Culture That Made Me: Cork-bound Curtis Stigers selects his touchstones
Curtis Stigers is at the Everyman, Cork, on Friday, May 1.
Curtis Stigers, 60, grew up in Boise, Idaho. In 1991, he released his self-titled debut album, which included the hit single . In 2009, , his theme track for the TV series was nominated for an Emmy Award. He pivoted from jazz to country for his album, in 2012. He’s on a nationwide Irish tour, including The Everyman in Cork on Friday, May 1. See: curtisstigers.com
The first album I ever bought was Elton John’s I was about eight. His albums in the 1970s were so important to me. I knew every lyric, every song, every word in the liner notes. Before I knew what a producer was, I knew who produced Elton John. The summer after my first record came out, I was lucky enough to open for Elton at Wembley Stadium and became friendly with Elton, which was crazy. He was a pop star. He was flamboyant. He wore crazy clothes. Back then, you got to see a lot of him on TV. He was smart, funny, glib. He killed me. He was a fabulous musician, a wonderful piano player, and a great songwriter. He had the full package.
I remember buying Stevie Wonder’s That was hugely influential — great songwriting, soulful, yet pop. He had amazing melodies, great musicianship. On many of his early records, he played a lot of the instruments — the drums, bass, guitar, keyboards. I remember the first time I heard on the radio and that dramatic breakdown in the middle. They're talking. He's gone to the city. He gets arrested for accidentally being a drug mule. The cinematic quality of that blew my mind. Then he comes back and starts singing in that husky voice. He sang with that high beautiful voice all the time, but he could also get that growly, kind of Louis Armstrong voice. He's one of the most talented human beings on the planet.
I happen to live two blocks from Anthony Doerr, a pal of mine, who wrote which won a Pulitzer Prize. His most recent novel is . I read it during covid. It's a beautiful, epic novel that spans centuries. It's extraordinary.
is a podcast the host, Ross Sutherland, who lives in the UK, calls “experiments in audio fiction”. It's an anthology series. He's British, an actor and a writer. Every episode is about something he's written. He’ll start out talking about how he teaches writing, then suddenly you're in the middle of some short story he's written. I couldn't recommend it more highly. There's no more interesting podcaster.
One of my two favourite movies is the Francis Ford Coppola movie. I grew up during the Vietnam War. It ended when I was eight or nine. It was a big part of my life. Then to see that movie really moved me.
In my teens, I really got into Led Zeppelin. I wanted to be Robert Plant. He had that amazing voice. He was so cool. I also wanted to play like Jimmy Page; however, I wasn't a guitar player,I was a saxophone player. I learned to play the saxophone being influenced by guitar players. So, when I play a saxophone solo, I'm using my Jimmy Page more than I'm using my Charlie Parker. I'm a rock’n’roll and a blues saxophone player. It comes from listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin. The live soundtrack to the concert movie, was huge for me.
In early high school, around 1981, I discovered Elvis Costello. He wasn’t a punk, but he came to us in that package. I've named one of my albums after an Elvis Costello song — What I love about Elvis — he had the attitude, that sneer, that punk rock fuck authority, basically. At the same time, he writes brilliant songs. Plus, he could play the hell out of the guitar. He also fooled us early on that he wasn't a great singer because he sang with that sneering voice, but he made a record with Burt Bacharach where he sings like a friggin’ opera singer. He continues to make music I love.
Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders writes amazing songs. She had that punk rock vibe. She hung out with all those punk rock bands in London when she was a teenager. Her songs are melodic, they're smart, the lyrics are great — they're complex but they feel simple. If I hear a song and it makes me cry or dance or smile or laugh, that's the ticket. It’s a songwriter's job to tell a story. Her songs tell a story about herself; about the life she's lived. The first time I heard , I wanted to meet that girl. I wanted her to be flirting with me like that.
I was lucky enough to open for Prince at the RDS in Dublin back in 1992. I saw him on that tour a few times. I stood on the side of the stage and watched. It was a masterclass — not just at how to be a singer, but to be a musician, a dancer, a songwriter. It looked like he was making it up as he went along, yet it was all perfectly choreographed. There was one moment where he sang a verse of a song. Then he spun around. He threw his microphone 40ft up in the air. He was standing at the front of the stage. It was an outdoor gig. While he was dancing, the microphone came down right in front of him and dropped into the hands of a man standing in front of the stage. That was his target. Then he kicked into a guitar solo before the guy even caught the microphone. It was amazing.
JD Salinger’s book, Franny and Zooey changed me. It's a slim volume. The book is a conversation on the phone between a brother and sister. The sister's had a sort of mental breakdown, a crisis of faith. He's trying to talk her through it. These two characters are part of the Glass family, which Salinger used in many of his short stories. It's a book about performing, creating art and belief beyond religion. It still resonates with me.
I’ve seen the movie 20 times. It’s sublime. There are so many great performances. Peter Riegert, playing the lead American character, works for an oil company in Houston. He's sent to Scotland, basically to buy this town on the coast. He thinks they're going to push against the idea of it. Meanwhile, they just want the money. It's quaint and quirky. All the characters are wacky. Burt Lancaster plays the owner of the oil company. A young Peter Capaldi plays a beautiful, funny character. Denis Lawson is in it. He came to my show at Ronnie Scott's in London many years ago. I was signing CDs for people on their way out. I said to him: “Oh, it's good to see you again.” He said, “Well, we've never met before.” Then it occurred to me, oh, God, this is one of the actors from my favourite movie of all time.
