My first ever phone interview with a musician was with the godfather of Southern jam-rock Col. Bruce Hampton, and he pretty much set the standard for all future interviews I would conduct. Thus far, none have lived up to the rambling conversation I had with Hampton, who treated me like a dear old friend and never left room for that I'm-the-reporter-you-are-the-subject awkwardness. Intriguing, inspiring, humble and totally out there in an approachable sort of way, Hampton talked about his decades-long career, astrology, his songwriting and performing habits, extraterrestrials, his influences and plenty else. One thing he said stuck with me to this day, which is that there are no mistakes when it comes to music, only mistaken intentions. Hampton brings his jazz-infused rock 'n' roll to Skipper's Smokehouse; Blueground Undergrass, a quality "newgrass" sextet featuring banjo man Rev. Jeff Mosier, opens.
Col. Bruce and The Quark Alliance w/Blueground Undergrass, 5 p.m. Sun., June 20, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $12 in advance/$15 at the door, skipperssmokehouse.com.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2008.