A member of the Grammy-nominated bluegrass band Wood and Wire, Texan Tony Kamel’s recently released debut solo album BACK DOWN HOME takes the listener on a musical pilgrimage that announces the arrival of an artist fully embracing the world of Americana music. Old-time country, folk, bluegrass, Cajun and even a smidgen of funk combine to form what has been described as Third Coast Roots Music. Produced by Bruce Robison and recorded at his analog studio, The Bunker in Lockhart, Texas, the album is smile inducing from start to finish.
Congratulations on the release of your solo album BACK DOWN HOME. It’s a really fun album and I get the impression that you guys were having a good time in the studio?
I am so glad that you get that impression, it is something that we had hoped would come across, and you are correct, we had a great time. Especially after we tracked the first song because up to that, I was a bit nervous. Once we settled in on the second song, which is actually the first song on that record, titled Amen, I was fine. It was so much fun playing with those fantastic musicians.
I understand that you were a late bloomer to the industry and that you did not play professionally until 2012.
Yes, I always played at home for fun, but I did not really step on the stage until around 2011 or 2012.
How did that come about?
Well, I started playing a little bit with a guy called Graham Wilkinson, who is a songwriter here in Texas and we are still great buddies. He gave me my first shot at playing in a band, which was at the end of 2011. I did not have a professional music career at all prior to that. I was actually studying bluegrass music around 2009. I began by learning how to flat-pick, I could always sing songs quite well but could never keep up with other players, so I started to study the techniques. From there I went to some jams and everything really snowballed after that. I was just into enjoying music as a listener, and as an occasional recreational player. I fell into a blue grass career accidentally. I linked up with the guys and we became Wood and Wire. I had always written songs for fun but not necessarily bluegrass songs. I reached a point where I had to decide whether I wanted to keep my day job or go on tour playing festivals with the Wood and Wire. I chose to do the latter and I am glad I did.
How did the idea of recording a solo album of your own come about?
I met Bruce Robison about four or five years ago when Wood and Wire’s bass player Dominic Fisher and I went in to record a song at Bruce’s’ studio with a great songwriter Christy Hays. I subsequently became friends with Bruce, having got to know him while recording with Wood and Wire, and he just liked some songs I had written. As his record label The Next Waltz was growing, he encouraged me to record an album under my own name. I had been listening to all sorts of music before I got into bluegrass and he thought it would be fun to make a solo record with me. I wanted to do it but was very busy at that time. So, eventually with the pandemic and babies coming into the mix, I became freed up somewhat. After four years of talking about it we finally came together and knocked it out.
Had you got many of the songs written prior to your decision to record the album?
There are a handful that I wrote in 2020 but most of them were written before that. The oldest on the record was probably written seven years ago and the most recent one I would’ve written towards the end of the summer last year. There were a number of those songs that we tried in Wood and Wire that didn’t fit. I had quite a number of other songs that I could have used, but Bruce felt that they did not work for the record, and I appreciated his honesty.
You had some serious players record with you. Were they selected by Bruce or yourself?
Noah Jefferies and I are very close friends, we have known each other a long time. He was the one guy that I insisted was in there. I was definitely interested in bringing in Jeff Queen, he is one of my favourite players. The bass player Bill Whitbeck was a last-minute add, he tours with Robert Earl Keen and I assumed he would not be available. There is a song on the album that he and I wrote together called Slow On The Gulf. I called Bill a few days before we were to begin recording and he asked me who is going to be playing bass. Scott Davies the multi-instrumentalist was supposed to play bass. We were going to have him overdub after we had recorded the rest of the instruments. In the end we had Bill in to play bass and that allowed Jeff play the other instruments live. The rest of the musicians were Bruce saying ‘let’s bring these other players in and see what happens’. I really wanted the Shinyribs crew to come in to do backing vocals, including Kevin Russell and not just the Shiny Soul Sisters. I thought that would be really cool.
How did the recording process compare with your experience in the studio previously with Wood and Wire?
In the sense that we were all playing live in the studio together, it was quite similar to recording with Wood and Wire. There are certain limitations that we had with this recording, that did not happen with Wood and Wire. For example, when Wood and Wire we use live tapes, we would occasionally grab a part of one live tape and switch it with another live tape. We only did this on some occasions but that option was always there. That was not available in the setting for this recording. With analog you have destructive editing, when you record background vocals to over dub, you have to decide right there if that is the one that you want to keep, because if you do it again, the previous version is gone. If it feels really good you have to decide to go with that one. It may not be perfect, maybe a couple little things are not perfect, but I found over time that those little things often add character. So, it was quite similar to the bluegrass recordings, because I actually like to record my vocal live with the band playing. With analog we had fewer tools at our disposal, so tracking the album only took a few days.
You open the album with Amen, which is a very reflective song, and end the album with Change, which offers a hopeful note. Was there a lot of soul searching deciding on the track sequencing?
Definitely. It’s funny because I spent so much more time on everything else than the recording. The least amount of time was on the actual recording. I also decided to leave out another song that we had recorded, because I wanted the album to be under 40 minutes, the way it used to be when recording for vinyl. I prefer a concise record of good songs. I thought about the track listing quite a lot until I finally decided that this is the one. It could’ve been done a few other ways but I think we landed on the best one in the end.
The album’s title suggests being wrapped up in a blanket in a safe and secure place.
We went through several options for the album title and eventually landed with that particular one. As that theme started to emerge, I began to rewrite some of the songs to bring that theme of back home out even more. It represents a familiar place you will go when things seem weird or maybe falling down around you and I hope that there is a backdrop of positivity that people sense on the album. I also like when album titles are from the lyrics of a song but not the title of the song. You have to find this little piece of gold that is in there somewhere.
You blend old-time country alongside some laid-back roots tracks before bringing in a horn section on the swampy track Heat.
That was Bruce’s idea and I was resistant to it at first. I did not think I could recreate it on stage. I wasn’t sure whether it would work, but I was wrong, I really enjoy it now and I think it adds to the record. I was worried at some stage that the record would be a bit of a hodgepodge, but eventually it all seemed to come together.
I’m also hearing shades of J.J. Cale on Slow On The Gulf and Let It Slide.
I love that comparison, I’m glad you said that.
The songs, in the main, lend themselves to be performed solo or with a band. Was that on your mind when you were writing them?
I enjoy playing by myself and try to write songs that I can perform solo. I also like to tell the stories behind them when it’s appropriate. I have worked very hard to create an interesting solo show also, studying and learning from other artists like Hayes Carl and Rambling Jack Elliott. In general, with the solo shows, I like to talk, play some claw hand banjo and electric guitar, to change it around a bit. I have also been working with a great group of musicians who can play live with me, which brings out the best of the songs on the record. You don’t have to perfectly recreate the songs on stage but I’ve got Scott Davies, who played on the record, and Noah’s been also playing with me. I have played a few shows already with these guys and we really hit a stride where we feel that the songs are right on time.
How do you intend touring the album?
Well, I’ve got a baby at home no. I’m not sure if you can hear her screaming in the background. I plan on taking this album everywhere I can in the midst of what I hope is a dying pandemic. But, it is still here and people are still hesitant to buy tickets. So, for now I’ve got to focus on Texas and the hopes of doing some good support slots with bigger artists in 2022, together with some solo work. I’m looking at the spring of next year and beyond. It seems people really like the album and the radio DJs are also playing this. I’m told that they find it different to a lot of the stuff they get to play and review. I will do the work to build on the album as this is what I do for a living and I want to build on it. With my bluegrass background I didn’t even know about the alt-country charts and I hit number one this week. That’s something I’ve never done before; my only previous number one was for sticking my feet foot in my mouth.
Can we expect more shows from Wood and Wire?
I would love to. There is a so much going on at the moment with babies arriving and different issues. All I can say is that I would love to play more shows with them at some point, but I’m not sure when that is going to happen. I am super proud of the songs that were recorded and the accolades that we received. Given all the family situations, it’s unlikely that we would be in a position to tour as hard as we used to do. We were doing a lot of dates on the road which is unlikely to happen again.
Interview by Declan Culliton