Entrancing melodies flow out of a harp-sounding instrument, the notes reverberating and mingling with the next set of liquid twangs. The instrument is a kora, hailing from West Africa and traditionally made from half a giant gourd, animal hide, and 21 nylon strings attached to an upright neck. In his living room on a late November morning, Kings Beach resident Peter Joseph Burtt played around on the kora upon request (from yours truly). As Burtt, 51, deftly pulled and plucked the strings, the room filled with a series of cascading notes that sounded both familiar and foreign.
As Burtt likes to say, “A good song makes its own gravy.” One of his most recent musical endeavors has been collaborating with four local players — Zeb Early on guitar, Todd Holway on keyboards, Mike Adamo on drums, Miles Kiechler on bass, and Burtt on vocals, kora, rhythm guitar, and mbira (an African thumb piano). The band, Peter Joseph Burtt and the Kingtide, combines the mesmerizing sounds of Burtt’s West African instrumentals with jamming soul, blues, and funk influences. Over the past three years, the group has performed locally and throughout California, often opening for the funk supergroup Dragon Smoke, and released a debut album in 2012. With the new year approaching comes several exciting projects for the Kingtide: producing and releasing a second studio album, tentative plans for a show in Tokyo, and a home turf performance at the Crystal Bay Casino on Jan. 10.
Raised in New Hampshire, Burtt has been writing and performing music for most of his life. He cherishes his early memories of living with his grandmother and her siblings and singing Irish folk songs together, reel-to-reel recording ballads like The Minstrel Boy and The Wind That Shakes the Barley to send to cousins and uncles fighting in Vietnam, and later playing drums and singing in bands in his teens and 20s. In 1987, Burtt began classes at San Francisco State and City College of San Francisco for his graduate studies in English, African culture, drums, and folklore. As he poured himself into his work, he craved a deeper, more authentic experience. So in 1991 he traveled to the source to learn about the music, oral history, and cultural traditions of Africa.
“My focus was finding connections between rhythm and language and text, and there’s levels upon levels,” he said, noting that he did a couple different trips over the following four years through Ghana and the Gambia, and Zimbabwe in southern Africa. “I played with classic musicians and saw how music functioned in their lives. I saw music used in possession rituals as well as birthing ceremonies.”
Burtt studied under several musicians in Africa. He became especially fascinated with the mbira, a handheld instrument with piano key-like metal pieces played with your thumbs, and has continually used it for performance and avid songwriting. While living in Ghana he was introduced to the kora and immediately began his longstanding study of the instrument, spending a majority of his time in Africa in the kora’s native country of the Gambia.
He learned traditional West African kora pieces and how to build the instrument, even crafting one for himself and one for his teacher. What he took away from his experiences, though, was more personal than technique.
“What everyone told me there was it was important to make music that made sense within my own culture; leave Africa to the Africans,” he said. “I recreated the kora and added [five] different strings to it. I added different bass strings so I can play in different keys and make chord changes and allow myself to have to do less tuning on stage.”
Bringing Burtt’s African-meets-American blues and soul music into a band setting has been a dynamic experience for the members of the Kingtide. Guitarist Early was immediately drawn to Burtt’s music when he first saw him perform in 2011. “We create a sound that I feel is unique and original and that keeps me interested and excited to play with these guys,” Early said. “A soulful blues band laced with West African spice.”
Peter Joseph Burtt and the Kingtide recorded its album, Bone to Stone, almost completely live in the studio, and the group will approach the upcoming recording sessions in a similar way. All the new tracks will also be recorded on analog tapes and then converted to digital for the mixing phases. “We like to get a timeless sound, and the tape gives you that space that you feel as well as hear,” Burtt said.
The kora can be very challenging to play as it requires constant tuning — all 21, or in Burtt’s case, 26, nylon strings and the animal hide stretch and move. Burtt hopes to address some of those issues when he sets out to build his next kora, and is considering using steel strings and a solid body. By adapting the kora, he can easily bust out some of his favorites — like songs by The Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan — and make them uniquely his own.
“I don’t want to play music that is disposable; the people that like our band like what we do because they can recognize and feel it’s authentic,” he said. “No matter what genre you work in, it’s important to learn the classics and the traditions that have gone before you. As an artist, you have to take it somewhere personal and contribute to that lexicon.”
Info: peterjosephburtt.com
