3 Questions

Chances are, if you're even slightly into the local music scene, you know Karina Wilson. The stalwart violinist/fiddler has backed up more musicians than we could even begin to list here, and now she's striking out on her own with an improvisational jazz-esque trio at Tonic this Friday (9:30 pm. Free. 103 E Water St., 982-1189). As longtime fans of Wilson, we had to get the lowdown.

So, this is your own thing, right?

Yeah, I guess so. It's an improvisational trio. Nothing is prepared beforehand. The first time was with Cyrus Campbell and Mikey Chavez, this time with Casey Anderson and Trevor Bahnson. Trevor is back in town and we wanted to play a gig, I'd been offered this date and didn't have anything lined up for it. I love playing with Trevor and Casey, and it's something out of the ordinary to play with Trevor when he's not playing his own stuff. I've gotten together twice with these guys; we haven't played together as a trio, but you need a little bit of background to be able to know what they do.

Can you give us an idea of what it'll sound like?

Casey comes from a really impressive jazz background, I come from a pretty deep folk background and Trevor … I don't really know what Trevor's background is. But it'll have these jazz flavors in it, fiddle stuff and jazz riffs, Casey is doing experimental percussion on his bass. It falls in the realm of jazz, but that seems like a really loose term.

Does this mean we'll see more of you, and does playing not as backup bring other challenges?

I think so. I've got a little trio going, I've got some other projects in the works. I've got a fiddler coming up from Texas this summer named KeyReel Raskolenko and we'll be doing duets. I have a bandstand show this year. It's way more responsibility. I have to take responsibility for my own choices now, figure out what I want to represent. There's a whole other set of complications when you're trying to be a bandleader, too, like trying to get people to play as in-depth as you want them to without telling them what to do. In my opinion, why would you hire somebody if you don't want them to play how they already play?