The singing doctor

At a bar in the Chicago suburbs early last year, before the pandemic, Rich Krueger and his band rocked the house.

"You seemed to be having a blast up there," said CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

"I love being on stage. I love playing music," Krueger said.

In 2018, Krueger independently released two albums of original songs: "NOWThen" and "Life Ain't That Long." Since then, he's won some high-profile fans who say this little-known musician is the real deal.

She sings of loneliness like it's something she invented
She's kicking at my head from the inside
She shatters my illusions that I just might one day be happy
Then she leaves smiling before I can drink up all I can't hide
But friend if you're me friend you'd think you'd tell me
But I'm too drunk to listen and the night's torn me apart
There ain't nobody sober gonna talk to me tonight
'Cause they've all heard this one already about me and the girl bar singer
And a stoopid broken heart
From "A Stoopid Broken Heart"

Pioneering rock critic Robert Christgau, who has written for The Village Voice and Rolling Stone magazine during a career that has spanned over 50 years, called Krueger "one of the greatest songwriters ever to make long-playing records. It's as simple as that. I don't mean he's a Randy Newman or Lennon/McCartney or a Jagger/Richard. But just below that, yes; he is that good."

LaPook asked, "You heard his music, and it said something to you?"

"I'm sorry, I think it's more than that," Christgau said. "It's not that it said something to me. It's that it says something, period."

"Some people think what I do is pretty amazing," Krueger said. "I think that's wonderful."

But what's remarkable is that for Rich Krueger, music is only the half of it. Krueger is also a neonatologist, a doctor who takes care of ill or premature newborns.

For him, music and medicine aren't as different as they might seem: "It's observation. The doctor does that and helps to treat the patient. The poet articulates it in language and makes it transpersonal. It's the same skill set. It's just doing something different with the information."

It was a story that she fed him to the best of her invention
He wanted her respect, but what he got was her attention
And this women's far more clever than a Mona Lisa's smile
She's got a saying about true love:
"Some take awhile, and some take guile."

From "Vague Existential Yearnings"

Dr. Krueger wrote and performed music throughout medical school and residency, and a few years ago, he set out to finally make professional recordings of his songs. It did not come cheap. He told LaPook if he were not a doctor, he would not have been able to make those albums at all: "I've spent about $250,000 on the two records," he said.

"Does that take a hit into your life?" asked LaPook.

"Well, that's why I work 80 to 100 hours a week, as a physician," Krueger replied.

But the doctor doesn't dwell much on his day job in his songs, with one notable exception: "Somebody basically said, 'You gotta write a song on a theme for a show.' And the theme happened to be birth. It kinda wrote itself."

"Well honey, giving birth can be sort of uncomfortable,"
said the nurse with a straight face somehow…

Christgau said, "For the most part, it's a comic song. This is a difficult birth, which is what neonatologists do. He mentions that he lost one, and it's just a couple a lines. He says, 'Oh well, I've got a bottle a wine at home.' On the one hand he's being light and cynical. But on the other hand, he has to deal with tragedy."

Aw, but what's done is done,
there's always next time
Anyway, at home
he's got a bottle of wine…

Rock critic Robert Christgau discusses the songs of Rich Krueger: 

In Dr. Krueger's line of work, tragedy is inevitable. So, learning to cope is critical.  "Sometimes things go wrong, and you move on, you know?" he said.  "It was this week, wasn't it? Yeah. Coding a baby who died."

"And how do you deal with that?" asked LaPook.

"We're professionals. You know, I'm a professional. And when you're dealing with an emergency … you cope with it."

Since the pandemic began, Krueger has continued his normal hospital duties, and has been performing to virtual crowds from home. 

Music remains a lifeline. "That's the best thing about music: it makes the world go away, which sometimes you need," he said.

Even in trying times – especially in trying times – Rich Krueger seems to strike just the right note.

LaPook asked, "Have you enjoyed being a physician?"

"I've enjoyed a lot about being a physician," he replied. "It's a really special honor to be able to do that. I'm a really lucky man, who's had a really amazing life, and has really, really incredible friends, and a lot of good stories."

      
For more info:

• richkrueger.com
• Rich Krueger on Spotify
• Follow @rockinkrueger on Twitter
• robertchristgau.com
• "And It Don't Stop" newsletter (Substack)
• Follow Robert Christgau on Twitter
• Thanks to Gallery Cabaret, Chicago

      
Story produced by Robert Marston and Jay Kernis. Editor: Joseph Frandino.