Turkey Hollow: FAQ


	Tom: What is that odd looking instrument that you play?
	It is really just an electric bass with a radical new design. It is called a Steinberger. The designer, Ned Steinberger set out to build a guitar using a particular blend of carbon and plastic that he believed had positive acoustical properties with the added benefit of being fairly indestructible. His first efforts were much too heavy so he went back to the drawing board and found ways of reducing the weight of the instrument by redesigning it from the ground up, including eliminating the headstock in order to rebalance the guitar and enabling him to cut a lot of the body weight. By eliminating the headstock he had to completely redesign the tuning system. The Steinberger uses double ball end strings and tunes down at the tail piece. I acquired mine in New York in 1985 and it has been my primary instrument ever since.

	Tom: What about that little flute-like instrument...?
	It is called a tin, or penny, whistle. It's actually an ancient woodwind instrument that is the ancestor of the flute, clarinet, oboe, etc. and is most commonly used to play traditional Irish and Scottish music. However, in recent times it can be found in pop music playing Gershwin tunes and, most recently, featured in the music score for the movie Titanic.

	Tom: Is your old group Schooner Fare still active?
	Yes, we are still fairly busy in fact. We have slowed Schooner Fare's touring schedule down somewhat in the last few years to allow Steve (Romanoff) to pursue his real vocation as an educator. He is currently a professor of Humanities at the University of Southern Maine. We still perform an average of 50 or so dates per year and are celebrating our 25th anniversary in November of 2000!

	Tom: What is it like playing with your son?
	Dave and I have been playing together as a duo since 1993. A feat made possible by the fortuitous fact that our tastes gravitate to similar types of music. Getting to actually spend this kind of intensive time with one of my children is a gift that I can't really describe fully. I wish everyone could enjoy this kind of experience.

	Tom: Do you do anything else besides play music?
	I do other things but all those things are music related. I own a small recording studio in my home that I operate professionally as Apple Valley Audio. Turkey Hollow, three of Schooner Fare's, Rowe by Rowe, and my solo album were all recorded there as well as countless other artists over the last 25 years. I also direct the choir at the local Unitarian Universalist Church.

	Tom: I've often thought it must be an extremely fun life style to be on the road as a performer. Can you describe what that life style is like.
	I think it is probably like any other job with bright spots as well as negatives. The best way I can describe it is... waiting for something to happen. There are long periods of travel interspersed with long periods of waiting in hotel rooms and sprinkled into that waiting there are short bursts of the reason we came in the first place, a performance. For those who think it must be exciting to see all those far flung parts of America... think again. We usually see airports, hotels and stages and that's about it. With all that said I wouldn't trade it for anything else. The performing part makes it all worthwhile and I can't imagine my life without it.

	Tom: Do you have any heroes who inspired you in your musical career?
	Of course. My early performing was in the folk music genre and I was heavily influenced by the sixties folk groups. Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the New Christy Minstrels. Later, I listened to the music of the Mamas and the Papas, Spanky and Our Gang, Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Dylan, and Jefferson Airplane to name a few. I was always drawn to vocal groups but I did spend a lot of time listening to and playing rock and roll. I am also a fan of jazz, although I haven't played a lot of it. I believe listening to everything from Ellington to Be-bop helped me to coalesce my playing style. My formal training was in classical music and I am confident that a lot of my playing (especially as a bass player) leans heavily on that experience.