Jennifer: But that's different than when you're playing somebody else's music‚ is what you've expressed to me before. When you're playing Gordon Stone's music‚ that's what's going on‚ but not necessarily if you're playing in another band.
Gordon: Yeah‚ then I don't care. That's terrible. [laughs]
Jennifer: Your part you care about‚ but you're not so consumed by other things. Your critical mind can turn off.
Gordon: The whole letting go process while you're playing‚ you have to be really good at that‚ too. Letting go of whatever criticism is coming up. That's what the title of "Touch and Go" is all about too. Not the cliché "this is a touch and go situation." It's about experiencing the moment and moving on to the next one regardless of how good or bad the moment is. The ability to just keep moving and not be concerned with what happened or keep criticizing something. People's minds get really bogged down with that shit -- they hold grudges for decades. Some people live that way.
I guess the goal is to suck less and less?
Gordon: To suck less and less. [laughter]
That's a good motto to live life by. I'm just trying to live my life where I suck less and less every day.
Gordon: I still have a work ethic in terms of doing the best job I can. But the pressure is off‚ because it doesn't say Gordon Stone on it. It's not that I work any less hard. It's easier in a way to be a side man. The risk isn't as great and the rewards aren't as good.
Do you know how many records you've been on?
Gordon: Have I been on? I haven't ever added those up.
Jennifer: In terms of catalogue we can produce and the CDs we have in a rack… I think it's somewhere between 250 and 300. I know there's more in storage.
Gordon: I have a cassette tape of "Fast Enough for You" that Trey [Anastasio] gave me. It was a copy before I put the pedal steel on it. It was sitting around and I recorded over it. [laughter] I just needed a tape‚ and at the time I didn't think it would ever be worth anything.
Jennifer: Or that they would be this. It's really funny.
That's so funny‚ I just listened to that song. It came up on my iTunes‚ on shuffle. The album version‚ the one you're on.
Gordon: I'm on one live one.
Is that from St. Mike's?
Gordon: Yeah. Were you at that show?
No. That was before I started. [laughs]
Gordon: There were so many people at that show. All of The Slip was there‚ guys that ended up playing in my band were there‚ so many people.
Yeah‚ that was a big show‚ wasn't it?
Gordon: Yeah.
I was just commenting on how young those guys sounded. I guess that's back in 1992?
Gordon: I think so‚ yeah.
I think that was the first show that Page had the baby grand piano?