CATFISH JON KESSLER

"Catfish Jon" Kessler plays bass and percussion and sings for Folk In A. Catfish started playing music so that he wouldn't have to talk to people at parties. From those shy and humble beginnings he built a rhythmic foundation for a life of low end bottom dwelling.

Catfish Jon has long been known for swimming around various musical currents (often upstream). He has played rock, funk, reggae, R&B, blues, jazz, and roots music. He is known for playing country music, mostly from other countries, like Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Ireland and the Republic of the Congo. He has also played in Klezmer and Ladino bands, because he does not discriminate against countries that no longer have a geographic location. Whether being a funky white guy playing predominantly African-American music, or a funky American guy playing Turkish and Arab music, he has kept the groove first and foremost.

Catfish grew up in the outskirts of one of the true first cities of soul, Philadelphia Pa. As a teen he fled the disco scene, following the Grateful Dead and hitchhiking around the East Coast. This exposure to ecstatic musical adventure and enormous sound systems made a profound impact on young Catfish, and he resolved to find a way to create that kind of transcendent musical experience at lower volumes. This led him to ditch electric instruments altogether for a while, until he realized that amplification was not the enemy. Now, in acoustic settings or amped to the gills, he roams the low frequencies on his mission to make the world safe for musical comedy.

The muddy waters of Catfish's career have been deep and wide. While a complete list of the bands he has played with would irreparably clog up internet traffic, some notable discographic moments includes Irie, the One Heart Band, Juicy Lucy, Batiki Beat, Savoir Faire, Farabi, and currently playing Americana and roots music with Roots 66 . He has been fortunate to perform with Joe Cocker, Walfredo Reyes, Necati Çelik, and Willam "Smitty" Smith, among others. Rumors that he chloroformed their bass players to get those gigs are unsubstantiated.

For his playing in Folk in A, Catfish mostly focuses on augmenting T-Bone's songs with the expressiveness, textures, and irresistible groove of the fretless bass. "Folks is always frettin' too much. Americans is a fretful people. We worry all the time. I figure that playing fretless bass helps balance out all that fretfulness. Singing helps some, too."

Photo by Marsha Feldman