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Genres
by Brad Fitch
Over the past months some listeners have told me they area bit confused as
to how to define the style of music Kathy and I play. They have asked Is it
cowboy music, country music, folk music or what? I have even been called a
John Denver imitator.
I enjoy playing several kinds of music, and as a musician have had the
privilege of performing with different bands and for various audiences in
several musical genres. In order to stay employed as a performer, I have had
to adapt my set lists to the desires of the customer. Over the years I have
performed everything from mellow background guitar instrumentals to rock and
roll dance music.
 I
primarily think of myself as a folk singer. I have been playing and writing
in the folk style since first picking up the guitar as a kid.
Although my first formal guitar instruction was in the classical format,
when my lessons were over I applied what I had learned to the finger-picking
styles of the singer/songwriters I admired. Some of my earliest paying gigs
were performing in an outdoor restaurant, where I would sing and accompany
myself on my acoustic guitar. American folk music encompasses such a broad
range of expression, from whimsical novelty songs to those with serious
political or spiritual messages. Much of what I have written over the years,
as well as what I have co-written with my wife Kathy, I would categorize as
folk style. My first solo album, Take Me Away, is mostly modern folk.
I have always loved bluegrass music, and though I have occasionally sat in
with some terrific bluegrass musicians, I ve never been a regular member of
a working bluegrass band. Part of this is that I do not consider myself to
be a fast enough lead guitar picker. I have written some bluegrass songs in
the past and my love for this genre shows up occasionally in our recordings
in songs like Another Seven Dawns and My Old Buddy which are on our We Live
in Paradise album.
To me, cowboy music is folk music. I am speaking of the genuine music of the
American cowboy rather than the Hollywood B Movie or Tin Pan Alley style of
cowboy music that became popular in the 1930s and 40s. I have enjoyed cowboy
music since I was a small boy and became quite influenced by this genre
during my teen-age years. Since then, I have included cowboy songs in most
of my set lists, no matter where I have performed. It s fascinating how the
occasional cowboy song fits in whether I am doing a country gig, a folk gig,
a campfire sing-along gig or even a John Denver tribute gig. (I remember
once hearing John Denver say that he considered himself a western artist
rather than a country artist.) I have even performed Ghost Riders in the Sky
in a rock and roll setting. Adaptations in the rhythm are all it takes.
Kathy and I enjoy participating in cowboy music and poetry gatherings
whenever we can. We have performed at several of these around the country
and we enjoy meeting the audiences and other performers. Our Horses, Hay and
Leather album featured our original cowboy and western songs. Being a poet
as well as a singer, Kathy has developed a fan base of her own from our
appearances at these festivals.
For several years I performed with a country dance band called Fitch and
Chips and later Black Canyon Express. Our album Black Canyon Express was
pure country. I have had a long history of country music influences in my
life. Country music draws the widest audience and diversity of people of any
other style I have performed. Several of the songs I have written, or
co-written with Kathy can be categorized as country songs.
During the 1990s and into the early 2000s I was part of a band called The
Elktones. Each of the four members of that band came from a different
musical background, which was apparent in our performances. We usually
performed round-robin type sets, passing the lead singing duties from one
performer to the next. Within 20 minutes of listening to The Elktones
audiences would hear blues, country, folk and rock. One reviewer of The
Elktones Small Town album labeled my song Tone-Deaf Muse folk-rock.
I also have written quite a number of nautical-flavored songs. I don t often
perform them, though a few have found their way into some of my albums.
These songs come from my time in the Coast Guard, living by the ocean. I
hope to record more of these some day.
Lastly, I want to deal with the issue of performing John Denver s music. I
am a fan of not only John Denver s music, but of the things he stood for,
the causes he championed and the positive influence he made on so much of
the world. John Denver was among the singer/songwriters I admired when I was
first playing guitar and writing songs myself. In performing his songs, I
hope to help keep his music and his memory alive. In fact, our John Denver
tribute concerts are some of the most well-attended shows we have ever
performed. However, I am not a John Denver imitator. Yes, I do bear somewhat
of a physical resemblance to him, but trying to replace or resurrect him is
not at all what I am interested in. Last year I attended a concert by one of
these imitators. This guy replicated John Denver s movements, manner of
speaking and performed the songs exactly as John Denver did, verbatim. I
found it a bit eerie. I prefer to honor John by interpreting his songs in a
way that honors, rather than copies him.
The bottom line is that I am a musician, and I consider this to be my
life s calling. Whether it s folk, western, bluegrass, country, or any other
type of music, I enjoy writing songs, playing my guitar and singing. As long
as a song brings enjoyment, peace or understanding in others, I don t care
what style label is placed on it.
Thanks for asking.
Brad
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 I
started writing poetry when I was young girl. I loved to capture my travels
and different experiences in prose. When I met Brad I never thought I would
be writing songs with him. Several months after I moved to Colorado I wrote
a poem for him when he was in Hawaii ,and when he returned he loved it and
said let's put it to music. That was our first collaboration. The poem is
now the song "24 Hours". Now as we
travel or I am touched by an experience I will write a poem and we will come
together to put it to music. I usually will have an idea of either the
melody line or the chorus line and Brad takes it from there. Some of our
songs we end up writing together as I will get a poem written and we need to
tweak it to fit the music line that comes to Brad. As we do that we exchange
ideas and see what flows not only with the melody but what we are wanting to
express in our songs.
All of the songs I have written are based on experience.
"Reverse4 Bar Reverse 4 " is a song
about a calf that I helped raise on the ranch in Wyoming that holds this
brand. My responsibility was to feed this little guy twice a day, noon and
evening. Many nights I would wrap him up in my old barn coat and as he'd
rest his head on my lap I would sing him to sleep. People often ask about
why I named the calf Hafiz. My answer is Hafiz was a Persian Saint and I
wanted to give him a powerful name to help with his healing.
"Mother
Natures Scream" was written in Hawaii. Brad and I had gone out to
visit his brother and family on Oahu. They had had some serious rainfall and
the rivers were swelling their banks. As they made their way to the ocean,
they were cleaning up after mans' poor farming and refuse habits dragging
the debris to the ocean. While these rains were happening a sewage leak on
the other side of the island deemed most of the waters around the island
uninhabitable due to refuse and bacteria now browning the waters of this
beautiful land. We were unable to go anywhere to swim safely on the whole
island and the thought of being 2,500 miles into the ocean and man creating
such pollution was devastating to me. This song is about the hapless way in
which many treat the land.
"Mighty Ponderosa"
was inspired by Bob Buford our friend and record producer. He had suggested
we start to write songs about Estes Park and the National Park around us for
a project he was thinking of doing. That afternoon I looked out the window
at the beautiful Ponderosa trees and started writing a poem about these
mighty trees and all they have offered us.
"We
Live in Paradise" was inspired when Brad and I went for a hike up
behind a hillside near our home. As we made our way up the steep terrain we
came to a beautiful open meadow filled with wild flowers and an expanse of
mountain views that would take your breath away. I looked at Brad and said
"We live in Paradise, that sounds like a song." The song was born on that
hillside and Brad took the poem moved some words around added some flavors
of his own and it became the title song of our last CD.
"Love
is in the Land" was written in the car as we made our way to Boulder
one day. As we were driving I looked across the open meadow at horses on the
hillside and I drifted into thinking about the life of a rancher and the
hard work it takes to live from the land and raise livestock for a living.
As most ranchers don't raise horses other than for driving cattle, the
horses on the hillside were changed to cattle. Writer's privilege? The
ranchers and farmers of our country are a hard working dedicated bunch of
folks who put in long hours to provide us with the food we put on our
tables. Their love of wide open spaces and the weather which shows on their
faces is sign of the love of their work. I have deep respect for the men and
women who ranch and farm in this country and this song speaks to this.
"Montana Out Of His
Bones" was written about a friend of ours who grew up as a ranch boy
in Montana. It is based on the stories of his life that he has shared with
me and his talent as a world champion cowboy yodeler and a great whistler.
You should have seen the look on his face the first time I sang the song to
him.
I feel blessed to be able to take my poetry and bring it to the world
through collaborating with my husband Cowboy Brad. It is a delight for me to
be living this dream of expression through music with the one I love.
Thanks for listening,
Kathy
About Kathy...
Singer/songwriter Kathy Fitch began writing poetry as
a young girl. She has worked as a wrangler and horse trainer, and has
held certification as a therapeutic riding instructor. When she s not
entertaining, Kathy works in the holistic medical field. Kathy has lived
on ranches and has worked at liveries in both east and west of the
divide. She now resides in Colorado, where she finds inspiration for her
compositions. Kathy and her husband Brad have recorded three CDs
together featuring their original music. They have opened for Rex Allen,
Jr., Baxter Black, Mike Logan, Patty Clayton and Ken Overcast and have
performed in the John Denver Memorial Concert at the Windstar Land
Conservancy in Aspen, Colorado. They play approximately 120 gigs each
year.
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