Michael Z. Cummings is a songwriter, storyteller, and multi-instrumentalist. By phone he discussed the influences on his music, his work with paralyzed veterans, and what he would be doing if he weren't making music.
You grew up surrounded by music. What is the first artist or album that really grabbed your attention?
That's a great question. Probably The Rolling Stones. Everyone was listening to them in my neighborhood. That was the way I got into old southern stuff like Robert Johnson. Essentially it was the Stones.
You're more of a storyteller. Who are some of your favorite storytellers?
There are so many. Dylan, Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot. Leonard Cohen I like a lot too. They really stick out in my mind.
If you could write and perform a song with any one of them, who would it be?
Leonard Cohen. That would be a lot of fun.
Earl Scruggs has been a big influence on your music. How has he influenced your music and how does it come through?
A lot of the banjo-picking patterns...they played a lot of triplet patterns. It's more of that that I incorporated into my music. I was trained classically. A lot of times I pick the G string and high E string. It gives me a rolling kind of sound if I had to sum that up.
You play a lot of instruments. What was the hardest one to master?
I don't think I've mastered any of them, but thanks for that. It's very kind of you. Probably the harmonica because it's not a stringed instrument. I'm a guitar player. I love dobro. It's a slide with a lap steel. You get off of the strings, a wind instrument...harmonica was hard for me. People think it's easy, but it's really very difficult. I really love playing harmonica and guitar at the same time. It's a lot of fun.
Talk about your work with paralyzed veterans.
I started in 2009 just for fun. I go up to Long Beach to the Vets Hospital and I have a ball with it. I've learned a lot. They're really good guys. Sometimes I have a lot of students, sometimes I have no students. When I have no students, I just play.
What would you be doing if you weren't making music?
My work or my life?
How would you fill all the time you spend playing music now?
I'd probably be painting.
Is there any style you like to paint?
I paint with watercolors. My mother paints with oils. I've had a lot of influence from her. I used to paint a lot. I prefer an intangible art form to a tangible art form. Music is more intangible.
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