Leo Kottke is hilarious...

[Westerly Wood]

 

[shihan]

One of my all time favorites. His concerts are notable almost as much for the funny stories as the musical excellence.
His website is a hoot, too.

 

[chazmo]

Good stuff, Woody!

 

[wileypickett]

One of my favorite Kottke stories, funnier because it completely resonates with my experiences growing up, is being the new kid in the neighborhood who gets beat up by the bullies after school. (My dad was in the Air Force and we transfered all over the place, so I was in a different school, sometimes a different country, every single grade 1st through 6th.)

Leo told the story (paraphrasing), "So my dad, tired of seeing me come home bruised and bloody every day, decides he's going to teach me how to defend myself. 'Defend myself.' What that meant, I discovered, was that my old man, sick of seeing me get the sh*t beat of me every day, is going to take me out in the back yard and beat the sh*t out of me himself."

 

[Westerly Wood]

And Leo looks to be playing a pretty nameless 12 string? I know he had many but not sure what that one is.

 

[12 string]

I've lost track of how many times I've seen Leo play and I've never heard him repeat a story. Hilarious indeed!

 

[12 string]

I was wondering about that guitar too.

 

[12 string]

I have also wondered why he doesn't play Guilds.

 

[wileypickett]

A friend of mine helped auction part of Kottke's guitar collection a few years ago, which included a Guild jumbo 12-atring. The guitar was unstrung and in need of repair.

Kottke may have bought it intending to have it fixed, and just never got around to it. I recall it had a dowel inside, the purpose of which seemed to be to prop up a collapsing top.

 

[sailingshoes72]

Hilarious! Thanks for posting. I'm a longtime fan of Leo Kottke. I've only seen him once in concert, back in the late 90's, but it was a wonderful experience. He was playing Taylor guitars at the time... six and twelve string. I don't know if he had an endorsement deal or not. This was after he took some time off to let a wrist injury heal, so he may have liked the thin, sleek neck of the Taylors.

Here's a longtime favorite of mine:

 

[Westerly Wood]

Hilarious! Thanks for posting. I'm a longtime fan of Leo Kottke. I've only seen him once in concert, back in the late 90's, but it was a wonderful experience. He was playing Taylor guitars at the time... six and twelve string. I don't know if he had an endorsement deal or not. This was after he took some time off to let a wrist injury heal, so he may have liked the thin, sleek neck of the Taylors.

Here's a longtime favorite of mine:

Taylor guitars basically saved his career. That and ditching the finger picks.
Could be rumor, but I heard that Bob Taylor sent him a 12 string and Leo was blown away by being able to play the guitar without pain.
I also saw him a few times in the late 90s, and he had the 2 Kottke signature Taylors, one 6 and one 12.

I went to one of the shows with a friend who went to high school with Leo's son. I was having left wrist issues, had torn cartilage and didn't know yet. My friend wrote a letter to Leo about me and my situation. Leo wrote back to friend who gave me his letter. It was a one page typed reply. Funny too. He suggested that I should ditch guitar and pick up the trombone...

 

[Nuuska]

Leo played my F512 and he liked it - hard to say if he really liked it really or was just polite.

 

[Westerly Wood]

First time I heard Kottke play was this song:


A friend had an album and I thought it was one of the coolest songs I ever heard.

 

[gjmalcyon]

We saw him at City Winery in Philly last September - a very enjoyable concert.

 

[sailingshoes72]

Taylor guitars basically saved his career. That and ditching the finger picks.
Could be rumor, but I heard that Bob Taylor sent him a 12 string and Leo was blown away by being able to play the guitar without pain.
I also saw him a few times in the late 90s, and he had the 2 Kottke signature Taylors, one 6 and one 12.

I went to one of the shows with a friend who went to high school with Leo's son. I was having left wrist issues, had torn cartilage and didn't know yet. My friend wrote a letter to Leo about me and my situation. Leo wrote back to friend who gave me his letter. It was a one page typed reply. Funny too. He suggested that I should ditch guitar and pick up the trombone...

Great story! I hope you kept the letter. I always like hearing stories where a recording artist takes the time to correspond with with a fan about playing issues. How's the trombone working out?