Sarah SELECTS
Photo by Mary Gibney
PROFILE OF A MINN MUSICIAN:
No time limit on the path Becky Kapell is forging
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ge is a funny thing. It’s definitely part of my story that [playing music] came to me later in life, but I forget that I’m that age. I think I’m 12.” Becky Kapell was 42 when she picked up her son’s guitar as a way to fill the quiet space she finally had post divorce. She had no plans of forming a band or writing songs, only to play and find joy in music again. She knew that if she learned how to play C, D and G chords she could play most songs — and once she did that the songs “just started pouring out of [her].” She sees it not as something she did but rather “something that just happened to [her].”
Raised in Minnesota with a one-year stint at college in Madison, Becky decided school and Wisconsin were not for her. On a whim, and with some encouragement from a friend who lived there, she packed up and moved to Portland. Subsequently, that same friend moved away from the area soon after Becky arrived but she was not deterred. She met some folks who were in a band and upon hearing her sing casually, they asked her to sing back up. It was a psychedelic rock band that did a lot of four-part harmony, something Becky was drawn to. By performing with the band, she
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SARAH OSTERBAUER Sarah Osterbauer is a die-hard music lover. When she does her budget each month, food comes after concert tickets. Find her on twitter @SarahOwrites.
tunes, Becky finds that melody typically comes not only realized that harmony was a talent few have, but that it was something she was good at. to her first and then she works on lyrics, though The roots of music were laid but eventually they she would not describe herself as a lyrical person: took a backseat to domestic life. Becky met her “that’s poetry, not music!” While some may con(now ex) husband in Portland where they had sider her lack of lyrical consideration a setback, it two children. gives her songs an honest simplicity, easy on the The 90s found Becky returning home to Minears and easier on the heartstrings. nesota to work for her brother who had invented Stylistically similar to Lucinda Williams, Becky Magnetic Poetry, a job she still has today. After doesn’t shy away from life’s truths and her own teaching herself to play guitar and discovering shortcomings. With over 50 years of life’s ups and her ability to craft songs, she felt the need to downs, she has plenty of material to draw from. share them more broadly. She played them for Her journal provides the source for most of her some friends and they agreed to help her record lyrics, a practice she’s employed long before she them. Over the course wrote songs. of two years and many All it takes is one trips back and forth story, one phrase or from Minnesota to Portquip to spark the fires of land, Becky recorded a future song. Once the her first album, “For melody and words are Now”. set, she leaves the rest Armed with her up to her trusted band. completed first album To record some of the and a desire to get into songs on “In It…”, the Minnesota music which Paul Bergen (her scene, Becky set out partner in all respects) to network with other also produced, they musicians. At the time recorded them live she didn’t know anyto tape to achieve an one, so she attended organic feel. shows alone patiently They declined waiting for a window to to share the songs approach the musicians with the musicians who played. in advance, opting “One problem I to capitalize on their have is that I don’t spontaneity in the smoke cigarettes” she studio. For consummate says, chuckling at the performers like Erik memories of awkwardly Koskinen and Jeremy approaching musicians Johnson, this was busiafter their set or during Photo by Larry Hutchinson ness as usual, as they their smoke break. She added their magic to would mention that Becky’s solid tracks. she, too, was a musician and hand them her CD. “Idle Down,” one the first singles off “In It To Erik Koskinen, her now friend and frequent colWin It”, is a fun, rockabilly ear worm, worthy of laborator, remembers their encounter well. any dusty two step or summer night cruise with He confessed to Becky that other musicians the top down. It seems Becky has always been share music with him often and it’s rare that he high energy, as the phrase “idle down” was takes the time to listen to it, however the night something her dad said to her a lot growing up. they met, he happened to pop her CD in the car When you talk to Becky, it’s clear she’s not on the way home and was pleasantly surprised playing music to get rich or famous, or win a by her talent. bunch of awards. For her, it’s the pure joy of Another musician Becky had been a fan of and playing and satisfying the itch in her bones that wanted to work with was Paul Bergen. After concalls her to play. On the day they recorded three necting with Paul, she asked if he would play in songs for the album, they followed the session up her band. He said yes and she was floored. Paul by playing a three hour set at Dusty’s in Northbecame her regular guitar player and produced east Minneapolis. her second album, “That Certain Ache”, which When Becky plays, she often ends up in the solidified Becky as a standout on the local Amerired from a financial standpoint, letting her band cana scene. take the pay, leaving none for herself — the For “In It To Win It”, Becky approached the one person still working full time elsewhere. It’s project as she does everything, one part purpose abundantly clear Becky is in it to win it, and that and intention, and two parts trust and letting go. To compose her brand of gritty, no nonsense winning means spreading her joy. W W W. S O U T H E R N M I N N SCENE. C O M
| MARCH 2022
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