Event

Andy Cohen

Here is what Andy Cohen thinks, and he's stubborn about it: He thinks
that the old stuff is disproportionately important, because it's been
edited by time, and was made in the climax era of early recording,
after five hundred years of anonymous polish had been put to it. He
believes that the way the old tunes and songs were crafted was
intentional on the part of the crafters, and should be respected. The
old music keeps generating new inspiration, after these many
generations. He thinks it's not about him.

He went after the musicians he wanted to learn from, and he got them
work. He modeled his own playing after theirs, though he doesn't think
he's quite got it down yet. He doesn't turn down gigs, no matter how
small. He thinks he might be qualified, after half a century of
playing out, to carry some of it on. He thinks the music itself is
more important than any one person who does carry it on, that the
context from which it emerged shaped it for what it was in its
beginnings, and is what keeps its shape from being just any old thing
now.