1. At what point in your life do you recall really feeling like you, without a doubt, had the potential to be a major success as a musician?
I realized it in my childhood. I had certain talents and proclivities. Music being one of them.
2. What elements do you look for in a song that make it especially satisfying for you to perform as a musician?
I love a good melody but the lyric combined with the melody is what is at the heart of a song for me. When I can personally identify with the sentiment of the song, I can make it my own. If it has a great melody, the song becomes a journey unto itself and allows a singer to inhabit a song. The result is what makes for great listening music.
3. Going as far back into your childhood as you can remember, what was the first song you heard that really grabbed you?
I recall being struck by a song from the musical Oklahoma entitled, Oh What A Beautiful Morning. And would sing it. My mother told me I used to sing into a wooden spoon as if it were a microphone to Tennessee Ernie Ford's kinda bluesy song born from the cole mines, Sixteen Tons. I was two years of age.
4. Of the new technologies and gadgets that have come about and are developing today, which are the most exciting to you personally?
I'm a very low tech person and I like it that way. I learn new technology only out of necessity. I do enjoy that I can communicate with the world through cyberspace, and that if you google Ron Kaplan in many countries, I'm there. Sharing my music with people is my greatest joy. I get a big kick out of the fact that around the world, people are downloading my music on itunes and rhapsody.
5. Who would you consider to be the most influential person in your life to date?
I'm certain my mother had the greatest influence on me in this life. She was also my biggest fan. Many have influenced me along the way. I do my best to learn from others and to come to know myself. Musically, there is always something to learn from each experience.
6. If you were magically allowed to spend an hour with any person who’s ever lived, who would that be?
If it were to be a mere mortal, I would like to spend the hour with Tony Bennett and convince him to support and help launch www.GreatAmericanSongbook.org to preserve our cultural treasure known as the Great American Songbook by presenting this music to the public at home and abroad as Ambassadors of Song.
