Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski - Getting There...Together

This past Friday, The Bill Kreutzmann Trio rolled into S. Florida and took The Culture Room by storm, literally. To be honest, the show was downright nasty. And although Bill's name is front and center, he could not have pulled off such an incredible night of music without the assistance of his bandmates, Oteil Burbridge (bass, vocals) and Scott Murawski (guitar, vocals).

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Oteil and Scott just after their sound check. My thought was get to the goods on the Trio, as so much has been written about each of their main projects, Oteil with The Allman Brothers/Oteil and The Peacemakers, and Scott with Max Creek/Mike Gordon Band. I started off by thanking them for taking the time and letting both know how much I am in awe of their musicianship.

KM: Tell us about how this project came about. We've heard there was meeting in Costa Rica that Mike Gordon set up. I think Bill called you Scott, right?

Scott: Mike had been playing with Bill and Steve Kimock in Hawaii, and he was calling and texting me about what was going on. After that ended, Mike gave me a call and asked if I wanted to do something with Bill, and since I had never met Bill or been to Costa Rica, I was very excited.

KM: So did you think you'd be playing with Mike on the bass or was Oteil's name mentioned at that point?

Scott: It was going to be just Mike.

KM: So how did things evolve once you got down there?

Scott: It was suppose to be a one-shot deal. We played one gig in Costa Rica, and there was such good chemistry, Bill wanted to do more. Mike said he'd love to but he had just spent the entire year writing music, coming out with an album, and putting a band together, so he couldn't commit to anything else at that time. Bill asked Mike if he minded if I played with him, and also who he would recommend we get to play bass. So Mike thought about it and recommended we get Oteil.

KM: Oteil, who called you and what was your first reaction?

Oteil: Mike called me and said he's got so much going on this year he couldn't do it, and wanted to recommend someone who would fit, who's got good chemistry. He couldn't say enough. He said, "Oteil, you really have to try playing with these guys at least once. It was one of the best things I've done in my entire life". We've had such a good time touring, laughing, even recently joking around we should call ourselves the Mike Gordon Band, but obviously, that would lend itself to much confusion.

KM: So had you met Scott before that?

Oteil: I didn't think we did but Scott, didn't you say we played your festival (Camp Creek) one year?

Scott: In '91...then we met briefly 3 years ago at the Wanee Festival...we met for like two seconds.

Oteil: And when I met him for this project, I said, "How come I don't know you...how did I miss you all this time? When in fact, I had met him twice (laughing). I hadn't listened to any Grateful Dead records so I wasn't familiar with those guys. Thanks to Blues Traveler, I had an opportunity to see them once before Jerry died, in Vegas.

KM: Was that in '95? I was at all 3 of those shows.

Oteil: With the thunder and lightning...I was like, "Impressive!"

KM: So what was your first rehearsal like?

Scott: Neither of us had met Oteil (except for a few seconds) prior to that, so when we met we said, "Hey, what's up"...picked up our instruments, and played one song, which turned out to be a 40 minute jam..we looked around at each other and said, "whoa, what was that?!? There was something definitely going on...

Oteil: There was just a burst of enthusiasm..it was evident immediately there was a chemistry going on. Everytime you get in a situation you never know what it's really going to be like..it's been rare it takes off that hard by itself...it was so obvious. Even after the first show, which was magical, we would be rehearsing and going off and I'd look at Scott and he's be doing the same thing I was doing.

KM: Is this something that's out of the ordinary, that's unexpected, even unnatural, yet seems so natural?

Scott: I think it's unusual to have 3 players who are so receptive to what's going on. Usually with a group of guys, someone inevetibaly wants it done their way. Usually the weakest link is the person with the weakest ear. In this band, everyone has such huge ears and is so sensitive to what's going on...I think it's just the perfect combination.

KM: So what does Bill bring to the table, do differently, compared to other drummers you've worked with?

Oteil: That's such a subjective question...The only way to describe it, or to know, is to play with Bill. He's so different than any other drummer I've ever worked with. It's like trying to describe to a martian what chicken tastes like. One of the things I do love about playing with Bill he has a need, an overwhelming need, to abandon all boundaries. You better be willing because he's gone. We've literally got into jams where I was like, "I'm not really sure what song we're suppose to go back to", and that doesn't even matter, because we may not go back to that song, and that's just fine. Half our songs don't even have any endings.

Scott: We have 2 songs that have endings -the one that ends the first set and the one that ends the second set (laughter abounds)

Oteil: Another thing I love about Bill is he is so childlike, but in a good way. It's like when you just started getting good, jammin' in your garage, and you had that wide-eyed eagerness, he has that all the time.

KM: That has to to rub off on the both of you.

Scott: Even just now, at the end of sound check, when I did that riff that ended the song, he was ready to just kept going.

Oteil: Plus, what you said about that chemistry thing...you hope to find that..and it is rare. I've done all kinds off All-Star Jams where they're like, "This is gonna be great". It's not bad...it just looks better on paper than when it happens. Then the three of us get together and we know within seconds. I like when I'm playing and I feel like I'm in the audience.. that's when I know I'm hitting the highest level.

KM: Are you taking this band day by day, enjoying each moment as if it were a gift, or have you set goals for yourselves?

Scott: I think both. We talk about the future alot. We are doing the record and we definitely hope to do more touring. And as our other projects get a less-busy, this band will hopefully get busier.

Oteil: You wait your whole life for something like this. There are these times that it happens...there may have been 4 bands which completely changed my life, and this is one of them. You can't just stop it - it's taken on a life of it's own.

KM: This record that's coming out. Is it completed?

Scott: It's written...not recorded yet

KM: What was songwriting the process? Who wrote the music, the lyrics?

Scott: We got a dozen sets of lyrics from Robert Hunter. For the most part, it's the three of us collaborating on top of those lyrics. Then there's a smattering of originals, maybe one or two, from each of us.

KM: So we're going to be listening to all original music?

Oteil: There are no covers on it. You've got Phil and Bobby's band doing their stuff, and I'm sure they're doing originals to, so we can't just come out and do that. We wanted to give the fans something that they can't get anywhere else. We all write, have ideas, so it would be crazy not to write.

Scott: It was really cool. Bill came in, and he had studied the lyrics, and said this is what I hear, and one of us would come up with the progression, and someone else would build on that progression..ideas just flowed..

Oteil: Usually when I come in I have the tune finished, then the other guys add stuff to it...this went faster than I've ever gone..We were up there for 9 days, and on Day 5, we were done.

KM: You both play so much in front of live audiences. Seems like making record would bore you?

Oteil: It used to (laughs). But we wanted to do it. I have no doubt whether we're in the studio or live we're going to make it happen.

Scott: I've never been in a band where our main goal was making a good record, but I'm looking forward to this one.

KM: Musically speaking, what have you learned from your bandmates that you didn't know about them before?

Scott: An encyclopedia's worth. Take Bill -I've been listening to the Dead for so many years, I know their music inside and out. So going in playing with him, I almost had pre-conceived notions what it would be like, not really considering he was actually going to respond to my playing, then to change his playing based on what I was doing. That just blew me away. And Oteil, besides sending waves of joy over my whole body, it's an education on so many different levels. He's so bad-ass, but so tasteful in the notes that he plays, or doesn't play. His solos, his melodies, so alive...it's overwhelming.

Oteil: After I got this gig, I got a bunch of Dead records in hopes of learning their music. So I thought this was going to be a fairly mellow band. So I get to rehearsal and Bill plays hard as shit! Sounded like he was 10 feet tall - completely threw me. And with Scott, well it's my fault -guys this good don't normally escape my attention. After I got Bill's thing down, I would throw stuff Scott's way, and he would just bat it right back to me -like it was a tennis match. He has no ceiling. He'll take it as far as it can go. And I like to go pretty far

KM: Do you consider yourselves successful, in the way each of you define success, whether financial or otherwise?

Scott: Last year before all this stuff started happening with this band and Mike Gordon, I came to a crossroads. Max Creek was winding down, I was doing a lot of hanging out, spending time with my kids, riding my motorcycle, working for a good company. Looking back, I met a lot of people, a lot of people heard me play, and they seemed to really enjoy my music. I felt I had gone as far as I could go...and I was fine with that, I was OK. I was satisfied...I was letting it go. That's when all these opportunities came my way. This is all just a bonus.

Oteil: I was like what's the one thing I can do that I'll be happy going to work whether I'm rich or dirt poor, and I knew music was it. I was always in it for the long term. I've made some good money over the years with the Allman Brothers, not enough to play when I want to and ride motorcycles all over the world. But I'm getting there, we're getting there, and I think we'll get there...together.

We then started talking politics, which could easily have lasted until showtime. They both are very passionate about the direction our Country is going, as I am. I settled for a picture and thanked them for their time. Oteil and Scott are true road warriors, in every sense. And they truly know how lucky they are, waking up every day, doing what they love.

That's what I call success.

Over the next few days, go here to look at some outstanding video of the show, shot my good friend, AD Firtel