Following a line of most notable musicians to be interviewed by Jarrett Bellini on “Apparently This Matters,” including John Scofield, Col. Bruce Hampton, and Tim Carbone and Andy Goessling of Railroad Earth, the newest interview features another guest of jam band significance, Al Schnier of moe.
The format is simple. Bellini has a guitar case full of postcards. Written on those postcards is a number of varying topics. Bellini and guest pick the card and talk about it. Here’s what we learned from Schnier’s conversation with Bellini:
If Schnier weren’t playing guitar for moe. right now, he hopes he would be skiing:
“I’m comfortable skiing just about anything. And I work as a ski patroller, so it’s kind of my fallback…thing…I wanna retire gracefully into just being one of those old ski patrollers on the mountain that is just sort of skiing gracefully down the mountain and telling people which way to go.”
Schnier is the primary cook in his family. His go-to dish, pasta fazool:
“It’s like a white bean and a pasta dish. Really simple, with a clear broth for the most part, and just a few simple vegetables in it. It’s the easiest thing to make…but you can screw it up if you try and do to much to it. Just to make that dish and make it well is so satisfying, it’s so hardy. You can eat it year round but it’s really good as a three-season dish, especially being in the Northeast. You know, I learned the nuts and bolts of it from Vinnie [Amico].”
On his coming of age after the passing of his father:
“Like I said, it just puts things in perspective. And at that time I just realized that life was too short…and at that point I really sort of embraced that notion of doing everything in moderation and just being a little bit easier on myself. Not being so strict about everything. I didn’t drink. I didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t drink alcohol. I was a vegan. I had all these rules about how I wanted to be so good about everything. But life was too short for that. I just wanted to enjoy things a little bit more…and life has been fantastic ever since.” [Laughs]
Schnier, in his own words, was a bit of a “difficult kid” in school:
“I was a troublemaker. I wasn’t necessarily picking on other kids, but I was always [getting into shit]. I was always cracking jokes in class, that kind of a thing. I did well in school up to the point where they started giving us homework and then I just never did it, which was part of the problem…I would do well on my tests because I would learn the material but I was just too distracted.”
Schnier’s first Grateful Dead concert was in 1982 in Syracuse, NY:
“The Brent [Mydland] years were my years…His playing, especially on the B3, such a great organ player. He had a lot of good songs and I thought he added so much character to that band. He was my favorite keyboard player in that band for sure.”
Watch the entire edition of “Apparently This Matters” with Al Schnier below:
Schnier and moe. will be returning to New York City for a three-night run this March, beginning with an intimate performance at Stage 48 on St. Patrick’s Day (3/17). The only way to score tickets to this show is to purchase a three-night pass, or enter to win them here. The winner will receive two (2) tickets to moe.’s St. Patrick’s Day show as well as a signed poster. The contest will run until March 8th when the winner will be notified by email. Good luck!