Basic Folk: Chris Smither and Peter Mulvey

Chris Smither has been Peter Mulvey’s mentor since 1993, when the young Mulvey opened for the already experienced Smither. The blues and folk legend liked what he heard and enjoyed their similarities in creativity and idiosyncrasies; he took the young man on tour with him. Their musical partnership has survived the digital age, the pandemic, parenthood, and the impeachment of a former president. Along the way, each has worked to teach the other their best habits and life lessons. As far as mentor-mentee relationships go, this one will go down in the history books.

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In this rare joint interview on Basic Folk, we get to the important questions: Why do they like to call each other by their last names? Smither says he was first called by his last name in Paris when he was still in school. The two discuss who has the better hometown, Milwaukee or New Orleans. Actually, it’s less of a debate than a reflection on the music of New Orleans, as it’s clearly the better place to grow up as a musician.



Mulvey reflects on their musical differences, citing Kendrick Lamar and Ani DiFranco as his main inspirations, while Smither is more into Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. There are nods to David “Goody” Goodrich, Jeffrey Foucault, Kris Delmhorst and the woman behind it all, Carol Young (aka Smither’s longtime manager, aka his wife). We analyze how each of them feels about fatherhood and try to get Smither to reveal his secret to longevity. Spoiler alert: It’s not in staying quiet.

Smithers 20th album, All about the bones, is now available. Peter Mulvey’s latest work is the acoustic retrospective, More notes from elsewhere.



Photo credits: Chris Smither by Jo Chattman; Peter Mulvey by Paul Reitano.