On Monday, June 11, 2023, Natascha and Uncle Steve sit in the back patio of Everett’s, in Arcata. He sips on Corralejo tequila with cranberry juice on a beautiful yet slightly cloudy afternoon. It is the day before his seventy-first birthday. Uncle Steve turns off his speaker playing Bob Marley’s “River to Babylon” and we begin.

Natascha: Okay. Awesome.

Uncle Steve: Just cranberry and club, I mean.

Natascha: Welcome to the Little Lost Forest blog. Today I will be interviewing Uncle Steve, an Arcata based musician. Hi Uncle Steve. How are you today?

Uncle Steve: I’m fine. How are you?

Natascha: I’m doing really.

Uncle Steve: Good. Good.

Natascha: Where are you from?

Uncle Steve:  Originally? L.a. Los Angeles.

Natascha: And now? You’re staying in Arcata.

Uncle Steve: Arcata? Yeah.

Natascha: Um, what’s your instrument of choice?

Uncle Steve: The violin.

Natascha: What else do you play?

Natascha: Uh, recorder. Soprano sax. Timbales, and timpani.

Uncle Steve: Violin is my main one.

Natascha: Who are you currently playing with?

Uncle Steve: Anybody wants me to play with them? [laugh] I play with a group called the Wild Banshee Whispers. We do Irish folk music.

Natascha: Um, where do you guys perform?

Uncle Steve: Various places. We played at Siren’s Song. We played Blondie’s. We played at Medieval Festival in Blue Lake. Yeah. Yeah.

Natascha: So cool. How long have you been playing the violin?

Uncle Steve: Off and on Since I was nine.

Natascha: What inspired you to play?

Uncle Steve: Uh, going to assembly at elementary school. They had an orchestra, and I went home, and I told them I wanted to play an instrument, and they asked me which one. I told them the violin. They kind of looked at me and laughing and said, What the hell do you want to play that one for? So because everybody else plays guitar, bass and drums, I wanted to be different. So. So off and on since I was nine. Continuously since 2009.

Natascha: What motivates you when you play? What are you thinking about? What pushes and drives you?

Uncle Steve: I love music. So, you know, a lot of people go out and play and busk and do things like that. I’ve never done that because I play for the love of music, not for it- not to make money. That isn’t my goal. So.

Natascha: Who are your childhood influences?

Uncle Steve: Uh, [laughts] that’s a, that’s that’s really a hard one because there’s so many. I mean, growing up, I mean, I’ve seen Jean-Luc Ponty, I’ve seen I like jazz violinist. I like.

Uncle Steve: I like the violin. Like I’m playing with the guy now. And our opening scene, our opening song, always. It’s our go to song signature song is “One More Cup of Coffee,” but it’s on the Desire Bob Dylan’s Desire album. So we open up every time we play together. That’s what we open up with.

Natascha: Um How is culture and heritage present in your music?

Uncle Steve: My dad was my stepdad was big band jazz guitars, and my mom played folk music and. They both play guitar. So, I mean, that was pretty much. But in the jazz influence, Yeah.

Natascha: Does spirituality play a role in your music?

Uncle Steve: I don’t. I don’t know that one. I don’t know. If it does or not, maybe for some people they see it that way. But I just do it because I love music.

Natascha: Um, how does your music represent your past?

Uncle Steve: Yeah, I had a jazz bassist friend of mine that was giving me jazz fundamentals and he told me to go out and find a 12 bar blues piece and then learn it. And the key is written in every key. But then I saw him years later. I said, Maybe I should go out and get that 12 bar blues piece now. He said, Why? You’ve lived it. Just start playing it. So that’s what I’ve been doing.

Natascha: I mean, where do you see your music going in the future?

Uncle Steve: This is on an upward swing and it’s been going that way since I moved out here. So I guess that’s how I see it. It’s moving. You know, I’m playing with people that I guess I like. This past weekend I played with, I guess, some of the top names in Northern California, all in one weekend, just all day long yesterday.

Natascha: And can you name a few?

Uncle Steve: Aw, Phil from Bow-legged Buzzards. He and I played. I let him use my acoustic and I used my electric and we sat and jammed for hours, you know, Friday night. Yeah, it was cool. And other people, I mean, I, I don’t know who they are. I mean, I just had fun playing with them. I’m going to be told that my friend that I went with Joe, the keyboard player, he knows a lot of them, knows of them and knows their stories. And so he’s going to let me know. He’s going to tell me about them.

Natascha: Oh, what is the local music scene like in your eyes?

Uncle Steve: There’s a lot of variety and I get to play with a bunch of different people that play different ways. So, you know, if I know if I could hear it or if I know what key you’re playing in, I can probably, I can do something with it.

Natascha: What advice do you have for starting musicians?

Uncle Steve: Don’t stop. Yes, it gets frustrating, especially if you’re learning classically or if you’re learning. If you’re being serious about it, it gets frustrating. Just don’t give up.

Natascha: I love that. Thank you. Um, anything else that you’d like to add about your experience, your past, or your heritage?

Uncle Steve: I, I’ve enjoyed playing music, and I, I’ve done, like 19 bicycle trips and I’ve had the violin on one of them, and I played everywhere from Marin all the way up to Cresent City and back down to Hayfork. So. And it’s what I do for fun. It’s something I enjoy and I.

Phone Speaker: Goodbye.

Uncle Steve: [To speaker] Goodbye.

Uncle Steve: I like to. I like playing music.

Natascha: Oh, Where can we see you in the future? Any upcoming shows?

Uncle Steve: I’m usually at Blondie’s at the open mic and I like going to open mic. I like being able to play with different people. When I lived in Hayfork and during the major trim seasons, you know, I must have played with 6 or 7 different countries in one night, you know? So it was pretty cool to be able to do that. You know, I get a lot of how do you do that? You know, because if I can hear it, I can do something with it.

Natascha: Okay. Thank you, Uncle Steve. We appreciate all of the followers and encourage the community to go see local musicians.

Uncle Steve: Thank you. Okay.