BELLOWS FALLS-With a career spanning more than 50 years, Jorma Kaukonen has done it all.
A singer songwriter and guitar virtuoso who plays American roots music, blues, and rock, Kaukonen is one of the founders of two highly influential bands: Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. He's recorded dozens of albums, toured the world, received a Grammy award, been inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2016 he and bandmate Jack Casady were officially recognized for their work with Jefferson Airplane with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Kaukonen, at the forefront of popular rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s, is considered one of the founders of the San Francisco sound, a precursor to psychedelic rock.
And to top off all of the accolades, the Library of Congress selected Jefferson Airplane's 1967 iconic album Surrealistic Pillow - a defining album of the San Francisco sound - as one of 25 recordings to be preserved due to their significance in American sound history.
Kaukonen brings his friend and longtime music collaborator John Hurlbut with him on this summer's tour that swings by the Bellows Falls Opera House on June 19. They will perform some of a newly released album, One More Lifetime, a recording that is full of 40 years of musical history and friendship.
The album, the third by the duo, includes several classics, like Bob Dylan's "I'll Remember You" and Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty." It also includes two of Hurlbut's originals, "Day in the Country" and "Lazy Saint."
The Commons caught up with Jorma Kaukonen at his home in Ohio to talk about all the cool gear he brings on tour, his distinctive guitar technique, and his upcoming show at the Opera House. Here's an excerpt of the conversation.
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Victoria Chertok: You were born in Washington, D.C. and lived all over the world since your father served in the U.S. Foreign Service. Where are you located today?
Jorma Kaukonen: We are in Athens, a college town in southeast Ohio, about 100 miles southeast of Columbus.
V.C.: Let's start with your finger-picked-style guitar playing. How do you describe it?
J.K.: I'll try not to get too geeky. My style is a three-finger style, where I use my thumb and first two fingers on my right hand to pick and then use my third and fourth finger as support fingers at the base of guitar.
I wear a thumb pick on my thumb and close to the first joint like Reverend Gary Davis and Ian Buchanan. The finger picks look like you should wear them as a claw, but that's not how it works. It's just a hard surface at the end of your fingers. Many people use more than the two, but that's how I developed it. There are a lot of triplet clusters in my music because that is what I've got.
Roy Book Binder describes it as your left hand is what you know but your right hand is who you are. The right hand is the one that draws the sound out of the guitar. That will shape your sound.
V.C.: Interesting! Do you tour with acoustic and electric guitars? What is your gear like?
J.K.: All our acoustic guitars are plugged in. I am plugged in because that is what you have to do to be heard.
For our rig, a company called Fishman makes pickups for acoustic guitars and amps. I've been using many generations of their amplifiers for 25 years. I use it for a monitor for myself. Then you need a pickup in the guitar. I'm using a pickup made by LR Baggs called a Lyric.
V.C.: Your acoustic guitars are made by a boutique builder?
J.K.: I started playing a Gibson J50 guitar when I was a kid - I still have it, and it's awesome. I've played Martin and still own a couple.
Over last five years I've played a guitar made by David Flammang. It's a golden era for acoustic guitars today. When I first played David's guitar five years ago, it felt like the one I played when I was 19 years old. It was such a tactile sensation.
I realized that I needed two of those guitars. I'm on the road so much and acoustic guitars need to be serviced all the time. Those guitars are the same shape and style as my old Gibson J50.
V.C.: Cool! Let's talk about your summer tour and your show at Bellows Falls Opera House next month. What can the audience expect?
J.K.: John [Hurlbut] and I have been friends for 40 years. He is one of my neighbors in southeast Ohio - he lives about 25 miles from me. It's fun to rehearse at his house, because he lives right next to a train track and all of sudden the train will go by. He owned a record store in Columbus and produced a few shows for me. That is how we met.
When Covid shut everything down, my wife Vanessa kept the core staff on at our Fur Peace Ranch, where we run music classes. John was one of them.
John and I brought the guitars to the ranch, and we started having a lot of fun. We set up a bunch of gear in the library and played a few live shows; we recorded them so they became the first two records. I thought, "This is so much fun. I don't see why we shouldn't do this on the road."
What I did with Jefferson Airplane a lifetime ago is what I'm doing with John today. My job is to be a lead guitar player and make John's songs sound better.
One More Lifetime is our third release. I'm really proud of this album. I love the songs. I love the interaction between John and me. We'll be playing from all three records at the show.
V.C.: How do you construct a set list? Does it include originals and covers?
J.K.: I do my own stuff, and I construct a set with a beginning, middle, and end. When I play with John, I say "John, you pick the songs." Whatever he picks I will be fine with; some are his originals, and some are mine.
I'm not fond of the word "cover." When we started out, no one said we are doing "a cover of" such and such. In my musical world, coming of age in the '60s, I was in Jefferson Airplane with a bunch of really great writers, and they encouraged me to write songs. John draws from his vast library of really cool songs.
I will do a mixture of songs I wrote and songs that have become classics to me. Songs I learned when I was younger. I draw a lot of the music of Reverend Gary Davis. I don't play like he does, but he's been a muse and inspiration to me for most of my life.
We will do two sets, and John will join me at the end of each set.
V.C.: Tell me about your band Hot Tuna.
J.K.: I've been playing with Jack Casady since 1958. We went to the same middle school.
My sophomore year of high school I was back in D.C. and met Jack's older brother Chick and then he had a neighbor named Mike Oliveri who was playing guitar. It seemed so cool. I made my father get me a guitar and get me guitar lessons, and I learned from the guys in the neighborhood. I was 15.
V.C.: What happened next?
J.K.: Jack had been taking jazz guitar lessons for years. I found I had more in common with Jack, so we started hanging out and playing music together. We started a little band called the Triumphs in 1958-59, until I went to Antioch College. I wound up in the Philippines, where my father was stationed.
Jack switched to bass and, when we needed a bass player in 1965 for Jefferson Airplane, I knew he would be really good at whatever instrument he played. I called him up, and he came out. We've been playing together ever since.
Hot Tuna has an extensive fall tour this year. We still love the music, and we still like each other. It's amazing that we still can do this at the level that is required at our age and we have fans that still come out to see us. It's an incredible blessing for a musician our age.
People ask me "How did Hot Tuna stay together so long?" I answer, "We never had a band meeting!"
V.C.: Ha! Looking back now, how does it feel to receive a Grammy, be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and have a star?
J.K.: We didn't get into the music business for awards and accolades. When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened up there were those that pooh-poohed the whole thing. But I felt it's cool and an honor. The way they curate their exhibits is awesome - it's a class operation.
V.C.: Two of Jefferson Airplane's songs, "Volunteers" and "Let's Get Together," seem as appropriate in 2025 as they did when you wrote them. What do you think?
J.K.: Yeah, it's interesting how timely those songs are today. I agree with you. We can look at politics in the 1960s and it may seem unrealistic, but our intentions were good.
I believe that change is always possible. We've got a son and daughter, and I've talked to both of them about voting your conscience and trying to make the world a better place.
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Rays the Roof productions presents An Evening with Jorma Kaukonen at the Bellows Falls Opera House on Thursday, June 19. Joining Kaukonen will be John Hurlbut, his longtime friend and musical collaborator. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; showtime is at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets, visit bellowsfallsoperahouse.com/special-events, or call 802-463-3964 x1120.
For more information on Jorma Kaukonen, visit jormakaukonen.com or hottuna.com.
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Editor's note: Stories presented as interviews in this format are edited for clarity, readability, and space. Words not spoken by interview subjects appear in brackets.
Victoria Chertok is a contributing writer to The Commons and The Keene Sentinel. Since 2017, she has published more than 200 arts and entertainment features, interviews, and columns in both newspapers, as well as in the Brattleboro Reformer.
This Arts item by Victoria Chertok was written for The Commons.