Stuffy Shmitt relocated to Nashville in 2014, leaving behind a self-destructive lifestyle in New York, while struggling with bipolar disorder. He’s a larger-than-life character, with over half a dozen cracking albums under his belt, while remaining somewhat under the radar. With a renewed zest for life, Stuffy regaled us via Zoom about his latest album STUFF HAPPENS, his forthright writing and his love of East Nashville.
A lot has happened in East Nashville over the past twelve months?
The tornado struck this day last year. Myself and my wife Donna were left alone but three or four blocks up it was total devastation. It’s mostly fixed up now but you can still drive down Gallatin Avenue and see places still boarded up. Not everybody had insurance, so there are still remnants of the tornado.
Your CIRICULUM VITAE is most impressive. Names like Willy De Ville and Levon Helm, among others, are listed as people you’ve recorded with.
I released an album called OTHER PEOPLES STUFF. I had always wanted to do a covers record for fun. I got a bunch of rock stars on it. The bass player that I had been using on a couple of other things was Catherine Popper, she used to play with Grace Jones, Jack White and lots more. She’s also in the band Puss n Boots with Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson. She had played with me in most of my bands and had recorded with me on all my records. She asked if I wanted Levon Helm to play drums on a tune on the album as she knew him. I replied that I wanted him on two tunes. So, she called him up and he said he’d love to play. Here’s a good story. He played on Crazy Mama, the old J.J. Cale tune and a gospel song called So Soon In The Morning. I played him the original of that gospel song, which has all these fills and stuff and I said: ‘let’s do it like that’ and pay homage to the original recording. He did, but he didn’t need to do one fill in the entire song and the groove is just dynamite (laughs). It’s sexy and cool and makes the song just chug along. No fills, not one.
I used to throw Willy De Ville out of a bar where I was bar tending. Him and Gordon Gano from The Violent Femmes. I used to throw them out of that bar repeatedly and that’s how we became friends. That was back in 2003, that’s how long ago that was. Willy was so wild, sometimes things just got out of hand. He was so dramatic and flamboyant. He’d wear features in his hair and he’d go round all the tables in the bar commenting on the tune that was playing. Sometimes it just got too much. I really miss Willy, he lived just down the street from me. When I look at his early shows on You Tube, wow they are dynamite.
Eventually you needed to get out of New York?
What happened was it changed for me. I always use the analogy that New York was like a lover to me. When I got there first, I really loved it there but it changed. I didn’t like who she turned into. I lost all my favourite clubs and bars, and big steel buildings were going up all over. It just didn’t seem as funky and dangerous anymore. It was great when it was scary and rocking, broken glass in the streets, drag queens running past you, rock and roll man. Now its all nice and neat and I just got pissed off at it.
Why move to Nashville?
Because all the places I played live in New York closed down, except The Bitter End. That stayed open. New York just got too straight, I wanted some wild and wacky place. I lived in Hollywood for a while but one of the only places for me for real music is Nashville. It has the greatest musicians of anywhere in America, including New York.
I believe your first gig in Nashville was at The 5 Spot and that you brought your own audience along?
That was completely nuts. First gig in Nashville, nobody knew who I was. I had neighbours who are real rednecks, I mean they have a complete Trump mug collection with a different member of the family on each mug. I don’t have a lot in common with those guys. So, I got talking to one of these neighbours and told him I was playing my first gig in Nashville at The 5 Spot. At the time of the gig there was a rainstorm and it was pouring down. The gig was at six o clock or some ridiculous time, because I was new in town. So, I went down thinking the place would be empty but it was packed with soaking wet eighty-year-olds. My neighbour had called all his friends and told them they had to go down and support my first show. There were some younger guys there but mostly the oldies. I went up to the bar tender and asked him how he liked my crowd and he just turned to me and replied ‘Well, they’re drinking.’
How did the connection come about with Brett Ryan Stewart, who worked on your latest album STUFF HAPPENS?
I didn’t know him before I moved to Nashville. Part of my bi polar fun is my habit of getting in peoples faces from time to time. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t (laughs). He was in The 5 Spot and he was sitting at the counter. I walked up to him with this goofy hat I had on and said: ‘didn’t you push me off a Ferris wheel once.’ I stole that line from Steven Wright. He came back with some really snappy reply and we started talking. At the same time my wife Donna was at the other end of the bar talking to this guy called Chris Tench, who ended up producing the record. He was really colourful and she said: ‘you’re probably going to love my husband.’ I didn’t know that Brett and Chris were close and worked together. So, they came to a gig and we talked and after a while we decided that we had to work together.
Had you written the songs for the album prior to hooking up with them. What did they bring to the recordings?
Some of them are older songs, some newer. It was magical working with them. I’d always produced all my records myself. I wanted to be the boss, didn’t want to kiss anyone’s ass, including record companies. I did a bunch of pre-production with Chris, which I’d never done before. In New York I just went in to the studio and it was one, two, three, four and play. It was different with Chris, who told me we needed to work all summer on these songs. So, he sat in my house with me and we went over and over them, arranging the tunes. When we went into the studio and it was magical. Brett is a brilliant engineer and also a great songwriter himself, a super guy. He gets sounds that you would never believe and has a world class studio. Chris could play guitar like nobody I had ever seen and is so naturally brilliant, almost savant. So, it was like, you tell me what to do and I’ll do it, though we did all produce it together. I trusted them, which was the first time I’d ever trusted anyone with my music.
Are all the songs written on personal experiences?
Oh yeah, you want to know how my life went, just listen to the records.
You don’t hold back on songs like The Last Song and She’s Come Unglued. Has your writing caused friction and have you lost many friends over the years as a result?
Yeah, all the time. The Last Song is about a girl called Mary. We were living in the village and had split up at that time. There’s a line in the song ‘Mary what happened’. Her reply was ‘do YOU want to know WHAT happened’. That was time for me to slam the phone down (laughs). The unglued song is about my ex-wife. I don’t make stuff up. I just tell the truth.
The song It’s Ok, was written in exasperation or forgiveness?
Exasperation. It’s sarcastic and cynical. After a while I could not do any more for that girl, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said ‘It’s Ok’. It’s also the most accessible ‘hit’ (laughs).
I believe your neighbours Aaron Lee Tasjan and Brian Wright both played on the album?
Yes, they both played on that crazy rock tune Sweet Krazy and also played on Scratchin’ At The Cat, which might be my favourite track on the album. I have an instrumental track of that song that’s even better.
You also have some cool videos of a number of the songs from the album?
The people that do my videos and also Brett’s videos are a couple from Georgia, not the State, the country. A husband and wife, Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel, they’re super talented and also have a band. They’re also the best video makers I’ve come across.
Tell me about your previous album titled 12 SONGS?
12 SONGS is like a greatest hits collection, songs lifted off other albums. I made it before I moved to Nashville to be able to show people the width and breadth of what I do.
The track Nothing Is Real from that album is exceptional, almost frightening. I always hit the replay button when it finishes.
I’ve really happy to hear that. That song is the title track from an earlier album and a lot of people think ‘what the hell’ when they hear it. It’s also a true story, I saw all those things. I wrote Nothing Is Real after I nearly died from pneumonia, I actually saw all those things that are in that song. I had morphine in one arm and ativan in the other arm. They put me in a self-induced coma and I saw all those things. I wasn’t supposed to survive but I did.
Are you writing at the moment?
My writing comes in spurts. I’m not exactly what you’d call prolific, though every day I’ve got a lot of stuff written on cocktail napkins. I need to be really emotionally moved to be creative unless somebody gives me a deadline, that’s different. I wasn’t getting my shit together for STUFF HAPPENS until Brett came up to me and said ‘Ok, June 28th we’re going in the studio.’ Time to write something.
What are your hopes for STUFF HAPPENS without being able to tour the album at the moment?
The whole shutdown has changed people’s moods, not being able to play live. I intended selling a million copies of the album and It’s OK is going to be a major radio hit. Local radio likes me, they actually played the Last Song yesterday. It doesn’t usually get airplay. We’re on a bunch of other stations around the country. You’ve got to tour, get on TV, have a soundtrack to a popular movie from an album. It’s hard.
Is Nashville home for you now?
Yes, I’m going to stick around. I’ve done New York and Hollywood. I’ve got a real house here with a backyard which I never had before.
Interview by Declan Culliton