by Kevin M. Wilson
kevin@louisville.com
Brett Eugene Ralph mostly grew up here in Louisville where he cultivated a reputation as a no-nonsense punk rocker.
Though Ralph ventured away long enough to strengthen his grasp on poetry and eastern religion, his roles in the regional punk bands Fading Out, Malignant Growth, and Rising Shotgun were not forgotten upon his return.
These days, the older and wiser Ralph is leading a rotating country ensemble that, at times, features members of such indie favorites as Lambchop, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the Be-Good Tanyas, and Freakwater.
This weekend, Brett Eugene Ralph’s Kentucky Chrome Review, as Ralph’s collective is now known, will show off their eclectic sensibilities when they headline a sublime evening of Americana music at Air Devils Inn.
To preview this concert, Louisville.com caught up with Ralph over the holidays for some questioning.
LDC: First of all, how is it that a former punk found his way into country music?
BER: Almost all of the finest country musicians were rebels and mavericks: Hank, Merle, Cash, Loretta, Waylon. They definitely shook up the Nashville status quo as surely as the Ramones or the Pistols shook up the rock landscape of the mid-1970's.
LDC: True enough. But there certainly aren’t an abundance of hard-edged musicians who are into Buddhism. How did you become interested in it, and to what extent does it inform your life?
BER: I got interested in Tibetan Buddhism while attending graduate school at the University of Massachusetts. Amherst/Northampton was one of the relocation spots for the 1000 Tibetans that the first George Bush allowed to come to the states, 100 each to ten cities (he was the first American president to publicly utter the word Tibet). My wife at the time and I became involved in a local grass roots organization called the Pioneer Valley Friends of Tibet. She was gung ho about Buddhism from the git-go; for me, it merely confirmed some things I was already practicing as a poet--I think it's no coincidence that so many poets are drawn to Buddhism. Anyway, my wife got a grant to study thangka painting in Ladakh, in the Himalayas of northern India, and I tagged along. I ended up teaching English at the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, one of only two Buddhist universities funded by the Indian government. The school had never before had a native English speaker as a teacher. However, Indians and Tibetans both t/files/storyimages/to speak English with a British accent, so I fear my Kentucky pronunciation confused my students as much as it helped them. Although I really enjoyed the company of Tibetans, I still had a lot of Kentucky punk rocker in me when I moved to Massachusetts, and I didn't feel particularly at home with the aging hippies and yuppie academics that comprised the American Buddhist scene. Living in a Buddhist region for four months, however, really brought the teachings home to me--they were woven right into the fabric of everyday life; that's where Buddhism changed from being merely an intriguing philosophy for me and began to take on a deeper role in my life. It also helped that Ladakhis are kind of the Kentuckians of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetans can be very cerebral and intensely intellectual; Ladakhis come off as their simpler, earthier cousins. I identified with them immediately. Also, Ladakh is the only place on earth where the Gelugpa tradition (that of His Holiness the Dalai Lama) is still rivaled by the Kagyu lineage, which exhibits echoes of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic Bonpo religions and is both (in my opinion) the more poetic and more absurdist and mysterious strain of Tibetan Buddhism. Boulder's Naropa Institute, by the way, was founded by a guru from the Kagyu lineage.
To answer your question, I've been practicing Buddhism now for something like thirteen years.
LDC: Wow. Okay, now that you are once again a high-profile fixture on the Louisville music scene, there seems to be a lot of interest in Saturday’s triple bill. What can folks expect?
BER: Well, admission is only six bucks and things get started at around 10:30 with Louisville's own Virgin Flame. If you haven't seen this band, try to imagine the spawn of Buck Owens and Curtis Mayfield, consummated while Frank Zappa watches from the closet, Blue Velvet-style. Don't show up late and risk missing them. In the sweet spot will be MayApple recording artists Big Smith, who hail from Springfield, Missouri. An Ozarks hillbilly band comprised of five cousins, including two sets of brothers, Big Smith has been together for over a decade but have been making music together all their lives. They are seasoned performers, excellent songwriters, and they sing as only siblings can. This will be their Derby City debut.
LDC: Then you guys will finish out the night? Who exactly is in the band at the moment?
BER: Closing the show will be Brett Eugene Ralph's Kentucky Chrome Revue, which is currently comprised of Mark Hamilton, Catherine Irwin, Kirk Kiefer, Brett Eugene Ralph, Chris Reinstatler, and Daryl Sullivan.
Catch Kentucky Chrome Review, Big Smith, and Virgin Flame Saturday, January 5, 2008 at Air Devil’s Inn (2802 Taylorsville Road). Doors open at 8 p.m.
