Blues the catharsis for Maine veteran NPR to air songs, stories of Vietnam

At a time when the United States is involved in its latest overseas war, a voice from an earlier conflict is being heard across the nation.

That voice belongs to Vince Gabriel, better known as blues rocker Blind Albert. The story of the Warren resident’s experiences in the Vietnam War will be featured in “Vietnam Blues,” a segment on National Public Radio’s “Soundprint” program. It will air at 12:30 p.m. Thursday on Maine Public Radio.

“Vietnam Blues” is a 30-minute documentary produced by Tina Antolini, a Cushing resident who recently graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.

Antolini had been a jazz singer herself, but she had shifted her focus to ethnomusicology and American studies. She designed a major at Hampshire in which she studied how class, gender, sexuality and race combine in American music.

After spending a semester at Portland’s Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Antolini, 22, decided to produce a series of short radio documentaries about untraditional music in Maine as her senior project.

She had known Gabriel from visiting the record shop that he had run for many years in downtown Rockland, and thought his life as a veteran musician in Maine would be a perfect fit for her series. But she didn’t know all his story at that time.

Gabriel was drafted right after high school and was sent from his native New Jersey to Vietnam. After “walking point” for eight months during the 1968 Tet offensive, he was sent home again.

As with many of his fellow Vietnam veterans, his experiences there have stayed with Gabriel, and led to his 2000 album “11 Bravo S Viet Nam.” He has also written his unpublished memoirs, filling up two notebooks with his recollections.

Unlike some of his fellow vets, Gabriel, 57, always has been able to talk about his tour of duty.

“Talking about it is my therapy – that and writing songs about it,” he explained.

Antolini and Gabriel sat down for weekly interviews over six weeks last fall. She soon decided to shift the direction of her piece.

“I approached Vince not knowing much about his Vietnam experience,” said the graduate of Georges Valley High School in Thomaston. “It became pretty clear that Vietnam was the story Vince had to tell. It was so absorbing that it was obvious that it deserved a longer format.”

Antolini completed “Vietnam Blues” in December. The finished piece had a short introduction, followed by Gabriel’s memories interwoven with songs from the “11 Bravo” album. Antolini had planned to submit it to Maine Public Radio, which had aired two of her music pieces in the past, but her adviser suggested she submit it to “Soundprint” instead. She quickly got the word that the show’s producers wanted it.

What was Gabriel’s reaction to finding out that his story would be airing nationwide?

“It’s kind of a humbling experience, to be honest,” he said. “I thought it might get on some small stations, and I’d get a copy for my archives. It was a pleasant surprise.”

Gabriel cautions that “Vietnam Blues” is but one soldier’s experiences.

“I’m not trying to be a spokesperson for Vietnam vets,” he said. “I’m just telling my story, trying to give a person who’s never been in the war an idea of what it was like through my music. My experiences aren’t the same as any other veteran, many of whom went through a heck of a lot more.”

Still, he hopes his story can help other veterans. Since the release of “11 Bravo” in 2000, Gabriel has donated half the proceeds to the Disabled American Veterans Department of Maine. He is repackaging the album as the companion CD and soundtrack to “Vietnam Blues” and will continue making such donations to that group.

Antolini just wrapped up a stint as interim local host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” on the Amherst public radio station. She’s moving on to her next project. In late March, she’s headed to Italy, “to explore my Italian heritage and hopefully turn it into a radio piece.”

Still, she said that “Vietnam Blues” has a timely message.

“It’s especially relevant at the current moment, with so many American citizens fighting in Iraq,” Antolini said. “Americans are wondering what it’s like over there, and you get an almost visceral sense of what it’s like being a soldier on the front lines from this.”

Gabriel said that Americans have already learned lessons from the Vietnam War.

“The country needed to back the troops, regardless of what they thought of the government, and that’s what they’re doing now. It’s the troops that are doing the work, that are following orders. People do understand that now, and I’m glad.”

For information about the “Soundprint” program, visit http://soundprint.org. To find out about Blind Albert, visit www.blindalbert.com. Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.