You've been putting it up your whole life you just didn't know it.

I remember when the idea came. I was being driven through the darkest corners of hughes road,  jamming to gnarls barkley, and for some reason I agreed that doing an R. Kelly song on acoustic guitars would sound good. An immediate deconstruction of Mr. Kelly's summer smash, ignition remix, on acoustic instruments ensued. Before iI could say "leave it to beaver" i was playing an unsuccessful lemonade awareness gig alongside Brian Kuhar. Mr. Kuhar was the regular ham to my weird green eggs. But the once defunct dish towel has reconvened to bring an alternative take on mainstream culture, media, and politics.  Below is an interview i conducted with Brian and now you can take a glimpse into his weird brain right here at the maestro. 

Interview after the jump.

J.C. - you're not shy about your political beliefs, and i dont think you have any reason to be, but what do you make of the tea party and their effectiveness as the grass roots arm of the Republican party?

B.K. - I see it more as a rebellion against the Republican Party. A certain sect of conservatives didn't feel accurately represented by the Republican leadership, so they went off to do it on their own. I don't think they're beating Democrats or Republicans, or anyone else who goes against their stance.

Given the overwhelming ball in court status of the Republican party, what will be the worst thing Republicans can do to 'drop the ball' per se, in the upcoming elections?

Apply too much focus in too small an area. There is a real chance they'll dedicate all they have to health care (and this may be a Democrat trap). Health care is only a very narrow piece of the real issue that the voters are going to vote on, which is money Our unemployment is still ridiculously high. Our deficit is expected to almost double in the next decade under the most recent budge. We've printed stacks of cash to pay for new stuff, and sold large amounts of debt to China. These are the things that should be focused on. If Republicans spend too much time and energy on the health care bill, which the States are already fighting, they're going to be disappointed. I think they'll still gain seats, but be nowhere near enough power to achieve anything.

Will Republican control of either the house or the senate be directly aimed at destroying the president and the legacy of his party or will they work on the legitimate premise of comprimise with both the white house and the other house to produce moderate legislative results (most recently seen under the Clinton administration)?

I really doubt if anyone but the far fringe will be aiming to disrupt a presidency, or the other party. I do, however think that when one part has control of all three houses (House, Senate, White House) we suffer. Look at 2002-2006. It only takes two ears for the party in ulra-power to run completely off the tracks and vastly overreach. It happened when Gingrich and the Republicans took over in '92, it happened when Pelosi and the Democrats took over in '06, and it's looking as thought it could happen in '10 or else '12. Voters hate power trips. But what the hell would i know?

Moving away from politics and into music, what band or sound most influenced you to play and learn music on your own? 

Well i was about 8 when i picked up my first guitar, so I would only be able to hazard a guess. I'm going to say it could have been Sublime, No Doubt, Counting Crows, or Hootie & the Blowfish. Cracked Rear View is still a hell of an album, if you find the time. And yes, I was listening to Sublime when i was 8.

Does production play a huge role in how you not only approach playing music but how you listen to it? 

I hate listening to tracked music. You can just tell. I need it to be at least predominantly recorded in a live take to have a chance to wow me. That's not to sat I don't enjoy some tracked stuff, but for the most part, I won't ever drop what i'm doing to listen.

Chicago or Delta Blues?

Delta. Some of the early Chicago guys, the ones that came from the Delta (Muddy, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter etc...) are fantastic. but you never get the kind of blue that the Delta bluesmen had. Look as recently as Junior Kimbrough and T Model Ford and you will find nothing but blue. Then you can go back to Son House and Robert Johnson and really feel their pain. Chess Records revolutionized the blues, but they can't match their influence. 

  

Given their relative media success with the legendary Last Waltz concert film, why is The Band one of the most under appreciated rock and roll pioneers ?

The Band was one of those groups that every musician looked to for inspiration, but everybody else didn't seem to catch on.  Everyone else got their Band fix from Hendrix and Clapton and the Dead and a whole list of other people.  They didn't need the actual group.  I'm glad that they've maintained some level of popularity after all of the years, though.  Guys like Graham Parsons were the same way, but have eventually been lost to shifts in attention.

Who is your favorite writer and have you read anything brilliant lately?
 

Favorite all-time would have to be Steinbeck.  Haven't read a word from him that I didn't love.  My favorite contemporary is hands down Cormac McCarthy.  He's the Earnest, John, F. Scott, J.D. of this generation.  He's the only one I've read on that level in my lifetime.  Lately, I have pretty much been reading biographies and mystery thrillers to give my mind a break from mathematics.  But I did polish off Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter last week and it was what I'd consider brilliant.  The perfect level of embedded satire, and excellently written.

Is Lady GaGa going to lose it like Britney, or is she primed to be the next Madonna?

I am of the belief that she is well on her way to Madonna like status.  She writes her own music and designs her own costumes.  The fact that she has any creative threads at all implies better upside.  Britney was only creative when picking up backup dancers.  I suppose shaving your head and beating up a car with an umbrella is a creative way to vent anger.  Come to think of it, I may try that tonight.  I also think that, in the same way Lady G is filling Madonna's vacant shoes, Chris Daughtry is filling Jon Bon Jovi's snakeskin boots.  It seems as though both must grow a few toes in order to fill in their new kicks. 

What is something you think everybody who reads this should do by this time next week?
 

Send a hand written letter to somebody via snail mail.  I try to send one per month.  It helps me to fight off succumbing to the iPhone Demon and his eternal drive to drag us all into a permanent state of technological numb and utter indifference toward all that's real.  Also, you can go to a bar and order a Coke.  Then act drunk so you won't be pestered, but watch all of the actual drunks.  It might give you a sense of how stupid you look when it's you.  After about a half hour of that, switch to the real stuff and do it up right.  Earnest Hemingway said, "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk.  That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

For what reason will we be sulking about both of our baseball teams during late summer?
 

Any combination of under-performance, shallow middle relief, and injuries.  You know -- Chicago Baseball Syndrome.  Post all-star break baseball will inevitably yield a peaked interest in the Chicago Bears.

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plane till you see their specks dispersing?"

Leaving.   Don't worry.  If you're on the spherical plane (like we all are) and you just keep going on the same line, you'll see them again.  On the other hand, if you're on the hyperbolic plane, you will feel like you're drifting farther and farther away; but to an outside observer you haven't moved from where you started.

Is it a sign of the times when you are tired of films trying to act like a hip independent film when it is actually aimed at achieving major box office success?

I was tired of them from the first one I watched.  I think it happened when a few real independent films (Clerks, Slacker, etc.) gained commercial success.  As always, the entertainment industry misread what the public liked about them.  They thought it was the artsy camera angles or the beards or the obscure music, when it was really the depth that the blockbusters lack that was drawing us in.  Garden State is the epitome of all terrible attempts at looking independent. 

This same socio-idiotic phenomenon is occurring in the search for Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol.  The industry is convinced we like him because he's mean, so they're looking to just plug in anyone who might be needlessly mean.  They're morons.  We like him because he's always right.  His bitterness is just a bonus. We hope that you choke>Jerryc<