The Hot Spot

Since 1998 Mark Karan has been touring with offshoots of The Grateful Dead including The Other Ones, Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum and as lead guitarist for Bob Weir’s Ratdog. He also records and tours with his own band Jemimah Puddleduck (with drummer John Molo) when he’s not on the road with Ratdog.

“We LOVE playing music for you and can't do it without you... so THANK YOU! WE are connected!”

Ratdog is playing a double-billed tour with String Cheese Incident this summer. What do you look forward to in working with them?

I haven't actually heard the Cheese in quite a while but I've heard good things about the band from several friends... and the whole sorta traveling circus party experience sounds like a blast! We've done a few things together. We shared a bill a few years ago on new year’s eve and more recently we were all involved with the "Comes a Time" celebration of Jerry's life, but we haven't really gotten a chance to play much together. They seem like great guys. I'm hoping for some musical "cross pollination", to hear some new music and I guess I'm just game for whatever other surprises the summer brings. CheeseDogs abound!

What’s life like on the tourbus?

Pretty mundane actually. I don't wanna burst any bubbles but it's mostly about playing video games in the rear lounge and TV or the occasional deep discussion in the front area. There's a bit o' beer and whatnot consumed, sometimes some pretty good food after the show - when we're lucky! I read in my bunk a fair amount. We find ways to pass the time, but a lot of the bus travel is late-night so we don't really wind up living there. We do call it our home, but it winds up being a way to get from point A to point B more than anything.

Tell us about your best or worst summer job.

I've had some crummy jobs but not necessarily during summer. I love summer, so I've tried to have good summers whenever possible. Hhmmmm... Worst would be some of the weddings and BS parties I played ages ago. Tuxes in the hot sun! No fun!

The best summer job? That's easy! That'd be all the summer's I’ve spent since 1998 when I did my first tour with The Other Ones, and every summer since then. I've been absolutely blessed being able to travel the country, sometimes the world, and play pretty much whatever feels right, for people that genuinely love what we're doin' up there. Add the amazing songbook we get to play from, the history behind the whole thing, the personal/spiritual gratification of that kind of searching and exposing of oneself… the level of acceptance/encouragement and... well, that’s a great summer job!

What would we see on the Mark Karan Reality Show?

I don’t know. I’d like to see people lengthen their attention spans and deepen that which fascinates them somehow. We've turned into an instant gratification, fast food, perfectly repaired and packaged music kind of world. We have way too many ways to stay in contact so we never actually have to connect for real anymore. Sharing ideas and feelings leads to more connection and I feel like that's what's missing from life a lot of times.

Maybe it'd be some kind of show that sets up a reality forum for people from really differing walks of life to be asked to exchange ideas and feeling honestly about whatever's really important to them... and they have to really listen to one another. I don't what the commercial hook would be. Again, I don't really know about a TV show...

Pick an issue and tell us why it’s important to you.

This winds up being an extension of what I was talking about in that last question. Rather than separate out any single issue I believe life's all about connection. The war in Iraq, the immigration situation, capital punishment, the ecology, health care... whatever issue you want to talk about - and they're ALL important, to ALL of us, comes down to human connection or lack of it for me. As a human/global community we need to come together and know one another... really know one another... and care about one another... now! As fellow humans, we need not to define ourselves by our different ideologies or races or financial backgrounds or whatever defines us that isn’t about being connected, but rather by the simple truth that all people are real people... just like us!

We have a choice about who to be. If we choose compassion, empathy, caring, kindness EVERY TIME we get a better world... a better life.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

No idea! If you'd asked me five years ago I would not have said I'd be where I am. I don't bother to even really try to have a plan anymore…one foot in front of the other seems to work ok though.

LINKS

Mark Karan.com

Ratdog.com

Photos courtesy of shotlivephoto.com.