Lakeport >> Tom Rigney had just received a Master’s in Art History from Harvard University when he picked up the violin for the very first time. He was 24-years-old and never had any professional musical training. Not even a minute of it. His professors, classmates and parents all thought he was out of his mind and too old to begin pursuing music. He didn’t listen.
A few years down the road and his plan to earn a Ph.D fell by the wayside as he found himself working as a professional musician.
“I bought a violin and started playing not because I intended to become a professional musician because I was fascinated by the violin,” Rigney said. “There was something about it that was extremely challenging but in a positive way.”
Four decades later he’s still at it.
Rigney’s very first musical pursuits began with acoustic versions of Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead songs, which he played with fellow musicians wielding stringed instruments. After a couple of years he founded a bluegrass band and he’s been fronting bands and writing songs since. It wasn’t until Queen Ida hired Rigney as a fiddle player that he discovered the Cajun and zydeco genre, a style which now permeates much of his own music. “I played zydeco music all over the world for a year and just got hooked on the south Louisiana dance music,” Rigney said. “It was just such infectious, uplifting, irresistible music.”
His biggest influence and personal mentor has been Vassar Clements, a Grammy Award-winning jazz, swing and bluegrass fiddler. Rigney met him at the beginning of his music career and to this day he’s amazed by Clements encouragement and support. “He really took me under his wing in a way that still astonishes me,” Rigney said. “He was, in my opinion, the greatest that ever lived … and I was just starting my professional career and that was the most profound influence on me.”
In 2000, he founded Tom Rigney and the Flambeau, who performs at Library Park tomorrow evening for the 2015 Summer Concert Series. In 2004, the band won best Cajun/zydeco band of 2004 at the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. It was an exciting achievement, but Rigney said that after 11 years, it pales in comparison to some of their newest ventures. At the forefront of Rigney’s mind these days, is a concert the band recorded for PBS, which will air nationally in the coming months. “That, to me, is much more exciting,” he said. “It was delightful to win the award back in 2004, but a lot of interesting stuff has happened since.”
While the Flambeau’s music features many zydeco numbers, there’s also roots and blues influences as well, generally referred to as Americana. When questioned as to why he doesn’t just pick a style and stick to it, Rigney laughed. “Because I don’t have enough sense to do that,” he said. “This has been kind of the story of my career … There isn’t a single style of music that I feel so strongly about that I would want to play all the time,” he added. “It hasn’t been so much a conscious decision as just my interests are very diverse musically so my live performances always reflect that.”
It’s obvious Rigney thrives on variety so it’s only fitting he also favors spontaneity. He doesn’t craft set lists and the band never knows which song they’re going to play until seconds before they have to hit the notes. It’s why he enjoys performing live more than anything else. “I love just interacting with an audience,” Rigney said. “I can see how the crowd is reacting … and create the show on the spot.”
Tomorrow’s concert isn’t the first time Rigney has made it to Lakeport for the series. In fact, he estimates he’s been playing at the park since the mid-’90s. It’s the family-friendly vibe that keeps him coming back. “One of the nicest things about our summer schedule is we got to do so many outdoor community concerts,” Rigney said. “For me these are extremely pleasant and fun shows to play because the whole community comes out and they bring their kids. You actually get a sense of the community where you’re playing. It’s very different from a night club situation.”
Tom Rigney and the Flambeau performs at Library Park tomorrow night for the free concert series. The show begins at 6:30 p.m.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
