Nine Questions

Brian Green

By day, Brian Green teaches at Skyview High School. After dark, he plays bass for folk, rock and jazz acts including Leila Lopez, The Possibles and several others. He moved from Cooperstown, N.Y., to Tucson in 1995 to attend the University of Arizona; after earning a degree in math, he stuck around. Green, 35, can grow a damn fine handlebar moustache; his current facial hair took two years to cultivate.

What was the first concert you ever saw?

The first memory I have of a concert was when I went with my parents to (the country-music festival) Fan Fair in Nashville. We saw Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. They all wore powder-blue suits. The first concert I went to on my own was Metallica on the "Black Album" tour, in Weedsport, N.Y.

What are you listening to these days?

My radio's broken, and I haven't hooked up my stereo, so I'll plug Fen Ikner's website, where you can hear this ridiculous 12-minute song he did, "Passion."

What was the first album you owned?

The first CD I ever bought was Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love, but you just don't get?

Howe Gelb. Sacred cows make the best hamburger.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Probably Jimi Hendrix with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell. That was my favorite lineup.

Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Um, how about Calexico?

What song would you like to have played at your funeral?

"Pancho and Lefty." I think Townes Van Zandt wrote it, but I like Willie Nelson's version best.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

This is kind of a toss-up. I listened to both Jimi Hendrix and Metallica in high school. But I guess the Seattle grunge scene, with the big four of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, really made a difference in my life.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

The Who's Who's Next.