Willy Vlautin Interview

Richmond Fontaine, a place, a person, an ideal or a band? The latter most definitely as Richmond Fontaine were always a band. Willy Vlautin as the singer and main songwriter was always inevitably the focal point and the one who usually did the interviews. Through the years Lonesome Highway has been fortunate to be able to talk to Willy on his regular visits here with the band. He has always been a shy and somewhat reluctant spokesman but never less that obliging and completely honest in the answers he gave. Though this may be the last time that Richmond Fontaine appear in this guise we look forward to seeing him back with The Delines or on a book reading tour. Willy Vlautin is one of the good guys.

It seem like the time has come to bring a natural end to Richmond Fontaine’s career.

Our bass player Dave left. He moved to Denmark so we started to slow down then. So that’s when I started The Delines but I didn’t want to leave the band on the high country and I wanted to write one more record for the band for sure. Then when we did the record we all liked it so much and were proud of it and we were getting along so well that I wanted to leave the band in a better place than when it started. I didn’t ever want to have the conversation where one guy wouldn’t get in the van. Because he’s getting older or too tired or that we don’t make enough money. So I didn’t want to put anyone in that situation. I wanted to leave the band tattooed with good memories. The best way to do that is to leave when you’re really proud of it. It’s one of my favourite Fontaine records (You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To) so I thought that would be a good place to stop.

So what happens next for you?

I’m hoping to work with The Delines but Amy got hit by a car back in March. She got ran into the side of a building and broke both her legs. She’s just starting to heal up now where she can be on crutches. Which is a huge improvement because she couldn’t walk for 5 months. So when she’s ready we’ll start going again. We’re nearly done with the new record. I love playing music with Amy. It’s a really fun band; for such a sad band it’s the rowdiest set of people I’ve ever been with. So that’s what I hope to do. I want to write novels and hide in the back and write songs for Amy to sing.

Obviously your writing is still a big part of your creative process. How is that coming along?

I just sold my new novel to Faber & Faber and Harper Collins in the US so that’s a big relief to me. I just found out a couple of days ago. However no one likes my title . But then no one ever likes my titles (laughs). So it’s untitled at this moment but it’s done. I just have to do some edits when I get off this tour.

At this point in your career as a musician/songwriter and a fiction novelist you have achieved recognition. Does that afford you time to relax?

I’m kind of a workhorse. Because I’m so scared of having to go back and get a job to be honest. My girlfriend always says “relax, once in a while” but I’m just scared of having to go back to painting and working a shitty job that I always keep writing. I like writing stories. It’s my favourite thing to do but sometimes working so hard is a bad way to do it. I get kinda rattled. But in the end I like doing it and life’s short. I want to write a couple more novels. 

In your last book The Free you used some different techniques to express the narrative including dream sequences. 

I was really interested in the idea, which is more apparent now, of who’s a real American. I grew up in a household that got more progressively like that. “That’s a real American. That’s not a real American. if you don’t agree with this way of thinking you’re not a real American.” That idea is so insane, preposterous and ridiculous to me. So the only effective way for me to write about that was through a guy’s dreams. So to take this guy who’s not even a solider but a National Guard guy -  the National Guard never say that when the country is overloaded with a war that their not suited to fight in but they bring in these guys. Rather they would say in time of tornado, earthquake or hurricane that they will be there. So I wanted to write about the effects on a normal kid getting sucked up into Iraq and the affects of that. Like in all countries their happy to send guys to war and then everyone turns their head when they come home. Which has happened as long as humanity has been around. 

Are you at all politically motivated, especially in such a polarised climate as there is currently in the US?

Not really. Doesn’t affect me at all I live in the lefty haven of the US which is Portland, Oregon. One of the most open minded, coolest cities. I just surround myself with weirdos and musicians. But I did grow up in a really conservative home but my Mum passed away so I don’t have to deal with that on a real basis anymore. I’d be really interested to see what she would think of Trump because in so many ways he’s against so many things that I though she liked but I don’t know, though she would probably still be going for him.

How different is the writing process for you with The Delines as opposed to Richmond Fontaine?

Lately I have been writing instrumental music as I want to do an album for my new book. Then I’m just writing songs for The Delines. I haven’t written a song for me in months. I try to write classic tunes, best I can from my dented, small mind. I try to write songs that Amy can get behind like Dusty Springfield, Sammi Smith or Bobby Gentry. I try to write songs like that. I love doing it, it’s really fun. The story’s the same pretty much. I think it’s just my heart as I haven’t figured how not to write from that side of me. I just chase classic songs and hope that I stumble around one  and grab a song like that and give it to her.

So does that mean that you immerse yourself in some classic soul music?

I’ve always liked that stuff. It was preposterous for me to sing that stuff. I could never sing half The Delines songs. I don’t think you could pay me enough to get up and sing a soul tune. I don’t have that kind of voice and I’m too shy … all of it. But when you take me out of the equation then I like soul ballads. But where I like soul music is in the lyrics of those ballads, the cheating songs, the stories. The upbeat, happy-go-lucky soul tunes I can’t do, I’m too dark minded I guess. As a kid I liked those soul ballads but I also loved ska, reggae. But the “baby, baby …” the ones that grooved never moved me. I’ve always been a lyric guy on top of it. Since I’ve gotten older I’ve liked the 60s and 70s soul but I wouldn’t be caught dead singing it. I’d be too embarrassed! I’m happy being a guitar player I could probably spent the rest of my life being with The Delines, I think. I’ve never been the best front guy so I think it would be nice to not be. It’s hard to do something you know you’re not that good at. 

Do you have a timeline for the next album in the light of Amy’s recovery?

I’ve a couple of book things in the US that I’m doing until almost December. I’m only home for a couple of days before I go out to do that. Then in January the Richmond Fontaine guys and me are doing a cowpunk instrumental album for my new book. I got a handful of sad, weird melodies and I’m trying to convince these guys (Fontaine) to hang in there with me. Then I’ll hold tight to see what Amy’s doing. I’m hoping we can get her up to Portland to stay for month or two and get her back in the studio. It’s Sean and Freddie from Fontaine, a guy named Cory Gray, the keyboard player, and me. We’re hoping, once she’s well, to get back playing again.

Did the fact that you were featured in Uncut have a big effect on your status in Europe?

We sure got lucky there! Without that I probably still wouldn’t have a passport. (Back in 2004 Uncut ran a feature article entailed “Whiskey, Painkillers & Speed” about Richmond Fontaine written by the editor Allan Jones.) That was a really lucky break on so many levels. Maybe the luckiest break I’ll ever get. Being in Richmond Fontaine and getting to travel over here has been so much fun. Before that only one us had a passport, none of us had been anywhere except we’d just been driving around in a van in the US. So, I think that’s why when we got the chance to tour over here it was special. We were older I was was 35 when we started coming over here. At 35 if you haven’t gone anywhere there was a good chance you were never going to go anywhere. I was scared that I was never going to get to see anything of the world.

What was that like,those first visits outside America?

It was fun. The first time you’re going through an airport and you’re carrying your guitar and you’re thinking “I’m going somewhere” you feel so proud. I remember one of the first times we toured there was a guy who was loading baggage who was a fan of Richmond Fontaine and he came up and he’s been loading our guitars into the hold. He wanted to know “where are you guys going? Are you touring?” We were going “this guy knows who we are!.” Like the first time we came to Ireland we were like “is this Candid Camera? Are they going to make fun of us ‘cos they’re clapping and I don’t know who they’re listening to. Why are they clapping for us?”. It was all lucky. Kilkenny (Rhythm & Roots Festival) was so much fun. Hanging out with people who like music … just lucky breaks.

How has the shift in the way people consume music affected you?

When you go to Scandinavia now no one buys anything anymore, everyone’s Spotify. You get a lot of people at the shows but no one is buying anything. Because there’s no distribution you have to pay for publicity, which you can’t really afford when you don’t sell anything. I don’t know as I’m not the best businessman. I just keep my head down. I got fired (laughs) in like ’97 from having anything to do with money for Fontaine. We played really bad one night and I felt bad that we had because we were so drunk and I didn’t think we were any good so I didn’t take the money. When I got in the van the guys asked how much we had made and I go “well I didn’t think we played well and there weren’t that many people there and they went ‘You’re fucking fired!’” I was so happy as I’m not the best at that stuff. 

Physical sales of both books and music are going through changes. What are your thoughts on that?

The CD was a great era as the mark-up was so much. So once we went out on our own we were making a CD for 2 bucks and you sell them for 10 or whatever. That was great for a small time band. When we started putting out our own records was when we started to stay in motels. We were able to get brand new tires for the van rather than used tires. Stuff like that, we ate in restaurants. Record companies made a killing on the CDs. They could do them for like 20 cents because there doing millions or whatever. I’m a vinyl guy so I’m excited that our stuff is now on vinyl. When we started you might do a 7” but you would seldom do LPs. Spotify is amazing. I got it to record records as I do a lot of work with this producer and might need to find something. He’ll often send me a list of 10 songs to listen to and I’ll go there to listen. You can’t fight that. For bookstores Amazon is the devil. They have a programme that when you take a picture of a book cover in a bookstore and you send that picture to Amazon they will give you an extra 20% off their already low cost. That’s horrible, right? But it’s so easy and convenient for people. So Amazon wins and the bookstores struggle. It takes a lot of effort to only shop in your local book or record store and make a choice. There is, though, a swell of some independent bookstores doing ok. In the US anyway you have to be pretty savvy, like owning a record store, as as it was in the old days it’s pretty much a labour of love - or maybe have a rich spouse (laughs). That gets you out of the gutter once in awhile. You’re not going to make a lot of dough running a bookstore. But they are surviving and I think a good bookstore owner can guide you better, with records you can find out really quickly if you like a band without anybody’s help, but with books you need someone to understand your taste as it’s hard to browse Amazon and to find the right book

Do you enjoy the book reading/signing process?

I like the fact that I’m not as insecure (in a book reading context) as they are there to hear me, I always feel that I’m the weak link of any band I’m in or with anything I’m doing, so I’m not as insecure about the books as I am about the songwriting I guess. It’s the only time I really around people who like books. The guys in Fontaine read books but most musicians are that big readers - that I meet anyway. So reading in bookstore means I get to hang out with people who love books. It’s one of my favourite things. When I did the reading in Dublin and was interviewed by Roddy Doyle it was one of the greatest nights of my life. I went to the Stag’s Head and had a beer with him and I’ll never forget that. He’s an inspiring guy on so many levels. A lot of what he said made a lot of sense to me. My Grandma bought me The Commitments when it first came out and I’ve read everything his since. So I’ve always been a big fan. He’s a cool guy to top it off. I really like the work ethic of writing novels. 

Another author who has brought out CDs to accompany the launch of his books is the Irish writer John Connelly.

I have met him a couple of times at festivals. He’s also very cool. I hung out with the crime writers there. They’re the ones that are the most fun. They made the most money so they’re pretty happy and they like music. They love crime books and novels. I hung out with him and some other crime writers. I loved hanging out with them as sometimes when you’re with the literary writers they aren’t much fun. They don’t talk about music and they bitch about their jobs as professors. The crime writes are the ones wearing leather jackets and buying expensive drinks (laughs).

You have always expressed a fear, built of shyness, of getting up onstage as a front man. How have you coped with that?

As I said I’m not meant to stand in front of a bunch of people singing. When you’re a kid in a rock band you think it’s going to save your life. I loved records so much that I wanted to eat them! But I didn’t know what to do so I figured that I’m just going to have to join a band but I was barely able to go to school I was so shy. I even had a hard time going to a store. The reason I’m probably not stuck in a warehouse and only shopping at midnight is from being in a band. I didn’t play sober from 15 to 30, around then. Then I quit drinking before gigs but before that I was always shit-faced drunk for over 10 years. It was horrible and I’d be half way through a gig and I could barely stand. Your anxiety is gone because you’re doing it and your relaxing but you go “oh shit, I’m really drunk now.” If you’re really adrenalised you can drink a lot and I’d been half way through a gig and I’d realise that I could barely stand. I’d feel that I couldn’t physically get through the gig and I’d be chasing that the whole time. So if it took a guy 7 hours to come see our band and he was sleeping in his car afterwards and he had to drive back to go to work and I was really drunk and I’d played bad and I was so ashamed of myself that I realised that I’d have to quit playing music or overcome my fear. So then I started drinking an hour before a gig. Then a half hour before, then just two beers before the show just to get through. I was ashamed of that but that’s I cured that. Being in a band did that for me.

Interview by Stephen Rapid   Photography by Kaethe Burt O'Dea

Freakwater Interview

We were given a rare opportunity to sit with Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin on their first visit to Ireland and to share some conversation regarding their collective talents and song writing secrets. The cult status of Freakwater is something that endures, from their debut in 1989 through to the current collection of songs on the new Scheherazade release.

The girls are both very amiable, open and full of fun and dove-tail regularly throughout our conversation. Both are enthusiastic and support each other’s opinions and insights; they laugh regularly and clearly share a deep bond between them.

LH: It has taken you quite a while to get to Ireland

C I: I don’t know why we never have, maybe because our booking agent is in Germany. My father comes from Northern Ireland where I have a lot of relatives so they were always trying to get us to play a show there. There is a Bluegrass Festival in Omagh but we never did play there. But it’s been really nice to finally come over and play here.

LH: Not that you have had a lot of time on this tour

JB: We have had back to back shows for 2 months now with just one day off, in Manchester, I think and that was a travelling day between cities. It has been pretty intense.

LH: So, from not touring at all to this extreme

Both: We have been touring on and off over the years in-between but just not to this extent. It is probably the same in that we would have had days of being happy with each other or just being exhausted with each other. We have different people on tour with us so when you put us together in a small place for a long period of time you can get feral very quickly. There are probably four possible ways of being when on tour and we probably each cover all of them at certain times.

LH: The cover of the new CD is indicative of life on the road. It pictures you both in a hotel room crashed out on twin beds in different states of decompression

Both: On the bed crying and drinking bourbon ...! It took us hours of a photo session to get that shot and when we saw it we said ‘stop’, that’s the one … It seemed to capture the essence of what we wanted.

LH: Is that an important part of the process for you; the way that the packaging comes out

Both: Yes, very much, I think that both of us are very strong on personal aesthetics. Our last record on Thrill Jockey, Thinking of You, had the label almost refusing to put it out. The cover was based on a Polish greeting card and it was ironically an image that we had all agreed on. The label was unsure if people would ‘get it’. For some, it can appear as somewhat ugly but it is essentially part of the narrative of who we are and it just felt right. You would think that the label would know us enough to realise that the way to get us to NOT do something is not by telling us that it doesn’t look right – we are very contrarian - in a good way of course …!

LH: Has the process of recording songs changed over the arc of your career

Both: I would like to think that it is coming in a full circle in a way. I think it is evolving constantly and becoming more nuanced. It is hard to say in that it is up to the listener. As you grow older and your understanding of the world changes you find more things to be upset about. If you can capture it in a way that is more developed and reflects more insight, then that is a good thing.

LH: When you are writing, do you ever say that ‘this is not a Freakwater song’ but one that could go on separate projects or in different directions

JB: Catherine doesn’t do that but if I’m writing for other projects, there is usually a thread to all of them. Songs for Eleventh Dream Day, my other band, are more in a rock vein and we couldn’t do those as Freakwater songs. There are some songs that you modify and think of in a different way and some of those are on the new record. The Asp and the Albatross for example was made as a quirky little carnival waltz and then was made into a more country thing with a change to the rhythms.

LH: Some musicians say ‘I had a bunch of songs that I had that just didn’t suit my band, so I made a solo album’. Do you just write when you write, without this consideration?

CI: When I am writing songs, I can definitely think of Janet’s vocal part so I hear that while writing. Also, the songs on this part of the tour, that we are now doing without drums and bass, are different to what you imagine but also sound great without those instruments.

JB: I had a hard time getting my head around those songs at the start but I am growing to accept how they sound without the band because they were originally written with the band in my mind.

LH: Not having drummer & bass player with you – is that just the economics of the tour?

Both: They were with us in England up to very recently but, with the costs of the tour, we could not afford to keep the full band with us on the road so we had them leave for the last part due to the expense involved with the backline and everything. In a way, it has been good for us to get back to what we used to do anyway and that is to play as an acoustic combo

LH: Have the economics of touring changed much for you?

Both: No, we have never made money! I think that things have changed in general but we still like to look for the cheese tray before a show and get despondent if it is not there. We have always done it pretty economically, we don’t ask for much and we do things in a thrifty way. We don’t make a lot of money but we view it as a way of having a holiday and doing something that is important for us to do.

LH: Over the years something as basic as the price of gasoline can make a huge difference

Both: The tour we did in the winter with a large band in the states cost us a lot on gasoline and the cost of merch can be expensive also. Especially when we fly these days. It’s a challenge.

LH: A quote attributed to your career said that is was defined as ‘a lack of any normal human ambition and an inability to capitalise on the brightest moments of critical acclaim’. Is this a conscious decision to stay true to your punk ethic?

Both (laughing): No, not at all ... I think that over time we have both said pretty much the same thing. We think it is interesting that we could even perceive that and then continue doing it as a conscious choice.

LH: Your music is so enduring and yet you don’t have a momentum to the output in terms of recording and touring regularly

JB: What we do is not popular. We are outliers in every sense, we are not Americana, we are not Country, we are not Folk - in all honesty there is not another band like we are and that is a great thing because there is no-one to take our place.

CI: Our lack of popularity is not entirely based on our inability to capitalise on our brightest moments.

JB: I think that we are not easy music for some people, some find it dissonant and gloomy and some people are drawn to it. When we tour the US, and have people come up to us and say that ‘we reared our kids listening to your music’, if it means a lot to a few people then that is really powerful.

CI: Our self -destructive tendency does not go as far as to refuse anything that is offered to us.

LH: In the past you have not identified who writes the songs. It has just been songs written by Freakwater. Also, the lyrics have not been included on past releases.

CI: For this release, we do have credits for who wrote what.

JB: But I have always liked the ambiguity of not knowing who wrote what ...

LH: Talking about the cover of the new record, I like the fact that the packaging is that little bit more substantial. In this era of downloads, you have got the lyrics and the photos and a sense of what the recording experience was like and that is an important part of the process.

Both: We wanted that. The packaging on the new record is great and it shows the people what we have created. After a long association with Thrill Jockey we switched to Bloodshot records and they were really happy to have us. We told them what we wanted to do and they gave us a lot of money so we had more flexibility to make a colourful record cover with an inside sleeve and booklet. The images from the sessions evoke memories of growing up and looking at album covers forever. That is something that we like. We had a big input into the vision of the new album and having detailed information and a certain look was important.

LH: You have this strain of Appalachian murder ballads meeting with abstract sonic sound; banjo meeting with guitar feedback – this seems almost unique to the band.

Both: Rather that it being intentional in order to do something odd, it was more just a natural development and including sounds that everyone wanted to have. The banjo and Moog on the 1st track is a really good combination. When the record came out it went to number 6 in the bluegrass charts which was a surprise for us. We have always thrown different things together, whether it was lyrics or sounds; we were singing about things that were not traditional early on and not in the accepted Americana genre. We do this thing that is unique to what we do and It is not genre specific – our lyrics speak to something that is somewhat different and our instrumentation is also somewhat different. There is a density to the lyrics that people can see as being odd and people either like that or they don’t.

LH: If you look at the Handsome Family and the success that they had (title track to the True Detective first series); is this something that you think can happen also to you?

Both: I don’t think that it changed the perspective in that the Handsome Family are still doing the same thing they always did. Maybe the perspective on the Handsome Family has changed for some people? But those people will still not come to the shows and want to follow the band. People are so used to music in tv shows and getting music for free. Some monetary effect may happen but I don’t think it is as much as you imagine.

LH: How do you choose the musicians for your studio recordings. Is it a from the community of musicians in the Chicago area?

CI: Warren Ellis lived in Chicago and we had met him several times with the Dirty Three and Nick Cave. You have to love his playing… Warren asked what was going on with Freakwater and we invited him to play for the record. We send him the tapes and he played really beautifully. We have friends who come in and play from both Chicago and Louisville, some we had already been playing with but also others we didn’t know who we introduced to us. Chicago can be so much busier than in a smaller town so we recorded in Louisville as we thought that a languid, slow quality vibe could be good; dreamier and sludger. In the studio, it was the most relaxed time that we ever had as there was no pressure on us. Dave (David Gay), our bass player, paid for the studio time and he offered a very generous budget. The whole thing had a calmness to it.

LH: Where do the ideas for the songs come about?

Both: Anything really. Something in the news, something that happens to you. In the last few years a lot of political events drive the song-writing. There are moments where something comes to you and it is then a struggle to get to the rest of it. You are playing and identify something but then, digging through everything to get to the rest of it – now that’s work… What I do know is that the more you do it, then the quicker it comes to you.  Sometimes the original idea you have for the song becomes almost facile by the end of the process and you are getting rid of the initial idea.

LH: Do you write any of the songs in character

Both: The songs tend to be personal, not that writing in character isn’t somewhat personal, but we don’t use character writing.Each of us write personal songs and really thinking about something is what we tend to do.

If you have not checked out the wonderfully rich catalogue of releases that these two talented artists have produced, then a real treat lies in store. Make sure that Freakwater are a regular part of your journey going forward.

Interview by Paul McGee and Stephen Rapid   Photograph by Kaethe Burt O'Dea

Aaron Lee Tasjan Interview

Roots singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan is steadily becoming the male face representing the burgeoning music scene in East Nashville. At the recent Americana Music Association Festival in Nashville Tasjan seemed to appear everywhere, from co-hosting a killer nights music at The Basement East to appearing at JP Harris’s Sunday Morning Coming Down event at The Fond Object and fitting in slots with Margo Price, Cale Tyson and others in between.

Heralded by B.P.Fallon as one of the premier songwriters currently talking the talk, the iconic Irish writer, DJ and musician recently wrote "The cat’s song writing is treble mega in a lineage that embraces The Fabs to Willie and the driest wryness since John Lennon." 

His latest album Silver Tears, recorded on the New West label is due for release in November and follows his self-released and well received debut album In The Blazes (2015).   

Razor sharp wit, stylish and a wizard song writer and guitarist, Lonesome Highway had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with the modest, gregarious and affable young man at The American Legion in East Nashville.

Your surname would not suggest any Irish ancestry but I believe you do have some Irish blood flowing through your veins?

 My family does in fact have Irish blood. On my Dad's side ... his grandmother was Irish. However, my grandfather was adopted and that's how I ended up with the last name I have today.

 Tell us about your relationship with BP?

The first time I hung out with BP Fallon he was introducing my band at one his NYC Death Disco gigs. His introduction started, "When I came across them, I didn't know if they'd be crap or brilliant." I loved him immediately. Through the years we've worked together in many capacities, but my favourite capacity to work with BP, and one of my favourite things in the world really, is to sit at the kitchen table, spliff in hand, face to face with Beep, writing riffs on which he can hang his wonderful words. But in the end, for two chaps whose dancing was once described as "freedom" by Bono, I'd say we're hanging in there ok.

How did your involvement with New York Dolls come about?

My involvement with the NY Dolls really came through BP Fallon and Steve Conte. You see, Steve had seen me playing guitar around town in NYC thanks to BP who'd brought Steve around to check me out. When Steve needed some time off to be with his new son and his wife, I was very honoured to step in for him. That band informed so much of what I do. You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory is as brilliant a country song as it is Rock'n'Roll. Hank Williams could have sung it no problem. So it all connects, you see? Like The Dolls singing Pills by Bo Diddley. The blues is not punk rock but it is when they sing it. The Dolls are a Rock'n'Roll band of the highest order. They aren't a punk band but their influence on punk and the many twists and turns Rock'n'Roll has taken since The Dolls inception is undeniable.

Fill us in on your musical influences as a teenager growing up in Ohio?

Though I lived in California and Delaware for brief periods of my childhood, New Albany OH is where I feel like I'm from. It's where I went to high school and came of age. I fell very hard for a girl I met my first year of high school. She was my main influence for songs. They were almost all about her. Musically, I was listening to everything. I probably loved the Beatles the most but John Prine, Arlo Guthrie and of course Dylan were right there too. In middle school, I used Oasis songs to learn guitar. They were simple enough to learn on your own. I also played Freddy Green style guitar in The Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra and even learned to play banjo for the Gahanna Community Theatre production of Little Orphan Annie.

You are one of many acts under the Americana umbrella whose early music career began in an entirely different background. Take us through the journey from glam to where you are today?

My journey to making the music I make has been long and varied but the goal has always been the same: write pop songs that are performed scrappily by a tride and true Rock'n'Roll band. I want the lyrics to be my own language and I want the guitar playing to fuck with you and fuck you up and make you wanna fuck. I started on acoustic guitar. The first riff I knew was My Girl by The Temptations. Then I learned all the folk songs...Woody, Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Tim Hardin etc...From there, I started learning the blues...first Hendrix then Buddy Guy then my favourite blues singer, Slim Harpo. My Dad also made me study Spanish classical and jazz guitar. My favourite jazz player was Grant Green. But my heart and soul are always swayed the most by rock'n'roll. Give me John Lennon and Keith Richards lunacy and a tab or two and I'm yours. Shane MacGowen, for the love of God. Please. Keep being wild and free and poetic. Live forever, if you don't mind? rock'n'roll isn't just marketing term, kids. It's a real, living breathing thing and it's the best one of 'em all besides hip hop.

You appear to be adopting the mantle of the male face of East Nashville in recent years possibly borrowing the baton from Todd Snider. Tell about the music community there and the support they offer to each other?

I will tell you this ... there is one folk rock singer in East Nashville and his name is Todd Snider. Any credit I get in terms of repping the East Side would only be because of him. He is one of my absolute favourite writers and performers. Fearless. He has a new song where the first line is "This song is even better than it sounds." That's championship level stuff. He is also my friend and we hang out all the time at his lake house. Lots of celebrity sightings there. Rorey Carroll, Elizabeth Cook, Kevin Gordon, Allen Thompson. A who's who of East Nashville grifty, shifty raconteurs and instigators. 

Margo Price, practically unknown outside East Nashville last year, has deservedly made a major breakthrough both locally and internationally this year. Do you expect any other East Nashville artists to follow in her footsteps in the near future?

I love Margo Price. One of our best and brightest. I anticipate in the next year, East Nashville will become a National Monument and protected under the Jed Hilly Bill of Rights which will guarantee showcases to anyone who can out-dress Nikki Lane. The town will be closed off to all visitors except for certain sections where you're be able to view songwriters in their natural habitats: like Cale Tyson at a hot chicken restaurant writing hit songs on pickle slices or me sitting on my front porch being very, very nervous.

Your new album Silver Tears was recorded in Southern California. Was there a particular sound you were looking for that brought you to California for the recording?

There are these guys that live in California: Elijah Thomson, Dan Bailey, Frank Lenz and David Vandervelde. They are the best guys at recording I've ever met. I don't really want to have a sound. I want to make music in the moment. My sound is always going to be whatever I come up with on the fly. I don't work off of concepts. I work off momentary insanity, manic depression and lapses in judgment.

Like many other artists you are now classified under the Americana umbrella.  Are you comfortable with that and do you consider that the title Americana has given many artists a categorisation that they otherwise may not have had?

People can call what I do whatever they want. I don't need to be defined by a genre and feel people who listen to music based on genre are musically ignorant. The function of art is not categorization. Now, I say this as someone who is making music for art, not money. If you want to make money at this you will have to hold everyone's hand the whole way through it all and tell them exactly who you are and what you do and how you tied it all together on your wonderful new album whether you actually know the answers to those questions or not. I'm too lazy for all that. I know what I am and who I am and I really don't feel obligated to fake an explanation that will make people feel like they can figure me out. That's not what I signed up for and what I did sign up for can be done without a bunch of tiresome salesmanship.

Are we going to have the pleasure of seeing you perform in Ireland in the near future?

Boy, I sure hope so. I love it there. I got to sit in with Dan Baird at Whelan's last year and Lenny Kaye and I backed up BP Fallon at Electric Picnic a few years back too. Kilkenny Roots always seems like a blast. I'd love to play that. I'd consider bagging my entire career if Lisa Hannigan would let me be her roadie though.

Interview by Declan Culliton 

Interview with Elana James

Hot Club of Cowtown return to Ireland for an eleven date tour kicking off at The Sugar Club Dublin on 25^th October and finishing at The Black Box Belfast on November 6th. In between they will be appearing at Letterkenny, Newbridge, Drogheda, Cork, Clifden, Dun Laoire, Antrim, Bangor and Castlebar. The trio consisting of Elana James on fiddle, Whit Smith on guitar and Jake Erwin on bass have been enthralling audiences for two decades with their unique take on western swing, gypsy jazz with a little bit of country thrown in the mix. They are without doubt one of the most exciting and entertaining live acts around as punters that attended their shows at Kilkenny Roots Festival in 2010 will testify. Technically superb, stylish, humorous and genuinely delightful people their shows will no doubt brighten up those dark, gloomy autumn evenings!

Delighted to see you back touring Ireland in October and November. It’s been too long since your last visit in 2010.

Thank you! It has been too long!

What influenced you personally to switch from Classical music to more traditional and folk?

I pretty consistently played Classical music from age 4 up until I was 21, playing violin (and later viola) in orchestras, chamber music and stuff like that. Even so, I never had a traditional approach to Classical music in a way, though-like I wasn’t big on practicing or self-discipline. I was always behind, always wanted to do things besides practice (like run around on my horse in the countryside), even though I was passionate about playing. My mom was a professional Classical violinist (and still is) and I think that growing up watching her get dressed in her black velvet and go to gigs all the time and play shows in the Kansas City Symphony or pit orchestras and traveling shows and the ballet. I saw what it was like and the mystery or allure of it for me maybe was lessened. The idea of going off into the blue yonder of folk music started out really as a kind of compulsion: by the time I was in high school I had started taking my violin into the hip, bohemian part of Kansas City and playing fiddle tunes for tips on weekends, sometimes totally by myself or with my sister on flute or a friend on tambourine. I was also drawn to central Asian and North Indian Classical music in college, as well cowboy songs when I began playing in a band on a ranch in Colorado for a few summers around the same time. So in these ways, I started to creep away from Classical music without really realizing it.

One of the most influential things that happened to steer me toward American traditional music and stop considering whether or not I should go into Classical music was going to India right after college to study an esoteric style of North Indian Classical music called Dhrupad with my late, wonderful teacher, Vidur Malik. He would take his handful of students, maybe five of us, on these adventures in the rural countryside of North India and we would play at festivals, at a local temple, for Hindu renunicates living in the forest, or really just anywhere. And when we would go on these journeys, especially when we were floating down the Yamuna River every so often at sunset, he would be singing and playing his harmonium and I would be playing along on my viola and at some point he would always stop and say, “American Geet!!” (which means American music) with overwhelming enthusiasm, and would have me play a hoedown of some kind and he absolutely loved it. I think that that single experience of his enthusiasm was very powerful for me because it showed me that we think something is exotic when it comes from somewhere else, but the very thing we know and love and may take for granted that is truly and uniquely ours, is deeply thrilling and exotic to someone else. So his enthusiasm helped me see the legitimacy and honour in pursuing my own folk music, and I soon went back to the United States and found my way to fiddling and hot jazz and never looked back.

Did Hot Club of Cowtown target a particular audience for your music style when formed back in 1996?

I think the audience that we targeted was ourselves! When Whit and I started playing together at first it was just this thrilling way to learn songs together that we loved. I can be impatient about playing out--once we had a few songs together it was like, let’s go play these for people! But it’s really been the joy of just playing that led the way to playing in front of anyone, and then forming a trio, meeting up with Jake so many years ago and solidifying this trio as we three. If we had been aiming for commercial success I guess it’s unlikely that we would have formed a Western swing trio. And yet, the impossible has been possible in that we have continued to play together for almost 20 years and make a living doing it. Kind of insane.

How challenging has it been to continually record new material two decades later given that you have remained loyal to the musical genre you represent?

There is an endless trove of songs from the nineteen teens through the 1940s, folk music from the American west, jazz standards, traditional gypsy tunes--an endless source of material. It seems that if a vocalist records American Songbook standards it’s considered jazz, but when a band does it, it somehow becomes a retro or revival act. We approach these songs the way any artist today may be looking for new material--we pick songs that are utterly vital and relevant, in some cases more than ever, but they happen to have been written a little longer ago, and then we sing and play them as modern, living people for other living people who come out to our shows. So it is very contemporary in that way, and there is always something new each night even in just the improvisation and spontaneity of the set.

Your live performances always seem to be driven by a particular bond and chemistry with your audience. Is it difficult to maintain that level of enthusiasm and intensity given the constant touring?

I do sometimes feel like when I am home and rested I would sing and play twice as well as I do when we are on the road. But the truth is, touring, through its gruelling nature, instils a kind of grit and depth into any band that, to my mind, cannot be achieved by just staying in one place the whole time. It gives you that patina of wear, that bittersweet authenticity that’s hard-won and can’t be faked. Also our audience has taught us so much through its energy about songs, what works, what needs work. So even though I think sometimes I could do certain things better, I would rather play imperfectly in front of a live audience who is sharing something with us in real time, participating in something ephemeral with us, however raw it may be, than just at home playing in my living room.

It’s refreshing that you have steadfastly remained loyal to what you do so well. Has there been any temptation to conform to a more mainstream style given the surge in interest in Americana in more recent years?

I have said many times I am ready to sell out but no one has made an offer!

Despite a few brief periods when Hot Club took time out you seem to be constantly on the road or recording. Are the rewards worth the sacrifices?

The truth is, you have to do something in this life, devote yourself to something, and it may as well be music--you’re lucky to have a choice and to even be able to choose music, or to have music choose you, and if you are going to be a successful band, you have to tour. Isaac Stern has a great quote that sums it up, which was in his obituary in the New York Times from 2001: “I have been very fortunate in 60 years of performance,'' he said in 1995, ''to have learned what it means to be an eternal student, an eternal optimist ... because you hope the next time will always be a little better - and eternally in love with music. Also, as I said to a young player the other day, you have no idea of what you don't know. Now it's time that you begin to learn. And you should get up every morning and say thank God, thank the Lord, thank whomever you want, thank you, thank you, for making me a musician."

You played in Bob Dylan’s backing band for a period. Did that create any appetite to work as a backing musician rather than a leading role in your own combo?

Yes, I loved touring with Bob. The thing about working for someone else, though, is that, at least for me, what may be my own natural impulse in my own band may not be the thing that’s needed in someone else’s band, to get their songs across in the way that they intend. So there is this aspect of filtering what I would normally play and vetting it, is this appropriate? Is this what will get the song across best? When you have your own band you answer those questions yourself and play accordingly. Working with and for someone else, whether in a live show or on a session, it’s a responsibility to let your own ideas out but also shape them to what the artist you’re working with is going for, and I enjoy that collaboration and that challenge because it pushes me to try new things that I may not be used to doing. I do love doing session work and I love playing with other people when we are not on tour, it’s just that we’ve been a tad busy lately so not a lot of time for that right now.

Many thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Hot Club of Cowtown were voted not only the finest but also the happiest bunch of musicians at your appearances at Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival in 2010. Lonesome Highway look forward to more of the same at your Dublin shows.

Thank you so much! We are thrilled to be embarking on a genuine tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland--it’s really the first time we have done this many shows in a row, to really settle in for a few weeks over on your beautiful island. We are very much looking forward to it.

Interview by Declan Culliton  -  Photograph courtesy of Hot Club of Cowtown by Valerie Fremin.

http://www.musicnetwork.ie/concerts/details/hot_club_of_cowtown_usa#.V_91XeArKUk

Luan Parle Interview

 

Not many artists at the age of 34 in the music industry can boast a career spanning over two decades. Even fewer musicians can lay claim to child prodigy status and continue a successful career in the industry as an adult artist. Luan Parle can boast (though I doubt that she would) to have managed both and is possibly in the third phase of her professional career at present.

Much has been documented over the years in respect of her career launch age of twelve, signing to Sony Music, supporting Elton John and James Blunt, Meteor Award for Best Irish Female Artist, Tatler Woman of The Year Award, Big Buzz Most Stylish Female Award and more.

Lonesome Highway had the pleasure of meeting the unpretentious and convivial young Wicklow woman while on tour in support of her excellent EP Roll The Dice.

I get the impression of Luan Parle as an artist totally reinvigorated at present. Lots of positive energy and focus?

Yes, absolutely. I took some time out after The Full Circle before the release of my last EP Roll The Dice. It was the best thing I ever did. I was very young when I started working in the music industry, so it gave me the time and space I needed to refocus and reflect on my musical career to date. Afterwards I felt completely re-energized, reinvigorated and had a completely different outlook on the "business" side. I do what I do because I love it and I love it more now than ever. I have a new appreciation for it and feel very lucky. I have a fantastic team around me who I trust with my life - which is key.

You certainly seem to have a busy 12 months, between your live shows and TV & Radio appearances?

Yes, I've been incredibly busy. I self-released 'Roll The Dice last year and released four singles from the EP in Ireland. Between promoting the releases and the live shows it has certainly kept me busy.

How did dates in Slovakia and Finland materialise?

I have been playing the FestDobréBohunice since 2009 and building up a fan base in Slovakia. Last year I headlined the festival to 1,500 people and completed a mini tour of Slovakia last November. I was asked this year to play the Irish Arts Centre in New York City as part of their Song Lives Series which was in May. After that I was contacted by Mal Fay the organiser of the Helsinki Irish Festival to headline September 30th with Clive Barnes. It will be my first time to play Finland so I'm extremely excited. 

Signing a record deal at the age of 12 reads like every teenage girl’s dream come true. How did your professional career impact on you as a teenager growing up?

To be honest not that much. My life has always revolved around music and it seemed all very normal. I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to record an album at 12 years of age, that kind of experience is priceless. I learned so much at such a young age which has helped me immensely.

To say the least, you have certainly experience the highs and lows of the music industry. From signing to Sony and Elton John’s Management Company to losing both deals.  Has the experience made you stronger personally?

That's the nature of the business. I feel very lucky to have had those opportunities. I don't look at it like I've lost anything, I've gained a huge amount of knowledge. I've written and recorded songs with Grammy winning songwriters and producers such as Bill Bottrell, Chris Kimsey and Billy Steinberg to name but a few. I toured extensively with James Blunt and opened Elton John’s London shows at the Apollo Theatre. I also recorded my album Free which featured my top hit single Ghost and won the Meteor Irish Music Award. I have grown up in the industry and will continue my musical journey taking all that I have been lucky enough to learn from all of those experiences.

You have spoken on the record many times of the trauma and even guilt you suffered as a result of losing your record deal and your father’s ill health. Is that chapter closed now?

I am so happy to be embarking on this next chapter. I feel excited and very blessed that my dad is still with us to share it.

Roll The Dice has deservedly enjoyed very enthusiastic reviews. Was the idea of recording an EP rather than a full album a case of ‘dipping your toe in the water’ and seeing the reaction?

Not really, I spent quite a considerable amount of money on the recordings as I wanted to have the best product I felt was possible at the time. I was lucky to work with amazing musicians on the recordings and mixes. As the product was self-funded I needed to keep some money aside for distribution and PR.

When can we expect the next release and is it ‘same again’ with or without any re-mixes?

I'm working on the next batch of recordings at the moment and hope to have something out very soon. Whether it will be a self-release this time or not I cannot say. The remix of Roll The Dice came about after the single release so I'd never rule anything out.

Are you enjoying the freedom of self-releasing music and managing yourself rather than under the control of a record company?

I have definitely enjoyed it but it's tough going and a lot of work. At this point now I would like to hand that side of things over so that I can concentrate on the music, writing and performing.

Most of your recent tour features the talented guitarist and artist in his own right Clive Barnes on stage with you performing as a duo. Is this a format that you enjoy rather than solo or with a full band?

Clive is an absolute joy to play with. He's an unbelievable talent and having toured with incredible artists such as Eric Bibb, Joe Cocker and Taj Mahal Clive is always in high demand. We've been touring together for almost two years and it just works. What Clive brings to my songs is very special and I feel incredibly lucky to get to play to him. During the shows Clive plays some of his own material, I've never seen anyone play like him, he's an exceptional talent. We've also been writing together recently which we're both really enjoying and seemed like a natural step. I also love playing with a full band but it can be costly.

Has working with Clive influenced the material you are presently working on in terms of style or direction?

Absolutely, Clive's songs are so beautiful, poetic, melodic and inspire me to want to write songs. He sets the bar high.

I expect there is some competition on the road trips to shows as to what CD ends up in the car stereo! Clive is a man of exceptionally varied music tastes from jazz to metal!

He sure is and I'm happy to be educated by him, so he's in control of the iPod.

You are heavily involved in the Irish Music Industry both through you work with IASCA and with the various Rock School Summer camps you subscribe to. How important is this to you?

Hugely important. Music wasn't an option in my school when I was doing my Leaving Certificate so I felt a bit cheated. My guidance counsellor would constantly ask me what I wanted to do when I finished school to which my response was always that I wanted to become a professional full time musician. I was looking for some sort of guidance or a nudge in the right direction which I never got and I felt hugely frustrated. I felt that there was nobody to help me with the path I had chosen. Most musicians starting out haven't a clue how to go about things so I try to pass on a little bit of what I've picked up along the way to up and coming musicians. They are our future.

Your Summer Camps must cater for many youngsters with ambitions and dreams of a career in the music industry. How optimistic are you that the industry can offer them a viable career going forward?

You know there's never any guarantees with any career path you chose in life. You've got to follow your dreams and never give up on that dream. It's not an easy road but then is anything?

Have you set yourself career targets going forward?

Always. For the moment I'm looking forward to releasing the next batch of material. Publishing is something that I'll be concentrating heavily on next year and touring outside of Ireland a lot more. As long as I can play music and people like what I'm doing I'm happy.

Interview by Declan Culliton - July 2016

Anne Mc Cue Interview - July 2016

Anne McCue is very much a vital part of the vibrant music scene in East Nashville at present. Together with recording her own material the Sydney born artist has been active producing other artists, video making and hosting a radio show on local radio. Very much acclaimed by her industry peers her phenomenal guitar playing has received plaudits from Lucinda Williams, David Olney and Dave Alvin to name just a few.

Roll (2004) and Koala Motel (2006), both classic Americana albums, should take pride of place in any music lovers record collection. Always prepared to experiment, her latest album Blue Sky Thinkin’ is influenced by her exposure to jazz as a child without discarding her distinctive guitar style.

McCue tours Ireland in August playing shows in Kilkenny, Clonakilty and Dublin and chatted with Lonesome Highway in advance of the visit.

Great to see you back playing a number of dates in Ireland in August. Your formal college training was in Film Production rather than music. At what stage did music take preference over film as the main career focus?

Music, novels and movies were always the most important things to me. When I was 5 I wanted to play piano like Liberace! I took Classical lessons for about 6 years before I switched to guitar in my teens. Bands like The Cure were emerging and the arrangements were simple enough to understand and work out.  But I was very shy, too shy to sing. So I thought maybe I could be a novelist or write screenplays – something more in the background. But the urge to play in a rock band was still very strong (ever since we pretended we were the Beatles with our tennis rackets.) So after I finished university I answered an ad in the paper to be a guitarist:

Wanted: Wild women for rock’n’roll band.

We recorded our first demos on a 4-track cassette player, they got played on the local radio station a week later, and all of a sudden we existed! I’ve been a professional musician ever since! I decided I’d better take some lessons and ended up studying with Australian jazz legend Bruce Clarke. He was a tough task master but he let me do the gardening to pay for my lessons. So I was in this raw rock band while studying music theory and jazz on the side. It was a rather schizophrenic time, musically!

East Nashville has been your home for quite a few years now. The music community there seems particularly vibrant and united at present. It seems like the perfect location for an artist like yourself that mixes production work together with song writing and recording together?

Yes, it’s really turned out to be a great place to be. When I first moved here it was a lot more ‘country’ and Music Row predominated. But since that time, with so many transplants from all over America and the world, many other styles of music have moved in and East Nashville is at the heart of that alternative, Americana, rock, jazz explosion. It’s a great place to have a home studio because it’s still relatively quiet and there is still a semi-rural vibe which I particularly like as opposed to the noise of big cities like Los Angeles and New York. I love producing other artists and Nashville is possibly the most affordable place you can record an album with some of the best musicians in the world. Also, it’s nice to live in a city where music is a respected occupation. You’re not an outsider for that reason.

East Nashville based artists normally associated with country music have released quite experimental albums this year. I’m thinking of Lera Lynn, Sturgill Simpson. Robert Ellis, Elizabeth Cook. As a musician and producer are you seeing a shift in musical direction around you in East Nashville?

Yes, and that’s as it should be. When people get stuck with a sound I get bored! When an artist continually makes the same album over and again it’s rather dull. Unfortunately, radio stations do tend to embrace the one trick ponies, more than the people who experiment – they invented all these genres and formats which never actually existed before. Why must an artist write in only one style? Why can’t it be about their art, not their record sales?

You also host a radio show on East Nashville Radio Songs on The Wire. What type of music does the show feature?

Well, when I started Songs On The Wire there was no radio show in Nashville talking to local East Side song writers or playing their music. Hard to believe, I know. With all those great bands and artists based in town, they weren’t getting any coverage on Lightning 100, the station that supposedly represents that group. So I thought I’d start a show that focussed on the local writers (who weren’t writing mainstream country) – the singer-songwriters. I was doing it as a podcast, and then I found a place for it on East Nashville Radio. I’ve done about 50 episodes so far and now you can hear it all over the world  as it is broadcast digitally on a couple of Australian Radio stations. I go for more alternative music – nothing too straight ahead, but from any historical era to the present.

Your personal career schedule includes production work, touring, recording, video work and your radio show. A busy calendar no doubt. How difficult is it to balance that workload?

Being a truly independent artist these days means you are working about 60 hours a week between tours just keeping everything going. Yes, I have a lot of different creative interests and a three minute song can take a long time to write and a long time to get to record. Then there are the hard facts of making sure gigs are being booked and publicised – so many facets now. I do envy the artists who have great managers and all they have to do (I imagine) is write songs and perform and hang out. I don’t have much down time but I know I’m lucky to have the life I do – it’s been a very interesting life. I just wish I had more days in the week because I never get done all the projects I want to work on and there is no such thing as a vacation!

Your latest album Blue Sky Thinkin’ was itself quite a diversion from your previous work with possibly a more New Orleans than Nashville feel to it. What was the motivation and inspiration for the album?

We had this box set of 8 vinyl records when I was kid and I just loved it! It was called the ‘Swing Years’ and it had artists like Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee etc  - jazz before it became cerebral, jazz when it was really actually rock’n’roll. Later on I got into Django Reinhardt and gypsy jazz and still later, Astor Piazzola and the Nuevo Tango.  I’ve always been attracted to those types of ‘expensive’ chords. I just love interesting harmonies and melodic turns and it was just time to start writing like that – it just happened really. But I think I managed to keep the edge on it – the musicans – Dave Raven, Dusty Wakeman, Carl Byron – are more rock musicians and that’s who I like to hear playing swing music. I don’t like it when it gets too smooth.

Are you working on the next album yet and what direction is it likely to take?

Yes, well I’ve got a lot of songs written, so I thought I’d just start recording them with guitar and vocals, then listen for a while and see what approach I should take. I will most likely record in Nashville. I want it to be rich and lush but still very organic. I just produced an album for Ellen Starski and I wrote some string arrangements for that. I imagine I will take a similar approach on my own record but it’s a little early to say for sure!

Your recent production of Emma Swift’s debut album was nominated for an ARIA Award (Australian Grammy). She is another indication of the strength of Australian artists in the Americana genre. Do Australian artists really need to relocate to the States to get recognition and an audience?

They need to at least tour the States if they want to make a living from playing their own music – and Europe, UK, Ireland etc. And believe me, it’s not that easy in the States any more but just the sheer size of the country – the amount of cities you can play in over a year without repeating is immense. Australia has the same population as Greater Los Angeles and not many cities so it’s difficult to sustain a music career there full-time. It’s just better to be swimming in a bigger pond – more opportunities will arise.

Given the way music is consumed at present how do you see artists outside the mainstream surviving career wise going forward?

This is something I face every day and I have no definitive answer because the ground is always shifting. Yes people are buying less actual CDs but on the other hand they are buying more digital copies. However, with being able to stream whatever music they want whenever they want, why would they buy music at all? I heard a girl declare recently, “I only listen to vinyl or streaming.” And that seems to be the way it’s going. But from streaming the songwriter makes almost nothing and regarding vinyl, it costs the same amount of money to print 100 vinyl records as it does to print a 1,000 CDs. So we’re not really making money from vinyl either! The worst thing about this scenario is that the working class may no longer be able to afford to be artists – only kids with rich parents who support them will be able to afford to be musicians. I suspect that’s what‘s going on.

Your guitar training included studying with Australian jazz guitarist Bruce Clarke yet much of your guitar work is closer to rock than jazz. Who were your guitar heroes that inspired you to play the instrument?

Neil Young – I always loved his acoustic playing but also his angular, totally original electric playing. Of course George Harrison – his simple melodic approach and his slide guitar. David Gilmour on the album Wish You Were Here. Jimi Hendrix of course – I’ve recorded a few of his songs… When I saw Tony Joe White play I realised it was all about the groove. There is a guitarist, Charlie Christian who played with Benny Goodman. He is about my favourite because he had the best electric guitar tone ever and the best phrasing ever along with Django Reinhardt – I love his acoustic playing. Django and Charlie are my two favourites.

Interview by Decaln Culliton  - with thanks to Anne.

Carter Sampson Interview

Sometimes you can only scratch your head and wonder what certain artists have to do to get the recognition they richly deserve. Carter Sampson is certainly in that category. Her 2011 album Mockingbird Song was surely one of the Americana albums of that year with a sound that landed somewhere between Lucinda Williams and Kathleen Edwards. Her recent album Wilder Side has deservedly been receiving glowing reviews in Europe and hopefully will introduce the Queen of Oklahoma to a wide audience in Europe.  Lonesome Highway caught up with Carter on her whistle stop tour of Europe and the UK which included two shows at The Maverick Music Festival. 

We are really loving your new album Wilder Side at Lonesome Highway. Are we likely to see you perform material from it in Ireland in the near future?

Yes! I am working with Continental Record Services in The Netherlands and our original plan was for me to do my first European tour in February 2017. The record (Wilder Side) was released in Europe last month and has taken off thanks to great reviews. My first shows in Holland and England have been really great and it looks like I will be performing in Italy, Ireland and Holland several times over the next six months 

How would you describe your progression as a singer songwriter from your 2009 debut album Fly Over The Moon to Wilder Side?

Well I hope I’ve grown a little. I’ve certainly grown up since then and written many songs in that time. I’m more comfortable as a songwriter now and it has been nice to receive recognition for my songs. I won first place in the Chris Austin Song Contest at Merlefest in North Carolina last summer and was a top 10 finalist in both the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s song contests (both in Colorado). Singing has always come naturally to me but I’ve worked very hard on songwriting and I love having that as a release for me. I’ve written plenty of songs that no one will ever hear, sometimes I just have to get thoughts out of my head!

How influential was Travis Linville in achieving the beautiful yet understated feel to the album?

I worked with Linville on Good For The Meantime and he was so easy to work with. He released two EP’s in the last few years and when I heard them I knew I wanted to work with him again. He really listens and has such a great tone and feel to every instrument he plays, which is all of them! We recorded Wilder Side in his little house in Norman Oklahoma. No fancy studio with vocal booths just the two of us in his living room and I think that helped with the ease and the overall sound of the record.

Your hectic schedule appears to suggest that you are constantly travelling and much of the album references this. Is this necessary evil an inspiration to you in terms of your song writing?

I have been travelling a ton the last few years. I tour the US in a twenty three foot caravan or RV as we call them. Music is my first love and travelling is right behind it so I’m lucky that both go hand in hand. I think one thing that has changed about my songwriting to be honest is that I’m more honest in what I write so it makes sense that a lot of the songs on the new album are on that topic. 

Some heartbreaks along the way also?

Of course! It’s tricky to have a relationship at all when you are never home. A musician’s life is not a ‘normal ‘ life and it’s hard to find a partner that understands what it’s like, although I’ve found one now so maybe more love songs in the future!

You also had your fellow Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Moreland contribute. He has also been recording some excellent music in the past few years?

John is an incredible songwriter and one of the writers that taught me to be more honest in my writing. When we started working on the album he agreed to help co-produce it with Linville and myself and after a few months later he started getting a lot of attention and was on the road all the time. If anyone deserves that kind of attention it’s John Moreland and I’m so proud that he is from Oklahoma and a friend. 

Americana is certainly well represented at present in Oklahoma with artists like yourself, the aforementioned John Moreland, Parker Millsap and Wink Burcham. How do you explain the emergence of so many talented acts around the same time?

I don’t know how to explain it. For years I feel like Oklahoma music has been passed over for music coming out of Texas and it’s really cool how many ‘Okies’ are in the charts in Europe right now. There’s a fantastic music scene in Tulsa now where all the musicians are seriously touring but when they are home they all play together and support each other. I think anytime any of us gets attention it helps us all.

Tell me about the family connection to the legend Roy Orbison?

He was my great grandfather’s cousin. I never met him but I hope that maybe I have the same musical genes that he did. I think he was one of the best American singers ever.

Are there other musical legacies in your immediate family?

My mother has sang in the choir at her church for years, my grandfather was a pianist and my dad taught me how to play guitar and he was in rock and roll bands most of his life.

You appear to be an artist that puts her heart and soul passionately into any project you take on board. I’m intrigued with your work with Oklahoma City’s Rock’n’Roll Camp for Girls. How did this come about and what does it involve?

I had the opportunity to volunteer at both the Portland Oregon and Los Angeles Rock and Roll Camp for Girls and couldn’t stop thinking how my musical life might have been different if I was shown at a young age that girls and women can play any instrument and play it well, can run sound and set up gear. So in 2015 I teamed up with local female musicians and non-musicians to start a camp in Oklahoma. The response has been overwhelming! This July we will hold our second summer camp for 50 girls in the Oklahoma area. Most of the girls (aged 8-17) have never played an instrument until the first day of camp, they learn guitar, bass, drums, keys or vocals. Monday afternoon they form bands, we will have 10 brand new bands this year. The girls have band practice in the afternoon and collaborate with their tutors on writing a song that they will showcase on the Saturday after the camp is over. Last year we sold out two shows with about 800 people, not bad for your first gig! We also teach workshops that include self-defence, songwriting, positive self-image and screen printing your own band t-shirts. We aim to empower the girls showing that building each other up is so much more powerful than tearing each other down. 

You wear your heart on your sleeve in proclaiming how proud you are of your home state. What makes Oklahoma so special for you?

I am at least a sixth generation Oklahoman and a Native American, Oklahoma is in my blood. I’m fortunate to travel the world but Oklahoma will always be my home.

How important is exposure in Europe and the UK to an artist like yourself?

I think it’s really important. I’ve noticed that fans at home are far more impressed when I play in London than when I play Kansas, I’m more impressed too! I’ve also loved how Europeans love Americana music and music from Oklahoma. At every show I’ve played in Europe so far the audience is silently listening and really enjoying the music. I can’t wait to come back!

Interview by Declan Culliton

Interview with Lera Lynn

 

Lera Lynn has a radiant smile that would light up any room and the Nashville based resident has plenty to smile about at these days. The past eighteen months has seen her career going into overdrive with an appearance on the David Letterman Show, writings songs for and appearing alongside Colin Farrell in the American anthology crime drama True Detective and a tour of the UK and Europe which also included two songs on Later..with Jools Holland.  In between all this activity Lynn also managed to record her forth studio album Resister to extremely enthusiastic reviews. The album, which was reviewed by Lonesome Highway last month, was a shift in direction from her previous work revealing a much darker, edgier and somewhat mysterious side to the talented singer-songwriter.

Lonesome Highway met with Lera Lynn prior to her first appearance in Dublin to discuss the album and her career to date.

It’s 2011 and you’ve recorded you debut album Have You Met Lera Lynn. Where did you see yourself in 2016 at that stage?

Oh God. I don’t think I even thought of 2016 back then. Its one thing that I’ve started to grasp as I get older is the permanence of music making , that is  not something I ever  thought about when I was younger. Back then it was, let’s make a record, it will be fun, lets record it and see what happens. It wasn’t necessarily as much of an organised diligent pursuit as it is now. I’ve always wanted to make play but did not understand when I was younger how much work is involved and all the background stuff. The music often is secondary to everything else. Making the record is the easy part (laughs) then you bust your ass trying to get people to listen to it. 

Your new album Resister got a great review in Uncut magazine, you have appeared recently on  Later … with Jools Holland giving you access to a wide audience in Europe. Commercially how important is Europe for you?

I really don’t know what commercial means to be honest. Radio with the way people consume music these days seems like a free for all. We’re lucky just to show up in a city in Europe and play that speaks volumes to me that our music is reaching new people. Actually last night in Berlin people were singing along to my old music which blew my mind, I have no idea how they came about it.

Resister is without doubt one of my favourite albums of this year. Would you have made that album had you not met and worked with T Bone Burnett?

Wow, thank you and the answer is yes! The challenge that I faced with this record was, having established fans through True Detective and that darker music, which is a part of me and why people invited me to do the show in the first place. It was a great opportunity and something I love doing, it’s so rare that you come across someone that says Yes but make it  darker and darker still and I’m thinking even darker Ok  I’d love to! To have gotten that opportunity with this type of music was extraordinary. That said there are other sides to my musical  personality as well, Shape Shifter and Drive (from the album) are a little more fun and flirtatious, it’s not all doom and gloom in my head and I wanted to make a record that will obviously appeal to the new fans, the darker stuff, but was true to me as well.

Sturgill Simpson, Daniel Romano, more recently Robert Ellis and yourself, artists that are mostly Nashville based, have all recorded albums this year that are particularly experimental. Very little ‘country’ on the albums. Is that a trend or a coincidence? 

I feel that in the past five years there has been a massive resurgence in Americana. Often an artist that is on the fringe and trying to do the same thing as others are trying to do, if you want to make art, if you want to be unique, you turn in a different direction, you try to avoid making the kind of music everyone else is making, that seems only natural to me. I actually haven’t heard Daniel Romano’s record yet by the way

It’s a super album, anything but country, often closer to Calexico than Hank Williams.

Oh great. I love Calexico!

With the success of True Detective is there now a temptation to sign for a record label or do you intend staying independent

I purposely avoid record labels, we had offers but you know these days the pickings are slim so to have a label involved, no thanks. It may help to build your profile but I have struggled for so long and continue to struggle but I feel I’ve done the hardest part of the struggling now and have turned the corner so why give that all up to a record label. I’ll continue to scrape by (laughs).   

On that subject, I’m impressed how professionally your profile is managed.  Your website, Facebook page, individual tour posters for each show. Have you a good manager or do you do it all yourself?

(Laughs) All done by me, I’m crazy but it’s not actually that hard 

I believe your training and studies were not music related

No, I have a degree in anthropology which I actually think has a lot to do with song writing. One of the most important lessons I learned in all of my studies in anthropology is to recognise a bias, which is also very helpful in personal and professional relationships, writing songs, writing anything in fact, to open your perspective you.

Tell me about your love of 70’s music? I know you did a complete set of Paul McCartney’s Ram album and references to Pink Floyd while recording Resister. Music from a completely different generation.

Maybe so but that music still holds true. For me music from the 50’s, 60’s and 0’s is the best music there is. I love music from most era’s but my heart and soul sails when I listen to old R’nB’, old Jazz, old pop music. It could be the production, it could be that it was music that was written before being completely commercialised. There’s so much disposable music these days with the internet

Had your parents a musical background?

Very much so, my mother was a part time singer she would do covers, full on 80’s rock though she’d do a little Patsy Cline and things like that too. They both had a great appreciation for music

After appearances on David Letterman and Jools Holland as well as writing with T Bone Burnett and Roseanne Cash plus the role in True Detective. What’s next on the horizon? Another series of True Detective?

I have no idea. You know I wasn’t an original artist in the script, only working on a few songs for it before I got the opportunity to act, so I am not in the loop. I’m sure they’re not too keen on me coming back (laughs) after the reviews for the second series.

You personally got some great reviews though. 

That’s kind of the bittersweet and probably why they won’t be saying ‘let’s get Lera back in here!’

Does the actual acting hold much appeal to you going forward 

I would love to do more of it, I’ve had a couple of enquiries but right now the record is the focus but I do hope to do more acting, it was really fun and challenging, I was completely confused most of the time! There’s no one there to say ‘this is how you do it’ or ‘this is what that means’. They would just shout ‘singer’ (that was my name on the show) then they mention a phrase like ‘eye line’ and I’m thinking "eye line/eye liner?,ok!."  Beside me is Colin Farrell dressed up as a junkie with oil in his hair and they’re looking at me and I’m thinking ‘do I make eye contact, smile or wave!’

How was he to work with?

Oh my God, so charming and I can see how the guy has had the success he has had, so kind to everyone, oozing charm and talent

Recording wise is there anything else in the pipeline or it is a case of totally promoting Resister?

We have recorded some other things, started dabbling but it’s difficult for me when I’m pushing this record, if I start working on another one right now, I just need to be fully committed spiritually to the album right now.

You’re living in Nashville but not originally from there?

No, I was born in Houston, Texas then we moved to Louisiana when I was a baby, I think we lived there for five years or so and then we moved to Atlanta where I spent most of my life.

Does that explain the neutral accent?

(Laughs) No, I can explain the accent!  I went to an intercity school in Atlanta which was ethnically diverse and coming from Louisiana I sounded like a hick! It was very clear to me that I would not fare well if I continued to speak like that so I dropped the accent very quickly.

East Nashville seems to have particularly vibrant musical scene at present, a hotbed for creative musicians. Are you part of that scene? 

I am yes, very much so, though I actually live right on Music Row which is an odd place for an independent artist. They have those big posters there ‘whoever sold 20 million copies of a record in one week and it’s called … I Love Bacon … or something like that. The East Nashville music community is great, we actually have Andrew Combs, who lives there, open for us on our upcoming tour, and I’m a big fan of his. Annie Clements has played bass with us but she’s really busy touring with Jennifer Nettles at the moment. I’m happy to have my long-time friend from Atlanta Robbie Handley play bass, we’ve known each other for fourteen years. I feel fortunate to have so many of the best musicians play with us, Jeremy Fetzers another. Josh Grange, who is playing with me tonight and co-produced Resister, he is a monster guitar player, I have never come across anyone who even matches his ability, beyond what his hands can do. He can see a song from a far perspective, in a linear fashion. I really love working with him and on stage with him, he’s soulful and also never overplays yet he’s confident and always there.

You’ve made it to Ireland at last.

Yes. We landed at 2.30pm. Straight to the hotel for a brief nap and drove here so this is all I’ve experienced of Ireland so far. The Guinness is delicious by the way, much better than at home. It’s like Heineken in Amsterdam, I think they send America the dregs! 

Interview by Declan Culliton   Photograph by Ronnie Norton

Interview with Daniel Meade

Daniel Meade released his self-recorded debut solo album in 2013 to critical acclaim. Since then he has travelled far and wide, working with and opening for acts such as Old Crow Medicine Show, The Proclaimers, Pokey Lafarge, Willie Watson, Diana Jones, Vikesh Kapoor and Sturgill Simpson. 

In February 2014 he was invited to Nashville by Morgan Jahnig of Old Crow Medicine Show who offered to engineer and produce a new album with a band comprising some of Meade’s favourite musicians, including Cory Younts, Chance Mccoy, Joshua Hedley, Chris Scruggs and Morgan himself. Guest spots were filled by Diana Jones, Shelly Colvin and Critter From Old Crow. The result was Keep Right Away, an exciting, diverse and self assured album that draws on the ghosts of all of his influences, from Hank Williams, Big Bill Broonzy, Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Lee Lewis through to the more contemporary throes of Old Crow Medicine Show and Justin Townes Earle. 

Meade’s new album Let Me Off At The Bottom features 11 new meade originals. It is the first record he has made with The Flying Mules (Lloyd Reid - guitar, Mark Ferrie - double bass, Thomas Sutherland - drums). It was recorded live (for the most part) at the legendary Cava Studios in Glasgow and mixed by Morgan Jahnig in Tennessee.

Can you give me some idea of how music became such a big part of your life growing up in Glasgow?

I'd say there were a few factors involved. My big brother Raymond has always been music mad, he started playing guitar around the age of 7 so growing up I'd say he was the main influence on me. He got me into the likes of Guns 'n' Roses and what have you at an early age and although I didn't show an interest in playing until I was about 12, his enthusiasm rubbed off on me. I also have a couple of uncles who fed my earliest interests. Ian is a great guitarist who was right into his blues and would always indulge our young ears when we visited. He actually took me to my first gig, which was to see BB King in Edinburgh and at 11 years old that blew my mind. My other uncle Vincent was mad on The Beatles and used to make me tapes of all their albums and I'd listen to them until they wore out. So I'd probably have to blame them! It really wasn't until my early teens that it became a big part of my life but when it did that was it, and thankfully it's never left.

What music originally made you decide to pursue making it as a full time artist? 

That would have to be the old rock 'n' roll stuff, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard. I was lucky enough to see the three of them on the same bill in London when I was around 14 or 15 and after that I wasn't interested in doing or being anything else. I loved the Blues and The Beatles before then but it was those guys that made me want to pursue it.

At what point did the music that inspires you now become a part of your conscious listening?

I'm not entirely certain. One thing always just bleeds into another and I'm never really aware of shifts in my own taste, or indeed inspiration. I think any writer should be influenced and inspired by everything and anything they hear, whether it's their cup of tea or not. Take the parts that are useful to you and throw the rest away.

Your new album was recorded locally in Glasgow as opposed to the previous album being tracked in Nashville. What were the differences in the two experiences?

To be honest, for me the only difference was the location. Both times I had the songs I wanted ready and the musicians that I wanted in place to perform them, and that's all you need. Both were cut for the most part live in great studios, both were a lot of work and fun, and both came out sounding better than I'd imagined going in. Obviously it was a dream come true going over to Nashville and having that experience with Morgan and all those guys who's records I love, but finally getting to make this album in Glasgow, with the band who I've played with for years was just as exciting for me. I'm equally proud of both. 

How much do the economics of the situation effect the way you produce your music?

Money is always going to be a problem at any level but you can't let it get in the way of what you ultimately want to produce. We initially tried to cut a couple of corners financially with this record and just weren't happy so ended up digging deeper and doing it right, and it's a much better record for it. I'll always look into cost beforehand so I can try to plan accordingly. If I need to take on some extra shifts a week that I don't particularly enjoy then so be it, or if I need to sell some stuff to get the money then I will, and I have done many times. If you really believe in what you're making there is always a way. It might not be your first choice or even your second, but if it needs done you'll do it.

How long have you and Lloyd worked together? He seems a perfect foil for what you do?

Around 7 or 8 years now. He's my favourite person to play with by a long way and anyone who's heard him won't need telling why. He is without doubt the most natural guitarist I've ever met and still constantly surprises me with what he hits out with on stage. He has a wonderful ear and always plays for the song, never to show off, and that for me is the difference between the good and the great, and he's definitely great. His harmony singing is spot on as well which appeals to me no end. We both have the same love for the music we play and approach it with the same mentality, which is why I think we go so well together, it's never in all these years felt like work. I think there's definitely a mutual respect between us, we've been through a lot together and, where other relationships have suffered and fallen apart, we're still tight. Plus his beard is lovely

Are you a prolific writer or is the process a slower one?

I've been called prolific but I don't really see it that way, it's just what I do and the way I work. If you call yourself a writer then boy you'd better write! I always write something down every day, be it a song, a line or even just an unusual word, anything at all. You can never have enough words or ideas and, even if they come to nothing, it had you thinking for a while so that can't be a bad thing.

Live you cover some classic and some obscure songs. How do you choose these? 

No rhyme or reason to be honest, if we hear something we like enough to learn then we will and throw it in the set from time to time, keeps us on our toes.

Another thing about your live show that sometimes doesn’t come across on record his how good a piano player you are. Do you have a preference for the piano over guitar or vice versa?

Why thank you. I would have to say piano is my first love. I can sit playing nothing in particular and be lost for hours. The guitar I also love but in a different way. I mainly write on the guitar, I play it more, certainly live, but it doesn't come as naturally to me. I have to really work at guitar whereas piano is always play. I'm definitely more at home in front of a piano. 

There has long been a predjuice against “country” music from these Isles even though a large part of there music originated here. Have you found that? 

I wouldn't call it a prejudice against country music, I just don't think people over here have ever been particularly arsed with it. It never seems to have properly taken off here for one reason or the other, maybe that's why it left in the first place! I do think there's a level of ignorance involved, a willingness to believe that it's all rhinestones, line dancing and Garth Brooks or whatever, which couldn't be further from the truth. But these kind of attitudes are slowly shifting but I think it'll always be a bit of a niche market over here.

In that light how does location effect perception?

I don't really know in all honesty, I think that changes from person to person. I've come across people that are more willing to appreciate homegrown talent and others who would rather their country singers to be American, some find that to be more genuine or something. It's never been an issue with me ... a good song, singer or band is always going to be a good song, singer or band, wherever it originates. It shouldn't matter.

You will be doubtless touring Let Me Off At The Bottom for awhile. What are your plans in that respect?

We have several shows and festivals lined up for the next few months already, you can see them at the website www.danielmeademusic.com. And then we're working on a more substantial tour in support of the album come September, more news on that soon.

How difficult is it for an independent musician to sustain a career these days?

As difficult as any other profession it seems, it's a hard time for a lot of people now. I'm fortunate enough to be doing what I love, a lot of people aren't. I don't make a lot of money and what I do make goes back into the next record or tour but I wouldn't change it for anything. I think to make it work you have to be flexible with what you will and won't do, I never turn anything down out of hand. Everyone has to make ends meet somehow and if you think your above doing certain things then you'll not last long.

The subject matter of many of the songs deals with the downside of relationships and a drift toward anaesthetising the pain. Have you done a lot of research in that area?

Ha ha, 'research', that's exactly how I like to look at it now. I have yes, a little too much truth be told but I can't grumble, everyone goes through their own shit, it's all part of growing up and becoming who you are. I didn't so much drift toward it as jump head first into it so I do know I'm lucky to be out the other end relatively unscathed, some people aren't so lucky. It's certainly given me a lot to consider, ponder and write about the last few years so I guess it wasn't all bad. The quiet life suits me now though.

What are your aspirations for the future? 

To keep breathing, moving and playing, keep it simple.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Interview with Dave Insley

Dave Insley grew up in Chapman, Kansas until the age of 12 when his family relocated to Arizona. There he spent most of his spare time playing guitar and writing songs as well as hiking and climbing. During his high school and college years he played in country and rock bands, and in 1983 his cowpunk group, Chaingang, debuted in Tempe. Chaingang played country music for punks. Insley’s next project was the Nitpickers, a Tempe-based bluegrass band. Another Insley group, Trophy Husbands, released two country records and, for a few years, toured nationally. In 2005 his solo debut, Call Me Lonesome was released. Relocating to Austin, Texas in 2006 he released Here With You Tonight. Then in 2008, Insley released his next album, West Texas Wine. Just The Way That I Am, his latest album showcases the most mature writing and nuanced performance to date. Dave Insley’s Careless Smokers. began a weekly residency at a new Austin club, the White Horse Saloon in 2013 and unless on tour, play to a packed house every Saturday. 

You and your brother both released a series of country/roots albums individually. In that light was that music you grew up with at home or where did the inspiration come from?

Our parents were into country music and big band music, so Mark and I grew up with long players by Buck, Merle, George Jones, Johnny Cash on the turntable daily, along with stuff like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. Of course we learned about rock music (for us Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly) from our school chums, so those LPs made it into the pile too.

When did that inspiration turn into the motivation that made you want to write and sing and how did you go about doing that?

Our folks used to trot us out to sing for their friends when they were entertaining, and Mark and I both had some songs worked up for these occasions.  I was 11 when I got my first guitar, but I'd been messing with Mark's before that. Ever since those days I've never felt anything else called to me in the way that music did.  Simply put, I've always wanted to do this, it's been my dream for as long as I can remember. I had a lot to learn to become a writer, but it came fairly naturally and once I found my voice, and learned to trust my instincts, then I learned how to catch songs, when inspirations or ideas came knocking. Sometimes overhearing a snippet of a conversation or accidentally coining some minor phrase would be enough to get into the flow of songwriting.

How much was the Austin country scene an influence on the direction your music took?

It's an ongoing inspiration to live in a town where, not only can I see some of the greatest musicians in the world, but I can work with them, and be friends with them. When I was growing up in Arizona, and before I became a touring artist, Austin was always a fantasy to me. But now, it's come true!

Did you ever have the ambition to go to Nashville to see how that might help or hinder your career?

I have spent a fair amount of time in Nashville, been there for music conferences, and to perform numerous times. I like Nashville, as a place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there; Austin appeals to me more because the lifestyle, the liberal culture and the music scene all fit my style better.  

At this point do you feel that you are largely making music for yourself and those people who have discovered your music rather that it being a good career move?

Ha, music is NEVER a good career move! haha. I've always made the music first for myself, and secondarily with an audience in mind (sometimes the audience a song is intended for is single person, sometimes the audience intended is more of a general audience). Ultimately, I don't feel like my work is complete if I don't perform the music for someone, nonetheless, I write for myself; the process is cathartic and therapeutic, lord knows what would have become of me without my music

How important, in terms of continuing your music, has been the opportunity to play at the White Horse on a regular basis?

It's the greatest gig I've ever had, frankly. We've been playing there every Saturday night for 3 years. We've built a great audience, the club loves us, and for me it is nice to have a reliable, hip place to play every week, without having to worry about booking, promoting, traveling, etc. My guys always have fun and the dance floor always stays full, the White Horse has been a godsend to me!

You have always created interesting visual packages, with Beth Middleworth, for your CD. Is the visual part of being an music artist an important factor for you?

I grew up in an era when artists put out albums, and everything about the album was significant: the sequence, the pacing (time between tracks), the packaging, all working together to create an effect. I have always felt that the visual aspect plays a role in how people hear the music, the packaging and music combine to create the overall effect. One of the greatest blessings in my life was finding Beth!  She is a genius, and she gets me, and what I do. We've been friends now for nearly 15 years, and she is one of my very best friends indeed.  Collaborating with her to create the packages is one of the funnest and most joyful parts of the production 

How has the country music scene changed in Austin (and indeed throughout the industry) over the last decade and has that affected your own world view?

Well, for one thing, who was it that thought "bro country" was a good idea? Seriously! I've always been a traditionalist (even when I was young and playing in punk rock bands). Scenes come and go, and music always strays this way and that, but without fail it always returns to its traditional form eventually, and that's where I come in. In terms of my world view, hmm, I would say that it is particularly easy for a performing artist or a songwriter to become cynical, but that's a trap worth avoiding. I've met the kindest and sweetest people through my music, and my "world view" when I'm playing my gigs and meeting people is profound gratitude that people are listening and are interested in what I'm doing, and sheer joy at being in front of an audience.

Where do you think roots music in general is heading these days. There seems to be a lot of bands and artist on the fringes making traditionally styled music?

It's just careening down the road like always! In my view there have always been a lot of bands and artists on the fringe, making traditional music. But what we have a lot more of now is electronic media for getting the word out about these artists, that accounts for the seemingly endless supply bands, etc.

Does the care you put into your releases act as something of an antidote to the rather faceless option provided by the download?

The download has its place, and in fact is vitally important when you put out a record, however the physical copy is always going to be much more impressive.  I've always liked being able to hold the music with my hand. Looking at the artwork the artist has chosen on a CD package, while listening to a new album is more visceral than holding a download card. Of course, holding a vinyl LP is the best of all! 

Has the recording process been made easier now with technology. There seems to be a lot of small studios out there?

Oh yeah, there are tons of studios, and quality can be done more easily and less expensively than in the old days. Still, there are various points during the production when you have to pony up real money because the old fashioned way of doing something might sound better, but cost more money. There are a lot of little steps where a producer can drop the ball, but its not wise to try to skip some steps to save money. 

You are a family man now, does that change the nature of the music you make or can you put yourself in to the role required to tell the story in song?

Well, I write more "family love" type songs now than I used to, but I try not to overdo that sort of thing when picking a setlist for a live show. I'm perfectly at ease taking whatever role I need to, in order for my story songs to make sense, and let's face it they are generally written from either my point of view, or at least a point of view that resonates with me.

Your band Careless Smokers has been with you for some time. Is it hard to keep committed, like-minded players onside or they as committed to the music as you?

My guys are great, great people, and we've all been together so long that we all love each other, and are "family." And they can really play, oh my!  They're every bit as committed to what I'm doing, and to this style of music as I am.  They work hard to always be available to do my records and shows, and I'm fortunate to have developed deep and lasting friendships with all of them. 

What is the future likely to hold for you and what would you like the future to be in the best of possible worlds?

I don't sit around thinking up lofty goals for myself, I just hope to continue to get satisfaction from doing it, and satisfaction from bringing joy to my friends, family and fans with it. I know that I'm totally blessed to have the opportunities that come with making music, and I'm super grateful.

Interview by Stephen Rapid  Photography by Valerie Fremin

Interview with Eric Church

Eric Church was born in the year that punk exploded. Church has largely ploughed his own furrow with his edgy take on songwriting and performance. By his own admission he is not a traditional country artist, though he is marketed in the contemporary country genre.

Signed toCapitol Records since 2005, he has released five studio album and one live album. Church is a very successful artist and several of his albums and singles have reached number 1 on the Billboard Country charts. His most recent album, Mr Misunderstood, saw him confirm his ‘outside” status when it was initially released to  fans without even his label’s knowledge.

Eric Church has the status now to do things his way and that is a positive direction for the artist. Lonesome Highway interviewed him prior to his performance at the 3 Arena, the Dublin leg of the 2016 Country 2 Country festival.

Mr Misunderstood was released with no titles and no credits on the artwork, Was there a specific reason for that?

That was because of inspiration actually, as I didn’t expect to have an album out. I’d sat down one day and wrote for the first time in a long time and wrote Mr Misunderstood. That was the first song and the next day I wrote Mistress Named Music (with Casey Beathard) and on the third day I wrote by myself. So all of a sudden this window opened for me, with creativity and inspiration. I’d never had that happen, as normally I have to write about 100 songs to find what it is I’m searching for, but not this time. I knew they were all exactly on the same album. The interesting thing was what to do with that, as we just came of from the Outsiders album and we weren’t supposed to schedule another album until this coming summer. But to me it’s a crime against the in aspiration of the writer to have to put it on a shelf and get back to it. It’s the worst thing you could ever do as an artist,  so we looked for ways to put it out and, it was my idea, I said ‘let’s put it out’, and as I’m a vinyl guy I wanted to send it to the fans first. The label did not know about it and we ended up having to purchase a record plant in Germany to get it done without the label knowing. When we went to Walmart and the big distributors, we said that it was a Christmas album. So we kept it secret at every level and it arrived the morning of the CMAs and it was there for our fans. All of a sudden they became the mouthpiece. The interesting thing there is, usually the label gets it first, then radio followed by the critics and the media. That’s all to tell the fans about it and that’s backwards. You’re always trying to get it in their (the fan’s) hands. So you should go to them first and let them tell people about it. So that’s the one thing we tried to flip. 

I love vinyl, to me it’s the closest thing to what I hear in the studio. It’s not exactly there but it’s the closest thing. When you get into CDs and MP3 and that stuff it’s just so different. I think that’s what the resurgence is, as people are getting back in to that escapism of what music is. 

How important is the role of your producer Jay Joyce in shaping the sound for recording?

I think he’s critical and the one thing about Jay is that we understand each other. There’s many times in the studio where you can have a bunch of musicians that you may have to explain thins to, but with Jay I never have to do that because we understand what were thinking. That’s special when you find that. I can say “hey man, this is this or that” and everyone is looking at me in the studio confused but Jay gets it. So when you speak ‘music’ fluently with someone like that, that is rare. Jay and I have always had that connection, even early on. We have the two most different backgrounds that you could ever have, as we are two totally different people, but we really agree on what should happen musically.

On the album you mention a number of musical names such as Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jeff Tweedy. Where they big musical influences for you?

Everybody finds muses, and when it came to Mr Misunderstood they were artists that I love that I don’t know that everybody knows. They are people that I look to,  to get inspiration; people like Elvis Costello and Ray Wylie, Jeff Tweedy and Wilco. I think it was important to put that in there to show that this record had a little more depth. I wanted the country fan who knew me as a quote ‘Superstar Artist’ that they hear all the time, may dig deeper than just what they hear on the radio. It is what makes us up, just look at the DNA and those guys are an integral part of my DNA. 

There are elements of soul, blues, reggae …

Yes, there is.

Your duet partner Susan Tedeschi on Mixed Drinks about Feelings is not a usual choice to sing with.

She amazing. Her and Derek Trucks, and he’s one of the greatest guitar players on the planet. Again, they are people that I’m a fan of and I try to expose some different voices to country music. 

Does what you’re doing now and the success you have had take away from your songwriting time?

No, the songwriting for me has always been about being committed to the craft. I can say when it’s all said and done, as it was in the beginning, that I’ll be a songwriter. All the other stuff I can’t control, but I would still write songs. That would be the most important thing for people to know about me; that I’m A, B and C a songwriter. Everything else, I  hope, takes care of itself. If it all ended tomorrow as a recording artist I’d still be writing songs. It wouldn’t matter if I made money at it as it’s what I do.

In that light do you keep notebooks of lines or ideas as they might arrive?

I do, a lot I put on my iPhone. There are windows that open inspiration wise and when they happen, you have to pay attention. There’s no rhyme or reason and I wish I knew what it was. Some people write to a deadline, which is an interesting thing, as when you have one some people write better that way. But I don’t think I’m that way. I’m more into when it starts to happen I know to pay attention to that. I can go a long time without a song then I can write 30 in two weeks. 

When that happens to you, do you feel an overall theme is emerging?

That’s interesting; sometimes and sometimes not. This time I realised about three songs in that I had the beginnings of an album and what surprised me was that every day after that I started to second guess myself. I was thinking ‘they can’t all be good’ and that I was losing my edge; because, as I said, I normally write a lot to get good ones. But this time four or five songs in I thought they could be on the same record. I started to go to people saying ‘Am I nuts, or is this good?’ That’s when it started to formulate and something was happening that had never happened to me. For this album I probably wrote 18 songs and there’s 10 on the record. That has never happen before from a quality standpoint. Normally I’d be a one-in-five guy. I think that this was a different thing. 

You have been using your own band on this album. Is that something that you prefer?

As we were trying to keep it from anybody knowing, it was just us. The difference is that The Outsiders was more bombastic. It was restless creativity. I had had a hard time with the Chief album, as that was where we want from nobody knowing us to everybody knowing us. I had felt a little bit constrained as were in a format, and it had won (both CMA & ACM) album of the year, and we were the focal point of what was happening then and that bothered me. I’ve always been good on the fringe and not in the middle. I’ve never liked being that guy. The Outsiders was a little bit of rebellion against that. It was us going ‘let’s go nuts’. With Mr Misunderstood there was a lot of space. It was just the songs and a lot of them are just one-takes.

Do you feel misunderstood?

Well, I felt that as a younger person. So that song is less about me now. The younger person, male or female, who marches to the beat of their own drummer; as music lovers we’ve all felt that we may like something that not everybody else does - but that’s ok. Equally you may do something different and that’s ok too. For me it’s more about that.

The Mistress Named Music?  

Well, that’s my favourite song. 

What do you think of traditional country music?

I love it personally, but I’ve never done it better than other people. Really early on I realised that that is not my strength. I’d rather hear Alan Jackson or one of those guys rather than me trying to do them. They’re better at it. I’m a fan of it and it’s great to see it coming back. I love the singer/songwriter troubadour element of it. For me the harder country beat is in Americana. That’s where the true spirit of country is. What’s happening at radio is because of commercialism. It’s pop music. The biggest problem that all formats have is that when something begins to work then everybody then does that. Especially in Nashville where one thing worked, then everything begins to sound like that. That’s because it’s basically pop music. It becomes popular culture and becomes commercialized, then it loses the heart. It will work for a little bit but then it’s going to recycle. But now some of that realness is coming back. It’ll make the music better. 

You toured on The Outsiders Tour with Dwight Yoakum as an opening act. How did your fans take to that?

It worked good. If you look at the kind of career that we’ve tried to carve out, that’s the career that he carved out 20 years ago. Some people wonder how it would go when it started, but I thought it worked great. I watched almost every night and he’s so good. He can still do it to the nines.

On the album you play both acoustic and also electric guitar. Do you like letting go with the latter?

I’m an insecure guitar player. I ended up playing a lot of parts on the record and that’s where Jay’s great as he tells me just to play and that “we’ll never use this.” So I’ll take a pass and it ends up being the one on the record. Because I think he is going to replace it I don’t feel that pressure. It’s the best when you’re not thinking too hard about what you’re playing. You’re playing from your heart and not from your head. One of my favourite things right now is playing the Mr Misunderstood album, as we haven’t had the chance to play it anywhere and we don’t know it that well yet. We recorded it and it’s been three months, so now playing it every night’s a little different. It’s at that stage where we don’t know it well enough to know what we should be playing. That’s fun. In the studio I know the feeling that if you chase a song too long and something starts to buck on you and it’s not happening. I believe that if it starts to get difficult to get a track then there’s something wrong. It’s time to move on. I do like to play acoustic and we are going to be doing two acoustic shows in Red Rocks. It’s not something I’d want to do all the time but I do love it. It is something that shows a different element of the songs.

Is Europe a place where you want to succeed?

A lot of artists come over and play Country 2 Country and then think that they’re big, but that’s not Europe. You have to commit to all of Europe. For us it’s been great. I happen to believe, and it could be naive, but I don’t think so, that music translates culture, it translates language. It’s a universal language. If you commit to it and play it, it works. This is a little bit of an exception as it is a kind of “soft ticket” as if I came to Dublin without this event, I wouldn’t be playing the 3 Arena. I’d be playing a theatre, which is what I’d rather do. The thing I can say is that I love the day that we’re on (with Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves) as I had turned this down a couple of times. I said I would if it was cohesive with who we are. You have people who are songwriters and troubadours who would go anywhere in Europe and road-dog it. For me it was important to get that right or I’d rather come and do my own show.

Interview by Stephen Rapid, assisted by Ronnie Norton. 

Interview with Sid Griffin - Long Ryders

The Long Ryders were originally formed in Los Angeles in the early 1980 and disbanded in I987. During that time they blended a mix of punk attitude with a strong roots sensibility and released several albums. A comprehensive box set of their work Final Wild Songs has just been released with the first pressing quickly selling out.The band are doing some dates to support this release before finishing the tour in Dublin at Whelans on Sunday 8th of May. Lonesome Highway took the opportunity to ask founding member Sid Griffin some questions.

The band has reformed for selected gigs and tours since parting company originally in the late 80s. How difficult is it for the four of you to schedule the time to rehearse and to tour?

Extremely difficult. I live in London as you know, our brilliant guitarist Stephen McCarthy lives in his native Richmond, Virginia, our bass player Tom Stevens lives in northern Indiana, and our drummer Greg Sowders lives in Los Angeles. No one lives anywhere near the other guy! And everyone has families but to be fair two of the band have grown children. Two of us have kids at home. So it is very difficult to organise any touring or the like.  

You’re touring in support of the release of the Final Wild Songs 4 CD box set. In compiling that have you ever been inspired to consider doing an new album or are the circumstances of releasing new music now too complicated and costly unless backed by a label?

The Final Wild Songs box set was compiled primarily by Tom Stevens, our bassist. He is a master archivist, what Bill Wyman is to the Rolling Stones. He knew where everything was and is! 

There is some minor discussion about doing a new album but it is soooooooo difficult to get us all in one room. And doing it via the computer and not seeing the other person…man, that is just not, not, not the Long Ryders way! This is something we will discuss on the European leg of our shows in April and May of this year. When we get to the USA in July I am sure we will either have a plan settled on or we will skip the idea entirely. 

You emerged alongside a number of other bands who were all labelled the 'Paisley Underground’ yet your leanings were more towards a roots-orientated sound. This was before Americana or alt-Country were terms to try and define a sound. Would that have made any real difference to the band’s identity or career if you had started later or where you, as front runners, better as you were?

It would have made all the difference in the world, Steve, if we had started later in our career or even started earlier. As the writer Johnny Black wrote, “The Long Ryders were the perfectly right band at the perfectly wrong time”. This is the Lord’s Truth. People say we didn’t go as far as we should have but the fact is we went as far as we were allowed to. 

Everyone who did like our sound played our music. There was no place left to go to. Every other DJ, especially in Europe and the UK, was playing this ghastly synth pop rubbish. I still hate that music today! And I notice it is completely, undeniably out of fashion. You might hear it on an Oldies station but it is very old hat. Americana, which the Long Ryders helped codify and define, is now the hip currency in the USA by some length and it is getting more and more of an audience in Europe every week. As Willie Dixon said, “this rock is the fruit but the blues are the roots”, and I agree. 

Where do you think the Long Ryders rightful place in the history of (country) rock is?

As an important, indispensable link in the chain. We brought the music of Gram Parsons to the generation of Johnny Rotten and now look what happened. It is a shame we didn’t last longer but there you are, nothing can be done about that now. 

You and Tom compiled Final Wild Songs his much of that was work and how much was fun?

It was a bit over two years work. Hard to believe but true. Getting all the songs decided upon, finding the original tapes or the best version possible to use as a source, getting all the photographs together and trying to find photos people have not seen a zillion times…man, it was very hard work and stressful at times. I cannot speak for Tom but I found myself juggling a lot of balls in the air and praying I would not drop any of them. I am a musician, not a magician, right? 

Since the band’s demise you have taken a more acoustic/bluegrass direction with your music. Did you miss the amps and the drums and the Rickenbacker?

I do not miss playing electric music whatsoever. I played with a great, if you will allow me to say so, a great electric band, the Long Ryders. And I am tired of the volume and wanted to do something different. I did not even play mandolin fifteen years ago…now I play every day and in fact consider myself a mandolinist and not a guitarist. 

It is true bluegrass music is not popular, audiences will always respond to the big, loud 4/4 beat but playing lightly and tightly and rockin’ along in 2/4 on a Bill Monroe song has a helluva lot to recommend it! Heck, Adele, of all people, she LOVES bluegrass music from her time in the USA and our Coal Porters’ fiddler Kerenza Peacock plays fiddle for Adele (you don’t think she makes a living playing with me, do you?). 

 

My Rickenbacker was in the closet for months. I just got it out to rehearse for this tour. 

What do you think of the current state of what passes for country music where bands are more influenced by big-hair metal and rap than by a real sense of rock and punk attitude brought by bands like yourselves and Jason & The Scorchers and Rank & File?

I have no affection at all for “bro country” or the C&W out of Nashville where you can tell the most country band the singer has ever dug is The Eagles. That stuff means nothing to me. I thought the first Rank & File album was one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life. How funny to think Alejandro Escovedo was, at best, the third most important guy in that band. Now he is Mr. Americana in the USA! 

Age has its own limiting factors but is playing again with the band a shot in the arm in terms of energy and attitude?

Oh, I am playing with the Long Ryders to a) support the box set, and b) to see my dear pals, Tom, Stephen and the drummer. I forget his name. Craig? There is no real money in a Long Ryders reunion, believe me. But it will be fun, they will make me laugh like they did in the old days, we will see many old friends and old faces, so what’s not to like?  

As regards it being a shot in the arm I consider it more a shot in the dark. I would love to see if we are treated like old pals, like a heritage act, like Famous Unsung People, or exactly what. I do so look forward to this European tour, yep. 

I’m sure there were ups and downs in your career like not being able to take up the offer to tour with U2 but what are the more memorable aspects of being a Long Ryder for you?

U2 asked us to open The Joshua Tree tour dates, from date one till about two months into it. Our final album, Two-Fisted Tales, was delayed so we decided not to do it and to join the U2 tour later on. As you know we never did get to open for U2 at all, not even once. So this was a major opportunity blown, no question about it, and a fairly big regret of mine. We twice turned down touring Japan and Australia, that was a dumb move too. But life goes on. 

Bono memorably said our song Harriet Tubman’s Going To Carry Me Home was a classic, that people would be singing it around campfires in 200 years. People sometimes make fun of him but what a cool thing to say. I owe him so much for that quote, it has been around the world. 

What are your own personal plans for there future in music and with your writing?

There is a new Coal Porters album out called No. 6, yes Number six, in September, and I will tour behind that. I have a broadcasting offer in the USA I am seriously considering and so, at present, I am not sure about what I am going to write next. We shall see. 

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Interview with Lindi Ortega

Living now in Nashville Canadian singer songwriter has forged her own path over four albums which have blended a mix of country, soul and blues influences together to create her own vision of contemporary roots music. She is a regular visitor to Europe and retuned this time with a three piece band to accompany her fiery and individual vocal presence. Lonesome Highway took the opportunity to talk to her before her show in Dublin 

On Faded Gloryville you used three different sets of producers. Two of who you had previously worked with. Was that expediency or the plan?

It was a suggestion from my manager when we were trying to figure out who we were going to get to produce the next record. He suggested that instead of just having how about having a couple. I never had thought of it and I was apprehensive at first because I was worried about continuity and a little nervous. But then I sat and thought about it I realised that I had heard other albums done that way that sounded great. So I though of it worked for them it might work for me. Then I got attracted to the idea as it was something I’d never done. The idea of going down to Alabama to record a few songs was really cool to me. Muscle Shoals is so filled with such a unique musical history. I’d recorded in Nashville before but never in that area. Say in the end it was “why the heck not.” It was three sessions with technically four producers because it was Ben Tanner and John Paul White in Muscle Shoals. They did the three more soul leaning songs.

Did you then pick the songs for the different sets of producers?

I did. I’ve always been a fan of not just country music, I mean I love country music obviously, I also listened to old blues, Motown and soul. I love voices - Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Solomon Burke, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Otis Redding. I love all that stuff. It has always crept into my music and especially into my live repertoire. we had done a song like the Bee Gees To Love Somebody before we recorded it. My manager was the one who said you should put that on the record. You always take a gamble when you do that however as people are often married to the original version. There give you hell if they don’t like it. Sacrilege! Foe me it was a song that meant something to me lyrically. When I first heard it it was Nina Simone’s version. I’m a huge fan of hers. She does a lot of covers but always makes them her own. I knew it was a cover and of course when I checked it was the Bee Gees. All I’d know of their music before that was the disco songs.

What criteria do you use to pick a song to cover?

Nine times out of ten, as I mentioned, it’s the lyrics. How they relate to things I’m going through and how I can emote those feeling through those songs. Sometimes I feel that the songs is reading my mind or heart in some way. It can be a way of dealing with things I’m going through. To Love Somebody was at a time when I was going through a serious unrequited love. A deep yearning for something that will never be reciprocated. I try to do them my way so if people don’t like it they don’t like it. It’s neither here or there, it’s really just me getting something out. (Laughs).

Have you considered at some point releasing a covers album?

Yeah, I’ve always really wanted to do a covers album and down the road I’m sure there will be one. I just don’t know when.

After four independent albums and with some signs of a slightly broader outlook from some labels do you think that you might get an approach from a major label?

I don’t. I actually don’t think so. I feel that, even with Chris Stapleton, those things are an anomaly. A lot of people are talking about how things would change Nashville but unfortunately I don’t see that. Last year people thought that Kacey Musgraves would change everything - but it didn’t. it really only happened for her. That’s fine, but it’s not really something that I’m still chasing myself. I love the freedom that I have to do what I want how I want. If I had someone breathing down my neck telling me what to do it would change me.

They might well put your in a pre-labelled box.

I don’t like boxes … unless I was a pigeon. (laughs).

So where to you see you music heading?

I love music and I’m inspired by so many different things and I imagine that I’ll want to experiment with different styles and sounds. I hope too that I would grow more as a songwriter, a singer, as an artist. I’ve been writing some new songs as of late which are a little different than what I’ve normally done. I’m using my voice a little differently. For the longest time I though that in order to prove myself as a singer that I really had to belt it. That was how I got people’s attention when I was playing in loud bars and no one was listening so I said ”listen to this” and I was just wailing. Then they would pay attention. But now I’ve got an appreciation for soft approach to sing in a more whispered way. I kind of love the nuances of aching, hushed, slow kind of lullaby tunes. So I started top experiment with writing songs like that. So I hope that I’m going to evolve more. Who knows if it’s the right direction or not. I just do what I do.

In your writing you have both written solo and with co-writers. How does that work out for you?

I don’t actually find it easy to co-write. It depends who it is. It’s very much like going on a date, a cliche, but true. You have to really connect with the right person and they have to understand where you would naturally come from and almost be a mind reader in a way. There’s definitely a certain style that I have that’s dark and quirky. If they don’t get it it’s hard. Nashville has that side where it can be formulaic where they’re trying and aiming to get that hit song. One that’s going to connect with radio. What I do is not at all what makes radio. I’m ok with that as I’m not particularly a big fan of all that - the stuff that makes it onto the radio in the new country scene at the present time. I’m not wanting to be that at all. 

There are songwriters in Nashville who want to make money and I can’t fault them for that but sometimes you find someone who is making good money but can still do the other which is their true passion. They are able to connect with me. They’ve gone and listen to music and understand where it’s coming from. It’s nice when that works out. There’s one songwriter that I always work with in Nashville who has been on every record I’ve put out except for the first one. Some of my quirkiest songs have been with him (Bruce Wallace). I do love writing on my own though and sometimes it’s just a timing thing. I don;t have the luxury of having six months to write, I’d love to have that luxury to sit down and be like “don’t bug me for six months”. It would be interesting to se what would happen if I could concentrate and focus like that. But in reality it’s that you have a small chunk of time when you’re not touring and being a crazy woman and you have to write a record. So sometimes it’s easier to come out with something when you get together with people as you can spark ideas more quickly. 

Are you able to write on the road or do you need a quieter location?

Well I wrote a song yesterday on the road. So, yes I can write on road. It really depends. Also I don’t have a formula.The lyrics don’t always come first. Yesterday it was before the soundcheck and we had a lot of time to kill and I was just sitting strumming the guitar and a whole song just came out. I don’t know where it came from and to me that’s magic. The closest thing to it that I can imagine. Lately I find myself writing a lot about space. I’m on a bit of a space kick. The galaxy and traveling through time.

Do you find that once you have been labelled as an Americana artist that’s no matter what you do musically that’s where you’re filed?

That’s true but again there are some serious purists who would never say I was country and then others say that’s what I am. I don’t know. Who knows what to call it? Country music is a huge thread in what I do but should and blues also have a part a you see in the live show. It’s interesting to me in that when I was reading a reviews of a record by a friend of mine that say that soul was this current trend that everyone’s following. and I thought wasn’t like I was trying to follow a trend as I actually just genuinely like the music. This review was looking at it like it was a bad thing. But I think it’s great. I’ll be trying all sorts of things for years to come.

When your up onstage how easy is it to read the mood of a audience?

Well you know when they’re enjoying themselves or they’re not. Tough sometimes I think they’re not and it turns out that they are. Some audiences are quiet and very respectful and some are rowdy and hollering. If they talk really loudly and talk through there whole set that gets to a point where no amount of wailing is going to turn them around. Usually we do alright though. 

After this European tour what are your plans?

There’s no official release date for a new album. I’ve been inspired in my writing so I’m not sure when we’ll do the next album. But I haven’t retired yet! (laughs). 

Could you live in Faded Gloryville?

Well the song was inspired by the film Crazy Heart and it worked out for him in the end. The opening scene in the bowling alley makes me think “Am I going to end up like that?”. That’s what I call ‘faded gloryville’ that questioning if I would end up like that. The truth is unless you have had a big radio hit to give you a financial cushion that at this level your future is uncertain and you do have moments when you go “maybe I should get a real job.” I think though that I will always love music but to think that i might be touring this heavily in my 60s is somethings don’t know about. As beautiful as it is to create music and to be onstage and perform  -  which is my absolute favourite thing in the world to do - and as wonderful as that is there is a huge sacrifice that I make everyday by being here and not in a place where i’m rooted. I feel that I’m missing out on some things. Like my parents are getting older and my Dad had cancer a couple years ago and he was going through chemo and I was on the road. So You feel guilt ridden and that’s something that’s not talked about a lot. Being a musician get’s glorified a lot and there is beauty and glory in it and that can’t be denied. But there’s definitely a very lonely side living out of a suitcase every night. it is so hard to maintain a relationship with one party on the road. It takes strong character and disposition to be able to handle that on both sides. In the end if I don;’t feel that what I do is not good for my soul or I stop liking being up there onstage then I’ll stop doing it. 

There are a lot artists who made great music who now seem to have vanished.

Well I might still be considered an emerging artist but when I was in Toronto and I was spinning my wheels playing little coffee houses there were little independent records out that I loved. I’d have one record that I loved and then I’d never hear from them again. I’d often wonder “what happened?”. Yet I understand that people have their reasons. Some have families. I’ve always dreamed of having a side project that just about getting up there and doing something different. 

Your now living in Nashville do you feel that’s a better career base than Toronto?

When I left Toronto the country/Americana thing wasn’t really well know or a lot of bands doing that as it was much more indie rock driven. So it seemed that there was more for me to do in Nashville. Since then with the advent of shoes like True Blood and The Walking Dead that have been using Americana type songs I think that the whole genre has been elevated and it seems that the music is now accepted and being played a lot more. It’s a bigger genre as a whole so I feel if I did go back it would be a different story than when I left. But I don’t know if I would go back, it’s not that I don’t love Toronto, but I think i’d want to go somewhere different. I don’t know that I want to stay in Nashville either. It’s a great city and it’s done a lot for me but I also love New Orleans and I’d like to spend time there. Texas is great too. Vancouver is another beautiful place. 

Interview by Stephen Rapid   Photograph by Ronnie Norton

Interview with Lori Yates

With an excellent new album Sweetheart Of The Valley just released Lonesome Highway caught up with the Canadian singer to ask her a few quick questions about her past present and future.

You were a member of some bands in Toronto such as the punk orientated Last Resorts. Was that an exciting time for you?

The Last Resorts was my first original band, more new wave than punk. I was the main songwriter. We played a famous Toronto club - Larry’s Hideaway. A career highlight with them was opening for Wayne Kramer & the MC5.

Cow Punk was a natural outgrowth, for many, of that scene what attracted you to that direction music wise?

I was always attracted to country music because of the melodies and the vocal chops of the singers. I loved the energy of punk so combining the two, into cowpunk, just made perfect sense. 

Your debut album Can’€™t Stop The Girl was released by CBS and produced by Steve Buckingham. How did you get your initial major label deal?

Sony Nashville and Sony New York  both discovered me when I was in my cowpunk band Rang Tango. I had a choice of what city to go and record. I choose Nashville as it is mecca for any country musician.

What were the good and bad sides of your career at that time? It seemed that the doors were open to a lot of different interpretations of traditional country music at that time with Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett all making inroads at radio.

The good parts of my Sony deal was that I got introduced to vintage Nashville, the tail end of an era. I met a few of the greats; Harlan Howard, Cowboy Jack Clement, Tammy Wynette, Billy Sherrill, Roy Acuff. I had a hip young A&R guy Larry Hamby, who thought it was important that I meet them, he gave me a priceless gift.

Your next album Untogether came out 4 years later on Virgin Music Canada how different was that experience as against the Nashville one?

Untogether was my total departure from country music! I equate it with when Willie Nelson made a reggae record. I made an incredible trip-hop record that was ahead of its time in Canada. Most people hated it, I loved it. Its where I really learned to sing.

The next step was back in the band Hey Stella and an album release in 1999. Was that a broader approach to roots music and something you felt more at home with at that time?

Falling back with Hey Stella was so natural. We were all old friends and we’d all played together in one configuration or another. Always a blast with them.

The Book Of Minerva sound like an interesting project that was released in 2007, how did that come about?

The Book of Minerva was my stripped down acoustic record. It won me Songwriter of the Year and Alt-Country Recording of the Year at the 2007 Hamilton Music Awards.

Since then you have been involved with songwriting workshops and worked as a show producer/creator. What insights did they give you and were you still performing at that time?

I’ve always been playing! I think I’ve taken maybe one year off in my entire career! I put the songwriting workshops - Creative Genius Songwriting Workshops together bc I kept getting asked for songwriting/mentoring advice. They been super successful, sold out very quickly.

Sweethearts Of The Valley in some ways brings you back full circle to the CBS album as it is largely a broad spectrum of what can easily be recognised as country music. Is that the music you love most?

I’m so delighted with Sweetheart of the Valley. I feel like I completely nailed what I heard in my head - said exactly what I wanted to say but kept it sparse, moody and haunting and I had the best band in the world backing me up!

What were your influences growing up?

My influences growing up were Brenda Lee, Suzi Quattro, Tanya Tucker and Patti Smith.

How about now?

Well now it would be Emmylou, P.J. Harvey, Gillian Welch and Howling Wolf.

What are your plans for the future, and does Europe figure in them?

I’m getting lots of spins in Europe and I’d love to come over for some gigs! I’m trying to put that in place as we speak!

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Interview with Janet Aspley of Dandy & Rose and CMP.

Janet Aspley has written for County Music People for a number of years as well as running her bespoke western wear shirt company Dandy & Rose. Lonesome Highway is a fan of her work and writing and took the opportunity to ask her about her influences and history.

Which came first for you the music or the fashion aspect of country music?

It’s hard to put a timeline on something that is as core as either my love of music or my love of clothes. They have always gone side by side, and country music has always been around for me. I grew up in the Midlands. My parents loved Hollywood musicals and we all ballroom danced, so there was all that music around and I love it to this day. But a big childhood influence were my Dad’s Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins albums. He had the two Gunfighter Ballads albums and he would sit patiently with me copying out the lyrics so I could learn them by heart. I was entranced by the stories. Then I have two older brothers and one of them is a huge Everly Brothers fan, so I guess I absorbed that. And meanwhile, my Mum was sewing away, making all the wedding dresses in the family, and all my ballroom dancing dresses – with rhinestones stuck on! She had learnt to sew from her mother-in-law, who trained as a tailor in Dorchester just before the First World War. So that’s very much part of my heritage.

I came back to country music through Elvis Costello. After King of America came out in 1986, I started exploring country music and discovered George Jones and Patsy Cline, and of course Hank Williams. Then, like you, I discovered Dwight Yoakam, just by reading a review in the London Evening Standard and going out to buy Guitars, Cadillacs, etc. etc. It was quite natural to me to notice what he was wearing. I mean, who wouldn’t?! I didn’t think twice about it. I started experimenting with making western shirts and jackets for myself and wearing them to gigs. It was a great time, that New Traditionalist era – everyone came to London, Randy Travis, George Strait, The Judds, Reba. I remember an outfit with fake ponyskin and fringing that I made and wore. It’s in the loft, actually… and that’s where it will stay!

By then I had started writing for Country Music People magazine. I was always getting told off for writing about what people were wearing and for ‘dressing up’. I was the only woman writer, and I think it was considered a ‘girl’ thing. The current editor, Duncan Warwick, loves western wear so I don’t have that trouble these days!

Do you think the clothes played a part in creating the image  of the traditional country singers? 

I think that originally they were all about dressing like a star, feeling like a star. I interviewed Mel Tillis recently and that’s what he said to me – “You felt like a star and you wore ‘em proudly!” And of course they used them for branding – they had pictures embroidered that represented their name, or a hit song title. If you made it in country music, you didn’t go to some fancy New York tailor and ask him to make you look understated or cool, you asked Nudie to make you sparkle for the benefit of your audience, to show you were still one of them at heart. Then in the 1960s when The Nashville sound came in and a lot of stars like Ray Price switched to street clothes, rhinestones very quickly became associated with hard country. That’s when they started to be ‘real’ country singers’ clothes. Hence the revival in the mid 1980s – it’s about authenticity.

Where do you place the rhinestone encrusted clothing in your love of the genre?

It just fascinates me and I’m interested in understanding what it means in the history of the country music. It’s such a rich subject. I’m a historian. I read History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and then, after a career in Human Resources, an interview that I did for Country Music People with Manuel inspired me to go back to academic study, so that I could look at the subject more closely. I did an MA in History of Design at University of Brighton and wrote my dissertation about ‘Male Dress and the Performance of Country Music’. I’ve been lucky enough to be funded to follow that up with a full time PhD focusing specifically on rhinestone tailoring. It’s hard work but my love of country music keeps me going. I discover new music all the time – well, new old music, new to me. It’s such a privilege to be able to talk to someone like Mel Tillis, who has had such a great career. And then, the first time I looked at a garment in The Country Music Hall of Fame archive, the curator took the lid off the box, and it was one of Dwight’s. I had trouble suppressing a girly scream! And Jim Lauderdale has been such a help and support – I’ve been a big fan of his since I first heard him in the early 90s, so it’s great to work with him. The PhD project just brings together all the best things about me – writing, my passionate interest in country music and my deep connection to clothes and sewing.

The names of Nudie, Nathan Turk, Rodeo Ben of old or current outfitters like Manuel and Jaime Castenada are writ large in the history of the western tailoring. Do you have a particular favorite or influence?

I love Manuel’s work. His sense of colour and his cutting skills is fabulous. And the fact that I get to talk with him about his work and sit and watch his embroiderer, Pancho, who is such an artist, at work is wonderful. And Rodeo Ben – the tailoring is so sharp. I’ve seen some beauties. One of the ones I saw in the Country Music Hall of Fame archive still smelled of smoke, even though it probably hadn’t been worn since the 1950s. And then I love Nathan Turk’s work too. It’s not quite as jokey as Nudie’s. He was inspired a lot by Eastern European folk dress, so his stuff can be quirky. The workmanship is very fine too. I get to examine garments closely. I made a point to look at his work last time I was in The CMHoF archive and I learned a lot about sewing! I have a little mantra: if a technique was good enough for Mr Turk, it’s good enough for me!

Is there any one outfit that you particularly love?

So many…. Some of Mr Turk’s outfits for The Maddox Brothers and Rose, who were marketed as ‘The Most Colorful Hillbilly Band in America’. Dwight’s ‘Hillbilly Deluxe’ jacket. And there was an outfit that I saw Jim Lauderdale wear at the AMA festival this year. It was a western tailored suit made by Manuel, no embroidery or rhinestones – I love that crisp tailoring. It was black with a red pinstripe and red arrows. I love the way Manuel makes the arrows emphasise the manly shape of the jacket. I told Jim that I am the fangirl who gets a little thrill every time he turns his back on the audience, and shows the pairs of curved arrows on the back of his jacket! He wore it with a shirt that I had made, but I would have loved it even if he hadn’t! It was a great combination, though.

How did you come to start Dandy & Rose?

Well, like I say, I had been making western shirts for many years and I had been making them from Liberty fabrics for a long time too, just for myself and friends. As a teenager, I had a great interest in William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, so I’d always loved Liberty designs, as they are so associated with that era. So again, bringing them together with western wear was quite natural. It was only later, when someone pointed it out, that I realised I had created a fusion – Liberty of London, it’s so English! And western wear is so American. Then, when I was starting the MA, I realised that there were all these western shirt patterns that you could buy over the internet, some of them from as far back as the 1940s. People’s sewing skills back then were so advanced and they included all the difficult bits, like ‘smile’ pockets and ‘shotgun’ cuffs, which I really wanted to understand, because I knew I’d be examining a lot of garments in my research.

So I bought one and made it up. I used some blue fabric I had used to make a shirt for myself and another for a friend, and made the piping from some Liberty paisley left over from a dress I had just made. It turned out pretty well! But I had no idea what size guy it would fit, so I asked the window cleaner to try it on. He just happened to be there cleaning the windows when I finished it. He still cleans my windows and we sometimes have a laugh about his important role in my business start-up. I showed that shirt to Jim Lauderdale and he loved it, so I made one for him. He was the first person to wear one onstage and other people started ordering from there. It was about a year and a half before I realised I could sell them, and came up with the name Dandy & Rose. There are people from all walks of life and some terrific Americana musicians – Danny Wilson of Danny and The Champions of The World has six D & R shirts. And I have made for Dean Owens, Rod Picott and the Swedish singer songwriter Christian Kjellvander too. Sturgill Simpson has one of my shirts. And I just made one for John Levanthal – I’ve still got my fingers crossed, waiting to hear whether it’s a good fit! All these talented and creative people – it means a lot that they like my work. And then, sometimes when I see artists wearing them onstage, I am suddenly struck by how surprising it all is. I just make them in my spare room, and there they are, on the screen in the soap Nashville, or on the stage of the Ryman, or whatever. And I think of my grandma, who used to charge sixpence to the other women in the mining village where she lived, to cut down a pair of worn out mens’ trousers and make them into boys’ clothes. She’d have been amazed. Sewing is like that. It runs deep.

Is being based in the UK an advantage or not?

I live in Lewes, East Sussex, just near Brighton. I don’t really think about whether it’s advantageous or not! It’s just where I live! It’s a very nice place, and I brought up my family here.

Currently that style of dress is way out of favour in Music Row. Do you foresee a change in that at all? Is it all related to the core value of the music?

If you mean is it related to traditionalism, then yes, it is. We have been in a pop-country phase for a long time, and it looks as if the wheel might be about to turn, but I doubt if that will bring a return to rhinestones. I think that people will always flirt with the Nudie suit style, just because it’s joyous, but I doubt if any new artists will take it on as part of their identity in the way that Dwight and Marty and Jim have. I hope I’m wrong though!

The new C2C event has artists like Dwight Yoakam and Kacey Musgraves on the bill who seem want to continue to tap into that tradition - although recently Dwight seems to have his band in the rhinestones while he wears denim - has that a knock on effect?

In fact when Dwight turns round, you will see that there is a band of rhinestones on the back of his denim jacket. Did you know that, for the Americana Music Association Awards Show, the house band all borrow jackets from Manuel? That’s a place you can always see them, and a community that appreciates the history behind them.

Much of the audience seem to be content to let the stars wear the flashy clothes onstage. Is that a natural conservatism for that particular audience unlike the way that the followers of punk or the new romantics were as out there as the performers?

I think rhinestones are performance wear. They always have been and that’s the way it is. I see a lot of western wear in the audience, though – shirts and boots. When I first listened to country music, there were always a lot of people in the audience who were in costume. I remember going to see Tammy Wynette at The Royal Festival Hall, and there were cowboys and Indians in the audience! I remember a woman dressed as what they used to call a ‘squaw’, western-movie style. Lyle Lovett has told me how funny it was for him, coming here from Texas in the late 80s to play The Wembley Festival, and seeing British guys in woolly chaps in the audience! You used to see it during the line dancing boom, too – lots of fringes and hats.

Is there a price element involved also, as a lot of the tailoring is bespoke and there for more costly than off the peg?

Probably.

Given that though there are producers like Scully and Rockmount make some good shirts. Would you agree?

Yes. I’ve got a Scully shirt with sequins on. I wore it for my MA graduation!

Do you base your patterns on those of earlier eras or do you adapt and create your own.

I used to use vintage patterns but now I don’t. I have a basic cut for the shirt. I alter it to fit and cut new yokes to vary. I try to reflect the print I am using in the yoke shape. There is a lot of detailed work in the piping, pattern matching etc, so I try to keep the designs simple. It’s all very labour intensive. There is a bit of a late 60s, 70s vibe to them… they are a bit cosmic, I think!

What does the future hold for Dandy and Rose and for the music in general?

There are a couple of exciting things coming up for Dandy & Rose but they are under wraps! Watch this space!

Interview by Stephen Rapid

You can order a bespoke shirt from Danday & Rose or view samples of their fine work at:

www.dandyandrose.com

Interview with The Mulligan Brothers

The Mulligan Brothers are a band that formed in Mobile, Alabama and who play a compelling mixture of Americana, Folk & Roots music with a lot of confidence and class. Comprising Ross Newell (lead vocals, guitar, and song-writer); Gram Rea (fiddle, mandolin, viola, harmonica and vocals); Ben Leininger (bass and vocals) and Greg DeLuca (drums and vocals), their sound is a rich blend of melody and classic Country groove that fuels their live shows and has gained them much critical acclaim in the USA. 

They will be touring Ireland in the New Year with a series of gigs lined up for late January/early February. . They come highly recommended and Lonesome Highway has tipped The Mulligan Brothers as one of the hot new bands to watch in 2016. 

So, with the opportunity to catch them on the cusp of greater exposure, we caught up with Ross Newell to ask about their past activities and what the future holds.  

You are due to play Ireland for the first time in early 2016. Have you toured much outside of America and what are your expectations of the upcoming dates?

So far, our only international travel has been two trips to the middle east to play for the troops. Both trips were amazing and exceeded all expectations. I expect this trip will do the same. I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland, however I’ve spent most of my life assuming that it would never be practical to go. I’m ecstatic to not only get to travel to Ireland, but to do so by means of music. This is the best job in the world!

The first release, self-titled, in 2013 received widespread critical acclaim. How did this change your daily reality and has it brought increased pressure with the weight of expectation?

That album certainly got the wheels turning. We’ve been fortunate enough to be working and traveling almost nonstop since it’s release. I felt a great deal of pressure when we started planning our second album, although in retrospect, I think it was self induced and unnecessary. The experience of making the second album with a constant fear of disappointing fans of the first has reminded us of the philosophy that made the first album 

What did Steve Berlin bring to the recording process for your second release that was different to your own instincts in recording the debut record?

Steve helped us to stretch to the outermost limits of our comfort zone. That really helped to add character to some of the songs. We even tried some things that landed outside of our comfort zone. Those things didn’t make it on the album, but at least we learned something about ourselves.

As the songwriter in the band, do the lyrical themes come quickly to you or do you piece them together once you have a melody in place?

The melody hardly ever comes first. Some lyrical ideas expand quickly and jump out and scream “I MUST BE A SONG”. Most of the time, the idea evolves fairly slowly and takes as long as it needs to develop.

The imagery in the songs is quite cinematic. Do you write from personal experience or in character?

Some of both. For me, all songs require some amount of personal experience. So, if the song is based in fiction, I have to be able to identify on a personal level with a character or subject. Otherwise, it doesn’t grab me and the song will likely remain unfinished.

What was the biggest influence in your career as a band so far?

I’d have to say our early meetings about starting this band influenced our career more than anything. That is where the rough draft of our “career strategy” was formed. Those meetings are also where we decided that our plans, goals and strategy would need to constantly evolve, which created a need for constant communication and teamwork. Those meetings were put together my our manager Stuart Logan. So actually, he’s likely been the biggest influence.

How do you view the state of country music at present?

Probably the same as I always will. There is some really great stuff out there! However there is some silly stuff out there as well. Everyone seems to gracefully accept the existence of both. The great debate seems to start when the silly stuff pushes its way to the forefront and pushes the great stuff deep underground where it will need to be searched for. Luckily, the world is not yet void of treasure hunters. There is room for all music. Often the great stuff doesn’t have the financial backing to make it in to the forefront of your favorite radio station and its up to the treasure hunters to tell their friends what they’re missing. My favorite quote on this is by Jason Isbell. “Hate to break it to y’all, but Nashville didn’t “ruin” country music. Lotta good burgers in this town; nobody forcing you to eat McDonald’s.”

Is it difficult to get a foothold in the industry in terms of media acceptance?

It certainly can be. That part of the industry is still miles over my head.

Does a focus on keeping it small and simple work as a philosophy?

I don’t think focusing on keeping it small helps. I think that not focusing on making it big helps. So much can be done with a small group of motivated, hardworking people who believe in the same thing. No bad can come from growing that group as long as everyone believes in the project and no one is afraid of working hard.

You come across as a very tight unit in every respect. I believe that you started playing together in bars around Mobile, Alabama?

Thank you! We did start in bars in Mobile, AL. I think we have our past bands and projects to thank for the foundation of our work ethic.

How many gigs have you played in order to fine-tune your sound to the interplay we hear on the records today?

I wish I knew. We stay on the road more than we are home. While we’re home we fit in some hometown concerts. Even between the hometown concerts, we all play shows individually. I’m sure every member of the band finishes each year with 300+ shows under their belt.

I understand that the band name comes from a perspective of getting “second chances” and that it has nothing to do with golf shots or indeed brotherly connections?

Thats right. We used the concept of a Mulligan in golf. We all felt a familiar bond over our desire to try again knowing what we know now. It really has been a brotherhood from the beginning.

In Ireland many will assume that you have some Irish roots, given the name and the band sound that is influenced by the fiddle playing of Gram Rea so you are off to a good start already.

We’ll take any advantage we can get! There have been a few Irish Pubs along the way where we’ve needed to make sure they knew we weren’t a TRUE Irish band before taking the job.

Your vocals have been highlighted as a key element in the overall Mulligan Brothers organic sound. Have you taken any vocal coaching or does the spirit simply flow through you?

Thanks again! I haven’t had any formal training. In my first band I got nudged in to singing because no one else wanted to. Later on, I read some books on proper singing. I knew I was doing something wrong because it would hurt to sing.

Via Portland, the new release, was recorded under an entirely different set of circumstances. Can you tell us a little about the process and was there a bigger budget to use in order to get you all away from the daily routine and together in a concentrated working environment?

We saved well the previous year in order to record in Portland, OR. We rented a house for the month and recorded almost every day. We certainly benefited from living, eating and working together so consistently. We were completely focused on the album at all times. When we weren’t recording we were talking about recording with no distractions. Whether we record locally or away in the future, I think we will try to create that same type of isolation.

Who were your key musical influences when you were growing up?

I’ve always love the great singer songwriters. Bob Dylan, John Prine, Towns Van Zandt,Leonard Cohen etc.

How important is radio these days?

Incredibly Important. I think there are very few genres in which the listeners have moved on to other formats exclusively . There are relatively few listeners who are willing to get their hands dirty and go dig for their next favorite band. I believe radio is still the best reasonable way to get music out to the general public.

Is You Tube and Facebook/Twitter a better distribution channel for your music and word of mouth in building your profile?

These new platforms are wonderful additions to the musicians toolkit. From an independent artists perspective, they are much more approachable and readily available for everyone. The downside (if you can even call it that) is that because they are available to everyone, it’s very difficult to stand out and not get scrolled right over.

What message do you have for your interested followers on this side of the pond as you prepare for the tour?

We can’t wait to play for and meet all of you! WARNING: We are huggers.

Interview by Paul McGee

Anna Mitchell Interview

Multi-tasking would be an understatement to describe the work load over the past year of 25 year old Cork singer songwriter Anna Mitchell. Her career as a solo artist, band member and collaborator has resulted in tours and recordings in Ireland, The UK, Europe and The States in a hectic twelve month period. She has recorded her debut solo album Down to The Bone which was released in February 2015 and as a member of John Blek and The Rats has contributed to the song writing and played keyboards on their recent album Borders which was released in September 2015.

Both these projects involved tours of Ireland, The UK and Germany with Anna playing the support slot on all dates before taking her place behind the keyboard for the main act.

Notwithstanding the studio and touring schedules of her band and solo career she also managed to find the time to tour as a duo act with renowned American songwriter and poet Simone Felice in Ireland, The UK, Europe and The States. So impressed was the celebrated American poet and songwriter Simone Felice, he invited her to join him on 5 week European tour in winter 2014 stopping off in Ireland , U.K , Belgium and Luxembourg as well as a 3 week tour throughout the states in May/June 2015.

A quick trip to Woodstock in February saw Anna at Applehead studios in Woodstock, singing, playing piano, harmonium & percussion for a live recording of Simone’s new double album From The Violent Banks Of The Kaaterskill (also featuring The Felice Brothers, Simi Stone and Gabriel Dresdale) which was released in September 2015 on Mighty Hudson Records and on Warner Australia. 

Lonesome Highway managed to steal twenty minutes from Anna Mitchell’s busy schedule before she took to the stage at Cleeres Kilkenny with Simone Felice on the final night of their sold out Irish tour. 

How can you possibly manage to sustain three projects at the one time?

It’s hard but it’s not only that. As well as balancing three touring acts, this year there was also three albums to be recorded and released on which I feature heavily, but they are all such rewarding and different from each other that it keeps me going, even though right now I'm pretty tired. It’s what I want though. I want to be able to tour six or eight months of the year and make a living from it. That’s my goal. This time last year I was only beginning to enter this busy time of my life. I’m just finishing the Simone Felice tour tonight, home for a week and then off to Germany with The Rats for three weeks and following that lots of headline solo gigs and support slots lined up for December.

January and February sees me performing my own headline gigs in Germany followed by three weeks touring again with the band in March. April and May.But I am really loving it.

Is this workload by design or as part of a learning process?

There is most definitely a goal. I’m aware that I can’t keep doing what I’m doing at the moment indefinitely, I want to get to the stage when I can tour with my band and be able to afford to pay the guys. Once I can achieve that, that’s my idea of success.  

Is Anna Mitchell more comfortable behind the keyboard or upfront as a lead vocalist?

As a band leader, I suppose you could say that I’m more comfortable as a singer than as a player. I’ve been singing all my life and whereas I’ve been playing piano for over fifteen years it’s only in the past three years that I’ve been playing publicly. What I really enjoy is playing with my band, who are effectively the musicians who also make up John Blek and The Rats 

When did you start performing as a singer?

I’ve been signing all my life really, you can't shut me up, and it must have been so annoying living with me growing up! No wonder my sisters are both quiet! I’m from a farming background and when I was a toddler my Dad used to mind me and take me with him on his daily jobs around the farm, he even had a baby seat fitted on his tractor! I used to sing my head off in the milking parlour because there was so much noise in there that I wouldn't be annoying any one really, maybe just the cows. 

After that my Dad was involved in a coursing club that used to meet every Sunday after the course and have a sing song in this little pub. Everyone had to sing a song whether they could sing or not. It was really lovely, a typical Irish country pub scene. I used to make it my business to have a new song every week, Emmylou Harris, Marvin Gaye, Helen Reddy, music that I used to hear at home. That was my stage. This went on for four or five years from the age of nine. My mother is a great singer and introduced me to all these great singers and writers from the 1960s and 70's and I still listen to that music today. 

My grandfather was Donal Ring who had a well-known ceili musician and had a band for many years. Everyone in my mother’s family, except her, played in the band. My mother was more inclined to listen to Linda Ronstadt and Abba rather than traditional music. She was musical but stayed away from the band as she didn’t like the hours they had to put it. They were playing six and seven nights a week for almost twenty years. So you could say there was always music in the family but I can’t say I was influenced by it as it’s in stark contrast to what I’m now doing. 

So even at this earlier age had you considered music as a career or was it simply a pastime?

No, I always felt I wanted a career in music but had no idea how to go about it. I’m the eldest in the family so did not have older siblings to advise me or to copy. At school I had intended to follow a science career. I did all my work experience in science and loved it until one time I was working in a lab and they had me purifying water for over two weeks which completely turned me off. I couldn’t handle the smells and decided this is not for me! I included music on my CAO as an option and ended up in UCC studying music. I really enjoyed college met some amazing musicians there.   

Did you meet the members of the band through college?

No not at all. Our drummer Cian was in college at the time but in a different year than me. When I was about twenty one I started doing these singer songwriter evenings every week. John Blek came along to one of the sessions as he was looking for a girl singer in the band. He approached me afterwards and we chatted and got along very well. He asked me would I be interested in joining the band. At the time I was living in the most awful apartment, no windows, no television and the heating was not working. John used to call up every day and we would just play music all the time and drink tea! John introduced me to the rest of the lads and I joined up. They are all such good musicians and the most conscientious and sensitive bunch you could meet. There are six of us, some quiet, some mental and you would think that me being the only girl in the band that my head would be wrecked. Not the case at al, we really get on and look after each other. If that dynamic was not there I wouldn’t be happy doing it. Good music is born out of good relationships.

Where did the relationship with Simone Felice originate?

John and I supported him in Leap Castle in Roscrea about two years ago. He stayed around for our set and afterwards said he would really love me to play on stage with him. He asked for my contact number and I genuinely didn’t expect to hear from but two days later he called and said he had a really big gig in London the next day and that he’d would fly me over to play with him. I hadn’t had a holiday for about five years and was actually going on holiday that day so it was ‘look I would love to but can’t’ and explained. He understood and said something will happen in the future. He was over to play the Galway Arts Festival last year and asked would I do it with him. I knew some of his stuff so we had a ten hour practice day and played the following day to three hundred people. It was terrifying for me but we managed to pull it off. Earlier this year he invited me over to the Catskills to record his live double album with The Felice Brothers and Simi Stone. It was amazing as I’ve been a huge Felice Brothers fan for years, Ian Felice is one of my favourite songwriters. 

Has observing how Simone Felice projects himself on stage been influential?

It’s amazing. He is unique in how he presents himself on stage. I would never perform in that way because it would not suit me, but it suits him. We played to a full house in Coughlans Cork last night and a number of people approached me afterwards to comment how more confident I have become on stage. In my earlier days I would be thinking ‘please don’t look at me on stage look at some of the other band members’. I now feel so much more comfortable on stage and remind myself that when people come to my gigs they are actually there to listen and look at me. Even up to six months ago I would be freaked out of my mind before gigs thinking why people would want to come to my shows. I recently said to my mother that I’ve done more growing up over the past six months than you could imagine. She told me she’s remind me of that in a years’ time. Touring with Simone has certainly contributed to this.

Your debut album Down to The Bone was very well received. How will the follow up album compare?

It will be a lot different in terms of the music and how it will be recorded. The material is more group based rather than my personal emotions and self-obsessions (laughs) and a lot, but not all of it, will be more upbeat. All my best songs to date are written for this album and I’m really excited about it and am going to give it a major push. I want it to have a seventies feel and record it in a way that really sounds like a band album, because that's what it will be.  I’m going to record it live in the studio to achieve the 70’s feel that I’m looking for.

Is your material aimed at a particular market or do you simply write what comes naturally to you?

No, I’m fully aware that what I’m doing is not for the mainstream but it’s what I like and reflects me as a song writer. At the same time when I write a song which I think is good obviously it goes through your mind that other people might also consider it to be good. 

What music will be playing on tour in the van driving the motorways in Germany with six of you in the band?

We’ve had this discussion alright as I have this Spotify offline account that I’ve paid for a month’s listening. Everyone has their playlist for listening in the van. The Jesus Lizard, an American punk band from the eighties will be featured. Samantha Crain and Caitlin Rose will be playing, Calexico also together with a lot of podcasts with different musicians that I have put together. When we get sick of listening to music we then spend the rest of the time talking about it!

Interview by Declan Culliton 

Interview with The Grahams

Alyssa and Doug Graham are lifelong friends as well as a husband and wife musical partnership. Their first album composed along the Mississippi’s Great River Road was their 2013 debut, Riverman’s Daughter. To follow-up they decided to ride the rails and recorded not only a studio album, but a documentary and live album on the move and in venues from Sun Studio to Amtrak’s famed City of New Orleans train. The second album Bound for Glory will be released as a deluxe edition next year. It is available now in it’s orginal form on a single CD or as a double vinyl album with the second disc being the soundtrack for the short documentary film Ratlle the Hocks. Lonesome Highway caught up with them before the final date of this European tour in the Seamus Ennis Centre in the Naul.

Tell me a little about your background and how you got together.

A: We grew up together, but we're not brother and sister. Douglas was on my older brother's baseball team and they were best buds. So I was about 7 years old when we first met. We started hanging around as kids then we started playing some music together. But it was when we started to write songs together that we really fell in love. We got married soon after finishing high school and we became The Grahams. It was a done deal once we started to write and to harmonize together.

D: We would write separately and then challenge each other to write better songs. But it wasn't until we started to write together that the songs really gelled. It was both of us refining each other’s wisdom and contributions.

Did you each bring a different set of influences to the table?

D: As we'd grown up together and had the same set of friends in high school we had a lot of the same influences.

A: Actually, it's funny as we'd know each other’s families our whole lives. We were cleaning out Douglas' parent's attic, as we'd been storing stuff there, and we both pulled out our old crates of records which we'd put there years before that and we thought "sweet, we just double our collection". We looked through them and there was only one different album between the two of us out of 50/60 albums. So our tastes were the same Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, Pure Prairie League …

D: Neil Young specifically. We were also big Grateful Dead heads. 

A: Yeah, Total Dead fans. But we feel in love over Neil Young for sure. 

Was that different from what the majority of your contemporaries were listening to?

D: Well, there's an interesting little interlude in all this in that we were in a psychedelic rock band in our college years and Alyssa got a demo deal from a major label around that time and we recorded 100 hours of studio time and we brought it to the label head at the time. He said "we love it, but we just want to get some choreography together" and Alyssa came out of the meeting crying and …

A: It was "I don't dance". 

D: Within a year she had enrolled in music school in Boston. We took a long head first dive into jazz. 

A: That record deal being dangled in front of us was contingent on fancy backing musicians and dance moves and stuff . That just wasn't us, we'd grown up on Neil Young and we didn't want anything to do with that world, so we walked away and I went to music school to study jazz. Douglas had already done some of that so we wanted to grow as musicians. But after studying jazz for a while we came back to our three chord folk songs and here we are!

You wanted to make the music more direct?

A: We had this huge toolbox from going to jazz studies, but when we sat down to play 'three chords and the truth' as they say, and sing some simple songs together, that's when our hearts were bursting.

D: When were into the jazz stuff we started to listen to a lot of Brazilian music and to João Gilberto and I was trying to work out a bunch of his songs and I realized that it was really just folk music. It just had a different sensibility and that woke something up inside us. So if we were to continue with jazz it would have to be Brazilian folk music. But we're American and the listener doesn't want to hear so much 9s and 11s and those chords are a little harder to understand and their ears just wash them out. 

The trip around the country and visiting various studios was that a chance to get back to those basics?

A: We had actually gone back to that before the trip. Our first album, Riverman's Daughter, had come out a couple of years back and doing that made us The Grahams. That was when we started getting back to our roots. You gain all this knowledge in school and study and you can let it go. When we wrote the song Riverman's Daughter it all came back to us how much we appreciated those simple structures.

D: 1, 4, 5 progressions and chords.

A: And simply singing harmonies together. So that record really established what we wanted to do.

D: On that record we decided to be Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and to live on the Mississippi River.  So when we travelled and we met all those different musicians, it was those simple songs that drew us back to songwriting. When we started to write these new songs it was inspired by gospel and Americana music. We found that we could just flow and write songs in real time. 

Storytelling?

A: Right. That's what we wanted to get back to.

Having done that to a degree where do you feel the next step will take you?

D: That's a good question. 

A: We always want to evolve and grow as musicians. Every good artist does. But I don't think there's ever going to be a path that takes us back to being complicated. But you don't know, as we'd always said that some day we'd do a João Gilberto record (laughs). But we just want to tell some good stories as we think of ourselves as more storyteller than musician. We just put those stories to music.

D: That's why we went down the Mississippi and on the trains. We wanted to see what would hit us. I think some of the newer songs we're writing have more of a Memphis influence and because of that a bit more rock 'n' roll is coming out in some of the songs.

A: Yeah, Big Star.  

You seemed to have created something of a look for The Grahams. How conscious was that?

A: I think our managers are more conscious of it than we are. We got the hats - what else do we need (laughs)? There's the brand. As you can see when you see us play and we feel that we are in a place in our lives where we feel so lucky to be able to do this together. What you see onstage is the same people as (those) you’re talking to now.

Being together is less difficult than being apart with one person on the road I would imagine.

A: I don't know how people do it. We have lots of friends where one of them is a musician and I guess people find a way to make it work. We have a different situation because we grew up together and have been 24 hours in each others company since we left our parents. We are super co-dependent now.

When you record do you like to do it over and over, or try to catch the magic quickly?

A: It's always the second take for me.

D: Yeah, by four or five we’re done.

A: We should have another record coming out next year and we've been listen to rough mixes and it’s always the first or second take that works best. We realize at this point in our lives there's no need to be precious about everything. We invite people up onstage. We play with other musicians - this whole movie (Rattle the Hocks) is about that. Being with people who have something different to offer and just letting it happen.  Mike (Meadows - percussionist) we just met a couple of days before the tour and we had no set list and he'd barely ever heard the songs and it's sounding great.

D: Recording and playing with new people brings new life over time. It doesn't kill things at all.

A: For the Rattle the Hocks project Cody brought something; obviously him and his brother are both phenomenal musicians, they have played on both of our records and they offer something totally different to what we do. He brings in people like Duane Burnside, we've never played with those kind of guys or styles. Or the Norman sisters, major blues musicians and that's not something that's cosy in our wheelhouse but it added great flavour. 

How do you define a category like Americana? It's now such a broad palate.

D: It's really a catch all category. Country music is really is one thing, but then there's California country with Neil (Young),The Eagles and all that. Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, they brought that undefined element. But what do you do with all the other people who want to play pedal steel?

Does any Celtic connection figure in your approach?

A: He has totally Scottish heritage. His full name is Douglas Campbell Graham.

D: Yeah. But not specifically as a musical influence, though my Mum jokes that I came out playing the bagpipes. We grew up with American Jazz and folk music.  

Any Bluegrass influences then? 

A: We don't play bluegrass, what we do is more folk oriented.

D: Going to the Folk Alliance Festival and touring, you can't help but run into bluegrass bands but we don't hang out in the bluegrass scene. One reason is that it reminds us a lot of jazz. You have to be a talented, fast musician to play it. A lot of those guys play to be competitive. That's a scene we have backed away from a little bit.

A: interestingly, one of the guests on the deluxe version is the Watkins Family and we were talking to them about bluegrass and they grew up in that world and you have to know the rules and the ins and outs of every song in order to be able to jump into that world.

D: Old Crow Medicine Show, that's who I think of when I think of as great bluegrass as they're largely original while a lot of the bands we see are all doing covers. 

You mentioned that you are going to release an expanded version of the Glory Bound album next year. Will that include the DVD?

D: We haven't worked that out yet. The film is still doing the Festival circuit right now so we can't release it. But the new edition has a lot of great guests on it from the Americana scene. They're trading verses with us on our songs. That's really exciting for us. On the current version we have people like John Fullbright playing on the album but it was just us singing. Now were going to have guest vocalists singing instead of us. 

Cody Dickinson also directed the movie. Is that that a new direction for him?

A: Cody was involved with a five year project called Take Me to the River. It's an amazing film that's basically about the blues, North Mississippi and Memphis mainly. It won all sorts of awards including the People's Choice Award at South by Southwest.

D: Cody was the co-producer on that movie. So he really wanted to branch out and we're old friends and as we'd ended our train journey in Memphis we went to hang out with him.

A: We told him about our expedition and he said "I'd love to make a short about that". But we told him that we'd actually just finished. We'd been on trains for three months. But he's a really creative person who thinks in so many different ways.

D: He asked us which train lines we hadn't travelled on. We hadn't gone from Memphis to New Orleans on the City of New Orleans train.

A: So he wanted to base it around taking the train on that route. He wanted to get all these different musicians in different places and to tie in the history of the rail with modern day folk music. It was really his brainchild. A good friend of ours who writes with us, Brian McCann - a good Irish name - is a friend form childhood and he has written with us a lot. He is also an historian and he wrote a lot of the narration. That, coupled with Cody's vision and our music, made it a really fun project. It's been nominated for the best documentary short at the Raindance Festival in London. We were there for that. It's been at a bunch of festivals in the US with more to come.

As working musicians, what to you feel the current state of Americana is right now? 

D: That's a good question. It's hard to follow because, as we said, it's so diversified. 

That someone like Chris Stapleton is having success at award shows might help swing the spotlight. 

A: That's amazing. I think it's his time. His producer Dave Cobb obviously has his finger on the button with Sturgill and Jason Isbell and many others. For Doug and me, what’s going on outside of Nashville is more exciting. There's little that surprises in Nashville these days. We had gone to Oklahoma to record Glory Bound and then to Memphis for Rattle the Hocks. But while Nashville will always record some great music there’s a lot going on in other places. It's interesting, as for a time it was about the Toby Keiths and Faith Hills and you don't think of Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline or Hank Williams, but now I think it's coming back. One thing we talked about recently is that backlash to really meaningless music. There a lot of great music out there but also a lot that is meaningless.

D: You need something that you have to pay attention to to get the meaning from. 

A: The 90s music scene gave us Nirvana and then we lost that storyteller thing but now it's coming back. People are craving it again.

Interview by Stephen Rapid.  Photography by Ronnie Norton.

Interview with Samantha Crain

Samantha Crain is a 29 year old singer/songwriter from Shawnee, Oklahoma who has released four albums on Ramseur Records since her debut in 2009. Her autobiographical album Kid Face in 2013 gained widespread critical acclaim. Earlier this year she released Under Branch& Thorn & Tree, a superbly written album containing her strongest work to date. Samantha was in Ireland recently for gigs in Dublin and Kilkenny and an appearance on The Late Late Show, which was nearly abandoned due to two cancelled and three rescheduled flights on her journey from Oklahoma to Dublin. To further complicate matters, her luggage did not arrive with her in Dublin. A dash to RTE  and some heroic work by the wardrobe staff resulted in a jet lagged and travel weary Crain barely making her slot. ‘I was so exhausted that I did not expect to be able to remember the words of the song’, she joked the next morning. ‘Muscle memory got me through it I guess’.

Lonesome Highway accompanied the charming and perceptive Crain from Dublin to Kilkenny (a part of the Full Time Hobby tour which continues in Europe) where she spoke of her musical history, influences and her love of the late Jason Molina.

I believe you were studying English Literature in college before deciding to switch to music.

Well that’s a weird bit of information, because I was only in college for about five months so I can’t really say that I was studying English Literature as such. But through college I found out about a musician’s commune, I’d say you could call it that, and they found a way of transferring it to college credits and that was why I got involved. The main reason was that I wanted to get out of Oklahoma. I hadn’t written many songs at that stage, maybe just a couple, but was more trying to find ways to write poems. It was more like a colony than a commune, a writers retreat so to speak I guess.

Was the story telling ambition there before the music?

Yes, I wrote stories for a long time when I was growing up. My mom would buy me sort of Blake books when I was young and I liked writing short stories in the Blake books. The first EP that I put out was in fact five short stories that I ended up turning into songs. Music wasn’t a huge interest to me then, I didn’t grow up playing instruments or anything like that. I didn’t start playing guitar until I decided I wanted to write songs and I taught myself guitar, I was about seventeen then.

You have incredible phrasing and discipline in your vocal, is that also self-taught?

Yes. I never took any singing lessons. When I started writing songs I would find vocalists that I liked and imitate them and eventually I stopped imitating and it became its own style. I don’t actually know how I developed my vocal style, it just ended up that way

What vocalists influenced you?

Well, when I started writing and singing, I looked for people that I thought had a cool way of singing. I actually liked Marc Bolan from T Rex a lot and Billy Holiday. There’s a singer called Lhasa de Sela, she died quite young, only about thirty five when she died. She was mainly a Spanish language singer, even though she did an American English speaking album. She (is) very much a lesser known artist but I was always into her voice, she had such a rhythmic voice and Paul Simon, I liked his phrasing and his tone.

My first introduction to you was your 2010 album You (Understood) and from there to your 2013 album Kid Face. Was Kid Face your autobiographical album?

Yes, that was the first album that I made an effort to make it completely autobiographical. As I’ve said, when I started song writing, all the songs started as short stories based on other characters, character-driven narratives, that sort of thing. I would always inject my own stories into them. On Kid Face, for the first time the whole focus of the album was completely based on my own personal experiences. I’m not sure if it was to get it out of my system, I could have gone my whole life without making an album like that. It wasn’t something that I thought I had to do or planned, it was just what I felt like doing at the time.

Your latest album Under Branch & Thorn & Tree is, for me, one of the most outstanding albums of 2015. Rightly or wrongly I feel that all the songs on the album are connected. I see characters in certain songs that seem to reappear in other songs. Was that the intention?

 Well most of the stories and songs on the album are based on my friends, family or peers that I work with, so in a lot of ways the people that are in one song are in another song because they were a real part of my life at the time. Kathleen would be an example, she shows up in Oak City and also the song Kathleen. A lot of times though, they are kind of personifications of a certain type of person so I guess Kathleen may not be an actual person, but a way of describing a certain type of woman, so in a lot of ways the name is a way of referring to a type of individual. So a lot of the characters do show up more than once as they are based on people in my life, they are interconnected, they know each other and therefore are in each other’s songs.

I wonder do they recognise themselves in the songs?

Some of them have ideas that they are in the songs, but the way that I form characters a lot are taking certain characteristics from certain people and combine them so it’s not like a friend is listening to a particular song and saying that everything Samantha is saying about that person is exactly me. Bits and pieces of them might be, but I always inject my own experiences in to characters just to have that empathetic connection in singing and writing about them.

The track You or Mystery; is that based on a true story?

When I lived in Oklahoma city there was a man that lived next door to us that I had some weird obsession about, spying on him I guess, so that is a true literal story.

There is a phrase in that song that is very Irish. The saying ‘he never asked for sugar’ suggesting he kept to himself.

That’s a very middle of the United States saying too.

One of my favourite tracks on the album is Outside the Pale. Are you aware of the significance of this in an Irish context?

The first time I heard that phrase, my grandma use to use it a lot, she said beyond the pale though. For some reason I had written it down in a notebook some time ago and when I was writing this album I was going through this old notebook to see if there was anything I could use in the album. I saw the phrase, remembered my grandma using it but did not realise the significance of it. So I looked it up and started reading about it and learned the significance of it in terms of Irish history and I thought it would fit really well with the way that the songs on the album were going, so I decided to write something revolving around that phrase because the album was taking this journey into songs of the working man and working class and the underdog. I thought it would fit really well in the context of where the writing was going.

Do you consider yourself in your writing as a champion for the underdog and under privileged?

(Laughs)  I’m not sure if champion is the right word but I’m still very much part of that world. At the end of this tour I will be at home waiting tables until the next tour so it’s just a matter of writing what I know, I guess. I also think that it’s important the way music has been going lately. The vast majority of music making it into people’s ears is kind of upper middle class white demographic, whereas all the music that we base our history on as a civilisation used to all come from the grit and the struggle of ninety percent of the population, whether it be blues music or folk music. This was music coming out of people having to struggle through life. I think we are missing that now as most of the popular music is vaguely about things that people hardly understand or don’t need to connect with anyway. So I think it’s important for artists not to shy away from writing actual folk music that is written for the people and about the people.

I’m aware from a song that you wrote that you are a lover of the music of Jason Molina. I spoke with MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) a few years back, he is also a lover of Jason Molina’s work. He mentioned how he loved your song about Molina, For the Miner. 

Wow, MC Taylor mentioned me? I didn’t know he even knew who I was! For me it’s a very specific story I guess. A lot of people can relate to this feeling of being young and coming across a band that they love in that misunderstood and melancholy time of their lives and they find an artist or album that is expressing everything that they feel at that young age before your brain is fully developed and you don’t really know what’s going on. Most people, if they listened to the band now, it might not mean a lot to them but at that certain point in time it was very influential and important. I was sixteen years old, from a small town in Oklahoma called Shawnee. It’s about forty five minutes’ drive from Oklahoma City and as soon as I learned to drive and got a car and I would drive to Oklahoma City all the time just to get out of the house, it was the only place to get to see rock shows. I would go to this all ages venue called the Conservatory, which was not a very nice place despite the name, it was a rundown crappy bar. There was a record store beside it that I would go into and have a look around before the shows and I was in there this time and saw this album in the sales rack for under five dollars. It was a black album with this weird purple landscape and it was called The Lioness and it was a Songs: Ohia album. I had never heard of the band and never seen the album but it was just one of these moments, I had to go to the bathroom so had to leave but wanted to buy something so I just grabbed that album for no reason other than I liked the cover, a hurried purchase. I listened to the album in the car on the way home and it was just one of those moments, the windows were down, it was dark, I was driving and thinking this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. What he was saying seemed to be exactly what I wanted to say without knowing how to say it. I thought that I need to learn exactly how to say these things and figure out how to write songs because I felt it would be something that would be very precious for me. He became the first real musical influence for me that make me realise that I have to learn how to communicate in that language. I got obsessed with Jason Molina and bought all his albums

Did you get the chance to see him live?

I’ve seen him a couple of times but never met him. We had a lot of friends in common and I played in Bloomington a lot where he was based, but I didn’t really want to meet him. He was so important and so influential for me, yet I felt that I just hadn’t anything I wanted to say to him and that it would end up being a mess by me making it all about myself. The only time I felt that I might make myself known to him is when I wrote For The Miner; he hadn’t passed away yet and I had written the song when I heard he wasn’t doing well and was really sick. So I was recording the song and contacted his label in Bloomington who said they would send it to him but before we got the record finished he had passed away.

You have recorded all your albums over the past seven years on The Ramseur Record Label. How supportive have they been for you?

This label, which is essentially Dolphus Ramseur, who is also my manager, I couldn’t imagine putting out a record with anyone else. We’re talking about a guy who heard something I had written when I was nineteen years old and for some forsaken reason found value in that even though it was the first thing I had ever put down,  and (he) has stuck by me one hundred per cent even though as sure as hell I haven’t made him any money. He is so supportive of what I do and only wants me to make records the way I do. There is never ‘why don’t you make it sound a little more like this’ or ‘why don’t we try and make something a little more commercial’. I’ve never heard anything like that from him. Ramseur is a small label and he only works with artists that he really believes in completely and I have so much respect for him, he’s a complete music lover. I have half the material already written for my next album which will be released next summer on Ramseur.

How difficult is it to survive at your level given the difficulty getting radio play to promote your work?

I won’t say it’s easy. All the touring I have to pay for myself and the recordings are all out of my pocket. I have it down to a schedule, once I have a record out I can tour it for six or seven months and while touring I can write the next one. I also have times when I have to get job and work seventy hours a week and save money to get in the studio and make the next record. I have it down to a fine art but there is no room for the unexpected, this year I had some medical issues that put a serious wrench in the gears. There is never a spare dime but nobody is making me do any of this, I’m doing it because I want to and love making records. There may be a time down the line that I have to take a few years out and start saving up again.

Is the gap between Americana, folk and mainstream country narrowing? The recent successes of Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson might suggest that the major record labels start looking at the less obvious artists

Possibly so but the three artists you mentioned are coming more from a rock and (a) country place, talented artists no doubt, rather than where I’m coming from. There is no doubt there is room for a much wider audience for the Americana artists. I’m just not sure that our music hits that audience a lot of the time. I would and could write a little differently if I wanted to target that market but that gets into dangerous territory if I have to sit down to write a song that a lot of people are going to like. That would completely mess with my brain very quickly (laughs).

I just hope you keep writing to the quality that you have for the past eight years as every album seems to be even better than your last

Well thank you. I’ll keep trying!

Interview by Declan Culliton  Photography by Catriona Dowling

Interview with David Corley

“You gotta live a life to write about it” explained David Corley in a recent press interview when asked why he released his debut album at the age of 53. 

Available Light released in May of this year, received glowing  press reviews internationally from an artist who was virtually unknown no more than six months ago. The album reflects the a  journey of an artist, often harrowing, through a succession of career changes, desperation, relationship breakdowns, bad health and finally recovery, liberation and recognition. 

The impact of the album resulted in a European tour with dates in Italy, The Netherlands, UK and Ireland.

Lonesome Highway met up with David Corley before his sold out show in Cleeres Kilkenny.

For me the Available Light is a 70’s album regardless when it was written. Was that the intention?

Thank you. I really wanted it to be that way, that is the thing I intended. I love that time and Christopher Brown, my producer and dear friend, he records with all analog equipment before he finally throws it on to pro tools or whatever he uses. I love that old bold sound something like when you put the yellow filter on a camera and it’s 1974 again. I did want the recording to have that warm vinyl feel. We actually wanted to make vinyl but it was just too expensive. If I can sell enough records we will definitely reissue it on vinyl, just not in my budget at the moment 

Just how influential was the 9/10 review of Available Light by Allan Jones in Uncut Magazine earlier this year in terms of your profile in the UK and Europe?

Hugely, it was a real shock for us all. Bernadette Quigley, my publicist from New York, has been so great, she was sending our press kits to Uncut pretty consistently and to so many publications in Europe and the States. Uncut, like Rolling Stone have a policy of not often reviewing debut records so the exposure was mind-blowing and really gave us all a shot in the arm as far as getting the record in people’s ears and getting it out there. 

Bernadette Quigley seems to be incredibly aware as a publicist. I’ve been so impressed at how swiftly she and the rest of your team have reacted and got you on tour in Europe

Bernadette has lots of Italian in her, a hard charger. She was originally only going to help us with the album release but she’s still with us a year later and we’ve become such good friends. What has helped is that she fell in love with my music straight away. She follows every lead and is a big part of our team 

Why have we had to wait over thirty years to hear Available Light?

I have my partner Kori Auerbach and producer Hugh Christopher Brown to thank. I’d been writing songs since I was about ten years old but had no idea where to go with it. I was 18 years old, a songwriter and piano player in high school.  I knew I was going to write songs all my life but didn’t think there was a future for me in. I didn’t grow up playing in bands or anything and then I moved to Athens and the music scene was really organic and almost bubbling up out of the earth.  

I went to school in Athens Georgia in 1980, right when REM hit, The B52’s, Natalie Merchant and 10000 Maniacs, they were young acts back then in Athens. I could see REM playing Murmur live for a dollar in a club like this to maybe fifty people. Michael Stipe still had all his hair. Seeing Natalie Merchant at the  40 Watt Club when she was underage, like sixteen year old, she had to have her parents at the bar as chaperons  because she was underage. She didn’t have 10000 Maniacs at that stage but there was a glow around her, you could see she was going to be huge. This really turned m on.

I’m from a small town in Indiana, when I told my mom I was going to write songs, she’d say fine but you’re going to business school first and going to graduate. So that was that, I got the degree somehow, while still writing songs on the side.

The whole Athens scene really changed my life and I thought I’m going to write songs and go for it. I saw that these little local guys could rise up and go international. Of course it didn’t really work out that way for me (laughs) so here I am thirty five years later and it’s finally happening.

I ended up drifting from job to job, playing weekend bands and still writing songs without getting anywhere. I knew it was a dead and street and was frustrated and so Kori took me up to New York where I was going to make a demo for a publishing deal. I was thinking I have about a hundred songs and I should be able to make some money from a life time of work.

I had taken a couple of shots in big studios during my career, correction, during my life, I haven’t had a career. Producers wanted to turn me in to someone else or slot me in a genre, I had to walk away, just could not do it.

Anyway, Kori got me to throw about thirty songs to Chris Brown to get a reaction, and he really liked them. The next day the three of us went out for dinner and Chris just said, David, how about making a record, and that was that 

Had you known Chris Brown prior to that?

(Laughs) Funny story.  Kori and I had been together in our early twenties, drifted apart but always kept in touch. We are back together now for eight years.

She had known Chris for about twenty years. His original band The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir was out of Canada, a nine piece band that had a lot of success at the time. When they would come down to New York City the whole band would stay in her loft. She was an artist and a jewellery maker down there. When that band broke up, Chris and Kate Fenner, who is his musical partner, they ended up living with Kori for five years, so I had been hearing about Chris and he had been hearing about me for probably twenty years without actually meeting. Chris has had an amazing career, great song writer and producer, has recorded solo albums and was a member of Barenaked Ladies for a spell.

He was in New York and I was in Los Angeles or I was in New York and he was in Canada, but we were finally introduced. I was 53 years old with a little home town band in Lafayette called Medicine Dog, just a weekend band playing all my music. What followed was wonderful and so much fun making the record. We spent as much time laughing in the studio as recording, the whole process was very organic. He has such a large collection of musicians that he plays with so we just played mix and match and he brought in whoever he thought would work. Gregor Beresford from Toronto who has played all over the world. Tony Scherr who has played with everyone including BB King, wonderful musician. Kate Fenner on backing vocals who Chris has played with for years 

So have you been writing the album over those thirty five years or writing it recently based on your life experiences over the period.

No these songs are spread over and written throughout my career. End of my run I wrote when I was twenty nine or thirty probably and then there are two or three songs on the record that I’ve written in the last year. That’s whats kind of weird about it that the songs seem to fit together although they are very different and thats because I’m different now, I’m not thirty. 

What is the plan going forward after the European Tour? 

Well Chris and myself are already working on producing another album. We have a few bed tracks, I swear I’m going to make a more rock and roll record this time not as mellow as Available Light. I’m really taking Chris ’lead, he is such a talent, playing since high school, actually quit high school to play music. For this record I just gave him about thirty songs and he is sifting through them.

Available Light is more mellow than I had intended but Chris took the lead and said these are the songs. We have three or four tracks that did not make the album which will be on the next one. We have the acoustic and the foundations for these songs.  I’ve also written three or four new songs that will probably make the record. Going to play some of them tonight and see how they go down.

Will the album be as confessional?

Well it will certainly be more rock and roll, more epic, bigger songs. I don’t know quite how to describe it because I don’t write rock and roll songs per se, though I do write heavy hitting up-tempo stuff. One song we are going to put on is called Vision Pilgrim, which I love. I’m putting on some of my favourite songs this time but still within the context of letting Chris decide which ones will work 

What were your expectations for the album, where did you think it would go?

Funny we were just talking about this earlier. After we made the record Chris decided he would shop it around the world as he has so many different connections in so many different ports. I was just thinking, great I’ve made a record but will still probably make that publishing deal. I was ready to go back to work as a carpenter for Bob Talbot who I’ve worked with for the past ten years with the intention of taking over the business from him. I actually love carpentry and am pretty good at it. Things changed though and when Bob asked me when I’m coming back to work I had to break the news to him. That was a year and a half ago and the whole thing has been such a surprise to me, a wonderful surprise I have to say. I’m having the time of my life, I’m not really trying to get anywhere, just sell enough records to make enough money to make the next album. Not cheap even though we’re low budget, musicians have to be paid.

I’m sure it can’t be easy, what realistic opportunities are there for artists like you in New York?

It’s impossible. Have a look at my Kickstarter campaign video, it tells the story. It was a lightning strike juncture for me at this stage of my life. Just for some reason, serendipity or whatever, everything has just worked out perfectly for me. With Chris he just got me, my songs are pretty simple and structured but they are fragile and it takes someone with understanding to see where you’re at and understand you. 

We can get gigs in New York now but can’t tour the States, it’s just too vast. I describe Europe as a dolphin and the States as a whale. You just can’t get your arm around it unless you have the music machine in your corner, which of course I don’t have. But the music scene in Europe is more congealed, people seem to listen and care. I’m not knocking America, I love my country, it’s just a fact.

The track End of my Run, was that written at rock bottom for you?

Yes it was. My life was a wreck at that time. Around thirty years old, working as a bar tender in New York, girlfriend just left me. I was up to this and that, living like a vampire, up all night and sleeping during the day, not in a good place. A good friend of mine used to come in to the bar I worked in. He was a roofer and I’d worked with him for a while. 

Anyway, he used to come in to the bar and I’d give him free drinks and he’d borrow money from me at the end of the night and not pay his tab. Anyway one night he came in to the bar and put a napkin on the counter that said, it’s the end of the line, I’ve had my fun. I thought, that’s a song and it came from there.

How have the dates in Ireland been going?

The reaction in Ireland to the gigs have been crazy, you guys know your music.

Interview by Declan Culliton  Photograph from davidcorleymusic.com