Artis The Spoonman

Amanda Wilde
01/05/2012

You're not supposed to play with your food. But you can play your utensils! Spoons have been used around the world for centuries for music making. Artis the Spoonman, who lives in Port Townsend, Washington, has become famous worldwide for his spoon playing.

Artis has been busking on Seattle streets since the 1970s. His mastery of the spoons brought him national prominence in the 1990s when Soundgarden tapped him to perform at their shows and wrote a song named for him. "Spoonman" won a Grammy in 1995.

Over the years, Artis the Spoonman has played all around the world with rock groups, symphonies and marching bands.

In this interview with KUOW's Amanda Wilde, Artis demonstrates how he made an art from the craft of spoon playing.