Musical guest: Becky Kapell

Date: July 22, 2018
Time: 5:00 pm  to  6:00 pm

Raised in small town Minnesota, Becky moved to Portland Oregon on a whim as a young adult and began singing back-up vocals in various bands, eventually fronting her own country cover band. Along came a husband, two kids and a move back to Minnesota. “I worked full-time, raised my kids and basically forgot about music until my son started playing guitar as a teenager. After my divorce I found myself with a little more time on my hands so I picked up one of my sons guitars and began teaching myself to play for fun.” She knew only a few chords which she played repeatedly in different combinations and rhythms until much to her surprise, melodies began to emerge and then somewhat magically, lyrics attached themselves to the melodies. She recorded 12 of those songs with FullSizeRenderold friends in Portland Oregon for her first record titled For Now released in 2012.

“Even though I had been living back in Minnesota since 1996, I didn’t know much about the music scene here because I had never been a part of it so after I released For Now in 2012 I started going out to hear music to try to figure out where I fit in.” She eventually met and started playing with local guitar stalwart Paul Bergen and her song writing morphed from the folkier sound of her first record to a more guitar-driven country sound. “I’ve always loved country music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s… Johnny Cash, George Jones, Dolly Parton, The Louvin Brothers, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Skeeter Davis, Johnny Paycheck, Conway Twitty, Charley Pride, Jeannie C. Riley, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens, Willie Nelson… I love the earnestness of the words and the deceptively simple melodies and the songs I’m writingnow reflect that love. Plus I’m a sucker for the kick-ass guitar playing on so many of those old records and it’s fun to be able to hear Paul add that on my own songs.”

Becky recently celebrated the release of her second record That Certain Ache. Recorded and produced by Bergen, the record also features his signature guitar work as well as guitar and drums by Erik Koskinen who mixed the record. She plays with her band The Fat 6 across the midwest. www.beckykapell.com

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