Five Favorites: Kyle Rightley

Kyle Rightley

One might not guess hearing Kyle Rightley’s windswept folk guitar trimmed in mandolin and graced with a clear calm voice that the talented singer-songwriter spent time in the nine-piece funk and soul band The Big Payback, attends Tuesday night jams every week at Madison’s Mason Lounge playing trombone and euphonium with the Five Points Jazz Collective and produces electronic prog-rock as (io). Having dropped two solo acoustic EPS in 2014, Rightley kicks off the new year’s new feature where we ask local talent what are a few of their favorite things

MAXIMUM INK: Do you have a favorite story of a musician helping another musician?
Kyle Rightley: I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of other musicians! Specifically, music professors from my college days helped shape my playing and musical philosophies. John Stevens at UW-Madison was a mentor and role model for me. And my involvement in every band that I’ve ever played in happened because of another musician giving me a chance. Even if I doubted my own abilities, my band mates seemed to believe in me.

MI: What’s your favorite thing about the local music community?
KR: That kind of ties in with the first question. Madison’s music community is knit very tightly. One might think that local musicians compete against each other for gigs and exposure. That might be true to some extent, but a victory for one musician is a victory for all local musicians. If a venue hires a band or solo act and the night goes really well, that venue is going to be more likely to hire other musicians on other nights. I think we all understand that to a degree, so there’s a great deal of camaraderie among Madison musicians.

MI: What’s your favorite song these days?
KR: It would be hard to pick just one. My all-time favorite songs are “Dogs” by Pink Floyd, and “Canada” and “Funeral” by Devin Townsend.

MI: Who’s the favorite one in your family?
KR: Well, that’s a loaded question! My brother’s girlfriend is a flight attendant, and she’s hooking us up with cheap plane tickets to South America in January. So even though she’s not technically family, she would rank pretty high on my “favorites” list currently.

MI: Where’s your most favorite place to write music?
KR: I’m lucky enough to have a music room in my place right now. All my instruments and recording gear live there, so that’s my creative space right now. But it can also be really fun write lyrics or music out in nature (when the weather is nice, of course)!

For more information check out www.kylerightley.com and catch Kyle along with Hugh Trimble January 10th at Madison’s Crescendo Espresso Bar & Music Cafe.

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