T3M: You started playing guitar at an early age; what made you gravitate toward playing a Dobro?

RD: I had a lot of good guitar players around me growing up, and it gave me the chance to be a little bit different, and join the jam sessions.

And there are the records that I picked up, like Son House, Booker White, and Robert Johnson. To me, these guys were playing more wickedly than any electric player. I really felt like there was a dimension in their music that cut deeper than the electric blues guitar players. So that was a big turn-on for me, because I felt like I was tapping into a source.

Initially, something inside really felt like playing that instrument. It's really as simple as that.

As I got a little bit older I got into Raga, Indian music, and Ravi Shankar, and all of a sudden I realized what I liked most about it. The Dobro offers you a chance to play in-between the notes. That's what Indian music does, it finds this negative space, and it's not so square anymore... it's a round thing. Initially I just wanted to sit on the Dobro and drone as if it was a sitar.

I think all those elements combined sold me on it.

T3M: Watching you perform in Boston was a real treat, and the audience gave an enthusiastic response. How does it feel for you when a crowd reacts that way?

RD: I don't take that crowd for granted, because there are slow nights too. So when people are giving you energy, you just take that energy and use it to play. Last night we played and it was really slow. It was a small club, and we'd never been there before. So when you come out ready to get into trouble, and the crowd comes out like that, it's a nice feeling.

T3M: In the pictures I've taken I've noticed some wear on your Dobro. Is that one of the original one's you've had?

RD: That is the original Dobro that I've had. It was brand new when I bought it. Some people make their guitars wear out a lot quicker over time because they do a lot worse things to their instruments. I've just played that thing for so long, and beat on that thing for so long now that's it's just worn down where I play.

There's people who light their guitars on fire and send them to the guitar builder to get them playing again, and then continue to play them. Mine... I just haven't had the heart to torch it. That's all from sweat, your hand rubbing against it, and knocking it into things.

T3M: You must take good care of it.

RD: The thing is, I don't. It's the grace of the gods that it's still in one piece. It's not even well-made. It's built out of plywood. There's really nice Dobros out there, but I play the cheap one.

T3M: Don't you also have a custom one?

RD: I do have one custom one. That's a completely different beast.

T3M: The body looks narrow.

RD: We were experimenting with sizes. I think I'm going to widen it out a little again. That was the proto-type.

There's a guitar builder in Los Angeles, his name is Pavel. He's originally from Poland. He came up to me at a show. It turned out he was building for Pink Floyd, and Johnny Winter's Dobros, and he wanted to start working on my Dobro. And then we got talking about building one, and we designed that one together, then he built it. I've been playing it since the Keane trip, and just been trying to learn it. It's pretty cool.

There are a few things that we're going to change from here, but I think we're onto something. People have already wanted them from him, like Joe Perry from Aerosmith. Now he's got a back-order for these guitars. I was like 'this is something I wanted for me, what are you doing?'. He goes 'I'll write the RD Model on the neck' and I said 'I guess that's fine'. We'll see how it goes.

T3M: Is there something that people think they know about you but really don't?

RD: I think a lot of people think I'd be down on guitars quite a bit. The truth is that I never did. I don't talk a lot of shop. Even the other musicians that I've toured with, and other people that I've played with, the first thing they do is come up to me and start talking about the Dobro. I find it funny, because I was always the one who would jump into a conversation about some drama that happened, or something someone just saw... that's the fun stuff.

Talking about guitars is like talking about computers. It's just a tool. I think that's one of the bigger misconceptions. The thing is that I don't know anything. I never paid attention long enough to learn anything. You string it up, you play it. It's a simple thing. People make things that are simple, very complex. I think I spend most of my time trying to re-simplify them.

T3M: I read somewhere that you played at Hugh Hefner's birthday party, is that true?

RD: No, I played at the Playboy mansion. It was for the legalization of marijuana.

T3M: Did you bring The Bunny with you?

RD: Yes we did. We knew we couldn't score one of the real ones, so we brought our mascot.

T3M: What have you learned in the past year and a half?

RD: That guts wins over talent almost every time. I've seen amazing musicians do nothing. I used to wonder why. They used to be so bitter. Now I know why. They didn't have the guts to actually put anything out there, and give people a chance to take a hit at it to see if it really works. They're just afraid. A lesser talented artist wins because of that. That's one thing I've learned.

Another thing I've learned is to be nice to people. I already knew, but it affirmed it. The relationships to me are so much more valuable. I don't mean for any contact, I just mean for your experience, to actually enjoy this. I've had to learn to enjoy it, because I grew up feeling like I've always been at war with everybody. It's nice to start to change that mentality a little bit and start to enjoy people's company, and enjoy being out here.

T3M: What do you do during your downtime between shows?

RD: We've become quite avid tennis players. We all have our rackets, and as soon as we can we try to get to a court and either play tennis, or kick a soccer ball around.

T3M: What does it feel like for you to be able to see this country, or even other countries?

RD: That's something I wanted to do my whole life. I did do it, but in a much more humble manner than I do now. I'd travel and run out of money. I always wanted to travel... I always wanted to play music... so it's all working out really good right now.

T3M: Thank you for taking some time to speak with me today.

RD: Yeah, no problem.

T3M: Also, I'm glad you're feeling better. We would never have known that you weren't feeling well during the show in Boston, if we weren't told, because you played all night and didn't even flinch.

RD: The delirium helped a little bit.

T3M: Enjoy the rest of your tour.

RD: Thank you, Love.

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| 08.22.2007 | Interview by Kristen Pierson |