Critical Mick

Reviews Free of Rules.

Reviews by the Clown that All Other Critics Want to Strangle with a Black Turtleneck

The Stahry Teller

into intro blah blah blah Joseph Yakel intro blah April 2006 blah rule-free interviews with Critical Mick. insert lame joke blah blah blah e-mail intro intro donut ghost my sweet intro

Critical Mick: So! Have you ever catapulted a dead squirrel over a barn?

Joseph Yakel: Sweet Jesus an’ Cornbread, Mick! Obviously, you're not one to pull any punches…thanks for digging into the "meat" of the matter right out of the starting gate! I'll tell you this: as a youngster, there were plenty of slingshots around the place, and they were put to good use with a variety of ammunition. How’s this for a proverb: One man's catapult is another man's meat tenderizer.

CM: I thought Hillbillies yodelled up and down the valleys of Eastern Tennessee. It's funny to read about them in New York State, too.

JY: Funny you should mention Tennessee. A reviewer who was raised in Tennessee's Cumberland Mountains read Juggin Joe a short while back, and really enjoyed the book. That made me feel especially good, because coming from the mountains herself, she understood Joe's tale as a mix of good-natured satire and humor, and also saw that it contains some decent moral threads, which show through in the end.

JY: 'Course, there's plenty of mountain ranges across the States, including the scenic Adirondack and Catskill mountains of New York. As much as they might like, the state of Tennessee doesn't have the hilltown market cornered. The term "Hillbilly" is really rather interesting unto itself, though I don't use it in my book. This name is derived from the Scots and Irish who emigrated to America back in the 17th and 18th centuries. Once here, a good many settled in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, since the North American geography was very similar to the old country. However, some of these folks also stayed up north, in my neck of the woods. Anyway, as expected, these settlers brought along plenty of their traditions, music included, which was an important aspect of their lives. Some of the songs they sang related to William of Orange, who fought with, and defeated King James II. Folks who supported William were known as “Orangemen” and "Billy Boys." Over time, their American emigrant counterparts came to be known as "hillbillies", and the name stuck…here in the States, north of the Mason-Dixon line, we mainly use the term "hillfolk," and I must confess, I don't claim any Irish/Scottish heritage, so the hillfolk depicted in my book aren't necessarily hillbillies in the traditional sense. Hope you don't hold that against me, because I am partial to good Irish sippin' whiskey now and again, and my wife's family has a long Irish lineage.

Ed. Note: It's a bad idea to hold anything against a man who's full of Irish whiskey.

CM: Is the family and community in The Legend of Juggin Joe drawn from your own upbringing? I gather that Joe is your alter ego.

JY: Well now Mick, you could be treading water in a real whirlpool with questions like those! Let's hit the second part of your question first. Many's the persons who've tried to ferret out if Juggin Joe and I are one and the same. I usually say, "What do you think?" I mean, who is Superman? Is he Clark Kent, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve or Dean Cain? Were Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton one and the same? What about Shoeshine Boy and Underdog? The answer is kinda murky, and maybe better left that way.

JY: Having said all that, I acknowledge that there are some parallels between Joe and I. For example, Joe's family comes from Germany, and I trace my ancestry back nine generations to the Rhineland. Joe has 10 brothers and sisters, as do I. Joe also served in the military, and music has prominence in his life. Same for me on both accounts. And of course, Joe and I both love frogs legs, an' squirrel ain't too bad either…As to Joe being my alter ego, draw you own conclusions. Some characters in the tale are very loosely created from "composites" of people I know, while others are totally fabricated from my imagination.

JY: The Town of Westerlo is a real place, and my family’s had a presence there for the better part of a century. It's actually one of the many beautiful hilltowns nestled in the Heldeberg Mountains, just west of Albany, the state capitol of New York. Some of the places in the book, like the Red Baron and Onderdonk Lake, are drawn from real landmarks as well. The Red Baron was a very interesting place in days gone by. It was an old bar that sat just on the other side of a narrow road skirting the lake. When I was a lad, my parents would take us all swimming down to the lake, and on occasion, dad would step in to the Red Baron to draw a few cold ones with some of the other locals. That was the spot to talk shop, hear the latest gossip, or maybe even find some solitude if that’s what you were looking for. The place has been gone for years, so unless you’re an old salt from up on the hill, you wouldn’t know that the Red Baron ever existed…at least the place still lives on in the book.

CM: Music is a large part of The Legend of Juggin Joe. The closest I could imagine, when Doc and the band started it up on the front porch on Saturdays, was the Colorblind James Experience. He's a sadly missed, Rochester-based genius who combined country, big band, polka, and King Missile. Unexpected and magnificent. Maybe it's just because in "I'm Considering a Move to Memphis" he expresses and interest in hearing the jug band show. Or maybe because the "Strange Sounds from the Basement" album contains another song called "Jesus at the Still." Or maybe because "Gravel Road" is something I could hear Doc's boy jamming out. I'm off on a tangent here, but then again your novel's narrator makes many amusing tangents too. Hope you don't mind.

JY: Not at all…Tangents are an important part of the equation in the Juggin Joe formula, so I'm glad you picked up on that aspect of the tale. The book's narrator, known only to readers as "The Stahry Teller", has this easy gait about him, and he likes to drift and ramble as he tells Joe's tale. I tried to present him as someone who you'd enjoy sitting down with, maybe on your front porch in a couple of rocking chairs, shooting the breeze, and sippin' on a bit of Mountain Dew.

JY: Music is a large part of Juggin Joe because, as I already mentioned, it's been an important part of my life. My mother has been a church organist for almost 70 years. She turned "pro" at the tender age of 12. Dad played a little harmonica, and some of my siblings tried their hands on different instruments. I picked up on a variety of instruments over the years, and have a love for it…I think that one of the great things about music is its duality. By that I mean it's forgiving, while being satisfying at the same time. Most everyone can make music, albeit to varying degrees of quality, and that's fine. Even if others think you suck, you can find plenty of pleasure in what you make of it.

JY: Now, with all of the music you mentioned Mick, I'm surprised you didn't toss in, "Hog of the Forsaken", by Michael Hurley, "Man of Constant Sorrow" by Dan Tyminski, or anything by "The Man in Black," Johnny Cash. One of my recent favorites is Johnny's 2003 version of Trent Reznor's, "Hurt". That's a gripping song, though there isn't any juggin in it. Jug music itself really falls into the larger bluegrass genre, and I can easily imagine most songs on country radio accompanied by a jug.

CM: Where can curious music fans hear some juggin? Is there a spot you'd recommend where Internet surfers can download an .mp3?

JY: Aside from Joe’s international fame, jug music isn’t exactly mainstream, so you don’t find it readily available, even on the world-wide-web. However, interested folk could visit the Jug Band Music Society at, http://www.jugband.org/ That website has a good number of links to bands that feature the jug as a primary instrument. Who knows, maybe Juggin Joe will run up a few sound clips on the web in the near future...

CM: Speaking of juggin, do you play the jug yourself, and why write about a jug blowin' boy turned superstar in the first place?

JY: Yessiree, I've got a nice jug jes' settin' on the shelf in my den. I just had it out the other night. I've owned several in my day. As far as writing the Juggin Joe tale, I felt that the notion of a small town country boy, who turns the world on its ear with his mesmerizing jug music, was great subject matter. There have been books written ad nauseum with respect to celebrities, movie stars, singers, and all sorts of mainstream musicians, but there's never been a story about a jug blowin' boy turned international icon and national hero. Is Juggin Joe over-the-top? Sure. Is the story believable? Some people think so. Maybe it's that uncertainty that makes the story a little more compelling…

JY: The premise behind Joe’s story is rather novel, and I saw it as an opportunity to do something very different in a literary sort of way, in terms of the writing style and presentation. I think the tale has a nice way of wrapping itself around readers and pulling them into the narrative.

CM: It's not only the music that begs to be heard, it's the voices in this novel. Have you considered recording all or a portion and releasing it in audio book format? Matthew Wayne Selznick, interviewed on writingshow.com, recommends that as a great promotional tool for self-published authors.

JY: I’d love to do something like this, but honestly, it would be more than a bit challenging to pull off by myself. You’ve echoed something I've heard many times, from family, friends, fans and other reviewers. I've been encouraged to create a Juggin Joe Joe podcast, or an audio book, or release some Juggin Joe songs. And, I've also heard that the book would make a great movie…Maybe a studio will be smart enough to pick up on what others have been saying about it. I wish I had more time in the day to work out some of these other projects. Juggin Joe is chock full of great spin-off opportunities, and I’d like to expand the story using some of these other media forms if I can.

CM: The Country Speak: as Kevin Stevens mentioned during our interview, dialect stories can be very hard. It took me a few pages to get into the rhythm of it. Why is story presented in such an unconventional dialogue?

JY: As you know, the entire book is written in a country dialogue, including the boring legal stuff on the opening page and the "'Bout the Author" section on the very last page. I felt that the somewhat-over-emphasized dialect made Joe a whole lot more fun to read and visualize in the mind’s eye. In my opinion, the situational humor of Juggin Joe wouldn’t have nearly the same impact if it was presented in standard English format.

JY: Some have compared my writing style to that of Mark Twain’s epics, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Hearing that is quite a compliment but I never wrote the story with Twain in mind. I saw this as an opportunity to use my imagination to bring something completely fresh and unique to readers. I think the dialogue offers a fun challenge, though it might be considered a grammatical nightmare to literary academics…That’s fine by me…After all, Juggin Joe is a humor book, and one must remember that shortly after Twain published Huck Finn in 1885, it was banned by a committee that found it unsuitable for intelligent, respectable people. Among other things, the elitists of that era couldn't fathom Twain's own use of dialect and narration. Of course, those dopes were completely out of touch with the common man, and Twain's book went on to transform American literature. A true classic…So, here we are, 121 years later, and who knows…maybe The Legend of Juggin Joe is going to transform American literature once again…

CM: Then I just imagined Wichita Rutherford reading it and after that there were no difficulties 'tal.

JY: So, there you have it, Mick. You’ve distilled all of my comments down to the core: The dialogue shouldn’t be forced. Just let it sink into your melon, and it’ll work its own magic on you. Simple enough!

CM: What are you working on at the moment?

JY: I’m drafting a sequel to Juggin Joe. I haven’t named the book yet, but I’ve got a handful of chapters working, and I’m really excited about it because there’s so much more to Joe’s story. Like the first book, "The Stahry Teller" will guide readers on another rambling journey that cuts through Joe’s life and that of his cluster of friends. More details about Joe’s siblings will emerge, as well as other revelations regarding Joe’s impact on music history and other worldly events. I’m panning some really nice golden nuggets for the next helping of Joe, so be prepared!

JY: For your visitors who are interested in Juggin Joe, and would like to check out a free chapter of the story, they can visit my book website at, http://www.lulu.com/yakel/

JY: It was great talking with you Mick. Thanks very much for the invite.

CM: Stop on by anytime, Joe! Just by-the-way, I've purchased a copy of The Legend of Juggin Joe for my niece’s birthday. I know she’ll get a kick out of it.

Author Background: J. Peter Yakel is a freelance writer and author of three books. His articles have appeared in publications such as OGS Genealogy News, Communications Technology, The Pipeline, and Army Reserve Magazine, and have also been highlighted on numerous Internet websites. The retired Army Chief Warrant Officer is a former instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is a member of the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).

This here link leads tah Joseph Yakel's homestead on that dad-blamed Internet: http://www.lulu.com/yakel/

Yo! This interview transcript and all content on the DFA Guide site are copyright 2006 Mick Halpin. All links to other sites and documents are copyright to whatever source wrote something cool enough for Mick to give it a referral. Try to claim them as your own work and bad karma will catch up with you, baby. Believe it.

Irate, huh? Managed to piss off another one? Direct your hatemail to mick @ mickhalpin dot com.

This Page Was Last Updated On 12 April, 2006.