ARTIE TRAUM

folk singer-guitarist with Happy and Artie Traum

“Well, I think it’s a two-part answer. I think the first record I ever bought was a Pete Seeger album. It might have been ‘Live at Carnegie Hall,’ but I’m not sure. But very soon after that I bought Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Howlin’ in the Moonlight.’ I remember buying that one and putting it on the turntable and thinking, ‘I can’t believe that somebody can make these kinds of sounds.’ It was a great record and just as funky as can be.

“I think those records have everything to do with where I am. My early record collection kind of recounts where I’m at musically these days. I bought Pete Seeger, then Howlin’ Wolf and then I think I bought this one called ‘Howard Roberts Is a Dirty Guitar Player,’ which is a whole other world. And I also really loved the Modern Jazz Quartet in those days. Musically, I was all over the map.”