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FrogDaddy:
Tell me George, what do you call yourself? ... a musician, songwriter,
performer ... all of the above?
George:
"George", usually;
also "beautiful" and "handsome."[smile]. I'm a writer, and producer, showman, singer and
musician as well.
In terms of income, i'm a producer and entrepreneur, but all successful
music people are entrepreneurial.
I toured and played for a living two periods in my life; five years in
from 1979 to 1983, and eight years in Nashville through about 2001.
I transposed Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in Am for acoustic ensembles,
I've written two books and a musical, and I've written hundreds and
hundreds
of songs.
FrogDaddy:
Well what made you want to be all those things :-)
George:
I was exposed to a great depth and array of classical music as a child.
I was taken out of school to attend symphonies and concerts on a regular basis.
In my first year of college, a friend forced me to go to an Earl Scruggs
Review concert with him and a group of friends. It revolutionized my
life. I never saw anything like it before or since. All I could think
of was "banjos" after that, and about a year later I bought my first one
and started learning with the Pete Seeger book.
Two and a half years later I was playing for a living. The coupling of
my extensive ear training in childhood with diving very very deeply into
a few genres of music as a musician and writer and performer, has given
me depth and vision as a producer. It's a natural progression with my
talent set, I think.
FrogDaddy:
Would you summarize your music for me? What's it all about?
George:
It's about me and it's about life.
Frog, I've played and sung and written many forms of music. I write
Latin jazz (Romantico) now, in Spanish. I played and wrote bluegrass
and country from the very beginning, and experimented with jazz and
neo-classical too. I've written and recorded blues, and funny songs,
and childrens ditties.
I got very deeply involved with cowjazz (Western swing) touring, and
still play it. The TexMex led into Romantico. I aculturated with the
native sounds of Sonora, Ranchero, ranch & country, bluegrass, Western
swing jazz, Apache and Tohono O'odom, Mariachi, and so on. I would say
my music is rooted in the depths of mankind.
I've studied songs historically, for example ancient Apache songs and
dances rooted back 5,000 years, and I've traced songs back across
the ocean to the British Isles to sources dating back three and four
hundred
years (and more), in some cases. I'm convinced tunes like "Temperance
Reel"
are a thousand or more years old.
Nashville players have said about me "He has a way of making every song
his own" [Billy Rose] and "You're a true original" [Britt Savage]. I'm
a stylist, playing all the songs my way.
FrogDaddy:
Hey George, tell us here at AlienLove, what's "I Made Love to an Alien Last Night" (Alien Love) really about? [big smile]
George:
That's a funny question ...
It's about different things to different
people, I suppose. Kids love it. I was watching a 60-minute
pseudo-documentary on aliens and the Roswell Incident, around 1995.
They said in the
program that one of four Americans claims to have been abducted or
molested by space aliens. I wrote the song "I Made Love To An Alien
Last Night" right then. I actually wrote it on banjo.
FrogDaddy:
That's amazing that you can do that George. But I guess thats how some things come to artists ... just all of sudden, wham!
it's there.
Did you ever do anything except music?
George:
No.
Oh, I spent eight years in computers and math, culminating in
artificial intelligence research for the Space Station Program at
Johnson Space Center, Houston. I left there August 1991 to return to my
first career, music.
FrogDaddy:
OK George, people always want to know, what's your favorite song or songwriter?
George:
Very complex question. [smile]
In country, Merle Haggard and the Carter Family
(the latter collectors, of course.)
In pop, Rogers & Hammerstein.
R&B,
Ray Charles. Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack" was and is a driving
force in my life like no other, perhaps equalled by the Supremes.
Roger
Miller's
"King Of The Road" effected me similarly. (I heard these few snatches
of popular song on the radio as a young boy.)
"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" (Selena), "Amazing Grace" (John Newton), "The First
Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Ian McCall), "Pieces Of You" (Jewel), "I
Will Always Love You" (Dolly Parton)
FrogDaddy:
Lot's of influences hey George, :-) ... here's a question from our membership. We are all avid readers here at AlienLove.com.
What kind of books do you read?
George:
I have very little time for pleasure reading now, but when i do, it is
usually history of Arizona/Sonora and native american things. In work,
I read about the music business, and have a small reference library.
I read voluminously as a boy, up to five and seven books a week, and I
have a $200,000.00 library. I've read many of my books two and three
times over.
FrogDaddy:
Who/What do you think has been the most important person or event in your life?
George:
Man ... You go for the tough ones, don't you? [smile]
FrogDaddy:
Ha ha ha ... OK George how about this one, Are you helping underlings/wannabe's/young people (musicians etc.) develop themselves?
George:
Yes, I like to take time to help others. We give the Trowbridge
Youth Achievement Award every year, to a deserving youth or child.
http://www.nashvillestarsearch.com I give extra personal time to any
young person whose parent or parents come with them to learn.
I give back to my community as well. On Christmas Day I gather (or buy)
candy and food and clothes, and with some friends, deliver to the people
living on the streets and byways.
FrogDaddy:
Do you feel pressure/stress in your work?
George:
Rarely. It's mostly a time thing. You have to be able to manage
certain types of stress very well to be an independent in the music
business. I basically love those stresses, they keep my feeling alive,
so I like it.
FrogDaddy:
Can you talk about your latest project?
George:
We are releasing a country single by Gus Rhein; recording a soul gospel
single to release in May, by Debbie Tucker; and starting on a 15-song
album - video project for Jacqui Watson.
The Gus Rhein single is part of the Band of Writers series on JIP
Records (Just Iss Planetary Records) and the Jacqui Watson record will
release on Artist Choice CD later this year.
You can watch for these
releases on Tower Records, GAC, iTunes, cdbaby.com and jiprecords.com
Ask for them in your favorite record store.
FrogDaddy:
George, we ask this question of all our guests and there are no exceptions [smile] .... Have you ever had any unusual or paranormal experiences in your travels?
George:
Yes. I called the spirit deer out of the woods to me as a boy. She
came to me and stood by me, a wild white tailed doe. I charmed the wild
grouse and walked up to it and felt its wildly beating heart.
I had an astral projection at about nineteen years of age,
shooting out over the West and looking down on the Rockies, from Canada
to the Southwest. This happened when I was awake. (Later I
hitchiked the route, from Fairbanks to Tucson.)
In more recent years, twenty eagles circled overhead while I and my
friend Danny visited Geronimo's Grave in Medicine Park, Oklahoma. I saw
the spirit pony at his grave. I believe this could have been a vision.
I have witnessed amazingly strange phenomena in Texas, near the military
ranges. I assume they were Harriers hazing me. The Roswell Daily
Record reporter who wrote about the Roswell Incident is a friend of
mine.
When I was about nine, I was fishing on a creek with my father and we
witnessed a fireball fall out of the sky. It was so huge and close, I
was convinced it landed in our valley. I was also convinced it was
something like "The War Of The Worlds" [HG Wells]. I suppose it was a
close meteorite. It was fantastic!
I have a PhD physicist friend who worked Los Alamos as a research
scientist. It was all very top secret so he couldn't tell me anything
specific, but one day he came back and said "I saw IT" with this huge
awe. I said "What?" and he said "I saw IT". Well, you and I probably
both know what it was he saw. I was also top secret clearance at one
point in my computer career.
FrogDaddy:
Wow ... that was intense ... how about 2 more quick questions?
Do you feel that you are 'political' - in your music or in other ways?
George:
I don't feel my music is political, however I write op-ed pieces and
press releases on major issues that I feel profoundly. Being a
public persona, expressing political views can be a detriment to
business, so I try to keep relatively low key in political matters now.
I write to my representatives regularly to let them know how I feel
about various issues however. I am passionate about freedom in every
form.
FrogDaddy:
Last question George [smile] ...How do you feel about the direction American is heading?
George:
You're free to read some of my letters and press releases on
http://www.georgemcclure.net/ it's all there [smile]
FrogDaddy:
George .. I want to thank you personally, and, from our readers and guests on AlienLove.com. You are a true gentleman
and made it a pleasure to talk to you, and get to know you at a deeper level then just hearing your music.
Exposing an inner piece of yourself to the public is not always an easy thing to do, and I want you to know we appreciate the
time you took from your busy life to allow us a clearer and more educated view of the inside of your world. We wish you and yours the
absolute best, and continued success in whatever you do. If there's ever anything AlienLove.com can do for you or anyone in your circle ... just let us know, AlienLove will be there for you. Thank You.
ps... "you're right George, kids do love that song!"
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