the South.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /></span></span> <ul><li>"Charleston and the Long Civil Rights Movement</li> <li>"Civil rights movement--South Carolina"</li> <li>"African Americans--Civil Rights--South Carolina--Charleston"</li> </ul><a target="_blank" href="https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/193" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a> <h3><strong>Las Voces del Lowcountry</strong></h3> <span><span>This project is designed to raise the profile of the Hispanic/Latinos who call the Lowcountry home and to promote a rational and humane conversation regarding immigration, education, and employment policies.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:<br /></em></span></span> <ul><li>"Las Voces del Lowcountry"</li> <li>"Latin Americans--Southern States"</li> <li>"Hispanic Americans--Southern States"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Women in World War II</strong></h3> <em>*To search this series, type "Women in World War II" into the search bar, using the Boolean search option.<br /></em> <ul><li>"Women in World War II"</li> <li>"Women--Employment History"</li> <li>"World War, 1939-1945--Participation, female"</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Ra'Shaud J. Graham Jacob C. Mathis Trenton H. Moore Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Peter Kfoury Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 59 minutes Location The location of the interview Charleston, South Carolina Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History of Peter Kfoury, interviewed by Ra'Shaud J. Graham, Jacob C. Mathis and Trenton H. Moore, 11 April, 2017 Subject The topic of the resource Musicians Music--Middle East Music entrepreneurship Description An account of the resource Lebanese-American musician Peter Kfoury was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. His father was Lebanese and his mother Syrian. At thirteen, he learned to play guitar and soon after, he became fascinated with the oud, an old Mid-Eastern traditional instrument. He moved to Connecticut to attend college and for a few months, he took lessons with the Armenian musician George Mgrdichian. By that time, Kfoury started blending Middle Eastern music with jazz, rock, and funk. After a year, he decided to leave college and went to play music in New York. Later he returned to school and graduated as a Dr. Chiropractor, the profession he has practiced for almost forty years. In the interview, Kfoury talks about the lack of diversity in the music offerings in Charleston as well as the lack of listening rooms. Responding to these voids, in 2016, he launched the World Music Cafe. John Holenko and Hazel Ketchum from Hungry Monk Music supported his efforts. Since then, World Music Cafe produces a monthly show that features three musicians of different musical traditions and styles. Finally, Kfoury talks about creating, recording and presenting his album At the Heart of Two Worlds. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Working Charleston Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Citadel Archives & Museum Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/620 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Charleston (S.C.) https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/2dcadbd6d0d15b211294c35dc84ae15b.pdf?Expires=1787184000&Signature=TkQt9Rj7TD8UVGV7qm7B7Tcm1VEqlr2iawnerFaK9YXC1iSaT5FvXGQeK65OVuIoVeJ1xsbslrGK32A5a3pAisup6tl6NDq949iUSqe7uFajxwH8n-16fFHycVC2-wKMmlafrkWMAhFoDR1ew19yOPfrixgPV2RMxAUsMhxkD4tX3PjY2aswvlQawYtMPA0c-c1h48uZO9sYEePO8KQXkVlersOVUV6WmkYuNFl2Idl8lUo6j2bdXV36VxzlYrDx%7EeJhvRY%7E5CoQEzoD5CtsnKJ2TYWl6CFJNsNCZBEnI7shD5i0NYi9JYvcEr45XpZ8hFiZTTrqWvo3fg8yfS1DtA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 269907ba532a5941a22f17b062747340 PDF Text Text —TRANSCRIPT - AISHA KENYETTA Interviewee: AISHA KENYETTA Interviewer: MICHAEL RICE, HOLLY RICKET, GABRIEL GRIMSTAD Interview Date: APRIL 11, 2017 Location: Charleston Length: 48 min. GABRIEL GRIMSTAD: Okay, can you tell us your full name and your date of birth? AK: Yes. My name is Aisha Frazier, and my birthday is October 2nd, 1980. GG: Okay. And I have a couple questions about like your personal life, especially growing up. I want to know like what was life like for you growing up in a small city in South Carolina, like really small. AK: A very small city. I grew up in — I graduated with sixty-one people. That's how small my town is. It's Monetta, South Carolina. I am an only child to a mom who is a pastor and a father who is a deacon. So, PK, like I said, only child, but my mom is the oldest of seven. My dad's the baby of seven. So, lots of cousins, lots of family around at all times. My dad's family is the musical family. My dad's church is the one that I grew up in. And so, everything pretty much revolved around the family and what we were going to do after church on Sunday. And everybody either sings or plays an instrument in our family. So, it was music at all times, even if it was playing records or playing cassette tapes, yes, you know, music all the time in our family. GG: What was that like when you were young? You had a mom who was a pastor and a dad that was a deacon. I mean... �Aisha Kenyetta 2 AK: It didn't really cause any issues, I think, until I became a teenager. And then, you know, you run into those — you have those moral decisions to make as a teenager. Do I really want to go with my friends, or am I going to be the good girl and just go home? And so, that's kind of where it got dicey, but I survived with minimal punishments. I got a couple of speeding tickets, but other than that, you know, pretty much survived unscathed. GG: Okay. And we saw we were looking into you that you went to Erskine College... AK: I did. GG: ...and then to Southern Wesleyan? AK: Yes. GG: Did you always like — did you have other aspirations besides being a singer? AK: I've always been interested in a bunch of different things. My BA is in athletic training, and I love sports, love being able to help people, and my ultimate goal was to actually become a funeral-services director. I haven't gotten there yet. Every time I get my classes started, something comes up where I can't finish. But that was my ultimate goal, and I got the athletic training degree to get myself into the medical services and then I would move to the next level and move to the next level. But singing has always been just I wouldn't say a hobby. It's always been there. So, it was never something I looked at as a career. It's just always been there. So, when I thought of having a career, I didn't think of music as a career, because it was always there. �Aisha Kenyetta 3 GG: Right. So, do you see yourself one day actually being able to take those classes? AK: Yeah, one day, hopefully. GG: You're still pretty young, so. AK: Yeah. One day, hopefully, I'll be able to—you know, I've been able to apprentice at funeral homes, and so I've gotten a lot of the practical work in. Still something that I want to do. I just haven't gotten the classes under my belt to be certified and have that piece of paper to say I can do it. GG: So, what's life like balancing your career, like your work life and your personal life? Being a singer, you know, you're probably constantly on the go. AK: Yes. GG: Is it difficult? AK: Very. I have a seven-month-old and a twenty-month-old. And so, and my husband is currently deployed. I have a day job. I work for Bank of America, fifteen years now, and it's difficult. Every day is planned to the hour. I have something to do every hour of every day, and I've never been very organized. I am uber-organized now. (laughs) HR: Yeah, I bet so! Two little ones. GG: I feel like you probably have to be. AK: Yes, yes. My mother-in-law is amazing. My village is amazing. So, that's really the only way I can do what I do. That, and coffee. GG: So, you mentioned that you want to one day be a funeral-services director. Is that what you imagine your life after, you know, a singing career being? �Aisha Kenyetta 4 AK: Yeah. GG: Is there a life after the singing career? Do you want to always do that? AK: I think it's just going to be something that's always there. You know, being able to sing is something that I, you know — being able to perform, I guess I should say, is just that's what I really enjoy. Being on stage, being able to connect to people, being able to make people happy or to even to show appreciation, you know, whether it's to sing for somebody's wedding ceremony or even to sing if somebody requests you to sing at a family member's funeral. I mean, for people to entrust you with their special moments is a big deal, whether you're getting paid to do it or not. So, if I can carry a tune at ninety-three years old, then I plan to still be able to do it. GG: Right. That's like a skill set that doesn't really go away. AK: Exactly. HOLLY RICKET: So, I want to go back to the beginning, and there's something that we read, talked about you were in the choir. And he'll talk and ask you more questions about that. But how did you get started in the choir, like at church? Was this the church that your mom is a pastor at? AK: Yes. HR: Okay. AK: She wasn't the pastor then. It's because it's, like I said, it's my dad's church, actually. But we just, you know, it's a family church. Everybody is connected somehow by blood and just everybody is a singer and the choir would sing on Sundays and I'd want to be with my cousin on the choir. And so, I would sit with them and just started singing with them. And somebody gave me a little plastic play microphone and I would carry it �Aisha Kenyetta 5 around all the time and sing. HR: So, you were in the choir even when you were little. AK: Even when I was little. HR: And you were in choir until... AK: Until I left to go to Erskine, so until '98. HR: So, when did you transition out of gospel music, or is that still what you sing? AK: I still, yeah. I still, I'm Worship Leader at Seacoast North Charleston. HR: Okay. I go there sometimes. It's a good church. AK: Yeah. So, I still — I've never transitioned out of gospel. My mom is happy to hear that. HR: Yes! AK: You know, I don't think it's something that you can get away from, just because when you're singing gospel, you're not just performing. You know, you're worshiping. You're creating an experience for others to worship. And so, it becomes more than just a performance. So, I don't think I'll ever stop singing gospel. HR: But what other kind of music do you also sing? I know I read somewhere that you've done covers for bands like Guns N' Roses. AK: I'm a huge GNR fan! HR: So, how did you get into that area, and were your family supportive of that? AK: Yes. I... in our household, there was nothing that was considered the music we don't listen to. I mean, we listened to everything. My parents have always been avid music lovers, and, you know, we had the records that we would play on Saturday �Aisha Kenyetta 6 morning while we were cleaning the house. And everything. My dad had Black Sabbath records and, you know, we listened. We listened to everything, and my parents always made sure that I knew that I don't have to just listen to what's considered music for black people, you know. I could listen to whatever I wanted to listen to, and I gravitated to... 80s hair bands and classic rock. That's kind of where — and funk. So, which that made my daddy happy, because he's a huge Parliament-Funkadelic fan. And so, that's kind of where I landed. Chaka Khan is my — she's my one. She's my idol. If she were to walk in this room right now, you'd have to give me smelling salts. And so, the funk and 80s rock, classic rock, that's what I love. So, give me some Bad Company, GNR, and Chaka Khan, and I'm good. HR: So, you went from gospel music and you still do it and then you started doing covers. So, when did you transition, or have you, to your own music, writing your own music? AK: I am writing a lot. I've been a little bit hesitant to show what I've written, and one of my friends is working with me on that, because always in the beginning, I would only write if I felt negative emotions. I never really wrote because I was happy to be here. It was always, you know, I'm furious and I'd write things down. And so, now I'm getting to the point where I can put things on paper that aren't emotionally charged. I can put things down. You know, I woke up this morning. It was pretty outside, and it made me think of something to write down. I have not put that on record anywhere. HR: Have you ever sung any of your own music? AK: Yes, I have. HR: Where? �Aisha Kenyetta 7 AK: Not out in public. HR: Oh! Do you think you'll get there? AK: I have for friends. Maybe at some point. It's very... it exposes you. It really — it exposes you in a way that's really... even if it's not necessarily something that you are revealing, it's like you're putting yourself out there, you know, for other people to hear and other people to see. And so, for me, I think it's just going to be, at what point am I okay with that exposure? And I'm not there yet. HR: Yeah. So, then, how did you get introduced to the band AmpSquared? AK: AmpSquared, yeah. HR: How did that come about? AK: So, AmpSquared is me and my friend Rodrick Simmons. Rodrick is actually the music director at Seacoast North Charleston. And Rodrick and I used to sing with Secrets together a while back. And when I left Secrets, Rodrick left Secrets, and we decided to collaborate. And what we really wanted to do was just amp up, you know, the cover scene. You know, everybody does covers, and they sound just like the record, or they, you know. But what we wanted to do is just funk everything, I mean, just even... everything that you think you're going to hear, turn it on its ear. And he was ready for that. We wanted a full band with horns and musical stylings and just, you know, really taking it up a notch. And so, we decided to work together. And now we're neighbors in real life. And so, we get to really, you know, we are a for-real garage band right now, because we're — . HR: Are you looking for any of this to ever get published? �Aisha Kenyetta 8 AK: Yes. HR: Or is it already in some way, like published? Is it on the radio? AK: We have some things that are. We have some Christmas singles out, but we haven't done anything beyond that. Now, Rodrick has. Rodrick works and he writes for gospel artists all over and he's toured with D'Angelo. He's toured with Joss Stone, people like that. And so, now he's basically, I think I'm his pet project, pretty much, but, you know, at some point, you know, I'll have some things out there. But, again, it becomes how much of yourself are you ready to put out there? HR: Right. So, do you do like gigs around Charleston? AK: I do. HR: And how do you market yourself for those? AK: I really am more of a freelance performer. I work with just about every band around. I do a lot with Emerald Empire, which is a collective of musicians here. We do a lot of weddings. We do corporate events, things like that. And then, I work with Super Deluxe. I work with Plane Jane. I work with pretty much whoever is out there that would like to sing with me. And I stay busy. HR: But then another question I was really interested in, your husband. So, I read somewhere that you guys were recently married... AK: 2014. HR: ...with the two kids. So, does your husband share that musical interest with you, or does he support what you do? AK: He loves it. He won't sing. He can sing, but he won't sing. And he, you know, he supports me, and if it's — even if it's staying at home with the boys so I can do a �Aisha Kenyetta 9 last—minute show, you know, he's supporting. Or if we get that one night where my mother-in-law decided to take them, you know, he'll come with me to my show or he'll come pick me up or drop me off and things like that. So, he's very supportive. HR: That's awesome. MICHAEL RICE: So, we know that you transitioned kind of from out of gospel into more of the R&B and 80s music. But I want to ask you, of all of the genres that you have sung, what is your favorite, if you have one? AK: 80s. 80s, rock. 80s rock, 80s pop. Universally, everybody likes it. So, from a performance standpoint, if you sing Whitney Houston "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" or if you sing Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," everybody in the room is going to sing along with you. And to me, that's where I'm having the most fun, when I can be out and in the crowd and enjoying the crowd and, you know, holding my microphone out for somebody to say, "Whoa!" You know. So, from a performance standpoint, I would say just 80s pop, 80s rock. From a personal standpoint, my favorite to sing is the funk. Give me the funk. MR: So, when you're doing cover art, when you're a cover artist, a lot of times, you have to sing these extremely difficult songs, like you mentioned Whitney Houston. Someone who sings one of her songs, they have to be really prepared for it. But every now and again, you may get someone who you think can kind of hold a torch to Whitney. Have you ever gotten that reaction from a crowd where they say, "Wait a minute. Who's Whitney?" AK: Yes. There are certain — there are certain songs that... you've got to be very bold to try. There are certain Whitney songs that I think are safe. You know, "Dance with �Aisha Kenyetta 10 Somebody" is still not easy to sing but one of her safer songs to sing. You know, everybody is not going to try "I Will Always Love You," you know. I do "Don't Stop Believing." There are a lot of artists and Charleston that won't do it. I'm either crazy, or — but I can do it. That's probably the one that when I start singing it, people are like, "Is she really going to do this? Is she going to do it?" And they kind of look and wait and then when you hit the note, they're like, "She did it." (laughs) MR: Have you ever really participated in like talent shows? A lot of people get their fame from talent shows. Have you ever been a part of those? AK: When I was younger, I would, you know, be in talent shows. Now, not so much, just because I sing all the time, you know. Even karaoke. When I go to karaoke, I will purposely pick something I've never sung before, because, I mean, I can sing "Uptown Funk" in my sleep. I can sing "At Last" in my sleep. There are certain songs that... that really and truly, if you're a performer and you go to karaoke, it's not fair, for the others. And it's not about performing. It's about having fun. So, you know, I'm not going to karaoke to try to show you how well I can sing. So, I always try to keep that in mind when I do stuff like that. I don't — very rarely will I do a talent show, unless it was just strictly this is Aisha and she's a singer. She's going to sing you a song. Now, if it's a competition, I won't do it. MR: So, you mentioned you are kind of transitioning into making your own music, writing your own music. You also mentioned that Chaka Khan was one of your idols. So, do you kind of see yourself in her, and are you modeling your music off of hers? �Aisha Kenyetta 11 AK: I definitely. I can definitely see the parallels in how I write, though I even, even the way I sing, from a covers standpoint, she's always — I'm very percussionfocused. I'm more of, I will always tell people, I am not a finesse singer. I'm a power singer. So, you know, if there's a note that I need to hit, I can hit it. But I'm not going to give you thirty-two notes in five seconds. That's not me. And that's not Chaka. But when I sing, my diction is rhythmic. My voice is an extension of the percussion instruments. It's not — I'm not the violin. I'm the bass. You know. MR: So, as a singer, a lot of times, when you're a very well singer, you get everyone asking you, saying if you decide to go to church on a random Sunday, someone will say, "Oh, well, come up here and sing this selection." I see that. I've seen that a lot. Have you ever reached that point where you're just like, I don't want to sing this week; just give me a break? AK: There have been times where I didn't go places, because I knew that if I got there, they would ask me to sing. And I'm not proud of that. (laughs) But, you know, sometimes you do want to just sit in the audience. However, I know that I've been given a gift, and for the most part, I try to, you know, honor that in any way I can. Every time I step foot in church, I always have one in my pocket, because you might have to sing. So, instead of going, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, what am I going to sing, I have one in my pocket when I pull up in the parking lot. MR: That's great. HR: That's smart. You're always ready. MR: So, I believe we've all heard your voice. We've done our research. And you mentioned that you want to have a career in funeral services. So, what will it take for you �Aisha Kenyetta 12 to kind of branch off and go straight in your career in music, because I think we all can agree that it's worth it. AK: You know, I don't know. Everybody asks me that question. You know, "What is it going to take for you to say 'I'm going to be a full-time performer'?" And, you know, I don't know what it is. I feel like if it happens, then it happens. I'm probably not going to do anything to purposefully make it happen. I'm content with I'm blessed to be able to work as much as I work, and at the moment, that's enough for me. That's enough for me. You know, at some point, I'll put some music out there. Do I need to be a, quote/unquote, "successful performer"? I feel like I am. I'm successful. I'm successful, based on what I wanted to do as a singer. Would I like to have a platinum single or a platinum album? That would be awesome. But then, on the flip side of that, can I take my babies on tour? You know. And Mommy is much more important than performer for me at the moment. So, and I'm kind of out of that window of cutesy pop singer. You know, I'm past that age. So, (laughs) I have to... you know, I think about, from a marketing standpoint, you know, how they market singers, how they market performers, especially women. I'm thirty-six. You know, I'm kind of outside of that, you know. (laughs) MR: It's never too late. It's never too late. GABRIEL GRIMSTAD: Okay, yeah, going back on your music tastes, like what you like, I'm a huge fan of 80s rock. So, I want to know, like what's your favorite band? AK: Guns N' Roses. GG: Guns N' Roses. That's it, huh? AK: Guns N' Roses is my favorite 80s rock band. But then, of course, I love �Aisha Kenyetta 13 Poison and I love Toto and I, you know… Gosh, I don't — I mean, I could go on. GG: Yeah. It's a long list, I'm sure. AK: Yes. Bon Jovi. GG: Like Bad Company, you said. AK: Bad Company. GG: Great music. AK: I just, there's so much energy in it, you know. It's hair-flipping music, even if you don't have hair. You know, you want to just, you know. So, it's just it's an instant party the minute you put on something in the 80s, in that 80s realm. GG: Right. So, going back on some of the earlier music that you wrote, you said it was kind of really personal and everything. Why do you feel like you didn't put it out there? Did you just feel like you weren't ready to, you weren't ready to do it? AK: Yeah, just I wasn't ready to present myself in that light, just because, you know, I've gone through some things and my first husband was in Iraq twice, came home PTSD, lots of issues, and I wrote a lot during that time. And so, I wrote it to get it out. And now, when I look back and read it or I look back and hear the things that I've recorded, I mean, literally just on a tape recorder, it's something — like it literally makes my heart ache to hear. And I don't know if I could put that out to the world to feel or to hear, you know, how I felt at that time. And I think it's just which — I've been told that that's what you want to put out, is that heart-wrenching stuff, because it's real and you can feel. HR: And other people can relate to it, especially other people in situations you've been in. �Aisha Kenyetta 14 AK: Right. And so, it just boils down to me saying, okay, let's put it out there. And it's just, you know, it's you feel, you know, like you're the only person naked in the room, basically. GG: Yeah, I know that a lot of my favorite musicians, they have like transitions in their musical career where you can clearly see like different emotions in their musical styling. It's like some of their earlier stuff will be like dark and really deep and then it starts to get like more upbeat as they go along and they're at like different phases. Do you feel like — . AK: Oh, yes. GG: Do you feel like your music has done the same thing, the stuff that you write? AK: Oh, yes. Just even just flipping, everything is in the same book. I've got one big binder, and I just add pages to it. And everything, it's actually backwards, so the first page is the most recent stuff, and then as you flip through, it gets darker, because the original things were dark. And then as, you know, you move through and you survive a difficult relationship—I'll just put it that way—you know, and then you find love again and then, you know, you go through losses and then you adopt a baby and then you find out you're going to have a baby and then, you know, all these things. And so, now everything is about being a mom. Everything is about Mommy and, you know, loving, being a parent and, you know, looking at these little faces, whereas before, it was, you know, eee, eee, eee. So. GG: Well, that's got to be pretty neat, though. I mean, it's like heart-wrenching, some of your older music, but at the same time, you have like a very detailed account of �Aisha Kenyetta 15 like your life. AK: Yes. GG: And it, you know, whether you want to go back or not, it's something that I feel like a lot of people, you know. AK: It's the ultimate diary. It really is. It's going to be an amazing gift to someone someday. I don't know that I would want my children to read it all, but maybe when they are thirty-six, they could handle it. But I definitely wouldn't want my children to read everything in that book at sixteen or seventeen years old. HR: So, I have a question. Do you have like a worst experience onstage or like something that went wrong onstage ever? I'm just curious. AK: I've had two bad experiences. We did a wedding at—I probably shouldn't name the venue. But it was so—they were so concerned about the decibels. There was a person walking around with the meter to check the decibels of the sound. We were outside. And it's really hard to sing "Crazy in Love" softly. So, after every song, you know, and they would come over and "You're too loud. You're too loud." And I mean, we really, everything was pianissimo. I mean, there was no way you could raise your voice. I mean, so, that was difficult. And then, I did a wedding one time and I got there and I completely lost my voice. I couldn't sing. I couldn't. I could barely talk. Later, well, the next day, I found out I had bronchitis and something else. I can't remember. So, for two-and-a-half hours, I was —I had to talk my way through every song, which by the end, I sounded like I was barking by the end of the night. But had to do it, and the people were like, "Oh, you were great." And I'm crying and, "This is the worst night ever." �Aisha Kenyetta 16 We've had malfunctions where the speakers didn't work or a speaker blew at a show one time. We've had drunk people fall into the drums or fall into you or pull you down or pour drinks or upchuck on you. I mean, people get touchy-feely with the band. They, you know, they think you're their best friend, and, I mean, you want them to think that you're here for just them. But sometimes, the boundaries get crossed, and those are difficult nights. HR: So, then, do you have like a most memorable experience, going on the other side of the spectrum? AK: Mm… I mean, they're all. There are nights where the show was so much fun and you're so high going home, I ride home in silence, because nothing on the radio, nothing on my iTunes can compare to how I felt and how I feel driving home and I'm replaying it in my head. And you get home and you shower and you lay down in the bed and you're still just like... like, oh, and when we did that, that was so hot! I have those nights probably twice a week. HR: Oh, that's awesome. AK: So, you know, it's — I couldn't put one on top. I couldn't put one on top. HR: That's still a pretty good feeling to have. So, backtracking, when did you have your first solo? If you went from being in a gospel choir, when was that first experience of a solo? AK: My first solo was at church. It was. (laughs) And it wasn't supposed to be mine. It was the girl who was supposed to be singing the song forgot the words, and I was maybe five or six. And she forgot the words. She started crying. And I picked it up and I just started singing. And so, I guess you would consider that my first. And so, she's �Aisha Kenyetta 17 standing there, (crying sound) and I'm singing the song. And from that point on, I started singing. Even in the choir, we did. We had a mass choir, and, I mean, as big as my area is, a mass choir, you know, isn't huge. But, you know, we had a choir of thirty singers, and I could do, you know, I would sing lead a lot. And so, I would say probably from that five-year-old point to going to now. HR: Wow. And in all this time of musical background, did you ever learn to play an instrument? AK: I play piano. HR: Okay. AK: Yeah. I play piano. HR: What made you pick the piano up? AK: It was the one that I could already do it. I started playing at church by ear, and then my mom said, "If you're going to play it, you're going to play it for real." And so, she put me in lessons. So, that's where I learned how to read music. And I played at our home church until I graduated high school, and then when I went to Erskine, I played for a church in Greenwood until I graduated college. So, that was my extra money. And I played. And then after that, I was like I want to sing. I don't want to play anymore. HR: So, you don't play the piano anymore? AK: I can. I just don't. (laughs) I'll play if I'm at home, if I'm writing, or if I'm learning a song, I'll play it to myself to learn it. And every now and then, I've had to play at church if Roger couldn't make it or a special occasion and they wanted a bigger band, I'll play. I play as needed. So, but I always say I'd rather sing than play. And, you know, it's served its purpose. �Aisha Kenyetta 18 MR: When you were a child, you mentioned how you got started, how you wanted to be on a gospel choir with your older cousins. Do you kind of see in the future your children having that same kind of dream to want to be on a choir or onstage with their mom? AK: I think so. Tyree, who is my big boy, Tyree is the one we've adopted and he's twenty months old and he's drawn to the instruments. Most kids all, they all go to the drums. Tyree likes guitars and pianos. So, when he plays my keyboard at home and he'll play it and dance around and Joe is seven months old and, you know, Joe performed with me until I was eight months pregnant. (laughs) So, Joe is onstage for every high note and for, you know, every song I danced around to. And you can tell he's the singer. He, when I do Motown out at The Pour House, always sits — that's one of the few venues that's kid-friendly on a Sunday afternoon. And so, you know, my mother-in-law or my husband will bring them out, and they can see me onstage. And Tyree is amazed at the guitar player. He doesn't care about what Mommy is doing. But Joseph is always watching me. And anytime there's—I find it telling that if you want Joseph to sit still, which at seven months is, you know, almost impossible, put Whitney Houston videos on. He will sit and he will watch. He won't make a peep. MR: That should quiet anybody up. AK: (laughs) Yes. So, I'm thinking I'm pretty sure Joe is a singer. MR: So, you mentioned you were actually pregnant while you were onstage. Was that difficult for you to be able to perform? AK: I was fine up until about, I would say, about the fifth month. As it got hot and doing weddings outside, it started to be a little bit more difficult. And then as my �Aisha Kenyetta 19 belly got bigger, I lost some of my stamina for, you know, to hold a long note or even to hit a high note, because my diaphragm got scrunched together. So, and we did a Sly & the Family Stone tribute show at The Pour House and I put it on the calendar as my last performance. And about two weeks before that, I thought to myself, mm, I thought I was going to be able to make it, but I don't think I can make it. But ended up doing that, and I even did the national anthem at the River Dogs at nine months pregnant. That was—I prayed a lot right before I walked out there, because I was, you know, I handled my pregnancy well, you know, so I wasn't waddling too bad, but just, you know, "rocket's red glare" is crucial. And — . HR: Yes, it is! AK: And you know, "rocket's red glare," and I was just like, "Come on, baby, stay low, stay low, baby, stay low." And that was, you know, that was the hardest part, was just getting the air in to push out. So, that was the hardest part about performing while pregnant and just getting tired. I got tired super-fast. So, there was always a stool or a chair close by that I could sit on always. MR: Has your voice changed at all over the years? AK: Yeah. MR: It seems like you've been singing a lot. AK: Yeah. I didn't realize that it had changed, because, you know, I hear it all the time. So, I will say, but when I go home and sing at home, especially when I sing at church at home, my daddy will say, you know, "You know, you can sing." And I'm like, "Well, I couldn't sing before?" And he says, "Well, yeah, but it's different now." And I think confidence is one thing that makes a big difference. And also, you know your body. �Aisha Kenyetta 20 You know your voice. You know what you can do. You know what you can't do. And I am a firm believer in staying in your lane as a singer. Everybody can't sing everything. There are songs out there that I'd love to do. Beyoncé's "Love On Top," it's not in my lane, so I don't do it. Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love," in my lane, I can do it. I'm not going to try to do a song that's not in my lane, because it's going to end up bad. It's not going to end well, you know. You know your voice and you know what you can do. If you need to take it down a key, take it down a key. If you need to take it up a key, take it up a key. You know what the top of your range is, and when you strain past that, that's when you lose your voice or you have a sore throat or you're hoarse the next day. But if you're in a range that's comfortable for you, you can, you know, you can do whatever. And so, you learn how to work within your range. And that's, I think that's what I've... what has changed about my voice is that I know what I can do. And so, I keep myself in what I can do instead of trying to do what she can do, because she may be a great singer. We don't—we're not going to sound alike. And I can't be Chaka Khan, you know, because she's Chaka Khan. I can be Aisha, and Chaka Khan can be my idol. She can be my role model. But I'm not Chaka Khan. And so, I can't. If I try to sing just like her, then I'm not being authentic to myself, even if I'm singing her song. I still have to sing it like Aisha. HR: So, having this range, performing at weddings, do they request specific music from you when you're—and is that anytime like out of your range? AK: There are — most weddings, there's always maybe at least one song that I may have to learn for usually first dances. They may want something. But the good thing �Aisha Kenyetta 21 is that I can—I pretty much sing every genre. And the only song—there is a song that someone asked for me to sing, and it wasn't necessarily that I couldn't sing it. I just didn't like the song. And it was a mother-son song, and it was cheesy. It was a cheesy song. But for the most part, there's I can learn it. I will learn up to three songs for a wedding. But, you know, I shouldn't have to learn a whole set list for your wedding. So, I say, "These are the songs that I can do, you know, and then let me know what genres you want at your ceremony." Or what don't you want to hear is the first thing I ask. "What don't you want to hear?" Some people may say, "No country," or they may say, "No Electric Slide." And I'm completely here for that, you know? No line dances or, you know, they may say—I had a wedding one time where they said they didn't want any Michael Jackson. INT: That's not fair! AK: And I thought to myself, "Well, that's my whole set list!" So, you know, it just depends on what they want. I've done weddings where all they want is old-school Motown or all they want is 80s rock or all they want is 90s R&B. So, you know, being a wedding singer, you have to be willing to sing, and you sing the same songs every week, because everybody wants the same thing. So, you know, like I said, "Uptown Funk," you know, you sing it every week. "Respect," you sing it every week. "At Last," "Don't Stop Believing." There are certain songs that you are going to sing at every single wedding. And then you have those oneoffs, and they want Bell Biv DeVoe and, you know, I'm ready, you know, ready. GG: How long does it take for you to get ready for something like that? AK: Not too long. There are very few songs that I'm not at least familiar with. �Aisha Kenyetta 22 And just performing as often as we do and doing as many weddings and things as we do, your set list grows, because as you learn a song for this wedding, it goes into your set list, because somebody else might want to hear it later. So, I mean, if I've got to learn one or two songs, it may take me a week, and then we'll run it before the ceremony or before the dances and then do it. HR: So, how often do you guys get together and practice or prepare? AK: We don't. HR: So, if you have an event coming up on, say, this Saturday, when would you prepare for it? AK: I would prepare myself this week. HR: But as a group? AK: As a group, we would get there early enough to run it before the guests are there. Very rarely do we actually get together and rehearse. But we all play together all the time, so we know each other's nuances, you know. So, you can—it really is a familiarity when you're singing with people that you perform with all the time. Everybody—you know when I'm going to vamp out. You know when I'm going to go back to—and everybody's got their own hand signals and, you know, you know what that means when you're playing with different people. And that helps. From a preparedness standpoint, you don't have to rehearse, because they know you're going to be there and you're going to be ready to sing it. In situations like that, you don't veer from the original. So, if it's something that you've got to learn to perform, you sing it just like the original so that there are no errors. They learn it like the original, and you learn it like the original, so when you get together, there's no issues. �23 Aisha Kenyetta INT: Interesting. GG: So, it's a lot like a family, like you were saying. You all really do know each other very well. AK: Yes. GG: Okay. That probably makes everything a lot easier, I would think. AK: It does. It does. INT: Okay, anything else? MR: It may not be too professional of me, but I wouldn't mind to hear a little bit in person, if you wouldn't mind. AK: Okay. I didn't come here with one in my pocket. GG: Caught you off guard. AK: You did! Well, like I said, she's my idol. So, Chaka Khan. [Sings] "Through the fire, to the limit, to the wall, for a chance to be with you, I'd gladly risk it all. Through the fire, through whatever, come what may, for a chance at loving you, I'd take it all the way, right down to the wire, even through the fire." MR: Oh, yeah. INT: That's good! That is really good. INT: I just sing in the shower. So... INT: That was amazing. AK: That's early-morning voice. GG: That puts me to shame. All right, well, thank you so much for being here with us today. It was great to have you. End of recording. �24 Aisha Kenyetta Edited by ML 8/15/18 � https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/db49eb448abb633d5cc9dc8ab6eb9648.mp3?Expires=1787184000&Signature=J0CZxKBPbpiBjzfeSz2jSuNA1j0S8AcUF2whGagDihLoAQAtvQmxAToKqub1oNPE9wUiJ-nmvbFqEqTICrlpf6umIzkUPof75gbViHwfUPOblSfOrWjTL0hOYk-5JNt3kMnvi1d4804fOVVoVCO8JzhEgJATv1RbU0ssRkfLt717W6SSli-5WuZV%7E42NuiYnzCn0V82wnfkn73DQcWdvan7JgFI9pmb8aTJTn6NjTfnV34DwJ3kzJHFETnWZIVkc4eHsCTtIXIwgAjxtDrXSIBXYf-dDyrmfTvn3i8KhkqCyct19MV9UswzENERCJ15zqBELhnKvgcvy2B7VWOlIQg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 6b9d87c2636ef17a37cbe716b943da55 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/39779/archive/files/54ddac8b8477883e4e6ddfa5ee58373c.jpg?Expires=1787184000&Signature=KJNecB1fZSMoWVq7DC3QsqklPfnVz8bkWJ0ibvkNXBhoMg0JsxCI57eGoV9goFqERug-hq2KUi0InH67UOtLWUYYlzPPxzrGaN8qRWz29SNVhjySuTPpJ8UMsZwbWVoALsk-uIBrr%7EcM4vze%7EZThzjlZuqi4kQ6ZHq1WcWtB%7E7nqixk7cQDRrfASLoD20HxiOfCfK5VW39z1cGoZZDlh2dKIwFrwOZTLRNVmakIk8KJCj%7EMw9geasfIid9Ou9C5UaggfGNENj9BJ0CGS2WvZePjGkjPybVY5ZD%7EtaTWccweAX4Zd95wvMeR0YJrjGVVhq1XoVsgPWKTTe%7Er2ciBVOw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM be233b7c4f15f4991bf7b11ddfe9ad29 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource The oral histories in this collection were produced by The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel. Founded in 2008, The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel seeks to deepen understanding of the Lowcountry’s rich history and culture through the gathering and presentation of recorded memories from area residents.<br /><h3>Search Tips</h3> Interviews may be browsed by scrolling to the bottom of this page and selecting "View all items".<br /><br />When using the search bar, we recommend putting quotations around your search term, and selecting the Boolean search option, as illustrated here:<br /><p><img src="https://gdurl.com/aYPj" alt="aYPj" /><br /><br />To view interviews of a specific theme, please see the search tips in each series below.</p> <h3><strong>The Citadel in War and in Peace<br /></strong></h3> With generous support from the <a href="http://www.schumanities.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities Council of South Carolina</a>, The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel collected thirty interviews with Citadel alumni regarding their experiences during WWII. Journalist and historian Jack Bass conducted the interviews during the Fall of 2008.They serve as a powerful testament to the veterans' experiences and their critical contributions to the war effort.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /><ul><li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- World War II"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- Korean War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- Vietnam War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- The Second Gulf War"</li> <li>"The Citadel in War and in Peace -- The War in Afghanistan"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Working Charleston</strong></h3> Working Charleston documents the on and off job experiences of the longshoremen and lawyers, the bartenders and carriage drivers, hospital aides and high tech workers who make Charleston among the nation's prime tourist destinations and vital centers of global trade.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /><ul><li>"Working Charleston"</li> <li>"Charleston City Workers"</li> <li>"Lowcountry Foodways"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Charleston and the Long Civil Rights Movement</strong></h3> <span><span>These interviews explore how community activism continues to shape modern life in the South.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:</em><br /></span></span> <ul><li>"Charleston and the Long Civil Rights Movement</li> <li>"Civil rights movement--South Carolina"</li> <li>"African Americans--Civil Rights--South Carolina--Charleston"</li> </ul><a target="_blank" href="https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/193" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a> <h3><strong>Las Voces del Lowcountry</strong></h3> <span><span>This project is designed to raise the profile of the Hispanic/Latinos who call the Lowcountry home and to promote a rational and humane conversation regarding immigration, education, and employment policies.<br /><br /><em>*To search interviews in this series, use the following terms utilizing the Boolean search option:<br /></em></span></span> <ul><li>"Las Voces del Lowcountry"</li> <li>"Latin Americans--Southern States"</li> <li>"Hispanic Americans--Southern States"</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Women in World War II</strong></h3> <em>*To search this series, type "Women in World War II" into the search bar, using the Boolean search option.<br /></em> <ul><li>"Women in World War II"</li> <li>"Women--Employment History"</li> <li>"World War, 1939-1945--Participation, female"</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Gabriel T. Grimstad Michael L. Rice Holly L. Rickett Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Aisha Kenyetta Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 48 minutes Location The location of the interview Charleston, South Carolina Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History of Aisha Kenyetta, interviewed by Gabriel T. Grimstad, Michael L. Rice and Holly L. Rickett, 11 April, 2017 Subject The topic of the resource African American musicians African American musicians--South Carolina Women musicians Description An account of the resource Vocalist Aisha Kenyetta (a.k.a Aisha Frazier) was born in 1980, in Monetta, South Carolina. Before going to college, her life revolved around family and church activities. Kenyetta describes herself as a freelance vocalist with a powerful voice: “ I'm a power singer... but when I sing, my diction is rhythmic. My voice is an extension of the percussion instruments. It's not—I'm not the violin. I'm the bass.” She performs with her own band, AmpSquared, and several others such as Super Deluxe, Plane Jane, and the musician collective Emerald Empire. Additionally, she is the North Charleston Seacoast Church's Worship Leader. In the interview, Kenyetta discusses balancing family, her day work, and music career and states she is grateful for the many opportunities to perform. At the time of the interview, Kenyetta was writing her own material. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Working Charleston Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Citadel Archives & Museum Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/619 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Charleston (S.C.)