• Catch & Release
  • about
  • music
    • I'm Just the Same As I Was
    • Waiting for the Light to Change
    • Greener
    • The Overall Distance
    • Demos
    • A Quiet Place to Sit
  • Fiction
    • Rewind, Playback
    • The Memory of My Shadow
    • Harmony House
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • contact

Ben Wakeman

  • Catch & Release
  • about
  • music
    • I'm Just the Same As I Was
    • Waiting for the Light to Change
    • Greener
    • The Overall Distance
    • Demos
    • A Quiet Place to Sit
  • Fiction
    • Rewind, Playback
    • The Memory of My Shadow
    • Harmony House
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • contact
  • Menu

Episode 6: What Matthew Kahler Wants to Hear

March 31, 2007

Matthew Kahler was born in Albany, Georgia on November 14th, 1959. He was the seventh child of Ralph and Lois Kahler and one of nine children. Everyone in the Kahler family sings, but Matthew was the only one who pursued music as a profession.

Matthew knew from a very early age what it took to be heard, to stand out from the crowd.  The powerful voice he developed out of necessity as a child became the catalyst for his songs, so rich with imagery, beautiful language and unusual phrasing. He picked up the guitar, plays a bit of piano and is famous for his thunderous conga playing, but all these things are simply side items to the main course which has always been his voice.

In this interview, Matthew talks at length about his inner worlds, his struggles and passion for the spiritual connection music has allowed him to the outside world that he has never felt completely at home in. There is also plenty of vintage Matthew Kahler silliness, because in many ways, he is and always will be Peter Pan to me --- always ready for an escape to another world far less serious than this one.


← Episode 7: Craig Cardiff Finds Meaning In This BusinessEpisode 5: John Gorka's Writing in the Margins →

SHORT STORIES

LONGER THAN A SONG, SHORTER THAN A NOVEL...

I've always been enamored by the short story. It is probably the most difficult form to master. How can you possibly transport someone into a fully realized world in just a few pages? Songs can cheat because the music does the heavy lifting. Novels have acres of open land to plant the seeds and allow them to grow, produce fruit and even die. But short stories must be dense, concentrated and focused with an engine powerful enough to tow a freight train but small enough to fit in a pocket watch.

This collection of stories represents my meager attempt to learn how the form works. There are moments I hope where I get close, but you can be the judge of that, dear reader.