STARPOLISH: Do you play acoustic, and have you been thinking
at all of playing slide?
CURFMAN: I play acoustic a lot
for writing, and I play slide -- not as well as I like. I started
really learning how to play slide when I was 10 or 11, and I got
pretty good at it, and then my teacher moved away. I found that
he was kind of the only person that could really teach me how to
play slide, that I could connect with. And he ended up moving away
and I was totally bummed, so I just quit. That was definitely a
screw-up on my part. But I think more and more I'll pick up slide,
and on the next tour an acoustic will be used onstage.
The Age Question
STARPOLISH: Do you hate so many people asking questions
about your age? Does being called a prodigy detract from the music?
I mean, is it a drag, or are you proud of the fact that people feel
you're playing well in advance of your years?
CURFMAN: It's cool to a certain
extent - it depends on how far it gets pushed. One of things that
is bad is…it is a great thing if you look at it from the angle that
it's something different about this situation where it's gotten
us a lot of publicity. It's just a different thing…it's a different
story, and therefore it gets paid attention to…everyone has their
thing, you know? And this is just our thing, I guess -- it's just
an interesting fact, basically. And it ends up working out as a
good thing. One of the good things about KSA [her publicists] is
that at first they sent out our record with no other info on it
-- just the bare record and "See what you think of it." And that
was the best way to do things, because then people weren't like,
"Oh yeah, let's see how this 14-year-old sounds." They didn't prejudge
anything, and it was handled how any music should be handled-- just
by listening to it. So it is a good thing, and I'd keep it how it
is just because it's given us a lot of recognition. But at the same
time, that is going to wear off, and I'm getting older - no one
can really stop that…
STARPOLISH: Yeah, the alternative is sort of bad…
CURFMAN: (Laughing) Yeah…but
it's a good thing, because now I want to be taken seriously and
I don't want people to think, "Oh, they just put her in the studio
and she's not really playing guitar." I get a lot of people asking
me that - "Do you really play guitar?" "Are you really plugged in
on stage," or "Are you really sing professionally?" And I say, "No!
How do you do that?" (laughter)
STARPOLISH: Another person wrote in asking what you think
about so many young girls becoming pop stars who aren't serious
musicians -- they don't write their own songs or play their own
instruments, but are more like entertainers. Maybe you're suffering
from that feedback, since you're being presented as something they
may not be. Any feeling about young girls becoming pop stars who
don't write their own songs, play their own instruments and, in
some instances, their vocals are so processed you can't really even
tell if they can sing?
CURFMAN: That's definitely a
whole other thing -- it still may be music, but it's in a totally
different form, and done in a totally different way. Artists like
that, we really never run into each other, because it's not a smart
business thing to do, like go on tour with each other or do things
like that. The only time I run into is if I watch it on TV…
STARPOLISH: Or talk to a journalist who asks you about
it…
CURFMAN: (Laughing) Yeah, or
turning on a radio. There's room for all. But at the same time,
there are other people I'd rather see in the spotlight, personally.
But that's my own music tastes. I would rather see B.B. King on
the cover of Rolling Stone than whoever else is on it right now.
But that's just how it goes. I don't know if it's a phase, or if
it's for good. There are just other people I'd personally rather
see getting that much attention. At the same time, I know a lot
of the people getting the attention are really hard workers.
