How Nature is the Foundation of Making Things Better with Joseph Wooten Part 2 (of 2)
“Nature and music was always interrelated, because that’s who we are. ”
YOUR KEY INSIGHTS FROM joseph wooten
Three-time Grammy nominated artist, Joseph Wooten, has been the keyboardist for The Steve Miller Band since 1993, fronts his own band The Hands of Soul, and is part of the multi-talented family known as The Wooten Brothers – Victor Wooten, Roy Wooten (Futureman), Regi Wooten, and the late Rudy Wooten. Joseph is also a songwriter, composer, singer, studio musician, author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist. He is the founder of a non-profit organization called "I Matter! You Matter!" Their mission is to heal division, honor diversity, and promote the importance of ALL people...with the power of music and dialogue. Speaking to and working with young people of all ages, giving scholarships to deserving young people, providing aid to the homeless, especially Vets.
a relationship to the natural
“Okay, so both my parents were from the country in North Carolina. My mother's parents had this farm that we would always go to every summer, and you could go down there and get as dirty as we wanted. And nobody cared. We were able to go to North Carolina, and we would help my grandparents and my aunts and uncles harvest tobacco. We were fortunate enough to get a chance to experience the country and nature. Now, we didn't know that we were getting a privileged education. I remember when we were growing up, my mom would always say how happy she was that she got a chance to grow up country. Because there were things that she wouldn't have learned had she grown up in the city, like how to be down to earth. She had a more natural way of seeing and understanding things. And that's a lot of what she used to try to impart to us, she would tell us those simple deep sayings that came from her parents.
You've heard us say from our mom, “when you look in the mirror in the morning, you've seen the most important person, you're going to see that day, but you're no better than anybody else.” That comes from her father, who had no formal education, but he was a brilliant man. Somehow being black, and uneducated, and early in the 20th century, he purchased 200 acres of land. And that's greatness. I don't know how he did it, but he did it. So from us, when we started learning to play music, it was based off of these premises that came from my mom who grew up in the country. So nature and music was always interrelated, because that's who we are. That's who we were. When you say natural, you're just talking about things as they really are, and understanding things as they really are. That's what nature is. The root word of natural is nature. And you try to play music and be natural. You try to relate to other people in a natural way. You try to keep your feet on the ground, you try to keep your feet connected to nature, it's hard to put into words. What is the difference between a funky beat and a badly played beat? They all have the same components. One one understands how to interact with space. Nothing is more natural than space. Your relationship to what's natural, will determine whether you can play music that feels good, or whether you can't.”
the space between music
“The meaning of life is in understanding context. And context is in the space. But zero is a lot of things. The fact that the equator is stable has nothing to do with us. That's done for us. It is a gift to us that our planet is stable. But context, I call it zero that we get a chance to use. The space between beats, that's my choice. So zero, is stability. The space between notes is my choice. The fact that the planet is stable has got nothing to do with me, it's a gift to me. The space that I get to use to make music is my opportunity. When the bully gets right up in your face and says, let’s fight man. Nothing between me and you, except space and opportunity. That's the truth. Right space is opportunity. Spaces also context. And that's what we try to do in life with intelligence. We try to reframe tension so it's not you against me. It's you. It's me, and we try to figure out a path forward from our difference.”
our ability to feel life
“The thing that I would say is the important thing is to remember is to be connected to the baseline. When we're looking at technology, we're talking over zoom, all we're doing is a fancy way of communicating. Communicating is nature. For me to have a feel for how you think, you having a feel for how I think, and then us being able to share the space based off of our feel for each other. If I didn't have that feel for you, maybe I'm using curse words. And that's not really your thing. Or maybe I'm using phrases that don't connect with you in the same way. In the same way with music, you can have ability. Talent is one thing, but artistry is when you can take what you're good at, and get the other people to understand it, to feel it. That's what that's the difference between talent and artistry. Not everybody who can play well is a good performer or a good artist. The way that you get to the way that you get there is but understanding is having a feel for what's in this space. Having a feel for watching this. If we in the same room having the Everything we do comes from what feels natural. And what comes natural to me might be different than what comes natural to you. Or it might have similarities. Life is lived by our ability to have to feel what's in it. How far are we standing from each other? If I'm playing too loud, if I'm playing too soft, all of that stuff is just, it's important for us to have a feel.
It's important for us to live life in regard for each other. And if we do live our lives with feel and regard for each other, we have a better chance of doing it. It's hard for somebody else besides ourselves.”
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