Chuck McDermott - Musician, Environmentalist, Board Member Folk Americana Hall of Fame

Chuck McDermott, musician, environmentalist, political staffer for the Kennedy family, and board member of the Folk Americana Hall of Fame discusses his significant career and some of the considerations for choosing the FARHOF inaugural class of inductees

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome back to What's at Risk?I'm Mike Christian. Over forty years ago,
Chuck McDermott arrived in Boston and formedan influential country group, Chuck McDermott
and Wheatstraw, which during the betterpart of that decade won over audiences and

(00:24):
music critics alike with strong original songwritingand exciting live performances. Chuck's two albums
with Wheatstraw drew critical praise from RollingStone, The New York Times, Billboard,
and others, and broadened Chuck's reachbeyond the Boston area. The late
seventies found Chuck touring from Montreal toNew Orleans, headlining venues like New York's

(00:48):
Lone Star Cafe and opening for majorrock and country acts. In recognition of
those years, Chuck was a twentyfifteen inductee into the Massachusetts Country Music Hall.
Later, Chuck moved to Los Angelesand formed the more rock oriented Chuck
McDermott Band. The group quickly movedup in the crowded LA music scene,

(01:10):
headlining at the famous Palomino Club andattracting major label interest. Early upon his
arrival in LA, Chuck met JohnStewart and began a friendship and musical collaboration
that continued throughout John's life. Chuck'scareer took a turn away from the full
time pursuit of music, devoting himselfto energy and environmental policy issues, working

(01:32):
in government, the private sector,in finance, and even working as a
political staffer for the Kennedy family.Through those years, he never really set
down either his pen or his guitar. His attention is now turned back to
his music, and he recently releasedtwo albums, thirty eight Degrees in Raining
and Road Tested. Chuck, thankyou so much for joining us. I

(01:55):
really appreciate it. I think agreat way to get started is maybe just
tell our listeners a little bit aboutyour very eclectic background. Yeah, I,
without any pre planning, have beentoured a very nonlinear career path,
Mike. I started playing guitar asa kid, as I got my first

(02:19):
guitar when I was nine, andit became and remains probably my best friend.
When I began, I caught thefolk music boom that was in its
full glory in the mid to latefifties and early sixties, and then by
the time the Beatles came along,I knew three chords so I could get

(02:43):
together with somebodies and we could takea stab at when I saw her standing
there. And played in high schoolbands all through high school, and then
got more serious about it when Iwas in college, to the point where
after my sophomore year, I tooka year what was intended to be a
year's leave of absence, that turnedinto a fourteen year music career for me,

(03:07):
where I had a band and startedout here in New England, eventually
moved to California, you know,got some regional success, and in my
California days, we made it tothe point of playing some of the top
venues in that competitive music scene.But I also met a guy named John

(03:29):
Stewart who had been in the KingstonTrio, which are the people I first
got my teeth with and whose catalogI knew well, and John and I
became friends, and then we becamemusical partners. So I had this call
it apprenticeship with John for about fouror five years, and then during that

(03:51):
time got married. We started havingchildren, and I took those responsibilities seriously
and couldn't support a family on mymusical income, and so started doing some
other things and got involved in energyissues through a good childhood friend of mine

(04:13):
who was back here in Boston,and so my first day job at age
thirty four was with a company calledCitizens Energy Corporation, which was founded by
this friend of mine, Joe Kennedy, who was Robert Kennedy's oldest son,
and aimed at helping disadvantaged energy consumersin New England and elsewhere. And that

(04:36):
was actually really an exciting period oftime and business adventure. Shortly into that,
Tip O'Neil, our long serving congressmanfrom Aaron Boston, announced his retirement,
and Joe decided to run for thatseat, which prior to Tip had
been occupied by young John Kennedy,his uncle and his grandfather Honeyfits before that,

(05:03):
her great grandfather, I should say, and so he ran very much
by default. I became his campaigndirector. Shockingly at Kennedy won in Massachusetts,
and I accompanied him down to Washingtonas his chief of staff for his
first couple of terms. And therewas an opportunity to join the government affairs

(05:26):
staff for company Waste Management Incorporated,which was the world's largest environmental services company
at the time. So I wentto work with them for eight years and
then had the opportunity to come backhere to Boston and join up with some
friends from the Citizen Energy Days andother activities, and we formed a venture

(05:46):
capital firm to invest in what cameto be called clean tech startups, so
sustainable, renewable energy and other technologyinitiatives. Did that for twenty two years,
and then retired from that around twentysixteen twenty seventeen and turned back to

(06:06):
my music. So since then I'vedone a couple I've done three albums and
started performing again in earnest, andthat's been a wonderful, really rewarding capstone
to what we might call a ratherodd career. Eclectic to beach, very

(06:29):
sure. But so you know,I loved when I was younger, a
long time ago, and speaking inthe folk vein, I love Jon Stewart
and I remember his album California Bloodlineswas one of my favorite. Yeah,
what was it like playing with them? That must have been quite an experience.
Yeah, it was really great.I mean when I connected up with
him, he was just coming offone of his biggest hits in his long

(06:54):
career, which was a song calledGold that had been produced by Lindsay Buckingham
and featured the vocals of Stevie Nicks, and this was nineteen eighty ish eighty
eighty one. We became great friends, and John was a very three dimensional,
interesting man. He was a historybuff, he was a political junkie.

(07:15):
He had, throughout his musical life, had been trying to tell a
series of stories about America and itspeople. So we became very very good
friends. We were musical partners.I mean, he really included me.
He gave me co writing or coproduction credits on various of the albums.

(07:39):
I had these various sessions where itsme and Linda Ronstadt singing background harmonies,
and one day it was me,Linda Ronstad and Lindsay Buckingham. But also
just the joy of doing shows withthese people whose music I so enjoyed.
And I missed John to this daybecause of the quality he brought to my

(08:03):
life as a friend. Yeah,that's awesome. That's saying a lot a
friend. So we're talking on thisshow and maybe a couple others after this
one about the Folk Americana Roots Hallof Fame, which is based in the
Wang Theater in Boston, and Chuck, I know you're on the board of
that, which is sort of arelatively new organization but is now having its

(08:28):
inaugural class of inductees coming up,and you were pretty involved in that.
Maybe you can just tell our listenershow did you get involved with the Folk
America ConA Hall of Fame otherwise knownas Farhoff for short. We'll use that
as we continue to talk here today. My involvement, well, I got
a call out of the blue inprobably twenty sixteen or twenty seventeen from one

(08:52):
Joe Spaulding, the long serving executivedirector of the Box Center in the Wang
Theater, et cetera, and hesaid, Chuck, I've kind of followed
the arc of your career over theyears, and I'm working on an idea

(09:13):
I'd like you to bounce off ofyou. He had an idea for a
project that he thought would be goodfor the Box Center, could be a
legacy project for himself, and thatcould be good for the city of Boston.
And he kind of started there sayingthat he felt that Boston had as
much of a claim as being oneof the petri dishes that gave rise to

(09:39):
the folk music boom of the fiftiesand sixties, but then also has been
one of the most supportive audience communitiesfor rock and pop and roots music through
the decades, and that has thoughtwas there should be a museum or a

(10:03):
hall of fame or something that makesthat the role that Boston has played and
a rather specific and enshrines it andbecomes a place where people can learn about
that history, and so it canhighlight the work of artists from the past,

(10:24):
artists in the present, and hopefullyinspire artists of the future. I
suggested to Joe that we try tolearn from and perhaps even emulate some of
the entities that had been long lastingand enduring that touched on some of these
same things. So that would bethe history of the Riemann Auditorium and the

(10:48):
Country Music Hall of Fame and thingslike that, the other halls of Fame,
obviously, but having a live musiccomponent to it, because he has
you know, he had jurisdiction overthe rank laying in the Schubert Theaters that
making live performance a part of it, Mountain Stage, and and you know,

(11:09):
various of these long running programs andactivities etown and of course the Grandalled
Opera and things like that all couldbe things that we could learn from.
Arguably, so that became part ofthe conversation in our far off board discussions.
I was perhaps one of the voicessaying, well, at some point,

(11:33):
if we're a Hall of Fame,we have to start inducting people actually
in the Hall of Fame, right, exactly right. And so, in
a complete collapse of good judgment,I volunteered to kind of research what that

(11:54):
might look like for the board,and and so I I, through Joe,
we had met over time. Wemet with the heads of the Country
Music Hall of Fame, the BluesMusic Hall of Fame, the Blue International
Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, theWitty Gut three Center, the Afro American
Music Museum newly formed in Nashville,which was impressive, and we learned a

(12:18):
lot from that. And then Idid research on how they all approached nomination
and induction and turned out everybody hadtheir own amongst those halls of fame had
their own different system and result.So how many categories do you create?

(12:45):
And then by February or so oftwenty twenty three, the committee came back
with a set of recommendations on thesetopics, categories for induction, nomination process,
an election process, and then takingthe advice of our predecessor music halls

(13:09):
of fame that are an inaugural classshould be a bigger class so that you
can get to some of the mostobvious inductees and get that established right at
the beginning, and then moving forward, honors smaller classes each year as you

(13:33):
work through all the wonderful artists whodeserve inclusion. So that's what got us
to where we know are facing ourfirst induction ceremony, and it really is
a veritable who's who of what ofthose of us that are fans of folk
and traditional music. You would expectto see Dylan and Joan Biaz and Peter

(13:58):
Paul and Mary and the Birds inthe band, and you know it could
go on. There's twenty plus,maybe almost thirty inductees, is that correct?
Twenty eight. That's a special award, the Paul Robson Award, So
something that not dissimilar to the BaseballHall of Fame or any other Hall of
Fame, where you have performers peopleor players in the case of baseball,

(14:18):
but also some key people that helppromote the music and help promote the industry
and help promote others within the industry, right, which is a great way
to do it. Do you seea common theme across the inductees. Is
there some criteria there that maybe issimilar to all these individuals other than just

(14:39):
being great songwriters. Yeah, Ido. I think that, and I
think this will persist going forward forsome period of time. But it's about
much more than just record sales,you know, not who had the biggest
hits. It's kind of who hadthe most profound impact audiences, the genres

(15:03):
in which they participated on, othermusicians, you know, who were monumental
influencers of others. And I thinkthat's the common threat that it was.
It's it's about more than just themusic. It's what can music mean?
And who are the people who reallyplumbed the meaning of music culturally, spiritually,

(15:30):
politically, personally in ways that werethat have been enduring. And if
you look at this group, notonly through their lyrics, but also many
through their actions were focused on socialchange, environmental change, freedom, diversity.

(15:50):
It's you know, and you thinkabout March on Washington, many of
them were there at that. Isthat a criteria or was that a criteria
in your decision making? It wasa big part of the conversation we didn't
set it out as an explicit criteria. I mean, and we may over
time, but we kept it asgeneral in the kind of official criteria as

(16:15):
how long have you been in theindustry and you know that some things like
that, eligibility requirements. But indiscussing who we felt deserved induction, it
always included these conversations about impact andmeaning. Yeah, I mean that is

(16:38):
folk music, right. We tellour stories through music in general, but
probably folk music in particular, andmany of those stories are about cultural change
and impact and society. Yes,take an artist like Bonnie Ray, let's
say who you know her music didexplicitly tackle let's say civil rights as she

(17:03):
used or something like that. Sheused her fame and notoriety, no nukes.
You know, she did a lotto try to help financially support the
legacy blues artists who meant so muchto her and whatnot. We kind of
got left out of the economic mainstreamof the popularity of that genre of music,

(17:25):
and they were getting old and infirmedand you know, didn't have access
to healthcare, etc. So shedid all of these things leveraging her notoriety
and popularity and the respect she enjoyedit from her fan base to accomplish those
types of social goals, and Ithink that's true. You know, the

(17:45):
same could be said of James Taylor, Willie Nelson, you know, some
of the others in that category,but it might not have been unlike let's
say, you know, a BobDylan, Odetta, Pete Seeger what do
you go? Three were quite explicitlythat was in the themes of their music.

(18:06):
We felt the contribution was as greator comparable by those who used the
spotlight they could shine to accomplish thesame goals? Right? And did it?
When you went through the back andforth on trying to pick the inaugural
class, were there any points ofcontention? Did did you have to get

(18:30):
into deep debate about any particular musicianor were there some that were left off
that maybe people didn't agree about.I mean, you could have picked another
twenty probably pretty easily and justified it. So and of course you have you
gonna have annual inductions from this pointforward, so there's plenty of time and

(18:51):
room for others to be included.But how'd the process go? Yeah?
So I think the biggest challenge wasdown selection because as you as you mentioned
I mean, there are a lotof people who are deserving of this distinction,
and so you know, how doyou weigh the relative impact or importance

(19:15):
of one artists versus and others isa highly subjective thing, so we you
know, I will say there wasa great degree of cooperation and goodwill and
committee amongst the members in trying towead through that stuff. Yeah, I
think you guys did a pretty goodjob of picking. Frankly, you can

(19:37):
always argue about you can nitpick incertain areas, but I think no one's
gonna no one's going to really arguetoo much about that that initial group.
What do you see, Chuck asthe future of far Off of the Folk
Americana Roots Hall of Fame. There'sa big education component to it. Obviously,
will continue to vote on on additionalmembers of the Hall of Fame and

(20:03):
promote music. But how do yousee it maybe evolving just from your own
perspective, you know, I thinkabout it on a couple of different axis.
I mean, one, as abusiness entity, what is the future
of Firehoff. I think we arecapable of building a collection and a very

(20:26):
living sort of experience for people whodecide to come through the doors that educates
and delights folks who are interested inthese genres of music, interested in the
history of Boston, writ large,the cultural history of Boston. These are

(20:51):
amazing theaters, they are works ofart themselves, and it's a very creative
way to better utilize, you know, the hours those doors can be opened.
So I think that is as abright future. I think that as
a showcase for these genres of musicand the musicians who make the music and

(21:18):
are making music now, is veryvery rich. As Joe Spalding tells that
it is Neil Young who suggested tohim when Joe was running this idea before
Neil, before one of his performancesat the Way, Neil Young said,
why don't you do it right here? Look at this big, beautiful theater,
and Joe, we all love thisplace our this is one of our

(21:45):
favorite venues to play in the world. I think it makes for a really
great experience to combine a living performancecenter with a showcase for this history that
we're able to provide. And theappetite for artists and their families and their

(22:07):
archives to cooperate and share things withus is proving to be very rich.
So I think that as a visitorexperience, it can be a really memorable
thing. And I'm with Joe Spauldingon the topic that ours heal and we

(22:30):
need this. We need every possibleplate spinning that we can that underscores man's
humanity to man is supposed to man'sinhumanity to man, and the things that
bind us and those things in ourculture that we can be proud of.
So I think that there's many waysin which this can be a success.

(22:56):
Yeah, no question. And let'snot forget there's there's an other generation or
two coming in well behind you andI for that matter, that that do
like this type of music, andthere's so many fresh and new and diverse,
you know, artists that are comingup that are focused on on folk
music and what Maybe it's a littledifferent than the folk music that we grew

(23:19):
up with, but that traditional musicthat's not going away, and music as
a way to you know, geta message across and to educate is still
there. It's always been there,So I think, you know, I'd
be hopeful about the future of farHaf for sure. Yeah, I really
share that, you know, II since getting back into this over the

(23:41):
past five or six years, I'vebeen a participant in Americana fests and Folk
Alliance conferences as a performer and otherthings, and there their regional gatherings,
and so I'm sort of this ripVan winkled dude, right right. It
was awakened long sleep to see thiswhole generation of twenty thirty forty something year

(24:04):
olds who are betting the betting theircareers, they're making their they're trying to
build a life around playing this typeof music, you know, roots folk
based music, and they're excellent.I mean, there's so much talent out
there that is not the issue,and the issue is showcasing it and helping

(24:27):
them connect to the audiences that aregoing to be responsive to their music.
And that's one of the big thingsthat Joe wanted to do accomplish and I
know as a board we want toaccomplish is to be a showcase for the
next generation. Yeah, that's forsure. Well, last question, Chuck
you have speaking of Van Winkle,you wake up every thirty forty years and

(24:49):
do an album, but lately you'vebeen doing them every other year. So
you've had two albums in the lasttwo or three years. Wrote Tested as
your most recent one. And here'sthe thing about America. I think the
one right before it, what's nextfor you. I have a number of
songs that I've written over time thathave not yet appeared on an album that

(25:11):
I'm thinking about how I might haveapproach recording and releasing some of those,
and then as a songwriter the funas he's writing your next song or your
next batch of songs. I'm goingto just keep doing this as long as
I you know, I have thephysical equipment to do it and can sing

(25:33):
and play. And if you writesongs, at least for me, I
like to get out and try themout on folks from time to time,
so I'll be looking to perform.That's that's awesome. I'm sure you can
continue playing. Some of these peoplewere inducting into the Hall of Fame or
even older than you, Chuck,and they're still out there touring and playing
and writing songs. So I thinkyour future is bright. Thank you.

(25:57):
Right, Oh, listen, we'vebeen talking to Chuck McDermot. Chack,
thanks so much for your insights,especially on the process of voting for this
new this first and class of inducteesinto FARHAF. So thank you very much.
Really, appreciate it my pleasure.Thanks for including me lately. Ly

(26:18):
lay across my big Grasbebe, layLe lay across my big Braisebbe. Well,

(26:41):
that's all for this week. I'mMike Christian inviting you to join us
again next week on What's at Risk. Also check out our podcast at Wbznewsradio
dot iHeart dot com. What's onyour mind? Send us your thoughts,
comments and questions to What's at Riskat gmail dot com. That's one word,

(27:04):
What's at Risk at gmail dot com. Thank you. A big thank
you to our producer, Ken Carberryof Chart Productions