Three or four years ago, coming back from hip surgery, I put in a stint of physical therapy. The assistant trainer, a 24-year-old named Caitlin, was a big pop music fan, as am I, although, to borrow from one of Hank Williams Jr.'s songs about his daddy, Caitlin's kind of pop and mine ain't exactly the same.
Tyler Chester was headed south on the I-5 to San Diego, where he would join indie-rock eminence Andrew Bird's road band for a brief tour. Touring is an activity Los Angelesbased Chester pursues with decreasing frequency, he told me in a recent phone chat. After years as a busy sideman and recording-session musicianhe is equally proficient on bass, guitar, and keyboardsChester finds himself spending less and less time as a player and more as a producer.