Q&A With Paul Pigat 

In advance of his Oct. 4 Salt Spring Folk Club concert — Boxfire Campfire with Trent Freeman and Steve Holy — we asked Paul a few questions to learn a bit more about Boxcar Campfire and what he’s been up to lately.

SSFC: Tell us about the Boxcar Campfire project — its origins and evolution. 

PP: The Boxcar project evolved from a small combo I was working with called the Hard 8 Trio with Monty Jones and Rick Taylor in the early 2000s. We were doing a lot of acoustic blues but with more of an ambient bent. That band dispersed, but I had already started writing music for it, so I decided to start the project, but it was only me playing all the instruments. A few months later I was on tour with Neko Case in the U.K. and Ireland, and when we played in Dublin our opening act had to drop out.  They asked if I wanted to do the opening set fronting the band. We had a great set, and I decided then that the project was worth continuing.

SSFC: Will you be doing another Boxcar Campfire recording? 

PP: A Boxcar recording seems to come out of me every 10 years, so I guess it’s time to get started. I’ve always thought that it was going to be a trilogy, so there is definitely one more coming. But, hey, maybe it will be a quartet of records. I’m still not sure!

SSFC: What’s your connection with violinist Trent Freeman and bass player Steve Holy? 

PP: This will be my first concert playing with Trent. I’ve been wanting to work with him for a while and this was the perfect opportunity. I’ve known Steve for a few years now and really enjoy playing with him. He’s the kind of musician I like: a jazz player with a roots musician’s heart.    

SSFC: What instruments will you be bringing with you for the Folk Club concert?   

PP: I will probably keep it pretty simple. A couple of guitars that I’ve made in the last few years and possibly an early ‘30s National. Maybe Steve might bring the 1950s Martin D18 I restored last year.   

SSFC: You were originally scheduled to play with Mike Farris at a Pitchfork Social concert this summer, right? What’s your connection with him? 

PP: Unfortunately there was a last-minute date change and I was booked for the Vancouver Folk Festival so I had to miss it. I did the Pitchfork gig with Mike the last time he was on Salt Spring, though. I met him while doing some shows together with The Sojourners years ago. We just kinda hit it off and he seemed to like that I had the ability to just go with the flow and follow him through his material. Plus we had some great hangs and had a lot of fun!

SSFC: What are you most looking forward to about the Oct. 4 Folk Club show?

PP: I’m really looking forward to playing with this trio. It’s a new group for me and, although the instrumentation is the same as my jazz trio, it’s new players with new insight into the music. I’m used to doing Boxcar shows solo, so when I get to do it with other musicians it’s always unique. And it will be great to see friends on the island again!

SSFC: Islanders miss [your former Cousin Harley bass player] Keith Picot . . . do you know how he is doing?

PP: He’s living his best life in Ecuador. He’s started playing guitar and singing more and is going by Chick a Dee Dee Daniels. He’s got five dogs and five cats and is loving it down there!

SSFC: What else are you working on these days?

PP: I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last eight years getting better at being a luthier. So I spend a lot of time in the shop building and restoring guitars. It’s something I’ve always done, but I started taking it seriously during the pandemic. I truly love it.

SSFC: Any other big news you want to share?

PP: Cory Weeds has asked me to do another record for Cellar Live, the jazz label here in Vancouver.    The last one we did was his first blues release. Maybe we’ll try Boxcar?