At 4 p.m. today, Graham Stookey will be huddled around a television in his family’s Littleton home to watch “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Perhaps that sounds like strange behavior for an arty, whip-smart 18-year-old. But Stookey will be watching the popular daytime talk show for a reason.
Today’s “Oprah” – at 4 p.m. on CBS 4 – celebrates talented kids, and Stookey is one of the guests being feted. Winfrey will be joined by co-host/“Whip My Hair” phenom Willow Smith, and they will honor Stookey by inviting one of his heroes onto the set for a jam session.
His hero? Lenny Kravitz.
“She asked me a couple of questions, and I don’t remember what I said, but I answered them, and then she mentioned Lenny Kravitz,” Stookey said earlier from Littleton, having just gotten home from school at Dakota Ridge High, where he’s a senior. “And I love (Lenny Kravitz) – and I said, ‘I love him’ – and she went onto say, ‘Thatap funny, because he’s backstage right now.’
“I guess my reaction was pretty priceless. I probably looked like a giddy schoolboy actually. I heard the crowd react before I could see him. He came out in his rockstar glory in his glasses and v-neck. I always thought those on-stage surprise were full of crap, but it was real. And then (Oprah) asked if we wanted to jam together, and we dropped into a deep blues kind of thing and started jamming – with a band behind us. After that, he pulled a white Gibson guitar – autographed – and gave it to me.”
We caught up with Stookey – whose intricate finger-picking video for “Jonah” (a.k.a. “If Justin Bieber Can Get Famous, Why Can’t I”) is about to pass 280,000 views on YouTube – for a few minutes about Oprah, his new EP and his a appreciation for YouTube.
Question: Were you nervous at “Oprah?”
Answer: It was extreme – extremely nerve racking and exciting. I’m still processing it. It only happened over the course of two days. It happened so fast. It was a blur. But it was probably the most incredible experience of my life.
Q: How did it go down?
A: A couple weeks ago, my mom got a call from one of the producers who saw my video (for ‘Jonah’). The tagline of the show they were working on was something like the World’s Most Talented Kids. One thing lead to another. And they invited me to go and film in Chicago. I flew out last week, on Tuesday, did a rehearsal. I played a two-minute version of the song, ‘Jonah.’ And on Wednesday we filmed with a live studio audience. We did the two-minute version of ‘Jonah,’ and Willow Smith was there – Will Smith’s daughter. She co-MC’d it with Oprah.
Click through to the next page for more of our interview with Stookey and his YouTube video for “Jonah.”
“Jonah”
Q: Nice, so are you having a viewing party today?
A: Family and friends are coming over for a watching party. It should be fun.
Q: When did you start playing music?
A: I started on piano lessons when I was 7. My dad’s a musician himself. I was classically trained in piano. When I was 13, I picked up an electric guitar and took those lessons – and then got into heavy metal later on. I was really into the electric guitar thing. I always thought I was a guitar player more than a singer. But in high school, I cut my hair, mostly because girls don’t like death metal. And I started teaching myself how to play. I got bored of playing normally, so thatap where the right hand got in there with all the tapping and stuff.
Q: Yeah, whatap the term for that technique?
A: I don’t know. Maybe a slap harmonic. Michael Hedges had been doing that (for a long time). People have also turned me onto Andy McKee. He does that stuff. Itap not totally unique. But I put my own spin on it.
Q: And you also have
A: Yeah, we hired a producer out of L.A., and he has a studio in his backyard. We produced three songs that I wrote in the basement, hence the name. Itap all self-produced. I don’t have a label. I’m currently unsigned.
Q: Is that a goal for you and your family and creative team – to get signed and have a label.
A: Eventually yes, I want to be a musician by whatever means necessary. I just want to be a musician.
Q: And yet you’ve not played out a ton, have you?
A: I’ve not been playing much live. I reality checked myself out of making a living playing music a while ago. Music was always a hobby until recently this summer. When I decided I wanted to do this and the YouTube video happened, YouTube cut off years of live playing for me. And thatap been good and bad. The experience of playing live around is vital. But I think itap going to be O.K. I’m definitely going to start playing live more.
UPDATE: Now Reverb readers can see the video before it’s ON THE TELEVISION. Welcome to the future, friends.
.
Follow our news and updates on , our whereabouts on and everything else on . Or send us a telegram.
Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post.
