What may often be bleak themes are handled delicately and tellingly in the songwriting of Vancouver-born artist Bob Sumner. His 2019 album WASTED LOVE SONGS and SOME PLACE TO REST EASY, which will be released this week, delve into troubled relationships and alcohol abuse by an artist unafraid to lay bare his vulnerabilities. If the former record could be filed under singer-songwriter/ Americana, the latter is more ‘country’ influenced, blending the classic Countrypolitan sound of the 60s alongside some more modern country. Signed to the Fluff & Gravy label, SOME PLACE TO REST EASY should herald a well-deserved industry breakthrough for Sumner. We spoke with him recently as he prepared to bring the new album on the road with shows that include three appearances at AmericanaFest in Nashville later this month.
You developed your love of music from your brother Brian.
Yes, my brother Brian, who is two years older than me, has always been my hero since I was a toddler, and whatever he was doing, I wanted to be doing too. We both picked up guitars fairly late; he was sixteen, and I did the same a few years later. When I was in my early twenties and going to college, I started playing open mics, and he had already been playing in bands. We started playing in the garage at home; we were being turned on to the late Johnny Cash recordings by Rick Ruben, and that music had a huge impact on us. I could barely play a few chords, and 'three chords and the truth' made a lot of sense to me.
What were you listening to growing up in Vancouver?
Growing up, I discovered my folk's old records, Zeppelin, The Doors, The Band and other early 70s rock, but also, growing up in the suburbs, I was exposed to hip hop and gangsta rap, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, that what all my buddies were listening to. My brother Brian was and still is pushing boundaries musically, which is also important to me, and that got embedded in my psyche playing music with him. He was always adamant that we didn't make anything that he called 'museum piece music' by mimicking things that others were doing; we probably weren't good enough to do that very well anyway. All the songs we were playing were written as folk songs on acoustic guitar, and we would have called what we were doing back then indie-folk or indie-rock.
Your 2019 album, WASTED LOVE SONGS, ticks the singer-songwriter box. Your new record, SOME PLACE TO REST EASY, has more of a 'country' flavour. Was that your intention?
It's so interesting to hear people's perspectives on my music and the albums because, for me, they both fit together really well, but they are being received quite differently. WASTED LOVE SONGS was born out of this need, and I felt it should be listened to from front to back without any real change in the vibe. It is a subdued singer-songwriter record, and that was something that my brother would never be interested in doing. With SOME PLACE TO REST EASY, I want to bring it up and have some fun. I wanted people to tap their feet a bit more, and that's where it ended up being more country.
Given the dark theme of many of the songs on the new album, were they more suited to a country theme?
You are right, but it actually happened organically. Alcohol had a lot to play in the writing of this record; I lost three people to alcoholism and mental illness, and the first three singles, Bridges, Motel Room, and Is It Really Any Wonder, are all written for loved ones who were alive at the time and have since passed. Also, my own relationship with alcohol and how that was affecting romantic relationships and otherwise. For better or for worse, that is a very country trope. The life that I was leading at the time and what surrounded me, as well as listening to a lot of country music at the time, seemed to point me in that direction.
I was particularly impressed with the strings, credited to Trent Freeman, on several of the tracks. They give them a rich mid-60s Countrypolitan sound.
You're dead on; I love the Countrypolitan sound, and I don't know if you come across this, but people often bemoan that production. It's a sweet spot with rich country music that sounds good to me. That's exactly what we were going for on some of these tunes. We couldn't afford a full string section, so Trent Freeman created layers to build that sound, which my producer, Erik Neilson, loved hearing in the studio. It's a little different because it lacks the low-end sound because it doesn't have a cello, but it worked, and I'm really proud of it.
I get a sense of Lee Hazlewood on the track Lonesome Sound.
My producer and friend Erik will love that comparison, as do I. That song actually almost did not make the record, but Erik loved it, and it became his baby. Actually, a lot of what we were listening to and referencing were old Gordon Lightfoot records. I hadn't realised until Erik pointed out just how interesting Lightfoot's production was. All these weird little synths are nearly hidden in his work and he used some interesting guitar work, Lonesome Sound came from those ideas.
Your fellow Canadian, Kendall Carson, adds vocals to one of the tracks.
Yes, Carson is a dear friend and an absolute wonder; she is a fiddle player mainly but also does her own solo work. She sang on Didn't We Dream, the next single from the record, and she added such beautiful power to that song, which would be completely lacking without her input. I always love to tell people – because this is a big deal to me – if you Google Kendal Carson, you can find her singing duets with John Prine. She did a bunch of touring with John Prine and sang In Spite of Ourselves and others with him.
Tell me about the recording process for SOME PLACE TO REST EASY.
We started at Christmas in 2022 at a studio in Vancouver called Afterlife Studios with my producer, bass player and best friend Erik Neilson, who had also produced WASTED LOVE SONGS. It's not a very 'live' record; it's layered and one we worked on piecemeal. The drums and bass were done, with all of us in the room working on the scratch tracks for the vocals and guitars. Once the rhythm, drums, and bass were done, my favourite days were working on the strings and synths. The synths are something that we do a bit different, and we brought in this friend of ours and local player in town called Chris Gestrin, who is an enigma and an absolute robot of a player. His face should be on the album cover; he is so important to the music on it. He brought all his collection of vintage synths to the studio, and what he added to the record and my last album, WASTED LOVE SONGS,became paramount to the songs with the hooks and tones he comes up with. I have a complex guilt around him because when he comes in, he is so important to the end result of the music.
The synth work is particularly striking in the opening track on the album Bridges.
Yes, that song has a pulsating synth because I wanted the sound of that song to be epic in that way, and he brought that song to life.
You are scheduled to play a number of shows at AmericanaFest in Nashville in a few weeks.
I'm doing three shows in Nashville when I'm there. The show at Dee's Cocktail Lounge will be one with the full band, and we'll try to bring the new record to life with a band that includes keys, pedal steel, and fiddle. The night before, we're doing The Bluebird Café, which will be a paired-down set with three of us, and then for the record label Fluff and Gravy showcase on the following Saturday, we are going to do a string band-style show with mandolin, dobro and fiddle.
You signed to the Fluff & Gravy label. How did that come about?
I feel so fortunate to be on the Fluff and Gravy label. I've known the owner, John Shepski, and Tommy Alexander, a wonderful songwriter, is on that label and has been a good friend and champion of my music. Jeffrey Martin, another wonderful lyricist, has also been very helpful. It's a small but mighty label, and I have to pinch myself because it makes all the difference in the world, calling a place like that home and having so much trust and faith in the person running the label and so much love for the other artists on the label.
There is government support for the arts in Canada. Was that available to you?
There is grant money available, and they supported this record; with their support, I was able to make it and acquire the publicist for the record. Unfortunately, what we don't have in Canada is opportunity, especially on the West Coast, but we do have Government support. I love my country, and Vancouver is beautiful. All my family is here where I live. What I really need to do with the music I play is bring it to Nashville, try to spend time down there, and tour from there.
Interview by Declan Culliton