MUSIC | blues “’til i collapse,” continued...
DJ HYPE DJ FREAKYFRED DJ DEATHSTAR
52 INLANDER JUNE 27, 2013
me if they think they can!” and walked out with new friends and no broken bones. Or the time he was driving through cotton fields and stopped his car to play a duet with an old man he saw sitting on a creaky wooden porch. Or when he wrote a jingle for a famous radio station. Or the time he was sought out by Jimi Hendrix’s record label. Or when he played with Buddy Guy and Wet Willie. The way Carr looks when he tells those stories takes you to another time and place — it’s proof enough that what he says is true. His eyes light up when he talks about meeting Gong Show host Chuck Barris, and the anticipation he felt waiting for the bright orange curtain to go up. His tone quiets when he talks about seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd play live just days before a plane crash claimed three of the band’s members. His face drops when he talks about all the times he was on the edge of being something big. “I wanted to be [famous]. I think everybody does if they play music,” he says. “And I had a couple chances. But I messed them up.” But it’s not about fame or fortune anymore — hasn’t been for a long time. Today, he plays on the street to make people happy. When they dance, or sing along, or just smile as they pass by with arms full of groceries, that’s what keeps Carr going.
“The music I play, it’s hard to not get up and dance to it,” he says. “I’ve had wedding parties downtown, school graduations — they’ll come by in herds, dressed to the 10s. … Next thing you know they’re all dancing with each other! And I say, ‘That’s what it’s about! That’s right! That’s what it’s about.’” Right now, Carr’s only indulgence is his music — and even then, he’ll overindulge. “I’ll [play] for 10 hours straight, and I forget to eat lunch!” he says, pointing to his friend and assistant Lisa, who looks at him with her lips pursed tightly. “She has to make me eat lunch.” “He’s very compulsive when it comes to music. Impulsive and compulsive,” she says. “Sometimes I do call myself the cloud on his parade, because you can’t have too much sunshine because you’ll wilt. Some clouds is good.” Today at the market, faced with his fair share of clouds, Carr just laughs. He loves this too much to let a little rainy weather get him down. As he leans forward into his guitar during a solo, the sagging roof of his booth gives way on one side, letting loose a torrent of rainwater that hits the ground with a splash. Carr opens his eyes wide, looking up from his guitar. “We havin’ fun yet?!” he says to anyone within earshot. And he never misses a beat. n leahs@inlander.com Joe Carr • Sun, June 30, from noon-6 pm • Albertson’s • 3010 E. 57th Ave. • Donations only