Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon Share ‘Flat Top’ Performance Video
By Scott Bernstein Aug 28, 2020 • 12:22 pm PDT

Today, acclaimed guitarist Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon released their collaborative Noon studio album. Kottke and Gordon teamed up remotely for a performance of Noon track “Flat Top” and shared the resulting video.
Mike recorded his portion of “Flat Top” for the video in Burlington, Vermont; while Leo laid down his side in Minneapolis. Kottke penned the song, one of six he contributed to Noon. “I love how it’s just a sunny I-IV-V sort of chord progression and yet it swirls in a way that’s unexpected, like it moves to a spot. The bass note holds here for a second, and then Leo is still going, and then the bass surges forward with Leo,” Gordon said of “Flat Top.”
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“Each of the tunes that I brought in were different from one another in terms of the way the guitar approaches the rhythm,” Kottke added. “‘Flat Top’ and ‘The Only One’ are the only ones that are related, I’m just thinking about what I’m doing with my high right hand, but everything else is on its own.”
Watch Leo and Mike’s “Flat Top” performance video below: