Doc Gibbs Interview Page 4

Smitty:  Oh, several styles.

DG:  So these other people, the earlier folks, they always kept it in the Cajun mode even if he was cooking Chinese.  (Both laugh.)  So they said “Well, we wanna try some other musicians,” so once again our friend came back and she mentioned to my wife, she said “I gotta look for some other musicians and I don’t know what instrumentation.”  She said “Well, why don’t you try Doc?”  And she said “Well, what does Doc do?”  (Both laugh.)  “He plays percussion.  What do you think?”  So she said “Well, all right, we’ll give him a try.  Have him come up.”  And so I got a piano player and we went up and I think we taped three shows, because at that time they were doing three shows, and they sorta liked what I did and they said “Well, we want you to come back next month.” 

I went back the second month and played again, and by this time Emeril’s like “Hey, Doc, Randy, are you here tomorrow?”  I said “Nah, they just got me in for one day.”  So that went on for about six months and they taped every other month, I think, and so at the end of the six months, my friend, she got a Cable Ace Award for the show and then she left the show, and then a new producer came in and she wanted to see all the musicians, so they did a show with all of the musicians who had been on the show previously.  They were all in one show.  And by then he was calling me by name and making reference to me and saying “Hey, what do you think about that, Doc?”  I mean, even though there were seven or eight other musicians there, I was the only one that he was referring to.  And so after that show, that executive producer said “I think you’re the one for this gig ‘cause he knows you and you’re playing different sounds” and so that’s how it started back in 1998.

Smitty:  You know what?  You just got the vibe, man.

DG:  Well, you know how it is, sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time?

Smitty:  Yeah.

DG:  So all the stars were lined up right and everything was in the right place and my blessing came through.

Smitty:  And I think that executive producer was right because, man, I love the culinary arts to start with.

DG:  Right.

Smitty:  And I really think Emeril had the number one show, not for any one reason; it’s a combination of things.  The man is so funny and he feels the vibe.  I’ve watched it.  He feels what you’re doing in connection with what he’s doing.

DG:  Right.

Smitty:  And he incorporates that into what he’s doing.

DG:  Mm-hmm.

Smitty:  And I think that’s a perfect fit and the music just totally complements the cooking.

DG:  Right.  Well, food and music go together anyway.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.

DG:  A lot of musicians cook, a lot of musicians like to cook and have music going, and a lot of chefs like to cook and have music going too.

Smitty:  Yeah, and their fans too..

DG:  It’s a nice marriage and with us connecting like that, I think that’s what made the show so special, and that was the fact that you had a guy who cooks and talks like the guy next door but he cooks incredibly, incredibly well, and then you add music to that.

Smitty:  Well, it’s like when we barbecue and we take the radio outside with us, you know?

DG:  Yeah, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right.  As they say, it’s a great pairing.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.  Well, I love what you do.  The other thing is you create so much happiness on that show because whenever the camera cuts to you, Doc’s smiling and jamming, you know what I’m saying?

DG:  Yeah.  I like to have a good time and I definitely like people to see that I’m having fun.  I used to look at some musicians playing on stage and they would look like they were angry or they weren’t that interested in being there but, man, I like to connect with people when I’m playing. Because I want you to look at what I’m doing and what’s happening musically and hear what’s going on and how the musicians are interacting and how we’re adding spice to the music. And I want people to be affected by the percussion and realize that this is a great instrument that cannot disappear because we’ve had other instruments that were played in jazz that you don’t hear anymore like the trombone.  You very rarely hear anybody playing a trombone unless you get into some really deep heavy jazz.

Smitty:  Yeah, that’s a sweet instrument.  Well, Doc, I want to first of all congratulate you on just an incredible career.

DG:  Thank you.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.  And for what you’re doing now and I would say, brotha, keep doing your thing, keep your flava strong, and just keep doing what you do because you’re touching a lot of people and sometimes you don’t even know it.

DG:  Right, it’s the truth ‘cause being on TV, I have no idea how many people I reach each night that turn on that show and who are affected by the music and the whole ambience and vibe of the show ‘cause the show goes out to I don’t even know how many countries and countries that have access to the Internet, I mean, to the cable.  If they carry the Food Network, then they’re getting us, and so I’ve been told that we’ve been seen in Guam, we’re seen in New Zealand, we’re seen throughout the Caribbean.  So I don’t know how many people we reach a night and I don’t even know how many people I’m affecting, but I’m just glad to know that we’re reaching people and so the next move now is to be able to go to these places with my band and actually do some performing so people can come and experience it live and in living color.

Smitty:  Right, and I hope you do and I wanna be there.

DG:  Yeah, we gotta go there too.  That sounds good.  We’ll come during basketball season so we can go for the three games while we’re there.

Smitty:  That’s what I’m talking about. Doc, man, I wanna thank you so much for spending so much time with me and having such a great conversation about your career, your music, and all the other wonderful things you’re doing to help people to really enjoy life and really have a wonderful time with this great music.

DG:  Great. Thank you.

Smitty:  All right. Give me your website.

DG:  That’s www.docgibbstv.com and you can go to the My Space page also.  I have a My Space Doc Gibbs and a My Space Doc Gibbs and Picante, which is the band that was on the Emeril Live show, and I’m in the process, actually, of putting a new band together and that band is called Infusion.

Smitty:  Oh, cool.

DG:  And you’ll be hearing some stuff about us.  We’re gonna be hopefully going into the studio soon and recording some music and that’ll be up on the My Space page in a little bit.

Smitty:  Very nice.

DG:  So I’m just moving it forward to a more Latin jazz oriented vibe and we’re going for it.

Smitty:  All right, well, hey, hopefully when that music gets out there you’ll come back and tell us a little bit about it.

DG:  Sounds good.

Smitty:  All right, my friend.

DG:  All right, Smitty.  It’s been a pleasure talking to you.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.myspace.com/docgibbspicante