with a long & celebrated career as a folk guitarist Nina is "going over to the dark side" to play dueling telecasters wtih Bill Kirchen, the "Titan of the Telecaster" as part of his quartet; what she we refer to Nina as? Accompanist? Is "sideman" gender neutral? Let's change that to "Side Person"; Nina never wanted to be in the spotlight! She barely wanted to be noticed at all! She fell in love with Kate Wolf & her music, & wanted to be Kate's side person...wanted to be in Kate's band; she took mandolin lessons with Kate's husband, Don Coffin, learning his parts - when they got divorced it was the happiest day in Nina's life! Nina was 16 or 17, & Kate saw her potential, & took NIna under her wing; Nina played with Kate for 8 years, was fired a couple of times, & re-hired - their relationship was complicated, with Kate as Mentor, Hero & Boss; "The Money Question" "Were you able to make a living playing music after Kate died?" A: "Keep your overhead low!!" She got a job at a music store in Sebastapol where she was basically an indentured servent - she picked out an electric guitar & an amp, realized "I can't afford that! So can I have a job?" She also teaches a bit. Freelancing started in the Kate era, with local folks. People started calling. Greg Brown, at the Strawberry Music Festival, asked her to join him for a few songs, & she played the entire set; she's been super lucky; Kate wrote "Just Another Picker in the Band", but never recorded it - Nina wanted to include songs for her heroes on her CD; when Nina is plugged in with an electric guitar, she's still "a folky at heart." Nina got an electric guitar to play wiht Kate, later was in a country band in Sonoma County, & got her first Telecaster in the early 80's; she met Bill Kirchen at Sarah Elizabeth Campbell's memorial, then again a few years ago at one of his gigs - a friend suggested they play a gig as a duo, & it was a blast; Nina's style is Nina's style, playing to the singer & the song; on a tour, the songs are the same every night, but she plays differently every night because she "doesn't know what I'm doing"; with Bill, she fits into his style, "& still be me" - maybe as her alter ego, a little louder playing "dieselbilly".

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!

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