Singer-Songwriter Jeffrey Pine Talks About His Music, Guitars and His Love of the Desert

By: Rick Landers

Singer-songwriter, Jeffrey Pine, hails from the Santa Barbara, California, area although he’s toured the country performing solo and with others. Pine also periodically finds himself recharging his creative spirit, by seeking refuge and maybe silence in the beauty and solitude of the desert.

We met when he was selling a beautiful little custom-made Raven Works guitar and we went back and forth with a series of questions and replies, and him sending me photos of the pretty little beast.

He has since moved his Raven Works guitar to a new owner, but Jeff and I found the cordiality of our exchanges worth exploring further, as well as giving Guitar International readers, insights into his life as a singer-songwriter, wildlife illustrator, earthscape photographer, and environmental steward.

And, I watched and listened  to some videos of him performing and found his music enchanting and hauntingly beautiful. It didn’t hurt that he knew his way around a guitar.

One song in particular captured my attention, and of all things, a wedding song. “On Our Wedding Day (Take My Hand)” got my attention. as a song that should be played at every wedding, one that complemented all the affection and love couples feel on their special day.

Lately, Jeff has been recording tracks of several new songs that will soon be available, as well as pursuing his other interests that not only reflect his creativity, but his abilities and talents that demand a great deal of self-discipline. The result being works of art in music, illustrations and photography that are noteworthy and inspirational.

What’s become evident is Jeff’s pursuit of excellence coupled with a strategic focus that allows one to create a life that’s true to one’s altruism, as well as ambitions. He’s working several business revenue streams that make for a successful artistic pursuit, while making a living.

His exquisitely detailed wildlife illustrations capture not only the essence of birds and other species, but also reflect their inner beings. And his photos of the desert, seashores and other ethereal shots, tend to discover new artistic narratives in the way we see our world.

Jeff’s moved our country’s shores a few times and has gathered up life and work experiences that, in some fashion, nurture his various artistic pursuits. Our interview soon took the path of a conversations between friends, or at least between two who have similar musical and other creative inclinations and aspirations.

Guitarists and other musicians drive toward stardom, with many discovering that path leads to an erosion of self. Many, if not most, grow and become better musicians who seek creative inspirational moments, more than the high-flung success stories that are more illusory than real. They seek out the optimal flow and the balance of life; to squeeze the most out of it, the good things, the enchanting things like the desert, and moments in song.

The multitalented, Jeffrey Pine, seems to have found that balance where he pursues the driven path of a fine artist and successful musician, keeping life balanced and finding a bit of solitude to recharge his batteries. Guitar International is pleased to offer up an interview filled with insights of a musician who has decided to perform close to home with a solid following, while pursuing a variety of endeavors to satisfy his love of nature, music and life itself.

******

Rick Landers: During the past year have you been playing anywhere or mostly writing songs?

Jeffrey Pine: I’ve been in a creative mode the last year, I do have two gigs coming up this weekend here in the Valley, which is among the first I’ll have, one’s a private party and there’s one at a grille down by the marina here. That’ll be fun outside.

Rick:  A friend of mine lives in Grass Valley and the fires came pretty close to his house.

Jeffrey Pine: Yeah, that’s fire country. They’ve had some awful fires the last few years up there. Well, Ventura County had the biggest one in the whole state’s history a couple of years ago. It was really something.

Rick: I’m familiar with Ventura. I use to drive up to Ojai and go to Bart’s bookstore.

Jeffrey Pine: That’s one of my favorite places. I love Bart’s. It’s still there, better than ever. The fires pretty much closed everything down, and that was before COVID hit. So, it’s been rough for the last few years.

Rick: So, what have you been doing, what kinds of songs are you writing?

Jeffrey Pine: Well, I’ve always been the singer songwriter type, but I’m on a new adventure the last couple of years, I’m learning flamenco and I’m also working on a lot of fingerstyle stuff. Like the one link I sent you, which is really stretching my mind a little bit, as far as theory goes. And just your approach with your hands, it’s played totally differently than Travis style picking.

Rick:  Are you studying that? Are you going online and learning from YouTube or are you actually meeting with somebody?

Jeffrey Pine: I learn off the recordings. I listened for bass lines and I build off bass lines. Yeah, The guy that I’m learning from right now is Masaaki Kishibi.

I’ve never met him. We’re Facebook friends. He’s a Japanese fellow and he’s brilliant. And I just love the way his mind works, as far as melody and structure and the way he constructs his chords. They’re mind-boggling and he has thousands of people that try to copy him online. I’m one of them.

Rick: Let’s go back to the beginning when you first started getting interested in playing guitar or at least interested in playing music, in general?

Jeffrey Pine: Sure, my parents were musical. My dad was musical when he opened his mouth, people thought it was Sinatra singing. He had a natural ability and even though it was just a hobby for him, he would utter two or three lines out of a Sinatra song and everybody would turn their heads. It was really amazing. It was embarrassing to us because he would do it at any time while we were out as a family, after church in amongst people.

But now it’s a wonderful memory. My mom was always interested in old school, jazz and blues and her music ran the gamut. They were pretty much my foundation as far as music and art goes, and my study of nature. They were a big influence, I suppose. My dad took me to my first John Denver concert. And that’s what started the whole thing.

Rick: Was that in California?

Jeffrey Pine: We lived in Reading, Pennsylvania. It’s spelled like reading, it’s right near Philadelphia. My dad and I went to the Philadelphia Spectrum to see John Denver. Denver had a midnight concert. I was so moved by his nature, what I call his Elvis power, especially live. He was really something to see. And that pretty much did it for me.

He was buoyant. He seemed joyous all the time. And that was his persona.

He really was until he lost his marriage and then his dad died and then his mom died and then his whole career and everything, you know, it went down and it was a shame because he is truly a unique person. I never met him, but I learned his songs and people loved his music. And I succeeded for the first few years, because I played his music. That’s where it started.

Rick: I guess popularity too can be cyclical, so it’s bound to go up and down, then back up again. Do you wonder if he was overexposed? For a while, maybe there was just too much John Denver, with his TV show and everything.

Jeffrey Pine: He was pretty hip for a while, but then his career took a turn when he started doing some things that were kind of uncool, I guess. He got kind of commercial, but his commercial success allowed him to do whatever he wanted. I mean, I’m basically an expert on his guitars and his guitars were one-of-a-kind spectacular instruments.

That was the way his life was. He was really up there. But, at one point his music started getting put into the easy listening bins and you don’t even hear his music on the radio anymore. And isn’t it so sad? He was once the biggest artist in the world for a whole year. He was right up there with Elton John and “Yellow Brick Road,” and all of those guys, you know?

Rick: He really didn’t have an edge to his music. And maybe during the grunge era, you kind of lost the beauty of the model.  A lot of type of music that we heard back from The Carpenters, Seals and Croft, and all those types of musicians who were, and are, wonderful in their own ways. He was pretty amazing.

With respect to your own music, do you find that you steer towards a certain style, because you stick in that comfort zone? Are you able to stretch yourself, stretch the vocal envelope?

Jeffrey Pine: Well, you’re asking really good questions because I never was one to stay put for very long in one genre or one type of singing. I moved very quickly from John Denver into more singer songwriter things like Lightfoot, Cat Stevens, but eventually I morphed into soul and blues.

I know how to play jazz and country and rock and things and in doing so my voice is pretty elastic. I have a good tenor, although it’s getting kind of smokier and raspy the older I get, it’s kind of nice though. I don’t like it too much, but other people do. It’s hard for me to listen to my recordings, because I’m so self-critical. But, it also makes me really pitch conscious.

I really strive for a good pitch control and, and the thickness of the vocal. So, I suppose over the years I have stretched out to learn all kinds of music. So, that’s a melting pot for me nowadays.

Rick: Do you stick to a pre-established checklist or do you kind of feel the audience and maybe go in a different direction, maybe to see how far you can go without losing them?

Jeffery Pine: Well, for the bigger gigs and the more important ones, I make a skeleton of a set list, but it’s always just a guide. It’s not carved in stone and I always go around it and, you know, because the crowds always bring some element of surprise for sure. I really thrive on that. I’m a live performer. I’m big into getting in the mood of the room and riding that wave. I’ve never been one to not say anything to a crowd and to just do my music, you know?

Rick: Yeah, the mood dynamic changes. An Irish musician I know hates playing bars. They don’t listen. Do you steer away from those kinds of venues?

Jeffrey Pine: It’s preferable to do the shows where people sit and listen, so you can really have a one-on-one with them. I’ve done my share of people looking over your head at the big screen TV or cheering during a game while you’re playing. I look at that as paying your dues and just kind of learning the ropes and besides you get to work on things that people aren’t listening to every detail, so you can experiment things, but if there’s even one or two people in the whole room listening, that’s what makes it worthwhile.

And then I am fun with whatever the situation. I used to play in Jersey years ago, and a place called Gilley’s down at Wildwood. And it was a fun gig I did for two summers. And my gig started at 10 at night and ended at three in the morning.

Basically, I was entertaining high school, college and other young people. And it was everything at once, as far as all kinds of scenarios. I learned to deal with hecklers, as well as really, really raucous crowds, It really sharpens your skills as to how to create music, how to present it and the whole thing.

Rick: So you find that, that some of the more unattractive dealings that you had with audiences, they really helped you hone your skills. And it became more of a situation where you’re actually kind of practicing for other things.

Jeffrey Pine: Well, later on, I got wise to the fact that I needed to put myself in better scenarios. And so, starting about geeze, 15, 17 years ago, I started playing resorts and really nice hotels, music venues, opening for acts and trying to put myself into situations that were more becoming for the kind of talent that I have. I  still do a bar once in a while, and they’re fun, but it’s a waste.

It’s almost like hiring somebody like Eddie van Halen to give you guitar lessons. And I’m not comparing myself to him, but I just mean, you’re better than these bars are. You know?

Rick: What about a different demographic when you’re talking about going to a vineyard to play than going to a bar to play? So have you found they’re more of an adult atmosphere?

Jeffrey Pine: Yeah, very much that they they’re there to have a good afternoon, have some wine and talk with each other and listen to some good music and hopefully know some songs that you do. So, I do some covers. I do originals. I try to entertain them. I thought it was all about being as good as you can be, but really what they remember is how you make them feel. That’s what it is.

Rick: The emotional thing. So, so do consciously work on your banter or does that just come naturally during a gig?

Jeffrey Pine: I’m not very good at remembering what I’m supposed to say during a show. So, I just sort of, what do they call it? Just what happens is what happens is it’s a moment in time, you know, and it mostly goes well. Once in a while, there’s a train wreck.

Rick: You find that you sometimes introduce your songs by explaining how you got to that song and how you develop the lyrics and what it actually means maybe to you more than maybe other people?

Jeffrey Pine: I very seldom introduce my songs to my crowd. I like them to judge them amidst all the ones they know. And if they do ask me a question about it later, then that’s a compliment, because that means that there was something there worth remembering once in a while at a bigger show. I will say something about it, but I try to keep it brief. I’m not a big describer.

Rick: Are you ever surprised by somebody who likes a song that you thought was not a throwaway song,  not among your best, presentable, but not like a potential hit?

Jeffrey Pine: When I first moved to Santa Barbara back in, the early eighties, I had a heck of a time getting work because there was an army of musicians in Santa Barbara County, and everybody had venues sewn up.

And so I had to get kind of be creative and I ended up writing these two albums, three albums actually have this really fun raunchy sing along stuff that you hear at rugby parties. And they became such a hit that after a while, I started getting so much work. I couldn’t keep it up, but the problem with that is everybody expects that’s what you’re going to do every time. And that was only for a specific time and place.

These days, I would never play something like that. But yeah, the mindset was like, let’s party, let’s have a good time, but there’s a lot more there. I’m a lot more complex than that.

Rick: Yeah. Have you ever played on the beach there, at the Brown Pelican?

Jeffrey Pine: It’s called The Boathouse now. I had three or four main gigs that I kept for many years. Every week, for instance, I was at the State Street and Anapamu Street. I was there every Thursday for 22 years. Wow. Yeah. I saw people come there, meet, get married, come back with kids. And then sometimes come back divorced.

I was there so long that the State Street came and went in that time, the popularity and places to go. Another place was Fess Parker’s DoubleTree, or I don’t know what it is now. I played there for 12, 13 years. I played everywhere in Santa Barbara, the Brown Pelican, Gallagher’s, the Harbor restaurant, up and down State Street. There was another big venue for me. It was a college. They had yards of beer where the kids would come in every night and we’d sing “American Pie.”

Rick: When you were doing that, did you play around the country or were you mostly a local guy? Because you made a living pretty well. I would think if you’re doing that many gigs,

Jeffrey Pine: It in order to really make it financially feasible to go further away. I occasionally had to do opening shows for other artists or a college tour or something.

I would fly back east to Pennsylvania where I had lots of friends and family and I would play back there or play in Florida where I have other family, or even to Colorado where I moved for a while. So, in doing so I was able to make enough money to get out and change the scene for a little bit.

And I lived in Colorado for 10 years. I bought a house there and I had a whole lot of work. And it was fun to change venues. So, I did this all in that period of time.

I lived out west in Colorado, Grand Junction on the Western Slope. I once fell into a hole in the snow there, upside down! It was the most terrifying thing, because I’d still be there if friends didn’t see what I did and pulled me out. It was a wonderful opportunity being there.

I played at a place called Gateway Canyons, owned by John Hendricks (Founder, Discovery Channel). I was there for ten years where I had a wonderful opportunity to bounce music off of pretty influential people, coming and going.

It was there I met Harry Chapin’s widow and his mother. And we ended up having the most interesting evening talking together. I never knew this, but did you know he didn’t write “Cats in the Cradle”?

Rick: I didn’t know that I thought he did.

Jeffrey Pine:  His wife wrote it when she was a little girl and she wrote it for her father and her brother. And when Harry and her met and got married, she gave it to him as a wedding present. And he eventually constructed the song that we know. Yeah, that was amazing.

Rick: I don’t know if anybody’s ever heard of that. It’s a great.

Jeffrey Pine: Trivia. Yeah.

Rick: There’s a guy here who knew John Denver. I think he met him at the Cellar Door in Georgetown.

Jeffrey Pine: That was the old days.

Rick: I went to the Cellar Door few times. I saw Dion, Stephen Stills, Jimmie Spheeris. Ever heard of Jimmy?

Jeffrey Pine: I am a huge Jimmy fan, he was “The King” man.

Rick:  People haven’t heard of him. I’m actually doing an open mic tonight and I’m thinking I might sing, “Whirlpool” or something by him. Do you have his double album?

Jeffrey Pine: I have all.

Rick: I’m listed on the credits on that one, I think it’s called, Uptown.

Jeffrey Pine: He was an exceptional singer songwriter. I love his music. And I’m the only person I know of all my friends who’d ever heard of him.

Rick: That’s funny….

Jeffrey Pine: I love it. I just love it. That’s great. I was just listening to, “I Am The Mercury” just the other day.

Rick: He also does “I”m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” a Hank Williams’ song.

Jeffrey Pine: That’s just too funny. That’s great. I love it. Yeah. He’s one of my heroes and I loved his music.

Rick: Let’s talk about your song, “On Our Wedding Day.”

Jeffrey Pine: “Take My Hand On Our Wedding Day.” The music was written by a friend of mine in grand junction named Gary Smith. And he sent me this instrumental one day. I was sitting at the Peaks Hotel in Telluride, and listening to it at the very same moment I was watching a wedding happened outside on the big deck.

It was early may, but there was a blizzard coming down and the brides with a strapless dress and everybody was in their best, but it was snowing to beat the band. And I started thinking about all the things that people do for love and that’s where the song came from. I wrote the lyrics in about 20 minutes, to his melody while I was watching that wedding.

I did the lyrics and he did the melody, gorgeous, a very, very talented jazz writer. He’s a friend of mine. He actually has a whole bunch of albums on the streaming platforms.

Rick: How about telling us about your guitars now?

Jeffrey Pine: Well, I’m kind of an acoustic guitar aficionado. I like the vintage ones, as well. I just sort of like all sorts of them. Right now I’m into the Taylor thing. I like Taylor’s products. I own one of their new prototypes, their new builders’ additions, which is a really sweet guitar it’s made of Koa.

Rick: Yeah. I just bought a Koa

Jeffrey Pine: It’s got this finish on it that you can play and it’s lightning fast. It doesn’t shine people in the face when you take it on stage. It’s actually pretty striking guitar.

I started out my first guitar was a Yamaha, a cheap Yamaha, and I really loved it. And I learned quickly how to appreciate the good quality tone woods as you go along and buy things.

I’ve owned Guilds, I’ve owned Martin and Takamine guitars, through the eighties. I bought quite a number of nylon strings, which I’m liking more and more.

I had a fabulous nylon string classical built by a fellow out of Santa Cruz. I can’t remember his name at the moment, which is a shame because it was a beautiful guitar and, it got stolen. I really missed that guitar. During the last decade I’ve just been buying Taylors, 12-strings, six-strings made out of a cedar or Koa.

I’m used to doing pretty complex fingering or chords. And so my hands get fatigued. So, I like to find a guitar that’s easy to play and has good action. I’m really fussy about my action. It’s kind of funny though, because when I play guitar, I can be kind of violent with a guitar. I slap it, hit it caress it kind of like Tommy (Emmanuel). And just because you’re a solo player and you’re trying to keep your audience engaged,  I try to run it’s dynamics.

I don’t slap the Taylor GS mini, which I really love. They’re little inexpensive guitars, and I have a nylon string by them. And of course, a couple other special additions that were just out one year and then they moved on.

Rick: My brother has a Taylor 12-string and it’s not expensive, but it’s got great action. I’m not sure how they do that at that price point.

Jefferey Pine: Bob Taylor retired recently and he turned his company over to a guy named Andy Powers. Yeah, he’s doing some good things. I like his ideas, and as I’m getting older, I don’t have the resiliency in my hands that I used to have.

The action and the technology with the response you get is so important, because you could just basically caress can get this wonderful, melodic jingle out of it. And then, if you want to, you can wail away on it. And it sounds like a cannon, but it’s, it’s tight and very, very, very on pitch.

Rick: So what are you using now, if you were going to go out and play right now, what would you normally take out with you?

Jefferey Pine: I take my GS mini to most local gigs, and then to concerts, I take the better guitars, cause they they’re show guitars and they feel better. My favorite pickups, actually had a set of these in the Raven Works guitar that you looked at, are Highlanders,

I love Highlander pickups. I look at them, they just have to be installed correctly.

When I take out guitars right now, I have a Parker Fly, which are really light. They’re great guitars, too. And you know, it doesn’t hurt your shoulder if you hold it for hours.

Rick: Joni Mitchell plays one.

Jefferey Pine: Yeah. That’s a neat guitar. I use it in the studio. Mostly. I don’t take it out very much because I’m not a flashy player. I just use it for constructing things.

Rick: So, you’re steering mostly to Taylor’s.

Jeffrey Pine: Right now, because of my hand, I have bursitis in my shoulder and I have a tendonitis here. And because of that, I have to be careful. And i, I like my necks, really easy to play down, and if they’re too wide, it won’t work.  Somebody just brought me their old school Guild, 12-string in, to play a couple of weeks ago and oh, it was like painful to play. It was as heavy as a tank, but the neck, you’ve got to really crunch it down to play it.

Rick: Hold on for a second. I’m going to show you a guitar. This one is hand-built and from the 1920s, but it’s a 12 fret and 14 fret, which nobody was really building back then.  I don’t know anybody who made them back down, but hold on for a second. It’s a cool little sure.

This guitar is built in the twenties and it’s got a German spruce top. And the back is tiger striped maple, gorgeous, and is built, like dial in. It’s got a carved back and highly figured tiger maple neck.

Jeffrey Pine: And this is hand-made, a 12 and 14. Oh yeah. Look at that. Oh, wow. Now. I’ve never seen anything like that. That’s great.

Rick: So, you have or had some guitars owned by John Denver.

Jeffrey Pine: The John Denver guitars started because, one of them came up for sale about 12, 14 years ago. It was advertised it as John Denver’s Yamaha L-53 that he used on the Muppet show. And this guy was no slouch. He knew his guitars and he sold very expensive instruments, like, you know, in the twenty to thirty thousand’s range.

Anyway, I grabbed my friend, Pete. We went down to look at the guitar and on closer inspection, I noticed that the abalone fingerprints on the headstock were not the ones that were on the Muppet’s album. That’s what started everything. And it, it took years to research all his guitars, but I found out John had not one or two, but three of those And, my friend Pete bought the one that we went to look at, or his wife did for him for a birthday present.

And because of that, I ended up finding out where the other two are and also where all his other guitars are and I catalog them. Yeah. I had a pretty popular site for a while about his guitars. And I learned a lot about construction during those years and, you know, the guitars and how he got them and what he used before, what he recorded, what songs with, very interesting.

He was not really a Martin guy, but he had a couple at home. Most of his hits were on a Guild F-50 with a double pickguard.

But then the last few hits were recorded on the Yamaha L-53. The one that is currently in Colorado, but very interesting for someone where money was no object, the people were giving him stuff just so that people would see it, you know, endorsees, they wanted endorsements, you know?

Rick: That’s pretty cool. I guess that was your friend’s guitar.

Jeffrey Pine: Yes, although I was the caretaker of it and so I played, it, kept it, you know, Pete’s not a player. And so I basically took care of it for almost 12 years, uh, and in doing so I also bought the, Ovation Adamas 12-string that’s in that picture.

Well, for a while we owned three of them. We own the Adamas 12-string, which was a pretty famous one. He recorded an album called Some Days Are Diamonds with that album. And we had a third one, White Lady, which wasn’t famous, but it was a really nice guitar made by a guy named John Greven.

He’s still a luthier. And this guitar had the nicest sound out of all three of them. Pete sold it about a year and a half ago and the  Yamaha L-53. But here’s the interesting thing is that you might be interested in this, a woman who was a big John Denver fan bought all the guitars.

All her stuff is about to come up for sale again, in Julien’s auctions, in Los Angeles in six to seven weeks, including the white lady, green and guitar. They’re all going to come up for sale. That’s rare, that John Denver’s guitars come up for sale.

Rick: What about your guitars? You mentioned the Koa one, but what, what is your general preference for when you’re say songwriting, which may be different than when you’re out playing?

Jeffrey Pine: I’ve been spending more and more time with my nylon string, which is basically a Sitka spruce top with a Indian Rosewood back. I use very thick strings on it. Matter of fact, they’re custom-made strings from Guadalupe strings in Los Angeles, and it’s a very deep, dark sound that I like playing, and, uh, they’re very, very melodic and thick.

But, then I ended up playing the steel strings out in public, mostly because it’s a difference the way you play. I’m not as refined yet with the nylon string as I am with a steel string. Because I use picks.  I’m rather fond of spruces for tops. And, I like rosewoods for the back. Koa is kind of a mid-range thing, but I haven’t had it long enough for it to age, to really see what it’s going to do yet.

Rick: Do you record at home?

Jeffrey Pine: I have a little desktop that I use to write ideas down on, but then I use a studio in Santa Barbara called Studio Z, owned by David West. He’s a pro. He really offers a good product and I get the family rates. So, I go down there to record. I’m actually going down tomorrow and the next day to make a new recording.

Rick: What’s the recording part of, an album?

Jeffrey Pine: I just finished the recording. This one was from a 12-year-old that I met in school and Grand Junction. God, 15 years ago, she was the winner of a poetry writing competition in her school. And the prize for the winner was to have their poem made into a song.

And so, I made it into a song and it’s been a long time, but I just finally recorded it last month. And we just finished it up. It’s a wonderful little poem from a child’s perspective of what they view as things that are precious, you know, it goes from yellow chalk at school and earrings to, more deep metaphorical things. And she was very bright for a young person and I, of course, took the song and ran with it in, in various ways. And it turned out to be pretty neat. I’ll send you a track.

The one we’re making tomorrow is called, “Funky Dog.” It’s kind of a pseudo rap song. My friend Jerry wrote it and I’m making a recording for him of it. It’s this great little treatise on his dog that had a lot of character One eye is blue, the other one’s gray. He was Ray and it was just a fun, little rant about what his personality was like, you know?

Rick: That’ll be fun. Does Dave work virtually with people or is he always with people in the studio?

Jeffrey Pine: Dave is, is doing one-on-one now in the studio. So I get down there and get into his little studio with him and work. Things are starting to come back to normal here a little bit.

Rick: Do you have session players come in or do you just normally just, it’s just you and your guitar or what?

Jeffrey Pine: The recordings I’m making right now are being produced by a guy named Chris Nole, down in Nashville. Chris and I become friends over the years. He was John Denver’s piano player during the last 12 years of his life. He’s got really silky harmonies. He’s a hell of a talent and he’s producing my music, and I’m getting a lot of bang for the buck, that’s for sure.

Rick: That sounds good. You’re not doing any, the only rough cuts that you may be doing at home is with like your iPhone or?

Jeffrey Pine: Yeah, the test cam. I just laid down a track and sing on top of it and I send it off. I look at those dials and numbers and I get scared.

Rick: How do you think your music has evolved over the course of your, your professional career and maybe how that’s reflected in any particular albums you’ve got or songs?

Jeffrey Pine: I go through all these cathartic changes every once in a while. And right now I’m so into what I’m doing that I don’t really know if I could perform them live. The Masaaki Kishibi things I’m just beginning to introduce to my audiences, but I have been into the soul phase for the last couple of years where I’m just digging up old recordings by the guy that’s singing the song, “…just the two of us. We can make it if we try just the two of us.”

Bill Withers, yeah. I’m a total Bill Withers nut. I like a lot of that kind of genre. It’s got a deep gutsy groove that you can create around it. And at the same time, it’s not too preposterous that you can’t pull it off solo. I actually get away with a couple of Prince tunes once in a while, which, you know, he’s a brilliant guitar player. His compositions are really fun to play.

They incorporate a whole bunch of slapping or technique that you wouldn’t normally use in full step. So, yes, I’ve been through a lot in the last 30 years. I went into a Van Morrison phase years ago. I prefer, like in the case of Jimmie Spheeris, I don’t learn his music for one reason. I would much rather hear him play it. I don’t like to learn it.

Rick: What else do you delve into when you’re not noodle around with the music?

Jeffrey Pines: My gig passion right now is photography. I’m a nature photographer on my Facebook page. I have many, many albums of wildlife photography. I’m also a geologist and an entomologist. I study insects. I’ve always been into birds. I know, not just the Latin stuff associated with it and the technical thing, but I’m a big painter-drawer-artist. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any of my artwork.

Rick: I don’t, I don’t recall seeing any at at your website.

Jeffrey Pine: I don’t have any right now, but they always sell.

Rick: Cool. Yeah.

Jeffrey Pine: It’s my way to relax and it totally disconnects me from the music part.

Rick: Are your paintings more like John James Audubon, more realistic than abstract?

Jeffrey Pine: Hyper detailed, realistic kind of drawings. I wonder if I have any cards here to show you? I usually do.  I sell my work via commission or every once in a while, I’ll advertise something on Facebook and it’ll sell right away. I have a couple that I’m known for as far as individual pieces that everybody says, oh, I remember that, it’s like, I have a signature song, I have a signature piece of art or whatever, you know, it’s nice to be remembered that way.

Rick: So, have you made calendars using your artwork?

Jeffrey Pine: I make metal prints out of my photographs, sometimes really big ones, like several are four feet by six feet. Wow. People buy them for their homes. I’m really fond of the desert right now, so I’m doing a lot of exploring and hiking and rock gathering.  It’s kind of an addiction. And in doing so I take a lot of pictures and then I advertise the pictures, and I sell those.

Rick: The music business has always had a reputation as not being quite as exciting as it sounds once you get into it. So what do you have, like any lessons learned to convey to people like me, because I’ve been out of it for like 30 years and just two years ago, I decided I’m going to go and playing outside of my home, and I’ve been able to do festivals, farmers’ markets, but I do find that it’s a different type of, maybe a culture or you have to be more aware of certain things. What have you found in, in your endeavors, in music and the business side of it?

Jeffrey Pines: Well, the business side, I almost always succeed on personal relationships that I make, as opposed to cold calling or trying to work through an agent, although I don’t have a famous song per se, that I suppose would be a good calling card to use for an agency, like to get a little bit more of a tour going, like, say someone like Martin Sexton. Who’s one of my heroes, by the way.

I think in business, I keep it close to the home front at the age that I am, because it’s more financially feasible. It easier on my psyche, but I do love to get out and play if the situation’s right. My online things reached more people than I have reached ever.  I did two of them so far, they both made me far more money than I make live.

I did them through Facebook and my friend, Chris in Colorado, Chris Collins, provided his home as the backdrop and the equipment and all the technology behind it. And at one point we had 7,000 people on for an hour-long show. I made close to 3,500 bucks. That’s pretty good wage for, you know, sitting and talking and playing, telliung stories, and just having fun with everybody. And they write questions. It’s a great format.

Rick: If you do another let me know and I can tell my magazine’s followers.

Jeffrey Pine: I would be honored. It’s just a different format for me because otherwise I’m very small time. I stick around, you know, a hundred miles from where I live usually. But this way I know a lot of people, over in England and Florida and Colorado, Pennsylvania, and they all got a chance to sit in and hear the music. And that was great!

Well, you had asked me about somebody I really liked sort of locally or someone I know personally. I have somebody I really like right now and I really liked her songwriting. Her name is Katja. And I kind of wanted to give her a plug because I just liked her music and her circle, her song, it’s on YouTube and it’s kind of atmospheric, but it’s a singer songwriter kind of a thing. We’re talking about songwriting together. I just think a lot of her, there’s so many to pick from, and she’s my current favorite.

Rick: Yeah. It’s, it’s amazing. How many, there are, like in every town there’s a phenomenal guitar player.

Jeffrey Pine: We’ve got one here in our town here, too. And I love to hear him play, but he’s just not a marketing guy, but holy God, is he good? Really? Yeah. And, he plays with bands around the area, but he’s mind blowing, and he’s every bit as good as Eric Clapton.

Rick: Yeah, our local hero was Danny Gatton. I saw him play at the old Birchmere here. You should listen to Gatton’s “Quiet Villlage.” It’s the sweetest guitar.

Jeffrey Pine: Yeah. Okay, “Quiet village.” Hey, you know, when I played the Birchmere, I used to hang out with quite the crowd. I was touring with Norman Blake and I toured with New Grass Revival, which was Sam Bush at the time. I did a tour with a guy named Brian Bowers who was an autoharp player. He wrote a song, John Denver covered, and it put him on the map. And then I also toured with a really talented guy named Mike Cross out of Chapel Hill.

I was good friends with Doc Watson and Merle Watson. Just to be able to hang out with those kinds of high caliber musicians was extremely valuable for me. I played at a club in my old hometown that used to bring in these talented people. And I used to open their shows or follow them for a couple of dates, like at the Philly Folk Fest, such good times.

Rick: You mentioned Tommy Emmanuelle earlier When you’re talking about slapping the guitar, ever play with him?

Jeffrey Pine: I’m not of his caliber. I wouldn’t know what to do. I mean, he’s in a realm by himself.

Rick: He is, you know, he changes his strings every single day.

Jeffrey Pine: He’s a hell of a nice guy.

Rick: Are you anxious to get out and play again?

Jeffrey Pine: I am in a way, I miss the interaction. Playing makes you sharp and it makes you really on, but there’s another thing I’m going to miss though. And that’s having the energy and the time to clear my head, to write things and to work out music that I’ve had time for this year, which is great.

I have composed upwards of 14, 15 new songs. They’re not all done, some of them are torch songs. That’s what I specialize in, like lost love. And then, I have a recording I’m really proud of, that’s actually a few years old, but I’ll send you a copy of it. It was a song about my grandparents.

Rick: Sweet, sweet.

Jeffrey Pine: The creativity level was over overflowing this year, which was only because I wasn’t so tired all the time, from gigging a lot, especially the drive and set up, then tear down, drive back. It wears on you after four or five days a week.

I really missed the people in this, you know, getting out there and sharing music. I mean, what is music without the other element, which is everybody really enjoying it and feeling real emotions with it?

Rick: It’s real tribal.

Jeffrey Pine: It is, yeah. God, I don’t know. It went by quickly for me this year. I spent it all outdoors and then recording and stuff.

Rick: Are you camping when you’re going out into the desert?

Jeffrey Pine: I used to love to camp, but I like a nice comfy bed these days. So I stay in little hotels here and there.

My favorite place, where I’ve been going to a lot is called the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It’s down east of San Diego, about an hour and a half, south of Palm Springs. It’s a spectacular desert and there’s a little town and it’s called Borrego Springs, which is mostly for retirees, but that’s where I want to live.

It’s only an hour from Temecula and an hour and a half from Palm Springs. And it’s just such pretty desert country with great hiking, great birds, great canyons to explore. And I can take my guitar out there. Well, at least in the winter, spring and fall.

Rick: It’s hot out there. A friend of mine from Tucson said temperatures ran 118 degrees for five days straight!

Jeffrey Pine: Like my dad, the heat doesn’t bother me. As long as I don’t have to work on a highway crew in the middle of it, I’m okay with it. I actually thrive on it. It thins your blood and makes you feel better. I don’t like being cold anymore. The older I get, I hate it.

An Update from Jeff!

I have three recording projects coming out the next few months; the first one is in production right now, set for release on Oct 25, it’s called ‘Some Good Things’. It is a two song EP of a couple of often requested pop/blues tunes in my live shows ‘Gold’ and ‘Funky Dog’.

The next project is called ‘Sand Stones’, set for release just before Christmas. It’s a collection of 10 Jeff Pine originals: piano/jazz instrumentals. Some of my best work, carved out for the ambient market, all of the pieces performed and produced by Nashville recording artist/producer Chris Nole.

The third project, as yet untitled, will be some of the same tunes, all  with lyrics, and a few of my favorite covers, done in my more familiar singer songwriter approach. Vocals, guitar and various accompaniment. I’m shooting for completion/release in the spring. This is the project that I am working on with David West here in Santa Barbara.

Nature photography has been a passion of mine all of my life. But for the last six or seven years, I have been working on a book called A Naturalist’s Journal. At some 250 pages, it is a large coffee table book, showcasing some of my best work, spanning over 15 years. At present, my book and all of its accompanying data is still very much in the editing stages. In the interim, I have been offering beautiful, museum-grade metal plates of my work to raise funds for the book’s printing. – Jeffrey Pine