From The Vault - Patrick Cockett :: These Trails Interivew
Where are you originally from, and when did you first begin playing music? Was this relevant in your household growing up? When did you see your first concert, and who were some of your earliest influences? Did you participate in other bands and projects before These Trails?
I was born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1947. The 1950s were a wonderful time on Kauai; there weren’t many people, just one traffic light, and the island was known for its sugar and pineapple plantations. I have always been passionate about music. My family, who is Hawaiian, played traditional Hawaiian music. When I first heard Chet Atkins play the guitar, I was instantly hooked. I enjoyed singing and dancing whenever my dad’s family visited, and we had some famous singers among us. My older brother gifted me his funky guitar, which fueled my interest in music. Surfing was a big part of life back then, too. I vividly remember seeing Bo Diddley perform in the gym at Kauai High School. He was an incredibly entertaining and humorous guy. Musically, Gabby Pahinui had a significant influence on me, especially as a great slack-key artist. Ray Kane shaped my slack-key style as well. I went to college in Los Angeles in the 1960s and was surrounded by music in every direction, including love-ins and more. I had the opportunity to see many famous bands during that time. In my senior year at Kamehameha School for Boys, I was part of a folk group, and while in college, I played in a Hawaiian trio.
How did you initially meet Margaret Morgan, and what led to you guys starting the group? Tell me about writing and recording the band’s acclaimed and only album back in 1973.
Margaret’s family hailed from Kauai, and during the summers, they would stay in their beach house on Hanalei Bay. We also had a beach house there, which is how I first met her. I knew her for a long time before we eventually connected musically. It would be much after she went to school on the mainland that we started playing together. The album we recorded was titled "These Trails." We never performed any live gigs. Peter Corragio, a concert pianist and university professor, owned a recording studio called Sinergia. He was eager to showcase his ARP and synthesizer on our songs. Dave Choy handled all the ARP and string arrangements for the album. Samuel Barber, a wonderful guy who was into Beijing Opera, worked with us at the studio. Eric Kingsbury was a talented luthier and friend who contributed his skills by playing on a few tracks. We also met Carlos Pardeiro, a fantastic musician and surfer from Uruguay, on Kauai, and we’ve remained great friends to this day. While we used to jam together, it was mostly his original compositions. Margaret and I focused on laying down our acoustic songs, and then Dave worked his magic on them. We appreciated what he brought to the table, though I sometimes wonder if my creativity was influenced by the elephant I was smoking at the time. When they heard us play, Margaret and I were offered the opportunity to record an album at Sinergia. The album's name is derived from the first song we recorded. We never did any shows; instead, we mainly played for friends. Our vision for the album was to record our original songs.
“Many of the songs on “These Trails” are Margaret’s ethereal reveries, we chose the least strange ones on life, love, and broken dreams.”
We knew it was different, and we recorded our straightest songs. The songs were all already written. That’s what we did together. Margaret and I recorded the acoustic tracks, and then Dave added the Arp. Sinergia deal: Peter heard a dub of Rusty’s House and, based on that, offered us a chance to record. This is a nature album inspired by living in Hawaii. These Trails had a dulcimer played by Margaret, who was inspired by her thoughts while hiking or climbing trees. Psyche one was a fun exercise with taro patch slack key tuning, which provided a nice instrumental conversation. Psyche 2 David added the arp to another take. Share your water is again Margaret in nature riffing on her vision. It could be the theme of climate change. Sowing a seed is a plaintive account of failure. After Margaret returned to school and the album was done, we released it, and it went nowhere. I began playing with Carlos Andrade in Na Pali much later on. We made two albums – “Pacific Tunings” and “Na Pali.” I also spent 6 years touring with the Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues, 4 in Europe and 2 in the US. We made three albums and one live one. You can see us playing “The Calypsonians” in the movie 6 Days and 7 Nights with Harrison Ford and Ann Heche. I also recorded an album with a trio called ”Kupaianaha.” Margaret passed before our album became an underground hit. She never knew. I have been recording my originals with George Winston. I have a YouTube channel with songs he recorded over the years. I am still writing and will be recording soon:
