What does pot roast have to do with picking a guitar? 

Lewiston musician Denny Breau knows. It’s a deep respect for his family and the music genes bequeathed to him, and his love of family, home and pot roast.

His mother, Betty Cody, a musical legend in her own right, and his father, Harold “The Lone Pine Mountaineer” Breau, “set the Northeast on fire playing in grange halls, touring in West Virginia, Nova Scotia and Winnepeg, on the road, living the dream,” he said. “They had a Cadillac with a bull horn on top advertising, ‘Show tonight!'”

The couple worked with the legendary Chet Atkins in the 1940s and ’50s, recording for RCA in Canada. At a moment in her career that could have catapulted her to fame “when Colonel Parker, Elvis’ manager, wanted Mom to be the Lucky Strike Girl,”  she chose family over fortune, he said.

“She came home to live in my grandmother’s house and got a job in the shoe shop, making cardboard boxes to raise us three boys,” he said.

Breau began his love affair with the guitar in 1960.

“I was kind of smitten with it, to say the least. At the time, I think it was The Beatles. I had a friend, Don Caron, who played the guitar and taught me three chords, A, D and E. I learned a lot of songs,” he said.

“At age 9 you’re looking for your place in life.  Everyone’s telling you to get out of the way. Get dressed for school and get on the bus.  I found my place very young and I never looked back,” he said.

His work was inspired by his mother and her sense of family, he said. It’s evidenced in the tracks on his recent CD, “Mirror at the Camp.” 

Breau has written a couple of hundred songs, inspired by his love of family, cooking, food and jazz.

“It’s American roots music. It could be blues, jazz, or three chord rock-and-roll, depends on how I’m feeling,” he said.

Another major source of inspiration, he said, is his late brother, well-known guitarist Lenny Breau.

He said when people call him a “legend,” he only has to listen to his brother’s music to remain humble. 

“Whenever I get cocky, I just put on some Lenny Breau and that quiets me right down, I’ll tell you what!” he said.

And also helping him keep his balance is his desire to be a family man.

“I wanted a stable family life,” he said. “You can’t do it all in one lifetime. I can’t give it 100 percent because I want my wife and children. Being a musician is a tough life.  One minute I am a crazy musician and the next I am a loving dad.”

Where Breau will play

Master guitarist and singer-songwriter Denny Breau has several shows scheduled this month, including the following:

* Pedro O’Hara’s in downtown Lewiston at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25. (He will also play here Feb. 8 and 22 March 7 and 21.)

* Suds Pub in Bethel at 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.

* Bethel Inn at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27-28

* Fast Breaks in Lewiston at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31.