Kottke at the Palace

By Judith Pellowe
HippoPress.com

Leo Kottke played to a near full house at the Palace Theatre recently, entertaining the crowd with instrumentals, some vocals, and a relaxed conversation with his fans. Kottke is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players living, playing both six- and 12-string guitar. His skill and love of music combined with his offbeat observations created an intimate mood.
Kottke's passion for music is apparent.

"When playing is loose and relaxed it stays together right - it's more like a flow, a sense of place more than anything," Kottke said in an interview with HippoPress after the show. "You have to feel good and genuinely get off on it, you have no choice, you really have to get into the music, relax and feel good."

Kottke also loves playing at the Palace.
"I like being on the stage here and I'm right in with the audience," he said. "There is good air here, an atmosphere that holds the music. If I push, it pushes back. In lots of places the music just kind of falls off the stage, but here it sounds good, it goes out into the room."

Talking about a time when tendonitis affected his playing, Kottke recalled that "I'd play for five minutes and my arm would just freeze up, and I'd suck. And you can't tell the audience, hey, I know I suck. So not only did I suck, but I also looked like an idiot."

Kottke stopped using a pick and adjusted the position of his hand to overcome the problem.

Kottke is currently recording new material, both alone and with Mike Gordon, the bass player from Phish. He says it may or may not become a record, "depending on how it goes and if we can sell it to a record company."