Gretchen Menn: Jas Obrecht interview

Gretchen Menn Interview:

Beyond Imitation Following graduation from Palo Alto High School, Gretchen attended Smith College, where she studied classical guitar with Phillip de Fremery, a former student of Andres Segovia. Her website notes that “Gretchen’s adventurous approach to her education would foreshadow her approach to the guitar. She convinced a professor to allow her to launch a special studies project on the intricate and unclassifiable music of Frank Zappa. Her analyses of ‘The Sheik Yerbouti Tango’ and ‘The Girl in the Magnesium Dress’ showed a love for epic, melodic, genre-shattering rock and roll composition that would manifest later in her original instrumentals.” She drew additional inspiration from Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Django Reinhardt, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Deep Purple, Van Halen, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Jeff Beck, as well as Baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century music.

Earning a music degree from Smith College in 1997, Gretchen launched her first band, the jazz/funk ensemble Sketch. Then she segued into two years of flight school and a year as a commercial jet pilot. This career choice was not altogether unprecedented: With the breakup of the Dregs, Steve Morse had also trained and worked as a commercial pilot. Like Morse, Menn found the lure of music too strong, so she hung up her wings and strapped on an electric guitar. In 2001 and ’02 she delved into the singer-songwriter scene with the Tori Amos- and Fiona Apple-influenced Black Hill Sky. Then she abruptly changed course. more