On the next episode of “Music Spotlight,” airing Saturday night at 10 on KRWG-TV, host Scott Brocato’s guest will be Las Cruces-based singer-songwriter Buddy Akin. Here’s a preview of their conversation.
Scott Brocato:
Tell me about your origin. You're from El Paso?
Buddy Akin:
I'm from El Paso, right down the road, originally. Yeah, I started playing piano and organ when I was about seven, and then I tried my hand at the mandolin when I was about 14, and then I started playing guitar at 15, and I just kind of never looked back. I started writing songs at that point, and it just really suited me.
Scott Brocato:
When did you move to Las Cruces?
Buddy Akin:
So first time, 1999, and I was a non-traditional student at NMSU, so I was an older student at NMSU. And that's when I got into working in prevention, which then I went back to LA and then came back here. But I lived in New Mexico as a kid, so I lived up in Silver City, so I kind of consider myself as much a New Mexican as a Texan.
Scott Brocato:
What are some of the differences between the music scenes that you found here in Las Cruces and El Paso?
Buddy Akin:
So I haven't played on the music scene in El Paso very much in my life, because when I was younger...I mean, I played a few clubs, I studied music at UTEP, and then I kind of moved up to Denver and I went out on the road. And from Denver I went to LA, so I never really played in El Paso that much. I've played in Las Cruces a lot more than I've ever played in El Paso.
Scott Brocato:
Who are some of your songwriting and musical influences?
Buddy Akin:
Oh, the Beatles, George Harrison, Paul Simon. just all over the place. I love Miles Davis. I know that's not like the usual songwriting influence, but I kind of look at genres and I hope this doesn't upset anybody, because some people are very invested in their genre. But because I started as a visual artist when I was a kid before I was really into music, I was just obsessed with drawing and painting and so forth. So I kind of look at genres like colors on my palette. So like I might draw a little bit from country or a little bit from jazz or a little bit from classical and hopefully come up with something that's unique.
Scott Brocato:
You're not a particularly political artist per se, but you're not shy about politics and your causes and what you believe. Now, some people believe that musicians should pretty much keep quiet as far as that goes, their causes and what they believe. What are your thoughts on that? As musicians, should they just entertain versus airing their political views?
Buddy Akin:
Well, I'm going to say musicians should not just entertain. I mean, I think that musicians have the rights that any other citizen has, First Amendment rights, to speak our truth and to speak our opinion. Now, some of us, depending on how successful an entertainer might be, they might have a larger platform and maybe they need to be conscious of that. But I think that musicians should be able to speak their mind.
Me personally, I like to bring people together. I'm more about love and unity, but I don't pull punches when it comes to pointing out something that's unjust, for instance, in our society. And you'll hear some of that in the lyrics. But hopefully I don't...hopefully it's not too heavy-handed because in the end, I do want to bring people together and I want people to love one another. I know that sounds hokey. (Laughs) Maybe it sounds out of place in today's society because I hear people saying things like no hippies and stuff like that. And it's like, I'm ten years younger than the hippies, but I always wanted to be a hippie. And I think the hippies were on the right track, and I think we need to kind of get back there. Not in every way, but in terms of putting love first and putting our heart first.
Scott Brocato:
Talk about some of the causes that you are currently involved with.
Buddy Akin:
Well, I've been involved to some extent with Indivisible here in town, and I've gone out and played at some of the protests and so forth. The Volunteers of America are a group that I've been involved with that has provided music at some of the protests. I think that's really important because I think that we need to keep our First Amendment rights intact and well-oiled and functioning in this country. That's part of what makes us Americans and what makes us special.
If there is specialness or--what's the word that they always use-- American exceptionalism, right? If there is truly exceptionalism, that's what it is. It derives from our Constitution. and our ability to uphold that constitution. So I feel very strongly about that. I don't necessarily get up and proselytize about it all the time, but I definitely feel strongly about it.
So with other causes, of course, I've got the food pantry that I run at the First Christian Church. It's for people with HIV. We do fundraising around that. And I'm generally very community-minded.
Scott Brocato:
What advice would you give new musicians who are starting out?
Buddy Akin:
Turn and run! (Laughs) No, I'm kidding. I think it would be to hold to your vision. A lot of forces, whether it's when you're starting out, whether it's your friends or your parents or people at school or later on club owners or booking agents or whatever--later on, if you get this far, it may be producers or managers or whatever--a lot of people may want to change you and they'll tell you that it's because they know better than you do. But you're the artist. You remain the artist, and as much as you can, you call the shots.
