Paul Kantner tells succinctly why he and Marty Balin turned from acoustic folk and blues to psychedelic rock in 1965.
"We discovered LSD and Fender twin reverb amps in the same week," says the Jefferson Airplane co-founder, matter-of-factly, in an interview from his home in North Beach, San Francisco.
While the drugs are a thing of the past, the music endures. Kantner, at 72, is still at it, making music with Jefferson Starship, which he and David Freiberg founded in 1974 after the final crash of the Airplane.
Jefferson Starship will perform two shows at the Stanhope House on Sunday, Oct. 13, bringing with them a living legacy of nearly 50 years of hits touching on still pertinent topics, from love to drugs to science fiction to anti-establishment politics. Their presence surely will add to the rich history of a stage that has hosted Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield and fellow Woodstock veteran Richie Havens, among many others, though history doesn't impress Kantner.
"History means little to me. The show is everything," he said.
The current Jefferson Starship lineup is: guitarist and vocalist Kantner, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Freiberg, lead guitarist Mark Aguilar, drummer Donny Baldwin, keyboardist Chris Smith and vocalist Cathy Richardson. Aguilar has been with Jefferson Starship for 28 years and is only the third person to play lead guitar in the history of both bands, the others being Jorma Kaukonen and Craig Chaquico. Richardson has assumed the frontwoman role made famous by Grace Slick, Diana Mangano and Signe Toly Anderson, among others. Slick, who sings lead on Jefferson Airplane's most iconic songs -- "Somebody to Love," "White Rabbit," "Lather" -- retired in 1989, saying old people shouldn't be on a rock and roll stage.
"I have been enthralled by all the women I have worked with," Kantner said. "They have all been strongly focused, with a very powerful voice. Yet they have each been quite different in their approach to singing and performing."
Kantner has been involved with two bands in one, really. He says Jefferson Starship is simply a continuation of Jefferson Airplane, perhaps with more science fiction themes, but with the same variation of approaches from album to album. But there is another spinoff from the Airplane, simply called Starship and piloted by Mickey Thomas. This group, which also featured Slick for a time, had hits in the 1980s including "We Built This City," "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "Sara."
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