The Entertainment Guide
Cover Story

Duo takes music, visual art on the road.

By Jeremy Alexander, Staff Writer

It's safe to say that misdirection is a technique often used in live music.

Numerous bands, or solo artists, will exploit the visual to distract from the audible. At one time or another, we've all seen the bands that put more focus on costumes, fireworks and movie projectors than actually learning how to play. Some do it for kitsch or camp and others do it to hide outright incompetence.

Whatever you do, however, don't assume Paul Curreri and Andy Friedman are trying to put on some circus sideshow.

While Curreri is a country/blues musician and Friedman is a visual artist and they tour together, they will let you know quickly that no gimmickry is involved.

The two perform separately and as Curreri points out, it's no different than two different bands touring together.

"I really don't think much about it," he said by phone from Charlottesville, Va.

The pair are set to perform at the Thirsty Hippo June 18.

Curreri grew up listening to Billy Joel and the Beach Boys and began writing songs on piano when he was 9. It was a bit later in life, however, when he found a new live.

"I picked up the guitar in college," he said. "I first started listening to standard issue blues bands. You listen to Joni Mitchell and you see three names on the record and then you go buy their records…its branches out from there."

"I started to get into it. As the guitar opened up a little more, I began to think about how certain notes are songs. I would listen to songs and think, "Why does it make me feel this way? If I play it, will I feel that way? It probably wouldn't, but I would find how made me feel and explore that. I know this sounds abstract ," he added with a laugh.

After hopping around New York and then Knoxville, Tenn., Curreri settled in Charlottesville and began to improve his craft. He fell in love and worked on learning to play guitar with his hands sans pick.

"I started to get my act together and that's act as in life," he chuckled.

After playing mainly in Virginia and around the country opening the for Kelly Joe Phelps, who produced Curreri's latest album, he's been on the road nearly continuously for 15 months with long time friend Friedman.

Friedman, who was once a contributing cartoonist to The New Yorker, also believes in the importance of art, though his is in a different medium than Curreri's.

Friedman's half of the show consists of showing slides of his drawings and photographs and telling stories about them.

"I have a lot of friends who are cartoonists," Friedman said by phone from Brooklyn, N.Y. "I crack a lot of jokes during the show and they said 'You're still doing cartoons, just not drawing them.'"

Friedman tried his hand at painting years ago. After spending three years working on a single piece and then accidentally ruining it when applying a final coat of varnish, he decided to try something else for a while.

"If you're working on building a house and you're putting your all into it and then watch a tornado take it before you can live in it, you might not want to go build another house right away," he said.

These days, Friedman said he doesn't regret the experience at all. After all, it led to him to what he's doing now.

"I want to get in a car and drive around and take Polaroid photos," he said. "There's no jail in life. If you want out of jail, then break out. For that reason, I was glad it happened, though not at the time. I learned from it. I learned about life and how to live it."

Curreri agrees that while touring across the country can be a grind, it also opens the door to new experiences.

"I really enjoy those days where we have the time to enjoy where we're going instead of hauling ass between shows because we booked them too far apart," he said. "We meet beautiful people and see beautiful things and the experience can seep into that evening's playing."

Though both want to take a small break this summer, Friedman to get back into painting and Curreri to write songs for a movie soundtrack, they're not giving up the life on the road any time soon.

"I can only stop if I can afford to stop," Curreri said. "I also get really bored really fast. It's just keep going, keep going, keep going."

"It has never crossed my mind to stop," Friedman said. "We'll never end this. I love it…I like to hit the studio and then take it around and look people in the eye. Hanging it up in the gallery isn't the same. Seeing the reactions of people is my gallery.

"I can't foresee myself stopping unless I become a river boat captain," he joked.