Interview with Jesse Dayton

Jesse Dayton is a Texas born guitarist, singer and songwriter who has had an ancillary career in acting, directing, screenplay writing and composing soundtracks. He grew up on a diet of traditional country artist such as Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash alongside the music coming from New Orleans and across the border with Mexico. To date he has released 9 studio albums under his own name, one of which was a duets album with Brennen Leigh. The first (Raisin’ Cain) came out in 1995 the most recent The Revealer was released in 2016. Prior to that Dayton had been a member of a rockabilly band The Road Kings who released one self-titled album. He is currently working on his next album and also has a screenplay in the works as well as an acting role on the cards too. A busy man and a very talented one whose guitar playing and production skills are much sort after. 

What were the influences of a boy growing up in Beaumont, Texas?

A lot of Gulf Coast regional influences as it was the Texas/Louisiana border. I could very easily have gone to New Orleans as easy as I could have gone to Austin. Beaumont is pretty much in the middle. I took my parents out to dinner after my graduation, because I was making $500 a week playing in an all-black zydeco band, and I said I have good news and bad news. The good news is I got my own place I don’t need any money and I’m buying the dinner tonight. The bad news is I’m not going to go to the University of Texas.

I grew up playing honky tonk music, rockabilly, rhythm ’n’ blues and all that stuff. But in 1982 a friend of mine said “hey you want to go see The Clash?” So we drove to the Egyptian Theatre in San Antonio. We saw The Clash and Charlie Sexton and Joe Ely opened up the show. So I said “okay, that’s what I want to do.” The whole thing was something bigger than the playing.

Do you think there is a direct correlation to some honky-tonk and punk?

I would totally agree with that. So that meant that some people in Texas never understood me because they didn’t have that same experience. I was born in ’66, so I heard White Riot for the first time when I was 13 or 14 which must have been around ’78/’79 - something like that. Maybe in 1980, but close to it. So I wanted to bring that energy to roots music. My parents had played classic country music and that’s what separates me from the rest of those suburban kids in America because I could sit down and play Harlan Howard songs, or an obscure Willie Nelson song that was never on the radio. These other kids were into some other things, which I was in to too, like hard rock - Thin Lizzy or punk rock. But I knew things like Jolie Blonde and some Zydeco. 

How did the wave of what was termed Cowpunk bands effect you?

I loved all those bands, but at that point once I had a guitar in my hands and when I was 15 I started putting my blinders on. I was in such a weird little town and none of that stuff hit there. If you look back a lot of those guys were also from small towns. They were often the ones that ended up with a discernible and unique sound. They were kind of in a little bubble. They end up doing what they think it’s supposed to sound like. 

Did you think that when you released Raisin’ Cain (on Justice Records) that you were on your way to the big time?

No. I didn’t. Because before that I had already been asked to go to Nashville and talk to executives there at some major labels and I just thought that they were so square. I’d been driving to Houston to see Townes van Zandt and Guy Clark. So I had these different components compartmentalised in my head - ok, these are the singer/songwriter guys that I got to listen to. I had to put in my 10,000 hours on that and these are the guitar players that I think are really great. My brother was hanging out with Clifford Antone in Austin so I was also getting all this great blues stuff - seeing all these great blues guitar players. So when I got to Justice they said “make whatever kind go record you want.” 

I had always thought that if I just had a cult following and could pay my bills that I would be happy. If I was in it for the money then I wouldn’t even be playing guitar I would probably become a music publisher … or a lawyer or something. Something mundane and boring. 

When you started out did you see yourself primarily as a guitar player or a songwriter, Had you made any sort of choice?

I had always wanted to do them together. I had been around great players but they wouldn’t have any songs and I be around great songwriters but they might have a bunch of crappy players. You could tell and you just can’t bluff your way through that. People can hear that. 

My parents were the first ones to make it out of the oil fields and to kinda become academics. So I was reading a lot, a lot of books. I was reading college stuff in Junior High. My parents had me reading The Dubliners alongside an autobiography of Malcolm X when I was in 8th Grade. That was really informing my lyrics. I was trying to put that together and as Springsteen had said I learned more from a 3 minute record than I ever did in school. Learning how to condense it into a song. It’s the way Townes explained those characters and that imagery, listening to a Townes songs is similar to reading a Cormac McCarthy book. It’s landscapes and big stuff. 

That was opening you up to different ideas?

Yeah, but I didn’t realise it at the time as I was just doing it. I was little redneck kid in a small town so I didn’t know how to do it. I was in a bubble.  

Another aspect of your career has been working in film as an actor, screenwriter and soundtrack maker. Has that also expanded your horizons?

Well I tell everyone that all my favourite country stars were in movies or on TV. All of ‘em! Jerry Reed, Willie, Cash - they were all on television shows and in movies. Then I got that call to do that soundtrack (The Devil’s Rejects) in ’07. The thing went big and Rob Zombie had given me 75% of the publishing. The people at the studio hadn’t realised that a rock star had directed the movie - which had really never happened until then - so they didn’t care about the soundtrack (released as Banjo & Sullivan - The Ultimate Collection 1972-1978). He just said to get on with it, that they’re not paying attention. So that became a thing in itself and the next one was put out on Rob’s label rather than with a major. I was in the movie (Halloween 11, he appeared as singer of the fictitious band Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures). He taught me how to make music videos. It was my one on one film school crash course. We then did an animated film and following on from that he said “why don’t you come on tour with me as the band from the movie, everybody will know you as they’ve seen the film.” He said that I’d have to be in character and not do any of my solo stuff. So I just said “How Much?” (Laughs) I’ve been trying to sell out for years as I hear the money’s awesome! So we went on out and it was a 40 date arena tour of North America. Huge places, like Ozzie-type shit. 

I’m playing this weird hybrid of ‘60s surf rock and honky-tonk - it’s all over the place but it’s guitar music and it’s aggressive and kids are seeing me. So while I was on that tour I wrote two pages everyday and when I got home I had an 80 page script. I got it to Malcolm McDowell, who I had been in the movie with, and he said that he’s do it. As soon as I got him to sign on literally overnight I got all the money to make the movie (Zombex). I talked them into letting me direct it which was a kind of catastrophe (laughs) -  but it worked. It was not fun. Being the director was the opposite of being a singer in a band. Total and utter sleep deprivation. I had it all in my head but not on paper. Luckily I had a really talented crew, a bunch of Robert Rodriguez’s people and some great actors. I got John Doe to be in it and I’d asked Mike Ness (Social Distortion) but he said “I can’t really act.” He said to get John Doe, that he was a real actor. Doe said that he would be in it if his friend could be in it too and get killed. So I said “well okay.”

However I felt I was little out of my depth so I ran screaming back into the arms of the music business. I did act in a couple of movies after that though and I’m doing a movie in Canada next year. I’m also licensing a motorbike gang script based on a Kurosawa movie. I like to work a lot.

When I was working with John Doe he asked me if I wanted to do the Letterman show with him. He’d said that he heard that I was a guitar player, he didn’t know too much about me. So I said “yeah man.” He called me after that to tell me that Billy (Zoom) was sick and that they had a big American tour to do and would I learn 30 songs and meet them (X) in New York in a week! It was nerve wracking as Billy Zoom is no slouch. That got me back out there touring again.

You played with The Supersuckers too.

Yeah, I played on Must Have Been High they’re biggest record. I have a demo of me and Eddie (Spaghetti) doing every song on that record on acoustic guitars weeks before we went in to record. They always say that I turned them on to country music. I opened up for them in Dallas and they were like “Man, we really don’t like country music.” I told them that they were really missing out. We supported them on the whole tour when they were playing those songs and Eddie would say that I was the guy who turned them on to country music and I said “Don’t tell them that!”  

With all of what you have done and achieved do you want to do something different next or carry on doing what you have been?

Well a lot of my success has been in that I married a really hot, smart Jewish girl from Los Angeles. I’ve been with her almost 21 years and she put a gun to my head several times and said “look dummy, you’re going to take the money from this TV show and we’re going to buy a house in Austin. Which was at a time when you could buy at a reasonable price. Now our house is worth crazy money. Her family is like a publishing dynasty - her grandfather, Lester Sill, worked with Phil Spector and was the publisher for Elvis and Motown. Her father became even bigger than that. So she decided that we didn’t need other people who were essentially bad bank loans. So we would get enough money to make a record and hire a publicist as well as a radio guy. We stared to actually make money off our records. Her name is Emily Kaye, so she’s a big part of how I learned how to monetise this rather than be saying “Oh well, they’re dropping me because I didn’t sell over a 100,000 units.” I’ve never played that game. The end result was always about did we get more people. That’s all that matters. She took some of the money we made and invested it in other things. In real estate and stuff like that. So that’s the reason I can come and play a small gig like in Whelans and not freak about the money.

 You played in Ireland once before I think?

Yeah I played a festival here a long time ago back in the ‘90s.We had to leave the same day which was bit of a bummer. But we want to come back over here and to Europe again as I’m shocked as to how great these shows have been. We haven’t been here for ever. It’s all been word of mouth and the record (The Revealer) has been out for a while in the States but just got released here. it’s not like we had a huge publicity team, so we’re totally coming back over. We’re super streamlined, so if no one shows up … well, whatever. When we play I see kids who were into the Rob Zombie stuff. I see older guys who were like Rory Gallagher fans or whatever.

What have you planned on the recording front?

We have eight songs already in the can. So I have to do two more songs when I get back then this guy named Vance Powell is going to mix the record. He did Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton. We’ll see what happens with that. I’m just trying to morph this thing into a hybrid as I don’t want to recreate anything. Plus I’m older and you don’t care about the same things anymore. I’m not a cynical young man anymore and I can go see something and see it in a different light. I try to keep myself open, something I learned by working with Rob. Rob is so childlike but he’s only something like 2 years older than me. But he keeps in touch with that little kid inside. The people who give up on things like music, art and culture that little kid has been gone from them for a long time.

Interview by Stephen Rapid  Photography by Kaethe Burt O'Dea 

Interview with Worry Dolls

Rosie Jones and Zoe Nicol are the Worry Dolls and first met while attending the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts as students. They have come a long way since those early days and their debut, Go Get Gone has been receiving widespread critical acclaim since the release in January last. Lonesome Highway has reviewed their album and featured their music on our radio show. We were delighted to meet with them on their maiden tour of Ireland for plenty of conversation, laughter and tea …

Tell us about touring. You have not been off the road since the start of 2017.

We have had a couple of days off since the release of the album in January but it has been pretty intense. A few breaks, but it has been constant touring. 

What countries have you been to?

Mainly touring the U.K. but we have also been to Belgium and Spain. We did our own headline tour in England and also toured with Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople fame), which was really different and fun. It was the hottest week of the year and we call it our sweaty clubs Rock 'n' Roll tour. We also did our Country tour with Sam Outlaw and now we are touring Ireland for the first time.

You originally met at Liverpool University?

We became great friends and saw each other play at open mic nights. We began writing and collaborating on a very relaxed basis; let’s just hang out and learn a cover or write a song. We had a Bluegrass band as part of a project and Rosie had purchased a mandolin which she wanted to master by learning Nickle Creek songs. They are technically difficult and I was obsessed – tabbing them not for note and practicing 8 hours a day, wanting to be as good as the best. We realised that we harmonised really well together and that it was all very natural to us.

Is it true that Sir Paul McCartney gave you advice?

Yes, he is a former pupil of the Institute of Performing Arts and he mentors the third-year songwriters. It was just him and us in a room with him listening to our songs. We had been paired by the school as a natural team when we could have been put with anyone from the class.

Was he of practical help in terms of advice?

We were both somewhat in awe of the whole thing but we did soak up what he said to each of us. He was really helpful on little tweaks in song-writing techniques and one of the really big things that we got out of it was his advice to change up the melody in the second verse in order to keep the listener interested. That has stayed with us when writing, that you don’t have to repeat the same thing. It was strange having him listen to our songs and then play them back to us!

So, a couple of E.P.’s released and then the big decision to relocate stateside with a move to Nashville

We had been working towards that decision for a long time and like anything in life, sometimes you just have to do that crazy thing or you never quite see what could happen. We went to Nashville with half an album written and it could have all been an epic failure. But we both trusted that it was the right thing to do.

There are a number of cowrites on the album. Was this a conscious decision?

Our first EP was recorded at University while our second was written when we were living in London and was more representative of what we were doing. We went out to Nashville initially for 10 days, meeting friends and new people. Everybody there says ‘let’s just write a song’; almost like going for a coffee. We were inspired and it became part of the story of the album. Songwriters in Nashville are credited much more than in England where it does not seem to matter who wrote the song. In the States the songwriter if often credited higher than the artist and we wrote so many songs as a shared experience.

Was it a culture shock and intrusive to suddenly be faced with letting others into your creative process?

No. We are together already and a strong writing unit. It might have felt intrusive if it had just been one of us and new people that we had never met. We are so solid in what we want to create so it was ok to let someone else come in and share what they thought would work. There is a transition between writing on your own and writing with another person. We had already been through this when we first decided to start writing together so to let someone new into the collaboration process was not as difficult as it may seem. We felt very much at home in Nashville and we brought a lot of that feeling back home with us to London. We feel like a part of that community now and you just have to know how to find these groups which exist in all of these areas – it’s just finding it and being a part of that network.

Bread & Butter is your record label. Are you happy with their input?

Very much so. It’s a U.K. label but one of the heads works for an American label in their European division. They help us go to the next level by assisting in distribution further afield than just what you could do on your own. It is all about working together to ultimately help us grow as artists. We had recorded the album ourselves and were about to release it before any label was involved. We had a distributor that was willing to come on board but we could never have had the success we did by not waiting for a year in order to have Bread & Butter come on board.

Are you happy with the way that the record has been selling?

We don’t always see the figures for how the album is selling digitally and we always do our best sales after the live shows – hopefully there is a big cheque in the post for us down the road! That would be nice.

The fact that you have done it all yourselves augers well for the future

Yes, and the nice thing about this Irish Tour is that we had been playing recently with a band, whereas now we can get back to our roots. We always wanted the core of it to be just the two of us, which is why we made the album stripped back and that it sounds like us. The additional musicians and instruments that came on board for the record was wonderful but hopefully everyone will appreciate us playing it live as a duo.

On the album there are songs about travelling, the need to be free, experiencing the new, leaving and wanting to return.

The creative process is the best part and the songs are so fresh that some of them were only written a few days before we went into the studio. Miss You Already was written as an acapella song initially and it was only later that we added the instruments for the studio. She Don’t Live Here is about the sacrifices that you take. That was one of the only songs we played on the piano and our life change was involved in the song along with the fact that the piano we wrote it on had been given to us by a family member that subsequently died. It is the last song that we wrote for the album and is a special song for us.

The song Passport speaks of a negative experience that you had as part of being in this career?

It’s about how not everyone has your best interests at heart. It’s not about a specific relationship and it was somebody we didn’t know. We were opening our hearts up to a lot of wonderful things but unfortunately when you do that a certain amount of darkness can also come your way.

It is all part of the odyssey you have embarked on. It must be very rewarding to see the attention that is now coming your way?

It feels like the tables are turning a little bit after all the hard work that we put in. It can be funny however because anything that brings you right up the next day you can be brought back down again! It keeps you on your feet. Playing the Cambridge Folk Festival was the most incredible experience and to hear people singing your songs back to you in the middle of the day was special. Country 2 Country was another highlight, along with London Fashion week appearance; Jessie Weston is this incredible western-style designer with native American stuff which is so our vibe! We played the catwalk and it was amazing to see the models in real life; the way they can just switch on that look.

Do you write from a personal perspective?

I think that the songs will always be written from a personal angle. If you don’t write something from personal experience then people are not necessarily going to connect with it. From co-writing you get less precious, in that words you would never use can be given new meaning. For example, the song Someday Soon has a refence to ‘my last cigarette’ and I never would have used this as a non-smoker. However, as a metaphor for being down on your luck it works really well … I would like for the two of us to just write the next record and to each take the lead more on certain songs in this direction. This will not be taking us away from the personal!

So, this nomadic life is suiting you at the moment. You haven’t started getting tired of the travelling yet?

In the time we had off we were moving house but luckily our base is very happy, so wherever we are, we are never going to feel alone. Meeting people after the shows is important and we love to hang out at the end of our performance getting feedback.  

Both Rosie and Zoe are charming in conversation and totally open in their honest assessment of their career trajectory to date. They contribute equally to the answers and often talk with great enthusiasm so that the answers recorded here are a composite, without singling out who exactly said what and when. We look forward to following their continued success into the future! 

Interview by Paul McGee

Jess Klein with Mike June Interview

 

With a very impressive back-catalogue of nine releases to her name, Jess Klein comes highly recommended as an artist and singer-songwriter bearing great gifts and insight. This highly accomplished musician and wordsmith, recently sat down with Lonesome Highway to share her thoughts on life, the universe and everything after. She was joined by her husband and fellow musician Mike June who is currently accompanying her on their European tour.

LH: Life on the road versus recording – how do you split your time?

JK: I really love to be in the studio because you feel like the sky is the limit. I am working on an album right now and you go in thinking that it will be really stripped down, just me and my guitar mostly; then as soon as I got in we started bouncing ideas around and suddenly it becomes a much bigger soundscape. It is like a cool fantasy world to live in but then I also get very antsy if I am not playing for people. It’s like I can’t get my fix of a real live spontaneous experience. When we are in Europe I really love being on the road whereas at home the drives can be longer and it doesn’t feel as special.

LH: Do you have your own studio?

JK: Mike is currently building a studio…

MJ: When we lived in Texas we had a one room apartment so when we moved to North Carolina our first priority was to get some walls…! I have a love/hate relationship with recording. I love the end product but it can be so tedious, almost like anti-music. I have all these great ideas running around in my head but putting them down shows up all you’re your limitations. It can be very hard being in the studio and keeping it spontaneous. Playing live gives me that chance to be spontaneous and to have that feeling that pretty much anything can happen. That is why we play music I guess.

LH: So, it comes down to balancing the recording process with the need to tour again?

JK: We both decided to take a few months off this year but then I start to forget who I am and what my purpose on the planet is… Especially when I look at social media and watching everyone else’s experiences and it starts to feel like, ‘I could be doing that’ – so I don’t have a good sense of what is coming in two months; it’s whatever I’m doing now that is my experience. 

LH: You haven’t got exhausted with the whole touring thing yet?

JK: A couple of years ago I really got burned out and we had to make a couple of changes as to how we did it. We had to let our agent go because he wasn’t doing a great job and it can be really hard to make it work.

MJ: It’s hard when you have to ask people for money and I would prefer to have someone else doing that part for me. Last night was my first gig for a while and it felt a little strange. I had lost a whole tour because of the problem with our booking agent but it was kind of good in that I had previously been playing almost 200 gigs a year in the States and don’t know if I really gained anything career wise.

JK: You have grown a lot as an artist…and as a performer and a player. However, career wise you can drive 600 miles to play to a handful of people.

LH: I suppose it depends what you define as success? The fact that you can both keep doing this career as professional musicians can be seen as a success in itself

MJ: I tour a lot with Jon Dee Graham and he’ll complain that he is ‘barely makin’ it; what you makin’? For me, I get to travel around the world playing music with my wife, so it is a great experience. For example, we got engaged in Paris which was very special…

LH: It’s a real bohemian lifestyle and people would be envious of that.

JK: I find that when I’m at home I am a real homebody but I actually find it really freeing when we are moving on the road to keep things lean and we only have so many things with us. I don’t like packing but when we’re moving it is great to keep things simple.

MJ: If we didn’t tour then I might never leave the house. I’m just at that age when I’m not much into the social life!

LH: Speaking of not leaving the house, how does the writing process work for you?

JK: I’ve learned that the writing process can change. The last few records were all done in Austin Texas with this same group of people so you always had a sounding board. But then we moved to North Carolina and I went to a town I had never been to and didn’t know too many people so I didn’t have the structure with me. My initial response was that I would sit and try to write everyday but it doesn’t work like that. It has to flow and you have to trust that if I go live my life then the songs are gonna come. I sometimes use my phone to capture ideas at the time they appear.

MJ: Living with Jess makes me ashamed to call myself a songwriter as she is up first thing in the morning working on stuff whereas I am waiting for the inspiration to come…My last record, Poor Man’s Bible, I poured over every part of that for almost a year before we went to the studio. This new stuff, I had just an EP come out on Friday, Election Day and I decided to not think too much about what I was writing but just go back to having fun and keeping it simple. I think this is a progression for every artist who starts out wanting to prove that you can do something really big and I think that doing that with Poor Man’s Bible made me comfortable with myself.

LH: What comes first when you write, the lyrics or the melody?

MJ: Usually it’s always words for me first but it can be a guitar riff, sometimes the song just goes in my head and I have an idea how I want it to be but when you sit down and start pounding it out, it can sound totally different.     

JK: Early this year I had a repetitive strain injury in my arms and hands which was really terrifying. For me it had almost always been melody first but I couldn’t play the guitar as much as I normally would so I had to compose just in my head and sing it into the phone and wait until my hands were able to play. It was interesting in that my first thought was ‘oh my God, I can’t play the guitar the way that I want to…’ but then I had to roll with it and it just works its way through you. I don’t think my guitar style has changed but I was so nervous when I returned to doing shows after taking the time off. I changed my guitar (a Martin J-21) and found that when I played, it was the one time I was not thinking about my hands, so it all worked out fine!

LH: Getting paid as a professional duo; can you make money anymore from the recorded product or is it live performance?

JK: Honestly it is a combination. I think that I make half of my money on the road from merchandise sales. If I’m not on the road then it is harder.

MJ: I signed my record deal last year and the budget that my record label gave me was only quarter what I had spent on my previous record by myself. They send me statements every month about how much I owe them or how much they have lost on me! They’re sweethearts but what can you do? Even a band like Los Lobos who have been around for almost 40 years and have made so many great records were chatting amongst themselves as to whether it was even still worthwhile continuing to make records. The cost of making them is so high and then services like Spotify don’t pay the artist anything. As a listener, you can have all the music in the World for just $10 a month but that doesn’t pay the artist. Any other business would revolt against that... Even using Kickstarter to fund your record ends up with 15% of the money raised going to them.

LH: Looking at the arc of your career and that first album that received great media acclaim, you had the experience of being on a big label before doing it all for yourself

JK: I would have to look at my files to see who now owns Rykodisc, maybe Warner Bros., but I was not with that label for very long. I made two albums with UFO also but I found myself feeling that I can do this better on my own and hiring the people I wanted for myself. If I’m failing, then it’s because of decisions I am making on my own now.

MJ: Having been on both sides of the fence, previously as a booking agent, at our level then to be doing it for yourself is the best option. A lot of the people working I the industry are just not very good and can let you down. Do they have your best interests at heart?

JK: I feel like we have both been through enough now to just do it yourself. I feel like I know what questions to ask before getting anyone involved now.

LH: You must have built up a decent network of people over the years that you can trust?

JK: I think it is important to be able to ask for help – no man is an island!

LH: You are quoted as saying ‘my motivation in making music is to connect with people and in doing so, to connect with myself, which is the hardest and the scariest part…’ How vulnerable do you feel on stage?

JK: It’s not that playing in front of people has ever really been hard. I feel that there is a difference between putting on a show and giving yourself over to the performance and connecting. I feel like the thing that I have been working on over the last 4 or 5 years is going a little on faith and being completely open. When I am on stage, you have to have a purpose and I put all the love I could into these songs and I really want for people to be able to act off that. I can’t control how they receive it but the intention I go in with is to share the love in my heart as I have crafted it.

LH: You are a very giving performer and the audience just believe it. This is what makes it special

MJ: You have to play to the people that are there and not the people who aren’t. I remember playing a gig in Clarksdale, Mississippi to zero people. I am just rockin’ it, by myself, thinking this is good practice, just get into it, when 2 guys come in at the end and one turns out to be Danny Boyle, the movie director, who liked my stuff and wanted to buy some CDs. I didn’t know who he was right then and I’m saying just keep your money, you are on vacation so just have a CD… Then in North Carolina I was playing to 8 people on a Sunday afternoon and decided not to let it be one of those ‘I don’t want to be here’ moments; I do a strong set and it led to me getting my record deal out of that…! Play to the people that are there.

JK: I don’t want to overblow the importance of art but I feel because this is what I do, I look to art and music to give me permission to open up and feel my feeling. I believe that there is good in this world and it is like a sacred transaction when I go onstage and it can’t just fit in a box. It means something to me to be able to give to other people.

LH: Do you write from the personal or the observed experience, or is it a mix of both?

JK: Some of the songs are very personal. When I was younger it could be pretty scary to try and figure out the answer to something by the end of the song and present it in this neat package. Now I’ve grown up!

MJ: I made a conscious decision a couple of years ago to stop writing songs about things that everyone else writes about. I started to turn my attention to the outside and look at religious and political issues. It’s what I think about, it’s just who I am… I want people to get along and to see that this world is so much better than we give it credit for. If I am angry and I want to write songs against the establishment then that is what I do. The Folk Alliance and the American Music Association used to say they don’t want any political issues here. However, It is really personal for me…

JK: The other night he was dreaming and shouted out in his sleep ‘you can’t lie to the American people’…!!

LH: When you travel do you find differences in the audiences you play for?

JK: I think the difference is that there seems to be a more embedded cultural appreciation of the arts in Europe. In the States people come to see us feel that way but it seems more of an uphill climb.

MJ: A couple of years ago I did a tour and was playing house concerts in Texas and in San Francisco where the political views were different and the culture and perspective was so varied. You meet people in small towns that give you a different view of why people feel isolated and on the outside of things in America.

Travelling then to Europe is a real education. Taking in refugees is so much talked about in the States but people have never seen it. Then we are here and on the day we got engaged, what is in my head is; ‘I’m going to ask this woman I love to marry me today’ and the first thing we see when we get off the highway is a refugee camp on the outskirts of Paris and you see people living on the street dividers. And you see that this is the reality of it. Getting that perspective is a whole new education.

Being on a small level lets you be able to sit down with people and really listen with real communication. A big change with music now is that a lot of house concerts end up with your fans becoming your friends.  

Coda:

Jess Klein talks of her career as a twisting journey and says that she is tired of all the anger and cynicism she can sometimes encounter; ‘I say, get out there and do something’.

This is a good note on which to bring our conversation to a close. There is so much to recommend in the sublime talents of Jess Klein and her body of music is waiting to be discovered by those of you who like to visit the realm of accomplished writing and sensitive soul-searching.

Her husband, Mike June, is a very engaging person who was really interesting to spend time with. Together they make a great team and in trying to bring light into the lives of those that they meet, both Jess and Mike lift the collective spirit to an elevated place where our awareness and appreciation of the arts can be heightened.

Interview by Paul McGee 

Slim Cessna Interview

The first thing you notice about Slim Cessna is that he lives up to his name. He’s both tall and thin with an open smile (complete with gold tooth) and an open attitude. This is the bands first visit to Ireland where they are due to play four dates after which they return to play in the UK before heading for a gig in Moscow. The bands roots go back to the early 1990s and the band has evolved since that time into something quite unique in both its recorded and live entities. We sat down prior to the gig in Whelan’s to discuss the band’s career and outlook. Cessna explained the genesis of the band which started initially as an offshoot of his main band. One that also briefly included David Eugene Edwards of Woven Hand and 16 Horsepower. “The Denver Gentlemen was my main thing but I started the Auto Club because I wanted to experiment with playing country music; even more so than what the Gentlemen were doing.  I learned some chords on the guitar and got some buddies in and we started messing around in my basement. We didn’t really have a plan to do anything other than to drink beer (laughs). All of a sudden then it got busier than we were with The Denver Gentlemen so that became the main thing.” 

The influences on his musical journey were as much non-musical as they were musical. Living and working in Denver meant that the presence of some extreme weather conditions should not be underestimated. “ A good storm is pretty influential. They happen rapidly and then after it can be total calm and peaceful. We don’t try to use that on purpose but that we do anyway. There’s a lot of space where we are.” He felt such forces would just as easily be reflected in the music as they might in the content of the lyric writing. As well as having the environment play its part on their music it has also meant that touring has to be a planned exercise. “It is a long distance from Denver though to anywhere else” Cessna explained. “Kansas City is the nearest town east and that’s 9 hours drive. Salt Lake City is 7 hours west and there’s not a lot of anything in between. When we tour we work out a route that makes sense as doing a one-off show is impractical unless we are in Denver or a surrounding college town.” All well and good but adding an additional layer to the bands continued existence. “We have to make it work to survive” Cessna adds. The continued existence of any band depends on there being a means for the band to play and to record. Something that was made more difficult in the past when various members lived in different places. “We were living in different places, he explained. “I was living in Pittsburgh, which is 2000 miles from Denver for years and I raised my family there. But in the last 3 years I have been able to move back to Denver. Dwight’s also back in Denver and that has helped us to consolidate things and we can tour whenever we want too. For me there’s no extra trips involved. That’s been pretty good.”

In terms of their recorded output the band have recently set up their own label (SCAC UnIncorporated) and also produced their most recent album The Commandments According to SCAC themselves. Both Cessna and guitarist Lord Dwight Pentecost taking the helm for that process. Something that was a learning curve for them both and one that they hope to revisit when they begin to record their next album. “The Commandments album was the first time that we done all of it by ourselves including having it on our own label. But the next one will be better. Because we learnt a lot doing it. All of a sudden we found ourselves with a deadline but I still think it turned out great. I love the album. But there’s certain things that could have been thickened out here or thinned out there.” 

Cessna revealed that Munly Munly, his fellow singer and banjoist, was the main songwriter for the band. “Munly writes all of the songs for all of the bands.” This includes the offshoot DBUK or Munly and The Lupercalians as well as Sim Cessna’s Auto Club. How they made the choices as to which song suited which of the different bands was, he felt, pretty much down to Munly. “I suppose it just depends what mood he’s in which band the songs are for. It’s kinda fun for all of us. They’re all completely different musically. Different kinds of story telling. There are different worlds that Munly creates and it’s pretty fascinating for us to explore that with him.” Having such an enigmatic character in the band was “like having a Flannery O’Connor in our band.” It gave him and the band the opportunity to be involved in a singular creative process “It’s a privilege for me to help bring some life to those characters in performance and in my interpretation of what he’s writing. That has been amazing. Sometimes he brings a lyric to us or often times the whole chord progression. We then build from there. We cut and paste. Sometimes the songs end up going somewhere he didn’t intend and he probably doesn’t like it but it’s a democracy.” One that has an obvious starting point though. “Munly as always be the primary and initial songwriter and he’s very meticulous and we don’t apply any pressure to him or to ourselves.” This process has meant that they don’t want to force it in any way but to ask that they try and deliver something that they can feel proud of. “It always takes us longer than other bands because we always want it to be perfect.” 

In previous visits to Europe the band had tended to play in the larger cities rather than to do something more of a tour. This current longer tour was due to the band working with the Punk Rock Blues Agency (who book “twisted roots and blues” across Europe). As regards this visit to these shores Cessna reasoned that it had been hard to get shows here but also in the UK and Scotland as previously they had only played in London. “It’s harder for us to make money doing more shows but we know we have to do and we have to bust through -  and hopefully we can. This trip isn’t going to be financially successful (laughs). We knew that coming in though. But we’re very happy to be here.” This shows that the band realise that opening a second front in Europe could, in the long term, give a band an additional audience to appreciate their music. 

The band, since their inception, have created an identity, one that has been consciously considered and administered. The graphics especially have been, along with the photography an important constitute of that overall image. “We all do that, though Dwight does a lot of it. All our photography is by Gary Issacs from Denver. We try to keep things in the family. There is a certain branding that’s important to us, a certain visual sense, even with the show.” Along with the image, which can only take a band so far is their music which has become a blend of different sources and strands that have been blended to create the SCAC sound. “When we started, and I’m the only original member of the band now, I just wanted to play country music with friends, the music that I grew up with. I had played with punk rock bands and we were getting closer to that with the Denver Gentlemen.” However that soon seemed to fall short of being as satisfying as he had hoped. “I really wanted that, but in a weird sort of way it just got kinda boring (laughs). Well not boring, that’s the wrong way to say it just wasn’t as satisfying, especially as this started to become the main thing.” that however changed soon after when the key members of the band joined him. “When Munly and Dwight joined, and that was probably 18, maybe 19, years ago now everything took a left turn. Almost instantly we didn’t have the same rules. We knew that this isn’t going to be a country band. But the root of it is still American folk music.” In the process they realised that what they were creating and refining was something that was every much based in the collective consciousness. Something that soon found it’s realisation in the songwriting. “For whatever that’s worth. we let the songs become their own personalities. They have to go where they’re supposed to go without worrying about any preconceived structure or genre.”

There is no escaping the religious element of the music, the balance of sin and redemption, the balance of Saturday night and Sunday morning. This is something that Cessna has grown up with and so incorporated that Christian ethos into the fabric of the music. “That was really important to me, a huge part of it. I was born in the church and my father was a Baptist preacher.” As we talked he told me that, surprisingly it may seem to some, that U2 were a big part of the music he loved growing up. “Touring bands didn’t really come to Denver except for during the summer - we had Red Rocks Amphitheatre which U2 made very famous. I was at that show. I was grabbing the flag - you can see me in the movie. I was a 17-year-old knucklehead (laughs). I was a huge fan in the 80s with Boy and October especially. People don’t like them sometimes in my circles but I say “you haven’t heard Boy and October!” Those were amazing albums. Red Rocks was a great show and Bono is very influential in my life as is David Byrne, as well as many of the greats from the 1980s.” Another factor in his enthusiasm was that U2s’s music and message was music that was acceptable to his parents. That they were considered uncool by many of his contemporaries was something that he considered was because in retrospect “that some of the people that say they don’t like them are just trying to be cool. It’s just one of those things because they’re successful. People say the same things about the White Stripes and how stupid is that? One of the great rock bands of all time.” 

I wondered then was there a time then that he might have rebelled against that. “I never rebelled against that. That’s not necessarily to say that I stayed in the church. I go back and forth with that even now.” A strong factor that emerged during his growing up with that framework was his particular love for gospel music in all its forms. “I have always really loved gospel music. The pure form of it. I mean I love Bob Dylan more than most anything and I think his greatest album is Saved. It is so powerful. You don’t have to believe in any of it, but it just hits me. That kind of music - Mahalia Jackson, Hank Williams, gospel. It’s all amazing.” This is the gospel according to Slim Cessna - on that day, at that time. Hopefully SCAC will find further converts on future visits.

Interview by Steve Rapid   Photograph by Kaethe Burt O'Dea

Clare Sands Interview

I was transported back a number of decades at The Harbour Bar in Bray a few weeks ago by a powerful performance of what used to be described as Celtic Fusion back in the day before buzz genres such as alt-folk, indie folk and New Age folk became the vogue. The occasion was a show by the Clare Sands Band, a Cork-based young artist who had been highly recommended to me by a number of reliable sources.  An outstanding fiddle player who also plays electric and acoustic guitar and possess a beautifully potent vocal style  was accompanied on stage by a four piece band, equally youthful yet playing like seasoned veterans.  Featuring material from her 2016 album Join Me At The Table and a number of well-chosen covers their ninety minute set was outstanding. Their sound is a blend of folk, blues infused jazz and traditional, superbly executed. Self-assured, bubbly and with an infectious personality Lonesome Highway took the opportunity to chat with Sands, a young lady with melody, rhythm and verse ingrained in her genes and endless potential in wherever her musical career takes her.

You seem to have the perfect career and lifestyle balance combining teaching, session playing, support artist, performing and recording with your own band. A full-on schedule without doubt but well structured. Was this your game plan?

I wouldn’t say ‘Perfect’- more like intense, hectic! I never had a huge game plan. But I knew from day one that I wanted to play as much as possible, and release an album under my own name. I don’t like to rely 100 % on gigs for income- thus the balance I have finally achieved with teaching, music therapy, session work etc. It keeps me interested. I’m interested in a lot musically, and in other walks of life, so I have to keep it new and exciting.  Ironically enough, the Leaving Certificate points came out yesterday- I had Music and Italian, or Law and French. I went with the music! 

Am I correct in saying that you are the fifth generation of fiddle players in your family?

6th! No escape. All Dad’s side are fiddlers, songwriters. Mom’s side are pianists, singers.

Aside from the obvious inspiration from family members what other musicians have influenced your playing style?

I’ve found myself inspired by a variety of different genres and musicians. I’m a huge fan of Gypsy Jazz (The music of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli). I also love Latin music, in particular anything from Cuba. The rhythms are incredible. The musicians barely think- yet they can do things us Westerners can’t even dream of.  I love rhythm...Something these two genres are steeped in. 

When did Clare Sands the musician become Clare Sands the songwriter and which writers would have had the greatest impact on you?

I wrote my first song when I was 14 and learning to play the guitar. A song called Hear My Call which was all about homelessness in Ireland. Something or somebody must have affected my subconscious. After that, I just kept writing. It was a good way to deal with feelings, and what was going on around me. But as you get older, your songwriting definitely starts to change, and it’s not all about YOU! I loved poetry growing up, and still do, in particular Irish poets like Kavanagh and Heaney. I’m a huge Bob Dylan fan, and have acquired a recent obsession with Leonard Cohen, after reading a book of his poetry when I was in Guatemala. Strange guy. Master of the Pen. I also love two Cork men’s writing, John Spillane and Mick Flannery. Nothing is as it seems in their songs. I find that I write my best when I’m travelling. New experiences, new people, new cultures. I guess I’ll just have to keep jetting off if I want to keep writing!

Your musical style strays away from traditional, embracing both blues and jazz in equal measures, what I would describe as genuine Celtic Fusion without introducing a soft pop core centre. Did the motivation come from any particular artists consciously steering you in this direction?

Thanks! That’s a nice compliment. Consciously, no. I think it’s more to do with music I was immersed in growing up. I would listen to my Dad playing tunes in the house at night, but listen to Rodgrigo Y Gabriela (two Spanish guitarists) on the way to school. UCC also affected my playing hugely. I had a fantastic Jazz teacher-Tommy Tucker-who I really admire. My band also contributes hugely to the ‘Celtic Fusion’ sound. My keys/sax player Dylan Howe, is probably the best musician I know. He knows which chords to use, and puts them in the right places. Dylan and I have been playing for a long time together, as well as guitarist Kevin Herron. I feel we are extremely in synch with each other, and the two Fionns on bass and drums never miss anything.

Unlike the annoying tendency of many artists to ‘create’ a vocal style your delivery emphasises your natural accent which is refreshing, similar in many ways to that of Mary Coughlan. Was it a conscious decision to avoid adopting a ‘singing accent’?

I’ve thought about this a lot, and changed my opinion many a time. Firstly, I wouldn’t call it ‘annoying’. Everyone to their own. When children are listening to the radio, they imitate the accents of the singers they hear. All of my students sing in English Ed Sheeran accents! Some musicians also do this as adults, maybe from growing up hearing American accents constantly on their parent’s records. It’s nearly ingrained in them. I have no problem with it. I listened to a lot of American music growing up, but also to a lot of Irish singers- Karen Casey, Mary Coughlan, Mary Black. So maybe I slipped through ‘that’. I did make a conscious decision. When I listen back to my first single there is a twang of an American accent. I don’t know when I decided ‘Why am I singing in that accent’ but I did, and haven’t looked back. It’s too much effort to put on an accent- I’ve enough going on in my head! I’m also ridiculously proud of this fine island. I’ve been in eleven different countries this year as far away as Mexico, but Ireland has something very beautiful about it. I would like anyone that listens to my music to know that I am from Ireland.

I was hugely impressed with the band that accompanied you on stage on your recent Irish tour. Are these your regular band members and can you name check them?

Sure. Yes, they are my band members, and sometimes we have an additional percussionist, Paul Leonard. I mentioned them above, but to reiterate - Dylan Howe is on the keys/sax/vocals, and whatever else he can get his hands on. Multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist. Kevin Herron on electric guitar, sometimes dobro, and vocals. Funkiest guitar player around, and a fantastic singer. Fantastic rhythm. Fionn O'Neill on bass, sometimes guitar, vocals. New addition, and ‘A Rock!’ Fionn Hennessy Hayes on drums and vocals. Fionn is fantastic. Because he’s not ‘a drummer’, he picks up on my right hand of the guitar, and most importantly, listens. He can be as rock 'n’ roll as you want, or sit there and play a song on symbols.

With an increasingly over crowded market internationally and a small Irish market how does an artist like you best market yourself going forward and do you foresee yourself dropping the day job and pursuing a professional performing career at some stage?

I don’t know, to be honest with you. Definitely need to keep social media up and running. Make good videos. Try get as much airplay as possible and tour as much as I can. It’s really like building a house!  Always building. It’s been an extremely busy year. I’ve been happy with everything that’s happened. I released the album last October, and have toured with some great Irish names as well as my own tours, and getting airplay on album tracks. It’s not so bad for a 23 year old, I suppose. I’m ridiculously hard on myself- and will never be fully content- but that makes it very easy to be driven. Won’t ever give up the day job (I say this now!) I don’t think music is a very sustainable or healthy business. There are the few exceptions (The Beatles, Dylan etc.) but I feel everybody has a ‘use by’ date. I’m not being negative- I think it’s a logical train of thought, especially with how music has gone.  Even if you become the next U2, I don’t think I’ll want to be touring in forty years time. And for those that do, fair play! I’m a woman of simplicity, and I like my freedom. My goal is to start my PhD soon (music related - ha!) and take it from there

Are you working on a follow up to your 2016 Join Me At The Table or simply drawing breath and enjoying the opportunity to tour the album at present?

I’m enjoying the touring immensely. I have a new live video coming out soon and dates coming out of my ears till next December. Anything is possible. I might even go back and do Law!

Interview by Declan Culliton

Christopher Rees Interview

Christopher Rees is a Welsh born and based solo artist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, band leader, producer and record label director. He performs both with a full band and in a solo capacity. To date he has released 7 full length albums, The Sweetest Ache (2004), Alone On A Mountain Top (2005), Cautionary Tales (2007), Devil's Bridge (2009), Heart On Fire (2011) Stand Fast (2013) and his just releaswd album The Nashville Songs. To get some background on his latest Music City based album and life in general Lonesome Highway recently had the opportunity to catch up with Christopher.

What does Nashville mean to you now in a musical sense given that it is often seen as the home of the mainstream?

I realised very soon after my first visit, that Nashville is now much more than just the home of Country Music. It’s fair to say that it really is ‘Music City USA’ as it claims to be, mainly because of the sheer amount of talent that is there and on display in every venue. It’s pretty jaw dropping. Yes, it’s still the home of country music and quite rightly celebrates its amazing musical heritage and tradition, but there is a lot more going on away from Lower Broadway or Music Row. I really have no connection or concept of what is going on with what they now call ‘Mainstream Country Music’, because in many cases I just don’t hear it as country music. It’s can often be soft rock, pop or even hip hop dressed up with a sprinkling of fiddle or banjo. A lot of these ‘mainstream hits’ are written by people who don’t necessarily write ‘country songs’. Nashville is certainly a central hub for the practise of ‘song writing’ and a good song can translate into any genre of music. 

 

Personally, I was attracted to Nashville because of its historical musical legacy through people like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. It’s hard to escape it when you walk around. So, in a musical sense that will always be more important to me. There is also a big resurgence in traditional old timey style country music and songwriters who have that authentic spirit which I’m really attracted to.

  

How important has been location (and your Welsh upbringing) in your overall musical direction?

It’s difficult to say. I am a very proud Welshman and certainly feel at home in Wales but my musical inspiration has always come from elsewhere. Yes, I love Tom Jones and John Cale but I think it’s fair to say that their inspiration or influences also came from outside of Wales. There is no disputing the power of a good male voice choir or the beauty of a Welsh harp but I never really connected with that music like I did Rock’n’Roll, Country or Soul music. It always felt more direct and immediate. I think it’s very common when you grow up in a small town, wherever it may be, that you aspire to break out and leave. Travelling America in my early twenties certainly opened my eyes and inspired me immensely but I’ve always just tried to follow my gut instincts with song writing and take the songs in whatever musical direction I feel suits them best. You can create your own musical environment via your own music collection. If you surround yourself with the music of a certain style, whatever it may be, then it will inevitably inform and influence the music that you are inclined to create. As the old saying goes, “It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at”.

 

Did you enjoy the co-writing situation that is fairly common in Nashville? How did it affect the writing?

I did enjoy the process very much. To begin with it came remarkably easy. I think it really depends who you are writing with and how you connect on a personal level. I was fortunate that I felt very comfortable and connected with the other writers (Rick Brantley and Mando Saenz) during the first couple of trips. They were just so easy going and with a little encouragement the songs just clicked into place. I had never written with another person before I went to Nashville but I approached the sessions with an open mind and an impetus to come up with something. You have to be very present and engaged for the process to work, and try to work towards creating something you can both be happy with. 

I was just amazed how quickly things can come together when you are both on the same wave length and working together towards the same goal. It wasn’t always that easy. Someone must come up with a seed of an idea first, whether it’s the music or the lyric. But you’ve got to start somewhere. Even if you later go in a different direction and abandon the original idea. Someone has the drive the idea forward and engage the other writer into knocking ideas back and forth. When it’s balanced and positive the process can be very rewarding. It’s only when ideas run thin or stall that it can become a little frustrating. But overall it was a very positive experience and one that I think really helped to develop my craft as a song writer.

 

Which is the most interesting part of the process for you the lyric writing or the music?

I don’t think I can separate the two. They are both so dependent on one another and benefit from one another. Yes, I often write reams of lyrics before I marry them with music. And I also write instrumental pieces of music before I marry it with lyrics but almost always they will both change and adapt to one another when they come together. And generally, become stronger together. 

 

That direction, through your various albums, has looked at different variations of roots music while retaining a consistent viewpoint. Has that been a fundamental attitude?

I think so. As I mentioned previously a good song can always translate into any genre and I have always just tried to follow my gut instinct regarding where I should take a song. My taste in music is very wide ranging and I really don’t wish to be restricted in any way. I naturally seem to react against the last song I’ve written, so if I write a slow melancholy song, I will almost immediately begin something fast and upbeat next. The contrast is often exhilarating and keeps things interesting. It’s very easy to get stuck in a rut and keep repeating the same process so I need to shake things up and remain inspired to try new ideas. I guess the consistent viewpoint is my voice and my outlook on life. Even when you are writing a character or story driven song which has nothing at all to do with you, it’s hard to resist injecting something of your own viewpoint or attitude in there somewhere.  

 

You recently supported Mavis Staples in Wales. How was that?

It was truly wonderful. A real dream come true. Such an honour and a privilege. 

 

I have such a deep love for Mavis. Her music and her voice have been a source of great comfort and inspiration to me for many, many years. My set itself went well and I had a great response from her audience. I played a mix of the more soul or gospel influenced songs from previous albums as well as a few from the new album. After my set, I bravely knocked on her dressing room door to say hello and she invited me in. So, there I was sitting with the one and only Mavis Staples. Just me and her for 5 or 10 minutes talking about some mutual friends and the new album that she’s just finished recording with Jeff Tweedy, whilst I tried hard not to just gush like a giddy fan. She has always been my favourite female soul singer and I absolutely adore her. She was everything I had hoped and expected her to be. She was warm and welcoming with such amazingly positive energy.

She was so gracious, sweet and kind. I’ll never forget what she said to me. She paid me the compliment of saying, "Boy you sounded great! Your voice is strong! And that was just you up there - you sounded like three people". I was so flattered. It was a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my days. 

 

And then of course Mavis' set was just amazing! Her band were phenomenal. 

She filled the room with positive vibrations, love and joy and the crowd worshiped her. The world is just a better place while you are in her company. 

 

Obviously with recent albums like Heart On Fire with the South Austin Horns reflect your interest in soul. Something that has now become something of a musical trend in the last couple of years. Did you foresee that?

Not really. I have always been a big fan of vintage soul music from the 1960’s and to me it’s utterly timeless, which might explain why it still connects with a modern audience so well. The combination of a passionate and soulful voice with a horn section and a good arrangement will always speak to people. To me it’s ‘Feel Good Music’ even when it’s singing of blues and heartbreak. It can just hit you in the gut and then tear your heart out but somehow also feel joyful and uplifting. In my case I had slowly been putting songs to one side for many years, that I felt would benefit from a soul styled arrangement, long before I decided to record ‘Heart On Fire’. A couple of them were written before my first album came out. So, when the opportunity finally presented itself to record with a horn section, I had the material ready to go. Musical trends come and go but good soul music like rock’n’roll will never really die. It’ll always have a place. I never really thought of what I was doing in terms of following any contemporary trends. I just felt that those songs in particular where calling out for that kind of instrumentation and I wanted to follow my gut instinct to try and do them justice. 

 

Are there other artists who you worked with that provided you with a memorable experience? 

Yes, quite a few. I’ve been very fortunate to work with or tour with some of my absolute musical heroes. People that I have admired. People that had an important impact or influenced me in some way through listening to their music, long before I met them. Working in the studio with Victoria Williams was certainly a memorable experience. I remember first finding out about Victoria when I was in California in 1993. I had read an article about the tribute album ‘Sweet Relief’ that was being released to raise money for her medical bills after she was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) while on tour with Neil Young. It featured a lot of great acts that I liked, from Lou Reed to Evan Dando, Buffalo Tom, Pearl Jam and more, covering her songs, so I had to check it out. I then bought a few of her earlier albums, and when Loose came out in 1994 I was a big fan. Twelve years or so later, I was invited by a friend in Cardiff to meet Mark Olsen from The Jayhawks as he was looking to find someone with a studio that he could use to record some demos while he was in town. 

 

To try and cut a long story short, I ended up putting a band of local musicians together for Mark to record the demos which went very well. Then a few months later Mark returned to Cardiff, this time with Victoria. I was thrilled to see her walking down my street one morning and to meet her. We recorded another batch of songs (some of which went on to be re-recorded in LA for Marks’ solo album, The Salvation Blues) and at the end of the second day of recording I had the crazy idea of turning my song ‘Bottom Dollar’ into a duet and asked Vic if she would be interested in recording some vocals for me. She was happy to oblige and I was just blown away. A year or so later Vic came back over to record with me again. I took her up to a cottage near Aberystwyth to specifically try and develop some song ideas for a new album of her own. There were lots and lots of ideas flying around that week and we captured some great stuff. On the strength of those demos she was later offered a deal with ‘Honest Jon’s Records’ but as far as I know nothing ever materialised. She is an unique and special singer and song writer. I hope that I helped in some way and that she can deliver a new album sometime in the not too distant future.

There are a few other memorable moments like the first time I opened for John Cale which was a very big deal for me at the time. Touring the UK with Kristin Hersh was huge for me too, as I was such a big fan of Throwing Muses as a teenager and her solo work was such a big inspiration to me when I first started making music. She was just so kind and supportive. I feel privileged to now call her a friend. I don’t want to come across like a name dropper but I have been fortunate enough to tour with some legendary people. I’ll never forget sitting in the dressing room talking about Townes Van Zandt with Steve Earle or talking about Johnny Cash with Billy Joe Shaver or discussing Elvis with Wanda Jackson. It’s pretty insane to think about really, when you revere those people so much, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned from meeting all of these great people is that, away from the stage spotlight, they too are just living and breathing human beings like me or you. They have exceptional talents – yes, but they face their own challenges and have to work as hard as anyone else to sustain their success and continue to produce great work.      

 

As an independent artist how has the musical landscape and the way music is now distributed changed your process?

It hasn’t really changed my process, but then I’m quite old fashioned in my approach to making and releasing music. I’ve always valued the album as a body of work above the single. I do struggle to pick individual songs for a ‘Radio Single’ or a video as I get too attached to them being part of the album. I realise that it is a necessary thing, to try and promote an album but I’m not very comfortable with the process. The digitisation of music and all the various platforms that are available to distribute music does make it easier to get your music out there online but it has also devalued the product so much that it makes it very difficult to get any financial return, as people have become so accustomed to consuming music for free. It now feels like you make an album then battle to try and give it away for free with some vague hope that people may then come and see you play live. Youtube has become such a massive platform because the visual aspect is so powerful. I am guilty of this too. If someone recommends a band or artist to me, the first thing I will do is go and check what they have on Youtube. It’s crazy really. An artist or band toils away for a year or two trying to make the best sounding record that they can and then people just go to Youtube and end up watching and listening to some low quality live recording captured on a mobile phone camera. It’s a great resource for archive recordings though and I use it a lot. I’m conscious of the fact that I need to feed that side of things more. 

As an independent artist, these days you have to cover all bases and be a great multitasker. On top of being the song writer, singer, musician, performer, producer, recording and mixing engineer, manager, booking agent, press and radio plugger, and whatever else, it seems that being a good videographer or film maker should be high on the list of priorities now too. I certainly need to work on that area of things and get more quality videos out there. 

 

In these somewhat confused and troubled times how do these events filter into your music?

I think it’s inevitable that they filter into the music. If you care at all it’s hard not to be aware, not to feel emotionally moved or reflect what is going on in the world within the things that you want to say and the music you make. I can’t really claim to have ever been an overtly political or social songwriter but I’ve written a few and I’m sure I’ll write a few more in due course. We are certainly living in very troubled times right now and it’s sad to think that so many of those protest songs from the civil rights movement in the 60’s are still as relevant today as they were then. I’m just glad that Mavis Staples is still alive and kicking and able to sing them whilst also spreading her positive message of love and inspiration. 

 

Are the opportunities to play live more difficult these days and does that mean that you have a reverse situation in that touring the US in that it is usually US artists coming to Europe rather than the other way round. Is offering some scope for you?

It seems that it has become more difficult yes. Venues and pubs are closing down all over the country, for various reasons, and there is a lot of competition for gigs. As an independent artist and your own booking agent you can’t sit back and wait to be offered gigs. You have to keep seeking them out and driving things forward, whether that is in the UK, Europe, America or anywhere else. North America has always been notoriously difficult, firstly to get the work visa to tour and secondly to make any kind of impression. Canada is somewhat more accessible and parts of Europe can be great but Brexit will most likely have a negative effect on UK touring musicians over there. There is always scope but it’s a hard slog sometimes. Some days you dig around trying to find opportunities and it feels like your banging your head against a brick wall. But then every once in a while, you might knock a chunk out of that wall and a ray of light comes shining through. And that makes it all seem worthwhile. 

 

Is the future bright or is it a struggle (the glass full or half full question)?

Oh, it’s a struggle alright, but the future is bright too. I’ve always regarded myself as something of a cynical-optimist. Prepared for disappointment but always hoping for the best. Sometimes the power of positive thinking does seem to work. It’s hard to stay optimistic sometimes and I am prone to getting stuck in a rut from time to time, but in general I feel tremendously fortunate and grateful to live the life that I live.  I have so much to be thankful for. I may not sell as many albums as I’d like, or play to as many people as I’d like, but I still live for it. And I still love writing songs, recording music and performing.

 

You still love making music, given you continue to release albums, is it a necessity for you?

Yes. It may sound cliched but the creative process really is its own reward. There is a great feeling of accomplishment when you create something out of nothing or turn a negative emotion into something positive. It’s often like taking a weight off your shoulders or getting something out of your system so that you can look at it in a more objective manner. It can be very therapeutic or cathartic.

You can grow bitter or grow better. I often console myself if an album doesn’t achieve what I might think it should, by telling myself that the next one will be better. I think it’s healthy to always aspire to improve and develop your abilities. And with music and song-writing you never stop learning. There are always areas that you can work on, and that feeds your drive to move forward, improve and hopefully make better records. Playing live is rewarding too and necessary to gauge the quality of the work you’ve created. To see the reaction to songs and find out if they sink or swim. It also feeds the ego a little, helps to boost your confidence and provide some reassurance that you aren’t completely misguided or delusional.  

 

It’s a long time since you played in Ireland. Any plans to return? 

Yes, it’s been far too long since I was last over there on tour opening for The Handsome Family in 2009. I would love to come back and play some shows, especially the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival which people keep telling me is the greatest. I really enjoyed playing at Cleere’s when I was last there. The people were amazing and I’d love to return. I need to make some serious plans to get back over there to play especially with this new album out now. Of course, it would be great if I can get on another tour with a more established act to ensure a good crowd, but I just need to get a few gigs of my own organised and get over there again. It’s such a beautiful country to tour around and always a great experience to play to such passionate music lovers. I’ll keep you posted.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Kenny Foster Interview

Kenny Foster is a singer songwriter who relocated from Joplin Missouri to Nashville seeking fame and fortune.  His tale is similar to many who land in The Music City and experience the trials and tribulations of making their mark in a sometimes impossibly competitive market where industry politics often dominate. What separates Foster from many of his peers is his capacity to articulate the experience in a credible, practical and pragmatic manner. Foster released his debut album Deep Cuts earlier this year and spoke with Lonesome Highway about his career before embarking on a short tour of Ireland and The U.K.

You often refer to the difficulties you encountered moving to Nashville from Missouri and establishing a foothold in the competitive music industry in the Music City. Do you now consider Nashville home and intend staying put?

Nashville has become my second home. It’s a love/hate relationship sometimes, and I think you’d hear most folks in this highly competitive field say the same thing at different points. When it’s good, it’s very, very good. When it’s bad, it’s almost unbearable. But my wife and I have developed a great community of friends in and out of the creative industries, and we can find a great deal of balance here. Access to both the lives we led before making the jump to pursue a seemingly impossible dream, and access to the best, most driven, most talented creatives in the world. It really is a remarkable city.

Country Music radio stations dictate exactly what is to be currently labelled as ‘country’ music, the majority of which does not in any way reflect the roots of traditional country music. How does an artist like yourself deal with that and is it possible to stick to your core musical beliefs yet manage to survive?

I appreciate this question, and honestly I really don’t know where this whole thing will end up. But the fact that you asked me in light of what your readers want, there must be a number of country music fans that see the industry in the same way you’ve just described. That says to me that there is a desire for the kind of music that myself and my collaborators/friends are trying to make day-in and day-out. Maybe the desire for a return to the roots of traditional country music will become so great that the industry will follow suit. Maybe it won’t. But regardless, I’ve done a great amount of chasing, and striving, and fitting in before this recent record, and after a good amount of shoul searching (and exhaustion, really) it feels good to know exactly who I am as an artist. I may evolve sonically, but my messaging will all come from the same place: the very heart of me. I’ve grown weary of throwing punches or trying to prove anything to an ever-evolving landscape. Ask anyone playing in it, and they couldn’t tell you what’s gonna break next month. They just keep throwing stuff against a wall and seein’ what sticks. 

It’s more of a long-game mentality for me and my kind, and as such we have to do a great number of things to survive. But once equilibrium sets in, and you’re living a life that makes you content, then the desire for bigger, better, faster, more wanes a significant amount. If it never pans out in a monstrous way with the support of radio and the big machines, that’s okay. If it does become the next big thing, that will come with its own set of challenges and frustrations, even amidst the growth and excitement. Either way, it sounds like great fodder for some remarkable songs to me. And I imagine this is all panning out in the way it was always meant to.

Have your studies in philosophy been an advantage in dealing with expectation, anticipation and the inevitable rejection by times that goes with the territory?

[Laughs] Well it has certainly helped me analyze the depths of my despair. [chuckles] I kid. Pretty sure I already knew how to think, but philosophy taught me how to learn. I had to face ideas and opinions that were sometimes counter to my own, some even came from a completely different place than my own. The mental gymnastics certainly gave me the constitution for accepting and processing all sorts of adversity and the amalgam of different experiences I was likely to face in my pursuit of the ever-elusive ‘life of art.’ I learned how to discern good arguments from bad ones, I learned how to appropriate sound thinking to help bolster my own thoughts/beliefs, and I learned to be comfortable with having my previously held ideas be proven wrong. These are rare qualities in this tumultuous time. I’m grateful for philosophy’s role in helping me shape a more sound world view from which to create.

There is quite a market for Country and Americana in Europe with many artists from The States targeting Europe rather than trying to cover vast areas of their home country. Is this also your intention? 

I love that you assume I have any intention that goes beyond wanting to share my music with thoughtful. respectful crowds. I believe in the power of creating a moment. Whether that’s for 10 people or 10,000. Each show is different given the people, the venue, the context. Ultimately, I will go where I am wanted, and the response to Deep Cuts in the UK and Ireland has been such that I wanted to come be a part of the conversation. As a sound financial plan or a precursor to swift and complete world domination, I can safely say we’ve not thought that far ahead. I love this part of the world, and knowing that a place I already liked to spend time wanted to hear a few tunes come out of my mouth, well that just tickled me pink and so we decided to come over. Simple as that.

You’ve been invited to perform on the Bob Harris Under The Apple Tree sessions which is great exposure for you. How did that materialise?

After my Rolling Stone write up, we were approached by a company called Limetree Music out of the UK and we talked to them about our plans to tour in your neck of the woods. It’s my understanding that they passed along my music to the folks at Under the Apple Tree, and the response was such that we were invited to take part in the great legacy that they have created there. I’m very grateful for their acceptance of me into their fold, and look forward to meeting “Whispering” Bob in person very soon!

Your dates in Ireland and the UK coincide with the release of your album Deep Cuts. Have you been touring the album at home yet? 

Nope. You go to where your people are, and the response from Ireland and the UK has been so overwhelming that it made us take notice. In gearing up for a fall tour, the stars aligned for us to do a leg overseas, and as an independent, the exhaustive nature of stringing together dates became so much easier to muster. Especially to visit a place that has been so welcoming and so intentional with us historically. I look forward to it immensely. 

The album features quite a number of co-writes with some serious big hitters such as Marti Dodson and Casey Wood. Are you more comfortable co-writing and do you consider that working with others makes the process simpler or more challenging?

Co-writing is just a different thing. I think it takes a great amount of trust and mutual respect to get a great tune. I spend so much time co-writing because I’m not always writing for myself. The sheer number of songs that I’ve been pumping out (200 a year over the past 3 years) lends itself to finding comfort in letting the wind take you where it wants to go. That’s easier when you’ve got a supremely talented friend in tow. Sometimes you hit on something that can be recognized as a great song, but it’s so personal that it takes the right voice with the right conviction to pull it off. Turns out a few of those writes for other people were really writes for me to make this record. Simple? Challenging? All in a days work. Depends on the day, the song, the weather, the mood. When a song hits, it just hits. 

The song ‘Made’ on the album is particularly powerful lyrically. Is it autobiographical?

The heart and voice of that tune is absolutely, through and through, me. It’s actually the song that I built the whole rest of the record around. The person I was, in the place that I was when I wrote that song, was just ‘right.’ While I took some artistic liberties with the specifics of the scenario, it became so real to me; so visceral. I wanted to make sure that the rest of the record would fall in line with the sentiment that rocked me to the core. That’s what I wanted to capture, and I’m so glad that you felt it in a similar way.

When writing songs do you always consider that the end product will be performed by yourself or is this a factor in your writing process?

Again, it depends on the day. There are moments of inspiration that are fully and wholly me. But sometimes when you hit upon something that’s deep, and true, and almost ancient in its messaging, then it becomes universal with anyone else who is in that place. If another artist were to want to cut it, then by all means. They will give it a life that I wouldn’t be able to. There are very few songs that I write that I say ‘Nope, that one is mine.’ In my mind, a great song is a great song, and I couldn’t possibly record all of the great songs that I get to be a part of. I try to find a voice that is true. If that ends up being mine, then I’m grateful for it. I’m just here to help the thing come into existence, and grateful for the work.

The album cover is markedly striking and graphic. Did the decision to use the image require much soul searching rather than select the all too often bland headshot on the cover?

I’d had the idea for capturing the photo concept ever since I’d recorded a song called Bravery back in 2011. The lyric was ‘Nothing about me says I think I’m good enough. I know I’ve got a heart with a leak, I try to fill it up.’ Up to that point I don’t think I’d written anything so vulnerable in my life, and it turns out it was just a precursor of things to come. So when this collection of songs was being put together, this image kept coming up in my mind as verily important. The truth is, I had no idea how to marry the two: these heartfelt, authentically simple songs and this terrible, gruesome, bloody image. It wasn’t until I was at dinner with a dear friend and the producer/director of my recent music video for Stand, Kenny Jackson (anthempictures.tv), and we were talking about the project and the history, and what I was trying to do with it and he was the one that said: ‘Why don’t you just call it Deep Cuts?’ Like a fricking bolt of lightning. Of course! It was the tie that bound all of it together in this beautiful package. It catches you unaware in a shocking way that hopefully compels you to look inside and discover something equally as shocking, but maybe not what you were expecting. I LOVED it. It was game-on from that point forward. I phoned my friend Rorshak (Rorshak.com) who is quite possibly the most underrated photographer I’ve ever seen. We have commiserated over many a beer about our particular plights. [laughs] Over one of these beers, the plan was set in motion behind his epically creative vision for capturing the image, and he executed the project like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  With him behind the camera, it was never going to be a bland headshot. I love, love, love collaborating with him.

There’s a great little blog over on my website if you’re interested in seeing behind the scenes of all that. But it all turned out exactly as I’d hoped. Better even. 

Grammy award winner Mitch Dane covers and embraces every conceivable musical genre from bluegrass to hip hop. What inspired you to select him to produce the album?

Mitch is a beautiful soul. His story is remarkable. His aim is true. He got it. We have been friends for over a decade, and when I first moved to town, the idea of doing a record with him “one day” seemed so very far out of reach. We had even made plans to do an EP as long ago as 2010, but some extraneous circumstances caused that to fall through. I’m ever so glad, because 5 or 6 songs wouldn’t have been enough time to spend with him. As it worked out, I kept developing and he kept making great records. The stars aligned. Our calendars matched. We were off like a rocket. We took our time, and moved through methodically. His exact words were: “It’s going to be great. I just have to make sure I don’t mess it up.” If that doesn’t give you the confidence you need as an artist to give it your all, I’m not sure what will. He was very careful. He’s an intentional human being, and anyone would be so lucky to get the chance to allow their work to pass through his gifted hands.

There is a noticeable crossover in recent years between artists that would have previously being considered AMA suited rather than CMA. I’m thinking Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Margo Price and Kacey Musgraves who typically have appealed to both markets. Where would you place yourself in terms of your fanbase and market?

Again, while I’ve been banging around in music for quite a while, this record was really the first of my projects to receive the attention and acclaim that it has. We’re still finding our market. I obviously resonate so deeply with not only the artists you’ve just mentioned and their work, but their decision to walk a different path. I didn’t set out to make a ‘crossover’ record, so to speak. It just turns out that music lovers who don’t typically listen to country music have taken quite a liking to it. There was no master plan [laughs] I just finally made the record I wanted, in the way I wanted to make it, and I didn’t think about markets or demographics, or action items. To me this effort was about making the project. Period. Any life that this record has, I’m just along for the ride. I’m so grateful it exists in the world now, and I’m so grateful people are resonating with it. If they’re AMA, CMA, MTV, BET, or OPP I would just call fans of my music ‘friends’, no matter their walk of life.

Wearing your philosophers hat where do you expect to be career wise in ten years down the road?

My philosopher’s hat would tell me that the only true wisdom is knowing that I know nothing. I don’t make conjecture any more. I will follow my heart each and every day and let the rest work itself out. Worry not for tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Jason Wilber Interview

The old adage of the male species not being able to multi-task most certainly does not apply to Jason Wilber. A career spanning over two decades to date has included twenty years as guitarist in the studio and on tour with John Prine, the release of eight studio albums, producer, session player, radio show host and guitar instructor. Possibly best known for his association with John Prine and also widely considered as one of the finest guitar players of his time, I’m intrigued as to how he actually manages to write so much material and actually record it given the mileage he clocks up on the road.

‘’Sometimes I will write a song while traveling, but most of the time I write at home’’ Jason Wilber tells Lonesome Highway while in the process of packing suitcases for another tour as part of John Prine’s legendary backing band alongside David Jacques, Pat Mc Laughlin and latest recruit drummer Kenneth Blevins. The tour takes in shows in Ireland, UK and The States fairly well filling in his diary until the end of 2017.

His latest album Reaction Time is Wilbur’s eight studio recording since the release of his debut album Lost In Your Hometown in 1998. It’s also one of his strongest with songs such as Something Somewhere, Heaven and the title track particularly hitting the spot. It was recorded only twelve months after Echoes, a covers album that featured material written by a variety of artists from The Rolling Stones to David Bowie and Leon Russell. Rather than self-produce Wilber engaged the services of Paul Mahern on both Echoes and Reaction Time. Mahern's musical career kicked off as a teenager with hardcore punk band The Zero Boys and he subsequently worked with household names such as Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Afghan Whigs, Magnolia Electric Co. and Iggy Pop. I wondered what drew Wilbur to him rather than take hold of the reins himself. ‘Paul is a fantastic engineer and producer. We have a good collaborative working relationship and I can count on him to be honest about whether he thinks something is good or not. He thinks of musical things that I don't think of and vice versa. Our musical backgrounds have some commonality but also a lot of differences, and I think that enriches the results we get’ explains Wilber. The album also reunites Wilber with Iris DeMent who adds backing vocals to Heaven, the closing track on the album. ‘I love Iris like a sister. I've had the pleasure of working with her for many years now. She has an amazing and unique voice and I couldn't think of any voice I'd rather hear first in the hereafter’.

With a career balance that involves so many different strands I wondered which of the roles brought the most satisfaction. ‘I enjoy accompanying other artists. It’s fun to be part of the team and to help paint the picture the artist is creating. On the other hand, it's nice to be the one primarily creating the picture too. So, it's kind of a tossup between performing my own songs and accompanying other artists on their songs. If I were forced to choose one though, I'd choose playing my own songs’

A self-confessed guitar fanatic from an early age his career did not follow any premeditated path, simply flowing from one stage to another as if predetermined. ‘Records by Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, Marty Robbins, and other artists were what set me off in that direction. Once I started playing guitar and doing gigs with bands, I realized it kind of came easy to me. Or maybe it was because I enjoyed it so much, all the hours of practicing didn't feel like work to me. Right away I was making more money playing in bands on the weekends than any of my friends who had part time jobs. I just progressed from there and at some point I started concentrating more on writing my own songs’

Without doubt the turning point in his career was his association with John Prine who Wilber actually performed with unofficially long before teaming up with him.  ‘I first met John when I was in high school. He sat in with a band some friends of mine had and I sat in on guitar. We played a whole set of John's songs at a little bar in the little college town where I still live. But we didn't stay in touch after that. About 10 years later, some friends of mine were playing in John's band and they recommended me when he needed a guitar player. I auditioned and got the job’

Remarkably that association has now lasted for twenty years without any hiccups. ‘As far as sticking together, first of all John is pretty easy going and fun to work with. He doesn't get too stressed about anything and he doesn't put a lot of rules or constraints on his musicians. Secondly, the songs are fantastic works of art. So, it's a pleasure to perform John's music with him. Thirdly, John's fans are wonderful. The people who like John's music are very loyal and keep coming back to see us play year after year. That can't be overlooked when you think about what allows you to go out and tour continually for so many years. You have to have an audience or there are no shows. Sounds obvious, but sometimes that part gets overlooked. I'd say those are three of the keys to us all being able to do it for so long’

Prine’s shows in Ireland have been and continue to be exceptional, I’d go as far as saying they have even improved in the past decade if that’s possible! There is a notable chemistry on stage between Wilber, Pat Mc Loughlin and Dave Jacques that appears effortless and manages to maintain that enthusiasm and passion show after show which Wilber casually dismisses. ‘We all enjoy playing together and just hanging out. So combine that with great songs and enthusiastic audiences, and it's pretty easy to stay engaged’

Accompanying Prine on duet recordings over the years gave him the opportunity to work with the cream of the industry’s female vocalists. I probed if there was any one artist that particularly impressed you above the rest. ‘Well pretty much all of John's duet partners have been incredible artists in their own rite, so they were all impressive in that respect. I can think of a few things that standout in my mind. One is Iris's voice, which is just so gigantic and unique. It's one thing to hear her on a record, but when you're standing in the same room with her, it's quite striking. Another would be Miranda Lambert, who pretty much sang everything perfectly, every time. Tone, pitch, phrasing, just spot on every time. That's pretty rare. One last one that comes to mind is Lee Ann Womack's voice. She has such a pure and beautiful voice and her southern accent is really ideal for country music.’

 The lack of industry support that many artists are exposed to these days often results in meagre pickings making survival as a professional artist more perilous than ever. Wilber’s laid back and relaxed persona is in contradiction to an artist that appears to have nailed down the survival formula better than most. ‘Ha-ha. I guess it depends on your definition of “survive”. I think you just have to find your own way to solve that puzzle. There are lots of different ways to do it, and plenty of artists out there are making a living. So clearly it can be done. It's not easy, but if it was easy everyone would be doing it’ 

The standard of artists currently residing and recording in Nashville is staggering. Many of these artists have been onstage with Wilber while on tour with John Prine. Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, John Mooreland, Dan Auerbach, Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell particularly come to mind. Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price have made somewhat unlikely industry breakthroughs in recent years despite the mounting hurdles.  Has the door finally been opened for Americana type artists to reach much wider audiences I enquired. ‘Maybe, that would be nice. I started listening to Joe Ely back in the early '80's and he'd been making records since the '70's. There were lots of other artists I started listening to back in the '80's like Los Lobos, Lone Justice, The Plimsoles, to name a few. This is before Americana was a genre, it was called roots rock back then, or some artists were called cow punk. I couldn't understand why those artists weren't as popular as the Top 40 acts on the radio. Fast forward 30 years and it hasn't changed a whole bunch. It's better now, in the sense that there are alternative outlets for Americana artists to be heard. And you can find almost anything on the internet. But the main stream music is still something else. So to use your analogy; there is a door open, but it's not front door’

Wilber will be playing a full programme of dates on the upcoming tour of Ireland, some with John Prine and also solo gigs at venues from one end of the country to the other. From spraying note perfect guitar licks in sold out theatres as a band member to performing solo with a smaller audience unassisted. I could not resist questioning which of the two roles is more demanding. ‘Ha-ha. That's kind of a loaded question. In this case, neither one is pressurized. Pressure mainly is a result of being unprepared for the situation, and/or working with people who are difficult. Fortunately, I am well prepared and working with fun people, so all the gigs should be a blast. I'm looking forward to it!’

Interview by Declan Culliton

Courtney Marie Andrews Interview

"When I was a teenager I got wrapped up into some very shady business deals, and felt I was taken advantage of as a young woman by a label’’ explains Courtney Marie Andrews while considering how her sixth album Honest Life has finally propelled the native of Phoenix Arizona to the business end of the music industry.  The album, released earlier this year in the UK, (2016 in The States) is already being hailed as an album of the year in many quarters and rightly so given the quality of the material and song writing. It positively overflows with hurt, emotion, rejection and isolation as Andrews simply pours her heart out, reliving her life experiences of the last decade. It’s a body of work that recalls Joni Mitchell’s Blue in many ways, but more of that later.

The encounters packed into her early career and the endless touring as a young artist involved heartbreak, isolation, relationship breakups and a lot of homesickness. It is difficult to highlight any particular tracks on Honest Life given the overall excellence throughout but Not The End and How Quickly Your Heart Mends are simply classic love lost songs and Table For One is the most candid and honest portrayal imaginable of life on the road as a solo artist.

Its impact has given Andrews considerable media exposure, particularly in Europe, including a recent appearance on Later with Jools.  At the end of 2016 American Songwriter voted How Quickly Your Heart Mends as their No.4 song of the year.

''Honest Life definitely came from personal place. They sometimes twist the truth, but the original thoughts are very close to my heart. Personal experience is inevitable, so it’s important to be observant and empathetic enough to be able to connect the dots to your writing’’ she confesses. The album was self-produced by Andrews at Litho Studios in Seattle with the assistance of engineer Floyd Reitsma. "My trust in the industry was scarred for several years, and I was convinced that I had to do it on my own. The first few times I attempted to record Honest Life, I mostly had a bunch of older men telling me how I should sound, so that it will "sell." That really hurt me, and at the end of the day I wanted to do it my way, with my friends. My vision was clear for the album so it was easier to take the producer seat''

How long was the album in the making and was the intention to achieve a late 60’s breezy sound to the album or did that simply develop in the studio I wondered. "It probably has that sound because a lot of the album was recorded very much live, with little to no modern production tricks. I was focused more on the band getting a great take, then I was fixing it in mixing. A lot of these songs dropped into my lap fully formed. It’s so nice when that happens. I wrote them over a course of a few months. I wrote three of the songs in one day, Honest Life, Put the Fire Out and Rookie Dreaming. Regret and yearning feature quite strongly in a number of the songs."

Speaking like an industry veteran it’s difficult to fathom that she is only 26 years of age. Her early career reads like the ideal text book apprenticeship for any musician. While still in her early teenage years she was writing songs, touring as a busker at the age of sixteen and soon progressing to recording, performing and also working as a touring band member.  The tours included back up vocalist with Arizona rock band Jimmy Eat World and playing guitar as part of Damien Jurado’s touring band, an experience that seemed to be immensely influential on her solo career.

"I met Damien while living in Seattle. I opened up a few shows of his around town, then also opened one of his European tours. We hit it off, and he was fun and easy to tour with. When his next record cycle rolled around he asked me to be a part of the band. I was elated! He’s really fun to play for because he allows for so much creativity within the frame of a performance." Listening to her debut album No One’s Slate Is Clean, recorded when she was barely out of her teens, it seems unthinkable that it did not expose her to a wide audience back then. Asked how she considers that album today even though it’s quite similar in style and quality to her latest album you are left in no doubt that she has moved on career wise and is not in the habit of glancing over her shoulder. "Once I’m finished with a record, I usually put it away. I don’t think I’ve listened to No One’s Slate in over 3 or 4 years. It’s sort of like reading old diary entries. You usually are very critical of your past self, and that goes for music as well."

On her success in making a considerable mark in Europe she enthuses "Europe is definitely more immediately receptive to good music. Since there is so much ground to cover in The States, you sort of have to beat listeners over the head with it. Someone needs to shout at them, "HEY THIS IS GOOD, LISTEN."

Scheduled to play four dates in Ireland later in the year in Dublin, Belfast and two appearances at The Harvest Country Music Festival in Sligo and Enniskillen I was more than surprised to see her named among the artists performing at Harvest and her quite often being hailed as the next country music starlet given that her music is unlike the vast majority of artists listed to play that festival. So how does the country music tag sit with her. "I love country music, but I never was shooting for that label. It’s easy for listeners to use that as a way of describing music, so I get it. It’s just, I’ve always been much more influenced by songwriters who explore a wide range of songs, sonic influences, and structures. I’m not sure people will label me country after they hear the albums that are to come. It’s more fun to be a songwriter who writes all types of songs, ‘cause then you can do whatever the hell you want."

Andrews is already at the early stages of her next album which she expects will be somewhat of a departure sonically but hopefully with songs equally as strong as those on Honest Life.  Thanking her for taking the time to talk and noting how much we are looking forward to her Dublin gig it’s difficult not to ask her if a similar young songwriter in the 60’s named Joni Mitchell was a primary influence. "Of course, I love Joni. Every budding songwriter should study up on Joni. She’s up there in the “Tower of Song,” as Cohen wrote of Hank (Williams Sr).’’

Interview by Declan Culliton    Photograph by Susy Sundborg.

Interview with Jade Jackson

Jade Jackson is a Californian country singer/songwriterwho grew up in the small town of Santa Margarita, where her parents owned a restaurant. Both were enthusiastic music fans, and she grew up on a diverse diet of solid country from the likes of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams as well as influential UK indie artists like The Smiths and The Cure. On completing high school she had amassed more than 300 songs. However after a failed record deal she turned to drugs and crime and subsequently served a prison sentence before returning to music. While performing in a small coffee shop she was spotted by the wife of Social Distortion’s Mike Ness who was equally taken with her songs and agreed to produce her debut album Gilded. Lonesome Highway caught up with her in a break from her tour to support the album’s release.

You have written that the first concert you attended, without your parent, was a Social Distortion concert, Was their combination of punk with country elements a roadsign to future direction?

Social Distortion always stood out to me amongst other punk bands because of all the early country music I was raised on. As a fan of both early country and punk music, I was always aware of the common threads between the two. I definitely heard more of the country music influences in Mike’s solo stuff which I’ve always loved as well.

Mike Ness’ two solo albums were standout combinations of the combined genre. Were you aware of them before you worked with Mike?

Yes, I was very aware of them! They were played in my household just as often as the Social Distortion albums.

You were given the task of listening to Car Wheels On A Gravel Road before going into the studio. What did you learn from that and were you worried that it might overtly influence your performance? 

Mike gave me that record before I knew he wanted to produce my album. I fully submerged myself in the songs and fell in love with them before he suggested we use Car Wheels On A Gravel Road as a template for my own. It influenced me organically and became a point of reference that enhanced the communication between Mike and I in the studio.

The link between the honesty of punk and real country music, in terms of portraying real life, has been noted. Who were the bands and writers who most influenced you growing up?

The Gun Club, The Smiths, Buck Owens, The Pogues, Bruce Springsteen, Gram Parsons, The Violent Femmes, Ray Price, Social Distortion, Mike Ness, Hank Williams, George Jones, Cowboy Junkies, Mazzy Star, The Cure, Townes Van Zandt, Neko Case, Bob Dylan, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Rolling Stones, early Guns N Roses, Bright Eyes, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Robert Johnson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash, etc.

When you worked in your parent’s restaurant you began writing lyrics in your down time. Were lyrics, literature and poetry something that interested you for a long time before you began to write yourself?

Yes, I would open the CD booklets to memorize or copy down lyrics all over my notebooks, my arms, my clothes, etc. As a young kid I loved both listening to and telling stories; poetry was my favorite subject in school.

This is your first album and your first real touring experience. Where they what you expected?

I prayed about being able to tour and dreamed about releasing an album on a record label for a very long time. These are goals I am so thankful to have reached!

That life on the road isn’t easy is something that you have noted but that you like that it wasn’t easy. Is that still the case?

I'm open to whatever hardships, sacrifices or challenges that may come with life on the road. On our last tour I found that the difficulties made me stronger and I look forward to the lessons to be learned in the years ahead.

A lot of touring musicians find kit hard to maintain relationships while constantly gigging. Is that something that you take as part and parcel of the musician’s life or do you try to find something more?

I don't want to cap myself off from the possibilities of finding love or a connection. As a songwriter, relationships can be very inspiring. However, I will admit, this is something that took me a long time and a lot of lonely nights to realize.

What are the primary sources of your writing and does being able to travel broaden that perspective?

I get most of my inspiration from imagining the world through somebody else's eyes. Traveling and seeing new things definitely adds to that but the trick is finding the quiet time to be able to sit with my guitar and write.

The album is a very strong open statement of intent. Are you looking forward to recording again or is it too early to consider that right now?

I'm really looking forward to getting back in the studio. I write fairly frequently, so I have lots of material.

With the mainstream clogged up, for the most part, with pop and edm influenced production values. What do you see as the future for a more traditionally influenced strand of country music?

I have no idea. Most of the country artists I listen to are my own records. There are some current artists I love like Jason Isbell or Sturgill Simpson who are becoming more popular which is exciting!

How does Europe feature in your plans?

I'm hoping to tour in Europe as soon as possible!

How much has your immediate family influenced your musical choices?

I've always been really tight with my immediate family, they're my best friends. Because I looked up to my dad so much, I paid attention to his taste in music. I went from saying I loved the same music he did just so I could be like him without truly having developed the appreciation yet, to actually having the music affect me directly and letting it change my life. Their support and encouragement gave me the confidence to follow my heart in music.

You are treading your own musical path now. Where do you think it will take you in the future?

I'm not sure. But I'm so hungry for where I think it can take me.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Amanda Anne Platt of the Honeycutters Interview

Amanda Ann Platt has fronted the North Carolina based band through five albums. The last three released on the Organic label. They are a band who are influenced by classic singer/songwriters and artists who would loosely have been called country in the past but now fall under the Americana umbrella. However as the main writer, singer and producer in the band she has decided for this latest release to use her own name in front of that of the Honeycutters. The music, judging from the last three albums, has been critically acclaimed and they have built a deserved solid following in the US and they hope to tour in the UK later in the year. Lonesome Highway caught up with Amanda recently and had the opportunity to put some questions to her.

After the previous relays it must have been liberating but also a little trepidatious to move from having The Honeycutters name out front now using your name?

Yes, trepidatious is a good word. I'm not particularly extroverted by nature, which is one reason I have always felt safer using a band name rather than my own. But it's something that has come up with every release, and now that I am the only original member (in addition to writing all the songs and singing them) I feel like it makes the most sense. We've had a lot of nice words of support from fans so I'm easing into it. 

As a writer are you continuously collecting ideas, titles and lines or do you have to specifically set aside a period of time and quiet to write for an album?

Constantly collecting. Our process before hitting the studio is one of narrowing down from a list of songs that I'm proposing for the album ... sometimes as many as thirty. Writing is a coping mechanism for me, so it's hard to imagine going months of the year without doing it. 

It's how I make sense of what I see in the world. I don't write a lot about the bigger stuff, politics and world events. It's more about processing the small moments I see-- the little comedies and tragedies of everyday life.

Growing up who and what were your influences that set you down this path?

My parents listened to a lot of classic country, blues, and bluegrass when I was small. Despite being born in the eighties I knew very little of pop radio until I was a teenager. We never had it on at home. My dad has an epic record collection of the aforementioned genres plus sixties and seventies rock and the Texas songwriters of those decades. They met and married in Austin in the seventies so they were strongly influenced by that scene. I think it rubbed off on me.

What sort of ambitions did you and do you now hold for a musical career. How important is ambition?

I think ambition is very important. With social media and internet streaming the scene is more crowded than ever, so you have to want it. That being said, I've never had a real clear vision of where this is going other than that I want to be able to keep doing it. My career has been a lot of small, logical steps, and if we carry on this way I'm fine with that. Just put the mic in front of me and I'll sing my songs.  

To get to this point you must have put a lot of miles on the clock gigging and recording. What have been the highpoint and the low points to date?

Ahahahahaha. OK let's start with the high points ... the first time we sold out a The Grey Eagle in our home town (Asheville, NC). Opening for Billy Joe Shaver was amazing. Sitting at Guy Clark's kitchen table eating oatmeal while he smoked cigarettes and talked songwriting. The low points? Our van breaking down on the last day of a two month tour, out in Montana. Going through a breakup on the road sucks too. 

Does the climate of what’s happening in the world effect your viewpoints?

Of course. I feel a lot of fear these days, as I think many are. It's an interesting time to be an American, which is the only perspective I can really claim, but I imagine it could be said that it's just an interesting time to be a human. I have some strong opinions but I try to focus, at least in my songwriting, on things that unite us rather than divide us. Rather than rage against someone who I think is wrong, I'd rather establish common ground and then see if we can't get to the bottom of what we're disagreeing about. I think that's the most powerful way to change someone's mind. 

What was it about this music that drew you in in the first place?

Honesty. It's not that I don't like pop music ... I do get into some of it. But I think that if someone can make you feel something with nothing but their words and a melody, that's a very special thing to experience. 

Over a period of time you have had some changes in the line-up of the Honeycutters. Is it a problem keeping platers together?

Not necessarily. There have been two major incarnations of the band, pre 2013 and post 2013. That change over had more to do with a romantic breakup and falling out. Since 2013 we've only had one person leave the band. Musical relationships are complicated, sometimes they end without a lot of closure. But that's part of making art together, I think.  

How do the economics of recording and travel effect the range and possibilities of what the band could do?

More than I'd like to admit. As a five (sometimes six) piece band we can't afford to do a lot of the gigs that say a duo or trio might be able to swing. I also have always been a firm believer in guaranteeing my band a certain amount. None of them are kids any more (not throwing them under the bus, neither am I!), they have families and mortgages and I would hate for them to be losing money playing with me. So we end up turning down some stuff because I can't afford to get us there and pay the band too. It does hold us back a bit. But I think it also keeps us happy and fed ... I love having the full band, I'm not very interested in doing the duo thing anymore. 

Of your own songs which ones are you especially proud of?

Hmmm. I love Marie, off our first album. Me Oh My, off the album by the same name. Blue Besides, from the On The Ropes album, as well as Barmaid's Blues. And off our new one I think my favourite might be Eden. I don't know though. That changes. A lot of the ones I really feel proud of we haven't recorded for one reason or another. I just like it when I can sing something every night and feel like I still believe it, like the words don't get less true.  

As co-producer of the album how do you achieve the sound that you want for an album?

Honestly the band has a lot to do with it. We have a lot of similar sensibilities, we love warm seventies tones. This time around we listened to all our previous records and picked out our favourite drum sound, guitar tone, vocals, etc. I'm not sure that we ever nail it - it's a constant pursuit. But it keeps us on our toes.

You have a team around you for management, radio and PR etc. Is that a vital part of survival in this day and age.

It is for me! I'm scatter brained and prone to fits of laziness. It's much easier for me to finish a song than it is to write an email. And for the promotional stuff, who wants to do that for themselves? It's much easier to say glowing things about someone else than it is to promote yourself, I think. 

Are physical sales the main part of how you sell or has the download (and streaming services) also played a major part?

I think in recent years we've seen it tip towards the streaming side of things. But we do sell a lot of physical product at shows and off our website. 

Finally, where are you happiest on stage or in the studio?

On stage, definitely. I love the studio but nothing beats the energy that comes from having all the players on stage, and an audience. That's connection. Nothing beats it. And I love my band!!! Did I already say that? They're incredible. And nice people too. It's a gift to be able to travel and make music with your best friends.

Interview by Stephen Rapid   Photograph by Eliza Schweizbach

The Americans Interview

This Los Angeles trio (usually accompanied by drummer) play rock ’n’ roll that has its roots in the past and is sighted firmly on the future. They come with some heavy duty endorsements. T Bone Burnett is quoted as saying “Genius twenty-first century musicians that are reinventing American heritage music for this century. And it sounds even better this century." While noted critic Greil Marcus stated on his encounter with the band’s music that "From the first rolling guitar notes, carrying sadness and defiance like dust, this sweeps me up: I want to know everything about where that feeling came from, and where it's going." To date they have released two EP’s First Recordings and The Right Stuff and a single I’ll Be Yours. The latter two by London-based label Loose Music. They made their Irish debut at the Kilkenny Roots Festival which is where Lonesome Highway caught up with lead singer Patrick Ferris.

The first question was about the origin of their name as it could be construed in many different ways as, indeed, it would if a local band from these shores decided to use the moniker “The Irish.” The explanation made more sense in context as Ferris explained that the name was taken from the book of photographs by Robert Frank that was first published in 1958 and showed everyday Americans going about their lives and looking both ordinary and extra ordinary at the same time. The band’s music explores a similar path and observation of life, love and its strange logic. Ferris felt that what had set the book apart at the time was that it wasn’t political but rather captured moments in people’s lives and that the band’s material was also biographical with snapshots of people going about their lives.

Ferris also elaborated on the connection with Burnett explaining that that they had crossed paths with the producer on a number of occasions as they were both LA based. “ We worked on a soundtrack first and he also sometimes curates a stage at a festival and he got is involved and then we worked on the American Epic TV show. We didn’t know he was involved when we started but we ran into him onset.” Burnett also joined the band onstage at The Station Inn when they played there during the AMAs. “He showed up about 5 minutes before we went on and played us a new song of his and said he wanted us to back him up, so we learnt it really quick (laughs).” 

The band are hoping to release their debut album in the next month or two. The recoding experience was not necessarily an easy one it would seems as Ferris explained “There was way too much at stake, especially these days when there’s not as much money in the music industry as there once was. Gone are the days, at least for bands like us were you can spend months on end working on arrangements and things in the studio.” They were working in Northern California for a two week period before going in to the studio and so they already had the songs for a long time and they were worked out prior to recording. They had thought about such details as finalising the arrangements and working out how certain guitars should sound at a particular point in a song. They approached it in a very logistical way reasoning that the more time they could save on such factors meant they could us the studio time more productively. They ended up recording the album in 8 days. “We really had to focus and get two songs done a day.” However in the process they also added some new songs that they hadn’t finished yet and so ended up working on them the night before they were recorded. The studio, Prairie Sun in Cotati, was an old chicken ranch that still had resident chickens was one that was conducive to work and full of equipment that suited the band. 

The band recorded the material in a live setting. “It’s important to us as we have never done it in a different way.” Although Ferris noted that he had heard good records done in a single track layered way it was not the way that The Americans record. “There’s two things you get, doing it together, the feel of the band playing together, which is very hard to imitate, as well as the mix between the drums and the amps.That live in the room feel.” That ambience, he felt, were the microphones pick up other sounds in the room was something that adds an excitement to the overall sound.  

In terms of the songwriting the breakdown is that the band work together on the music while Ferris writes all the words, though on occasion he writes both. “I tend to write certain kinds of songs on my own. Sometimes I’ll bring those in finished. If they’re more unfinished I’ll bring them in and we work on them together.” Ferris is not an on-the-road writer he explained other than writing little snippets and that he only really writes when is at home and disciplines himself to sit down and focus. “The only way for me to do it is to kick my own ass for weeks on end and force myself to do something that I don’t really feel like doing.” He finds that often a song comes from finding the right syllable rather than the right word. Finding a sound that works and then working out how that will affect the actual songwriting, that the right syllable has to work even if the line is good. “The open endless of a line can mean something important to someone and that’s a powerful tool.”    

The influences that Ferris mentions were important to him growing up was pre-war country-blues, something that they all got excited about when they were in high school. In terms of songwriting he names Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joanna Newsome as primary sources. He explained that the members had some common family links even though he was living in San Francisco and the other were in LA. “We had family friends in common and used to go and visit and I got to know Zac and Jake that way.” When he was in San Francisco Ferris was pretty much on his own in terms of the music he liked to listen to. He also meet players who stuck rigidly to their notion of how the much should be played and he wondered if there was a similar trend in Ireland. “In LA a lot of old-time fiddlers and guitarists who had a level of commitment to the old records that I hadn’t heard before while people today have this laser focus on these old records that means they want nothing to do with reinterpreting it they just want to honour it.” Which is that vexed oft-raised question of authenticity again. He found those players illuminating but also made him realise that that was not what he wanted to do himself. Those bands that strived to recreate the look and feel of an earlier era needed to be as good as those they emulated in order to validate what they were doing he felt. “That’s a tall order.”

Along with these initial Irish dated The Americans are playing their first European dates though they had played a one-off date in Berlin previously. “I’m wondering if people happen to like us or if they like everybody - but either way people have been very enthusiastic, I hope that’s because they thought that we were special (laughs).” Ferris thought that their dates in Europe has audiences that were free of a kind of cynicism that often accompanies a band playing rock ’n’ roll in the States. “After a time rock ’n’ roll became less of a cool concept and more like a franchise idea, or like your Dad’s music or something.”  

The Americans are beginning to define their own take on rock ’n’ roll and what it might mean to them and to their audience. Looking for, as their current EP title suggests, “the right stuff.” With a growing number of those who want to fly their flag it shouldn’t be that long before these Americans are having something of the impact that Franks photographs had in defining a point in time.

 Interview By Stephen Rapid and Declan Culliton   Photography by Kaethe Burt-O'Dea

Holly Macve Interview

Holly Macve’s debut album Golden Eagle, released earlier this year, made quite an impression in the music press including Lonesome Highway, being hailed as one of the most impressive debut albums of 2017. Praise indeed for the twenty-one-year-old Galway-born UK resident who appeared at SXSW in March of this year and was credited by the New York Times as one of the twelve most notable acts at the festival. Macve took time out from her hectic touring schedule to chat with us in advance of her appearances at the Kilkenny Roots Festival.

Appearing at SXSW in 2016 and earlier this year, two years in succession, is an incredible achievement for a solo artist of your age out of the UK! 

Yes, I guess I was pretty lucky with that…! SXSW is a great festival to meet and gain connections with other people in the industry. You never know who is going to be at your show watching. It could be someone who becomes really important in your career. I was at the right place at the right time during a couple of my shows for sure.

The positive exposure you have received in the past twelve months seems to have generated an intense touring regime for you. Are you taking it in your stride or does it create its own pressures?

I’m really enjoying it so far, I used to be quite an anxious person and worry a lot but touring seems to actually help me to just take every day as it comes and not have any expectations. Maybe someday I’ll get sick of it but right now it’s pretty cool getting to travel and visit loads of places I never knew existed.

Does touring give you the space to continue writing while on the road or do you require solitude and a more peaceful environment to be inspired?

I need to be solitary. I’m quite a deep thinker when I am alone and touring doesn't always allow me the space to have big, silly existential thoughts (which tends to be important for my songwriting). I also start to panic a bit when I haven't written a song for a while so that’s where I may run into problems with touring in the future … I’ll need to make sure I leave lots of gaps.

Your album Golden Eagle has succeeded in striking a chord with audiences and reviewers of all ages. Is that a surprise to you?

It’s not something I have thought about a lot … but I’m glad that it does seem to! My Grandma’s a big fan, that makes me happy.

Old time blues, country and jazz all sit comfortably together on the album. Were these musical influences that you were exposed to growing up?

Absolutely. My mum’s record collection consisted of all of these. lots of Big Bill Bronzy, Hank Williams and Billie Holiday. She has great taste and taught me a lot of what I know.

How would you personally describe your music?

I sort of hate answering that question because I think it varies a lot from song to song. Whenever I get asked I say Alternative Country/Folk. Something like that! Let me know if you have a more interesting way of describing it! I sometimes think my way sounds a bit boring.

The opening track on the album White Bridge features the lines "I looked at the world with different eyes," which in many ways speaks volumes and captures, for me, much of what the album is about. How aware were you when writing the songs that the material, vocal delivery and playing are in fact quite unique?

I wasn’t really aware at all. I’m still not! They’re just songs that came out of me at that particular time. I was going through quite a lot and had many dark/ sad thoughts going on in my head. Writing is a way for me to release that and turn it in to something positive that hopefully other people can relate to also.

Your vocal style and delivery is quite unique. Did you study voice and music formally?

I never had vocal lessons, it’s just what comes out really. My mums record collection that I mentioned earlier probably helped influence it too. I was obsessed with singing from a very young age though. Often I would find myself rewinding certain parts of songs when I liked the way it was sung and listen to it over and over again. That was some sort of studying I guess …!

Your live solo performances exude the confidence of an artist that has been performing on stage for decades with the ability to silence the room from your first note. Are you totally relaxed when performing live?

Ah, Thank you very much. Yeah - I’m getting there! It’s definitely something that grows with time and experience though I’m sure I have a lot to learn still.

Are you more at home performing solo and in complete control or with a band?

Last year I found an amazing group of musicians to work with and there’s certainly a lot more fun to be had playing/travelling with a band. I think initially I was a little worried and cautious of the idea of playing with a band as it wasn't something I had done a lot of but I was lucky and came across the right people so it worked out pretty good. I do still love doing little intimate gigs on my own too though.

I’m really interested to hear what music you are currently listening to?

There’s a guy called Will Stratton who supported me on my headline tour a few weeks back. I got to listen to him every night during that time which I enjoyed very much! He’s great, I recommend checking him out.

You know that when you are performing in the UK promoters will describe you as a young lady from Brighton whereas in Ireland you will be "Galway born Holly Macve"! Had you visited or spent any time in Ireland during your childhood?

Unfortunately, not. I moved away from Galway when I was just a baby and haven’t managed to go back there yet. I feel quite a strong connection to the country and also to traditional Irish folk music though. Whilst I was being born we had Martin Hayes playing on a tape in the background, his music still always makes me feel very calm and at home.

The Kilkenny Roots Festival over the years has made a habit of featuring acts before their major commercial breakthrough. Jason Isbell, Alabama Shakes and Angel Olson particularly come to mind. Will we be adding Holly Macve to that eminent list?

Who knows! I’m very much looking forward to it either way. 

Interview by Declan Culliton

Peter Bruntnell Interview

It would be difficult to describe singer songwriter Peter Bruntnell’s music any more accurately  than NME did when they wrote "Peter Bruntnell’s music should be taught in schools." His albums and live shows have been highly regarded by Lonesome Highway for many years and he continues to be regarded in the music industry as one of the finest UK artists of his time. Son Volt, Richmond Fontaine and Kathleen Edwards all had him support them on tour, an indication of how he is also regarded by his musical peers. Unassuming and humble, he is more likely to highlight other artists and their work in conversation rather than dwell on his own considerable output. Peter is the type of guy that you’d love to sit down with, have a beer and talk music. Which is precisely what Lonesome Highway did recently when he made one of his regular trips to Ireland.

How many years into your career at this stage?

My daughters twenty two now, so twenty two years at it now.

Easier or more difficult nowadays?

Actually, it’s easier. I was just sitting at the bar here in Cleeres (Kilkenny) with a pint of Guinness (laughs)  and I thought to myself this being the first date of the tour, I’m so glad that I’m playing in Ireland regularly now, thanks to promoter Willie Meighan and Clive Barnes. I’m not just saying this but it’s probably my favourite place in the world to play, here and Northern Spain which I’ve just played and love.

Was an early career ambition of yours for your music be heard in America?

No, I didn’t think that far ahead. America is so vast, in order to do anything there you have to have a big marketing team and trying to make it there for me would be impossible.

Is that why so many American Americana acts target Europe?

Yes, much easier for them to be heard over here and get tours that can pay.

You were well ahead of the posse in your condemnation of Donald Trump with the opening track of your current album Mr. Sunshine!

I really don’t know, most people I know think he’s pretty despicable. When I wrote that song he wasn’t even running for President. I was just writing it from the perspective of the poor Scottish people that got displaced from their homes and next minutes he’s President of The United States! It’s not exactly great is it (laughs).

I was very impressed to read that the album Nos Da Comrades was recorded in your home studio. Tell me about the process?

Well, we created a studio in the local village hall in Devon which I hired for £120 for a week. We set up and did all the drums, bass and electric guitar there. I went in there with two players and we tracked all the songs and got all the drums, bass and my guitar down in a week. I then did all the over dubs in my studio in my own house. I got James Walbourne and Dave Little to come down and play some electric guitar and that was about it. The album took about three years to write from the first song.

Has the Americana UK umbrella been helpful career wise for you as an artist?

Well I’ve been doing what’s now called Americana for quite a while, back to when it was called alternative country in the early days of Uncle Tupelo and then Son Volt and Wilco. It’s not a bad thing to be part of because there are folk that are sympathetic to that genre in different towns and will book you so it’s been healthy for me and very good. There was a time that I got a bit fed up with that tag but I have to say now that it’s been beneficial really.  I got nominated as album of the year by the association so that can only be good for my career. Similarly, the Americana Music Association in Nashville has taken off in recent years, I played it a few years back and was supposed to play it again in 2016 but couldn’t afford it. There’s a funding programme in the UK from the PRS and when I played there a few years ago it was great. I had Mike Heidorn on drums, the original Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt drummer, and Dave Boquist the original Son Volt guitar player was on bass for me and it was tremendous but I had the funding from the BRS. I was invited in 2016 but the PRS won’t support the same act twice so I then tried to organise some gigs to cover the cost. I got a few but it wasn’t going to cover it. My wife wanted me to use some of our savings to go which was really sweet of her but I couldn’t justify it to go and do maybe only one gig.

The Son Volt connection goes back a while, you mentioned James Walbourne when we chatted earlier who has played in your band and Son Volt. How did the connection materialise?

It happened because in the 90’s I played a festival in Hamburg called The Hurricane Festival. Son Volt   were my favourite band at that time and for quite a while before that. It just so happened that they were on after me on the same stage so I got to meet them and more astonishingly their crew liked my set which was the biggest turning point in my career. Before that I was under pressure from my record company to be somebody or play a certain way as record companies do, putting pressure on young artists or artists young to the business. I wasn’t that young but pretty new to the industry, having released my second album. Son Volt liking my stuff and then meeting them gave me such a boost and when they played their UK tour their guitar tech got in touch I was asked to support them on their five dates. Once I did that tour I became friends with them.  I then did a deal with Rycodisc to make a record in Boston and I asked the record company guy if he could get pedal steel player Eric Heywood and Dave Boquist the guitar player to play on the album. They thought that was a really good idea but I was basically too shy to approach them personally so the record company made the approach and it all happened. James Walbourne is one of my best friends, he’s doing fantastic with The Rails and just back from America playing with The Pretenders opening for Stevie Nicks. 

I was interested to hear your influences as a young guy, prog music and rock music being very much your choice of listening in the mid to late 70’s

Yes, I loved Genesis, still do (laughs). Foxtrot is a favourite album for me. I was in 5th Form at the time and listening to Thin Lizzy and Van Halen and the rock thing. I didn’t actually get the new wave thing at the time, thought it was a bit raw for my musical taste at the time.

Comparisons are often made with your song writing and that of Elvis Costello. Was he an influence?

Not really, I only bought The Best of Elvis Costello last year after I’d written the new album! I think perhaps the music has all come from the same place hasn’t it, a bit of soul with some Kinks and Beatles so you could say his influences were similar to mine. Writing this new album my influences were actually mid 60’s Kinks and The Who.

The album Nos Da Comrades released last year received such positive reviews. How did that reflect in actual sales and getting more punters to your shows?

It’s done as well as well as any album I’ve put out and I suppose that’s good because I decided I was going to be the record label for the album which I thought might earn me some more money. So, I did a distribution deal with a company in the UK and looked after the rest myself, trying to get airplay and all that. Considering that I didn’t have any marketing budget at all I’m pleased at how it has done and that people seem to like it. 

How difficult is it to get Radio airplay in the UK?

Well it is for me. I can only speak from my experience. You know what it’s like, if you pay a plugger to try and get your record on the radio you can throw five to seven thousand pounds at it and still come up with nothing. I just can’t do that, don’t have that kind of money knocking around and I know the likes of Bob Harris well enough to e-mail him. I don’t do too badly but it’s so hard without a huge marketing budget to get anywhere.

You’ve worked with Clive Barnes both in Ireland and the UK. How did that relationship develop?

That came about because I played with Clive in Kilkenny at The Rollercoaster Record Store Day about three years ago. I was just about to play a UK tour with Jeff Finlan and was driving to Cork with Clive and we were playing some of Jeff’s music in the car and Clive suggested we do a trio tour and I was up for it. Jeff thought it was a great idea so it ended up with me and those two guys in a car, touring around, having a great time and basically just happy to be given a chance to play somewhere.

Was the tour a singer songwriters circle format?

No it’s wasn’t. I thought it was going to be that way but they didn’t want to do that for some reason (laughs). So the format was, one night play I’d first, Clive did a set in the middle and Jeff played last and the next night we’d reverse it. Clive played guitar with both of us of course. I liked to play first and when I’d finished go to the bar, have a pint and watch their sets! The problem being on last is that I had  to follow Jeff and he’s really good and when he’s rocking he has a bit of Lou Reed attitude about him which is so cool, he’s fantastic I really love and respect what he does.

You’ve relocated to quite a rural setting it the UK. Is that environment inspirational in terms of your song writing having moved from London?

I don’t really know, possibly not. It’s a different scene where I’m living now. When I lived in London I’d meet up with James ( Walbourne) and we’d head up to The Borderline and watch the American bands that were coming over all the time, The Bottle Rockets, Chuck Prophet and people like that. I can’t do that now, the best I might get is a dodgy pub band locally. The scene has changed in London now though with not as much on offer. We used get acts worth seeing every week at The Borderline and in a small acoustic club at the back Andy’s guitar shop, not like that so much anymore. You guys are so lucky over here in Dublin and Kilkenny, great pub music, great Guinness, friendly people who come out to gigs in the middle of the week. In the UK, outside London, you can forget about getting people out to gigs Monday to Thursday. That’s why I love playing over here so much.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Jim Miller Interview

Jim Miller talks about Western Centuries

Western Centuries debut album The Weight of The World featured in Lonesome Highway’s review of their favourite albums of 2016. The band are essentially a collaboration of three singer songwriters and blue grassers, Cahalen Morrison, Jim Miller and Ethan Lawton. They hooked up with pedal steel player Rusty Blake and bassist Dan Lowinger to form the band and seemlessly recreate the classic country / roots crossover sound perfected by The Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers nearly five decades ago. Lonesome Highway spoke with Jim Miller (co-founder of Donna The Buffalo) to get the history behind the formation of this super group in advance of their first visit to Ireland.

Where did the motivation come from to form Western Centuries?

We’re all bluegrass and old time country players so we actually started jamming together informally you know, traditional bluegrass stuff because all of us have been playing that all out lives. At that time Cahalen and Ethan had some original songs so we decided to see what the songs sounded like with bass and drums. We evolved from there but we didn’t take it too seriously at first. It was great fun so last year we thought, why not go ahead and take it a bit further.

Tell me about the Country Hammer project which featured Cahalen, yourself and Ethan and how it evolved into Western Centuries?

I’ve always loved singing traditional country songs and Cahalen grew up in rural New Mexico and his parents are big time country music fans. He had written lots of country songs but hadn’t gotten around to recording them and asked me if I’d like to help him. I said sure, but it wasn’t as if we were going to be a touring band. So, he had about twelve songs to put down on that record and I was just a side kick, they were all his songs. That basically was Country Hammer, it was put out but we didn’t tour with it, was more like a fun thing but we got a really good response. Ethan had his songs too,  I had played all my life as a backup guy which I didn’t want to be anymore, I wanted to be part of the creative side of things though I’d never written a song before. So I started writing too and we decided collaborate for the Western Centuries record. It was actually my first attempt at song writing. 

With three songwriters contributing to the album were the songs previously written and in cold storage or did you all write specifically for the album?

For me I wrote them for the album. For Cahalen and Ethan a kind of a mix, they had some in cold storage that they hadn’t tried in a country format and other ones they just wrote for that record. The fun thing is that now as we are working on songs for our next record when someone comes up with a great song it inspires us all, you think oh my god, I have to come up with an equally good song, which is a challenge but it’s fun. I can’t imagine being faced with having to write thirteen songs myself to put out a solo record!

Does that suggest that having three songwriters in the band is more  of a motivator  than ego crippling?

Absolutely, all three of us are inspired by each other. Ethan listens to Caribbean music and Cahalen listens to straight country and I don’t listen to much country at all, more Wilco and r’n’b and that kind of stuff. That pushes us in different directions which is exciting.

Are all of the band based in Seattle?

No. Cahalen and Ethan are based in Seattle, I live about sixty miles north of New York City on the Hudson river, our bass player Dan Lowinger is from Ashville North Carolina and our pedal steel player Rusty Blake is from Nashville. Four different locations across the country. I actually met Cahalen in Seattle, my wife was working there in grad school and I was just tagging along. We met at this party called Fuck Winter. The winter’s in Seattle can be very similar to what I think you guys have, never ending drizzle, so they have this annual party in January, it’s a jamming bluegrass party. I heard about it and went along and right enough it was jamming and drizzle that never stopped (laughs)

The album manages to maintain a consistency throughout even with the shared responsibilities. Was that your agenda or did it occur due to the compatibility between you?

It was our agenda but we weren’t sure that it would work. We were nervous about it but it seems from the reviews that it did work, though I can’t exactly say why. We really enjoy working together and maybe that comes out and also the addition of the pedal steel and the fiddle adds another dimension to the songs. Because we are all blue grassers we are way big on the vocals and we wanted three part vocals for the big choruses which has something to do with it as well 

Your own compositions, I’m thinking in particular of Rock Salt and The Long Game, very much recall the sound of The Band. Were they an influence on you as a young musician?

They are my favourite band of all time though I wasn’t consciously writing songs that sounded like them but somehow I must have created that sound because people keep bringing that up. if I want to listen to music in my car it’s always the Band and Levon Helm, played until the cows come home (laughs). They appealed to me because of the stories they told with their music and the fact that they had different vocalists, the whole cooperative thing is inspiring to me. The rest of Western Centuries, because they are younger than me, don’t know their music as much as I do.

Another song that you wrote Knockin’ Em Down tells of the less glamourous side of touring however tongue in cheek the lyrics might be. Is touring really that rough?

(Laughs) That was actually written about a different band, I’ve been in a lot of bands let me tell you. Starting at the age of nine! That song was written about a band I was in that every tour seemed to involve driving in snowstorms, all we seemed to be doing was spinning our car  wheels night after night!

The album as a whole achieves a wonderful classic country feel right down to the artwork. You used Bill Reynolds from Band of Horses to produce the album and recorded it in Nashville. Tell me about those decisions?

I’ve known Bill for many years, we both originally played in the band Donna The Buffalo, a rootsy cosmic hippy type band at that time. We really enjoyed playing together and Bill has done really well at production, working on a whole bunch of records. I pushed that idea with the band and I also loved the idea of making a record in Nashville. I mean, Emmylou Harris recorded three albums in that studio so when I even sat in the toilet in the studio I thought, my God Emmylou was here! (laughs). The artwork on the album was deliberate, the photograph on the cover was taken by friend of Cahalen in a small town in New Mexico, probably as far as you can get from humanity. The photo  taken by her shows her dad actually herding goats in the winter on horseback. We wanted an image on the cover that would convey something a bit deeper than ‘here’s the happy band ‘image or a picture of us leaning against a barn!

Have you toured in your previous musical life in the UK?

I was just in the UK a couple of weeks ago with a different band I’m involved with called Red Dog Run, an acoustic banjo, guitar and fiddle group playing folk and roots. We had shows in England and Scotland, part of the Gainsborough Friends of American Music Festivals. It was very much a one off, I don’t know how they even found out about us! Cahalen has toured lots in the UK over the years often with Eli West, I keep hoping that I can tag on to him and follow his burning star (laughs).

I see you’re playing Music City Roots in Nashville on April 5th and receiving high praise from Jim Lauderdale who hosts the show.

I’ve known Jim Lauderdale for twenty-five years. When I was in the Donna The Buffalo we made a record with him where we were his backing band, the album is called Wait For Spring and it’s a crazy assed record. He’s a nut and a half (laughs), such an endearing guy and somehow he got the idea that he was going to have us be his band, he wrote all the songs for the album and we recorded it in Nashville in a studio where he did all his earlier records.  You should check it out, it’s one of the wackiest things. He actually got this weird psychedelic painting of all of our faces on the cover. I check in with him regularly because he goes so hard, never rests, never stops, I don’t know how he pulls it off but there he is. 

We get the opportunity to see Western Countries live in Ireland / UK next month?

Yes, and we’re really looking forward to it, particularly Ireland. I think we’re going to do well in Ireland, that’s a hunch that I have (laughs). When I played in Scotland a few weeks back some people there were excited for Western Centuries to be playing there also and I’m thinking how did they even hear of the band! Our first date in Ireland is in Kilkenny is in a pub called Billy Byrnes and I believe It’s sold out and our Saturday show is selling fast too.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Israel Nash Interview

Israel Nash Gripka appeared on the music scene back in 2009 and caused quite a stir with his first 2 releases; New York Town and Barn Doors & Concrete Floors. His latest releases have seen the music evolve into new directions and explore the sonic possibilities of what some are calling Psychedelia-Americana. He is an innovative artist who deserves all the plaudits that are coming his way.

On tour with the Band of Horses and now using a shortened name of Israel Nash, he is joined by trusty band member Eric Swanson on pedal steel and vocals. Both musicians grant Lonesome Highway an interview at short notice just before they are due to take the stage and share some insights into the life of a developing artist. 

You grew up in the Ozark mountains. What were your earliest musical influences?

My earliest musical influences were with my Dad and we would listen to a lot of classic rock n’ roll. Just great Credence Clearwater Revival stuff, rockin’ down the highway kind of stuff, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles. All that got me wanting to play and do that stuff at a young age. I started playing guitar from age 11 after doing piano lessons before that, but once I found the guitar - that really felt natural. I started writing songs by the time I was 12 or 13 also. It was that process of starting and the idea of knowing I could just write a song.

Can you tell us about your name and the origins of the family background?

The Grypka part is Polish, and my Dad was a southern Baptist minister, so it was their spiritually - led aim to call me Israel.

Moving to NYC was the catalyst for career momentum. What do you remember about your debut release (New York Town) in 2009?

It was the first time I had gone away from Missouri where there is not really an industry or a bunch of studios. I played in bands all over but I knew I wanted to be in New York; in a city for the first time that had some action. It changed my life and started growing things; it was the first time I went to a real classic studio, The Magic Shop, which has since closed down.

Did you have a lot of the songs in place already or did you write more after this move?

About half and half. There were songs already written as there was a lot of excitement about the move to New York and it was about that time that I met Eric and the rest of the band and Ted Young, our engineer on all the records. Just to be around people like that, at that level, New York was a big catalyst.

The second release (Barn Doors & Concrete Floors) followed in 2011 - was this very different in construct from the debut?

Yes, that was the first one with the band and we rented this barn in upstate New York, brought a bunch of gear and everyone stayed. That started the process of how we track; find a place where we can stay and make music and be in the moment. That is where we are at now as I have a studio and it’s kinda the same.

The release of Rain Plains (2013), sees you now located in Dripping Springs, Texas. What brought about this move in location and how did it influence the new songs?

I wanted to get out of New York at some point and my wife and I wanted to buy a house and have a kid. It just felt like a really good time to go. I had been in Austin and loved the vibe and the weather and I loved the idea that we could get some place that is a lot more affordable than New York. We bought some space and it is the old country and just a beautiful place to live and it was a big change in my life to be out in the middle of nowhere and a lot of growth for me, which continues to affect the songs.

In 2015 your last release, Silver Season, is critically well received but was also seen as a move away from the traditional country and folk influences of the earlier records. Do you agree with this and if so, has the shift been a natural progression for you?

Yea, it was definitely natural and I guess that, for me, I like the idea of always progressing and moving forward and seeing where it goes. I think that in the Americana genre there are a lot of artists who do very similar things on each record and that’s fine completely but I wanted to be able to progress and try different things. The thought of making the same record every time would be kinda boring for me. It’s nice to see what happens in the studio and to see where we can go. That’s what is cool about being an artist and making music; who knows what in 10 years might happen? It’s not like saying you know exactly what’s going to happen or how it’s going to sound; it just kind of evolves and there are always new ideas or some other reference, feels and vibes from other albums and other productions that swirl in peoples’ heads.

Your live band also perform as your studio band. Is there a danger of burn-out in having the same musicians playing the same songs repeatedly?

ERIC: There is that risk. We always talk about working in the studio and the difference in playing live on tour, how they are totally different things. Some bands try to capture the studio onstage but we don’t necessarily do that – not that we throw it out the window, but we look at it like it is a living breathing thing that develops and parts change every time, so that is one way to keep it fresh. We have a great time on stage.

Do you enjoy the touring process?

I do. There are these dualities like a have a wife and a child and a home but touring has changed my life too and it has made the World small and opened my eyes. I was always a liberal kind of progressive guy. There is something about Europe that over time has solidified things for me in a different way. Seeing people having lives so far away really helps those ideals that people are the same and there is a spiritual journey on tour that I enjoy. But I enjoy being home too.

Has technology helped bring your music to new audiences?

I think it is still necessary to tour and to give something to your fans. That is great but I think It’s all those things that allow me to be sitting by myself and writing a song. My true love will always be that process of writing a song and I like to have my space at home and be locked away and working. Melodies and ideas will come and you try to jot ‘em down.

Is it still possible to get paid with the streaming royalties from the likes of Spotify being so small these days?

It’s definitely easier today than it was five years ago. But you realise that being a musician is really just continuous work and that’s why people are now 75 years old and still onstage. There is just something about it that you just have to keep making things happen. We have a studio now and we have been producing some artists there which is part of the growth of the whole thing.

What informs your song-writing process? Is it melody first before the lyrical content or vice versa?

Somewhere in-between, generally a melody or a lyric will hit and it will be like a chorus or something. Then I’ll start playing it and work the music and get a verse structure. Now with the studio I can play it back 100 times and start feeling it, so really the studio has brought about new opportunities and resources to make music.

What are the biggest constraints with touring these days?

I think it’s a bit strange to be always moving around. I don’t know in anyone’s life if we are designed to be daily nomads, but at the same time, there is something to look forward to every day and we humans need that too. At the end of the day we have a great time on tour playing shows and tomorrow we have another show to look forward to… 

Do you like to take much time off when it comes to refuelling the creative muse?

Usually I spend time with my family and if I can circuit into my zone and if I’m there for two months, I will probably have 3 or 4 songs a month to show. That is the most enriching time for me to write.

So, is the glass half full or half empty?

I think that it is half full – it’s overflowing…!! 

I was very impressed with the calm and generous nature of Israel when we met. Both he and Eric, his band mate, were very welcoming and at very short notice. The conversation was relaxed and the answers given were spoken with honesty and an easy openness. Lonesome Highway thank both Israel and Eric for their excellent insights and reflections into life as musicians on the road to greater things.

Live review of the gig – 15^th February 2017

Israel Nash takes the stage with his band mate Eric Swanson, who plays pedal steel and sings harmony vocals. The duo play 6 numbers and by the end of their 30-minute set they have won over many of the arriving crowd for the main act. The pedal steel is a very atmospheric sounding instrument and fills the space with a plaintive tone that perfectly suits the guitar progressions of Israel. He can take a song into new areas when playing in this stripped-down format ad it is a credit to both musicians that they carry it off with some room to spare. Parlour Song, a reflective lyric about gun violence, is particularly good and is followed by superb versions of Rexanimarum, LA Lately, Rain Plains and a cover of I Shall Be Released by Bob Dylan. Stirring stuff and a real statement of the talent on show here.  

I wish that I could say the same for the main act as Band of Horses come across as overly loud and the songs get drowned out by booming Bass guitar and a muddy sound. The vocals are hard to hear from my place on the balcony (perhaps it was better downstairs?). I have most of their records but tonight the band just fail to inspire and the long set list of 20+ songs seems to drag along from one to the next with little colour in-between. Most of the back catalogue is featured, with the notable exception of Mirage Rock, and in fairness and the capacity crowd seem well into the show. I was left feeling that ‘less is more’ and by the end of the night I was more taken by the honest performance of Israel Nash and Eric Swanson.

Interview, review and photographs of Israel Nash and Eric Swanson (above) by Paul McGee

Interview with Cody Braun

Few households in the music industry can boast the pedigree of the Braun brothers.  Originally from Idaho, siblings Cody and Willy’s band Reckless Kelly have been at the forefront of the roots scene in Austin Texas for two decades, long before the genre became christened with the Americana tag. Younger brothers Micky and Gary also front their own band Micky & The Motorcars. The brothers learned their trade at a very young age as part of their father’s travelling band Muzzie Braun and The Boys. Their grandfather Musty Braun was also a working musician, playing anything from country to jazz as a professional performer. With music flowing through their veins it’s no wonder the Braun brothers have survived and continue to survive in an industry that offers ongoing challenges and obstacles. They understand the meaning of hard work, reinvention, survival and the importance of offering a quality product to their listeners both in the studio and at their renowned live shows. Reckless Kelly and their entourage arrive in the West of Ireland next month for dates in Galway, Clifden and Lahinch. Lonesome Highway caught up with Cody Braun to discover how the tour came about and what exactly can we expect from the Texas invasion. 

How did the idea of the Seven Days in Ireland tour come about?

In 2005 my brother Willy and I along with a song writing friend from Nashville took a 7-day trip over to Ireland for the first time. We flew into Shannon rented a car and had plans to see the entire country stopping in a different town each night. To make a long story short Clifden was as far as we made it. Our song seven nights in Ireland tells the whole story. We met some great folks who we immediately became friends with and spent half of our trip in Clifden and the other half in Galway. We fell in love with the western country side and this will be our fourth trip back. 

We have since been to other parts of the country but are always drawn to the area we first visited because of the beauty and the friends we made.

Since the first trip we have been telling family and friends about how wonderful Ireland is and our song Seven Nights in Ireland has become one of our most popular tunes over here in the US.

We have talked for years about putting a trip together of family, friends and fans and coming over as a group to see what kind of racket we can make. After a failed attempt a few years ago we were finally able to pull it off and are all very excited to make the trip together in April.  

Did you deliberately target the West of Ireland rather than booking the larger cities?

Yes, this is the part of Ireland we know the best and our friend David Griffin " Griffins Pub" has helped us find other gigs in the area. After visiting the larger cities Dublin and Cork we found that we were more comfortable in the smaller towns where it was easier to connect with people and the pace is a bit slower. 

Is the intention essentially to bring your audience on the tour or to also get the local punters out to the shows?

A bit of both really. We hope that the locals will come out and enjoy the music and the folks we have brought along with us. Most of the people coming on the trip are close family friends so we are looking forward to showing them a good time and hopefully building a local following at the same time.  

You have most certainly lined up a talented bunch of artists to accompany you. Tell me about the selection of other musicians on the tour with you?

We picked friends that we love to jam with. Jason, Courtney and Matt are incredible writers and musicians but also have a deep love and knowledge of where country music came from. When we get together we usually end up playing old country songs all night like Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. My brothers and our father Muzzie and I all love to sing songs of our own and songs by our heroes like Guy Clark and John Prine. 

We picked artists and friends that we love to hang out with and who share the same love for music. Also, friends who can keep up with us at the bar!

How will the three shows be formatted with the number of artists on the tour bus. Precision scheduling or organised chaos? 

It will change every night. Most of the shows will be acoustic with one honky tonk/country rock show in Clifden. We have a bit of a plan but hope to keep it casual and fun. Lots of jamming together with some of our original tunes mixed in with our favourite covers. 

Your posts suggest that this trip may become an annual event. Is this your intention?

We will see how it goes. This trip is mostly family and friends so they are a bit easier to please than paying customers can tend to be. We are going to do our best to keep coming back and if we can bring a group of good people along with us from time to time we are pretty sure we wont have trouble filling the spots available. We want to keep it fun and manageable for the band and our goal is to come back at least once a year with or without a crowd. 

Interview by Declan Culliton

James McMurtry Interview

James McMurtry is a much-respected artist who has largely existed below the commercial radar of commercial media since his debut release back in 1989. With 11 releases to his name this singer-songwriter has continued to endure where many have failed. McMurtry comes across as a deep thinker and someone who chooses his words carefully. He appears as a shy man with natural humility but also possessing a healthy sense of irony. His music is a testament to the sharp mind that surveys all before it and is well attuned to the ways of the world. He spoke to Lonesome Highway prior to his show in Whelan's in Dublin (January 2017).

Is live touring something that you enjoy?

Yea, it’s most of my job really. We don’t get any money from record sales anymore, it’s all road.

When you getting ready to start an album, do you first look for a record deal or do you record and then look for a label?

I’ve done it all different ways. I usually decide to make a record and look for financing to get it done.  To find a label that can licence the record in different territories but I haven’t done enough of that in Europe in the past 20 years. It is always scary coming to Europe because of the overhead. We are at the age where we don’t share hotel rooms anymore or sleep on the floor; each of us has to have his own room nowadays. But on this tour we got some beer sponsorship which helps to not lose money. 

So, is touring really profitable anymore?

We get most of our profit in the States. Used to be where we toured to promote record sales and expected to lose money on the tour; now it’s the other way around where we put out a record so that you guys will write about us and we can get people in the clubs to come out and support the tour.

You have been touring you last album Complicated Games and are now bringing it to Europe.

I’m over here because I’ve run out of territory in the States. You can only go back to a market very 12 or 18 months and we have been around twice on this last record so we can’t really tour as a sole headline there again until 2018. All the work we are doing there right now is package or solo fly-out stuff or co-bills with other acts that are in the same State and the same situation. So, between the two of us we can draw a bigger crowd or play a bigger venue. We just did some dates on the West Coast with Anders Osborne and that turned out really well. Sometimes those tours can be pretty disastrous but this time we were pretty lucky.

I was noticing your comments regarding Napster and Spotify and touring to promote the sales of your records. Can the artist even get paid anymore?

If it is even downloaded of your label’s site the royalty is still a lot less than it was with the hard product. Fortunately, our crowd are about the same age so our people want to buy hard products.

It is always better to get the physical product from the point of view of information about the release. Our website works on the basis of physical product only. Is life becoming more complicated as a result?

I don’t know. We just keep going down the road and this is the only thing we know. My son is just releasing his second record and people ask if I give him advice. We get together and try to figure out where this thing is going. He knows about as much as I do.

When you write in character do you have to imagine that character?

I try to imagine the character and follow the words in rhyme and metre ‘cause that is how it starts – with a couple of lines and then you try to imagine the character who said those lines. And you get a story – it might take awhile but you get a verse and chorus structure going and the song builds itself. The template is carved. Several songs just started out as jams as putting lyrics to existing music can be really hard. St Mary of the Woods started out like that.

Does the song-writing get easier as you get older?

No. But it doesn’t get any harder either. You can leave a lot to the listener because it is verse, it doesn’t have to be that detailed.

Is what is happening worldwide an influence on the characters that you are writing?

A lot of my characters are dated and the songs are dated. I put a song out on the website (Remembrance), just before the election and it’ s not about Trump per se; but about demagoguery in general, mostly focused on Franco as I was in Spain just after Franco passed and I lived with a family where they wanted Franco back out of the grave and didn’t want this Democracy stuff that required thought...

And yet when you recall the songs ‘We can’t make it here’ and Cheney’s Toy’ which dealt with the Bush administration, you could almost cut & paste them onto the situation that we are now facing

It never seems to change. I sang that song (Cheney’s Toy), during the first Obama administration too and I finally just got tired of it and quit playing it.

The critical reaction to Complicated Game was very positive. Were you happy with the media response as it had been some time since the previous release?

We did not have to make another record for economic purposes as the previous one held up for so long. It was really unusual. Already this latest one has fallen off so we need to get back in the studio and make another one.

Do you play with the same guys all the time?

Pretty much so. Tim (Holt) and Daren (Hess) have been in the band for 18 years while Cornbread has been with me for about the last 5 years.

Do you still have the residency in the Continental Club?

We have been doing that since 2002 and we do it whenever we are home. It starts at midnight and goes until 2.00am.

The Outlaw Country stance against the traditional sound of Nashville. Is that something that impacts on you living in Texas?

When I hear outlaw country I think of Waylon Jennings. That started so long ago and they are still calling it that but I no idea what they are talkin’ about. They have this thing called Americana which is a catchall for all of us who were having a hard time getting on rock radio and we couldn’t get on mainstream country radio.

Do genres annoy you?

Not really. If I can squeeze into something then people can find my records and buy them. It’s becoming what AAA became, which was what AOR was. Now we are getting the Bonnie Raitt’s and Robert Plant as Americana artists.

Does You Tube open up avenues to your music?

I don’t know because I don’t really go to You Tube very often. I dread to think what some of my clips may be like...!

Perhaps it opens up some traffic to your website?

I don’t know as I don’t monitor the demographics. If we have money in the accounts, then we can do stuff and that is ok with me.

Do you plan to go back in the studio soon?

If I have enough songs. I was going to go to California for the next record and have Ross Hogarth produce as he seems interested. He recorded my first two records and mixed the first one that I produced; St Mary of the Woods.

Do you enjoy the studio experience?

It can be tedious. I have done records where the producer wanted an insane number of takes- like on ‘Lost in the Back-yard’ where we did maybe 20 takes and the drummer nearly lost his mind – funnily, it was the “drummer loses his mind” take that made the song...!! You don’t know how you’re gonna get it but usually I like to get it done quickly...

Can we expect a broadside against Trump?

I don’t think he deserves that much attention. He is just another of many dime-store demagogues who happened to come along at the right time and sell it to Americans. 30 years ago, there was a guy called Lyndon LaRouche who ran as an independent in the Mondale/Reagan race and was saying the same thing - but back then, the world was different and there was no NAFTA and there were no manufacturing job losses. Ideas that Trump is spouting now could find no purchase. 9/11 happened and all this paranoia – suspicion of anything other... It is real easy to get people to focus their fear and hatred against an ethnic or racial/ religious group.

The message into Europe from other American artists seems to be one of community and looking to bring people together

My cousins all live out in the country and they live in a different reality. I was turkey hunting with them one time; during the Florida recount when Bush was losing the election to Gore and they were perturbed that Gore was trying to steal the election from Bush. The same with Reagan was running, the academics and the people I hung out with, did not think he had a chance whereas you talked to a country person they were all solid Reagan lovers.

Do you find the creative process one of isolation?

I don’t mess with it much. If I get a line out of somewhere, I put it on my cell phone. The creative process is very brief. I don’t spend a lot of time creating.

Do you do a lot of reading or research?

I read one or two books a year usually. I’m not a big reader.

You have been quoted  as saying that you ‘write with a poet’s pen and a painter’s precision’. While another quote is that you don’t really make a conscious decision what you write about. Is the reality somewhere between?

Well you can write a song that completely expresses another opinion than your own. A lot of my songs do because my characters do not necessarily agree with me. If you listen to Carlisle’s Hall that guy is complaining about Government regulation of fisheries. Of course he is, because he is a commercial fisherman and that is how he makes his living. I don’t think that way; I think that we have to regulate fisheries or we are not going to have them. But I’m not trying to haul my living out of a bay.

Is the glass half full of half empty?

Townes Van Zandt said that some folks look at a glass and think it’s half empty; some folks look at a glass and think it’s half full; I look at a glass and wonder if its water or vodka.

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

Aaron Watson Interview

As an independent country music artist, Aaron Watson has released 13 albums and in February 2015, he made history when he released The Underdog, making him the first independent male artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The record sold more than 26,000 units in the first week.

As part of his European Tour Aaron Watson plays a gig in Ireland for the first time and gives Lonesome Highway an interview to share his philosophy and thoughts about the music business and his career.

Your first time in Ireland and you have brought the full band with you. Does this work financially when you are trying to break into new territories and does it not make sense to come over initially on a solo basis?

My band are on salary so apart from a couple of extra plane tickets it makes sense. Our show in London sold 500 seats, so we have grown that market relatively quick and Manchester was 300, Glasgow about the same… So, we have had a successful run and although the show in Dublin is in a small room, it is sold out. I love doing acoustic shows as well and you have to make the most of every night. I have been doing this for 17 years now, 13 albums, 2500 shows and we are still up and coming. We have played all sorts of venues. There is nothing better than a small venue packed full of people who love music. It’s going to be so much fun and I want the crowd to hear the full band.

Being an independent artist you have a lot of responsibility in taking care of the business. Do you have a large staff back home that helps with the running of it all?

I’ve got a couple of dozen people in what has developed into a pretty solid business. I love music, I love writing songs and playing live but If you don’t have a solid sense of business about things, then you cannot continue doing what you love. I wait until the time is right to hire the right people. People ask me why I have not signed to a major label and I say that I have now become the major label.

You have achieved everything without compromising at all; rather than have the major labels dictate to you what direction you should take

Yea, that feels so good and I love music, so I can’t imagine having to sing songs that I don’t like. How can you sell people a bunch of crap? My new album is coming out in a month and I wrote all sixteen songs and I’m passionate about all of them. I can get up on stage and share the story behind each song, where it came from and what it means to me. It’s soulful and personal and not really about the genre. It’s about whether it is original and unique.

Technically I do have a record deal because I’m married and my wife is the CEO and I’m more like the custodian! On a serious note, music is not an Industry, it’s the family business … We’ve always put the fans first. How has a West Texas boy from some small town outsold so many major artists.

Over the years, we have stayed true to our brand of country music. We haven’t shifted and chased after the different phases and stages and flavours of the month. We stay true to ourselves and we work hard. I always say we ride a horse named hustle and we always put our fans first and like to hang out with them after each show. The people who turn up tonight, tell their friends and it starts to grow. It only takes a spark.

I play a little of everything and there will be a couple of new songs. I am a fan first and know when you go to a show, you want to hear the artist play your favourite songs. So you slowly and gradually incorporate the new songs in due time.

You have spoken in the past about getting up early to write songs. Do you still do that?

I love that. We live on a farm with a lake behind the house and as the sun comes up I make coffee and I write with my guitar before breakfast and before my kids start to wake up. I may take ‘em to school and then come back and write some more; or maybe go on the ranch and do some work there. There is nothing more satisfying, in my opinion, than writing a well-crafted song. That feeling you get inside after you’re finished, when you say ‘this is a good song’...

When you are writing a song do you go back and redraft until you get a perfect version of it?

Absolutely. More so than ever lately with the new record (Vaquero). After the success of the last album, The Underdog, which debuted at number 1 in the Billboard Country Charts, a lot of people said that if we wanted to continue our success then we would have to break out of the Texas outlaw thing. Because, they said, that made us a regional act. Well, I just laughed and said we played 38 states and 8 countries last year so that’s not a regional act. It’s a wrong opinion and perspective.

I’m from Texas and this is where I was born and raised so it is an integral part of who I am. It’s like food; you don’t have to be from Mexico to like Mexican food or from Italy to like Italian food – to think that me being me, is going to keep me from crossing over borders? That is just narrow minded. I remember Chris LeDoux when I was growing up and he was singing about Wyoming and it made me want to go to Wyoming. It’s like U2, when I study some of the lyrics and realise he is writing about home; his home. We all like history and geography and music has that in it too. When people said we had to get away from that Texas thing, I didn’t pay much heed to it; what we did for the new record was to paint a Texas flag on an old building outside a town where I live and I held up a guitar in a very revolutionary pose; just to let ‘em know we are from Texas.

Is the new release, Vaquero, a concept record?

The vaquero is the original cowboy. There is a lot of tradition with the vaquero and I wanted the album to be rooted, rebellious and traditional. I wanted to make music that you have never heard before. When the band are playing, we can open for any rock band and hold our own. It’s about energy and passion and we thrive on our live show. We have the energy of a punk band but we just use a telecaster and a fiddle. The new record has 16 songs and I wrote all of them so If the record is terrible then it’s my fault. There is a common theme of believing in who you are, sticking to your values; don’t let people push you around. I focus on Faith, family and my brand of country music for my fans.

Are the studio musicians the same as the touring band?

I change them around so that they don’t get tired, having played on the album for so long. I ask them who they want to play with on the records, who are their musical heroes and this pushes them to be better musicians.  They have a lot of say in how the songs turn out as they spend time in pre-production with me also. It is a big group record. I produced all my records, some are co-productions and I write the songs and know what they should sound like in my head.

I notice that you sang with Willie Nelson on your 4th release. How did that come about?

What that does is give me bragging rights for the rest of my life. I think it helped me a lot and helped validate me as an artist. Ray Benson from Asleep At The Wheel produced that record and he was playing pool with Willie over at this house and he was playing a rough copy of my new record in the background. Willie said "I really like this stuff" so Ray said if he really liked it all that much he should go and sing on the record. The rest is history. My Dad is a huge Willie Nelson fan so when I got to tell him at home in Amarillo, he was so excited. Willie is not a genre; he is the genre – he is the icon.

Willie, Waylon, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, they are my heroes. My heart belongs with the songwriter; Guy Clark, Townes van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earl and the rest of ‘em.

There still seems to be a Nashville vs Texas territorial divide. Do you see that still happening?

Maybe Willie or Waylon started that? Some say it was Bob Wills who played at the Oprey years back and when they wouldn’t let him have an amp onstage, he just packed up and went home. George Strait was not included as a member for many years. Even when our record went to no.1, it caused quite a stir there. The Country Music Hall of Fame and The Opry have been good to us in recent years but I don’t do this to win awards and my career doesn’t revolve around radio or charts. My career revolves around my fans because these are the things that matter. The mainstream artists, my heart goes out to a lot of ‘em, because their days are numbered. You gotta work hard and get on the road. The rest of the World is working hard so every artist should do that as a basic.

All your kids names start with the letter ‘J’, Any particular reason for that?

My wife said that their names would all start with the letter J. Therefore, they did …

Jack, Jack and Jolie Kate - my kids love music and are growing up playing the right stuff, Waylon, Willie, the Beatles. Then recently, my baby girl asked for a Taylor Swift guitar and songbook for Christmas and she wanted me to teach her how to play some of her songs. I said she needed to lock the door as her mamma will video us and put it up on Instagram and Facebook…!!

Music is so subjective, I always stay very open-minded and I don’t dismiss anything. If you are at the top of the mountain, then people say you sold out. You have to be political. If you are small and independent and making the same records, then everybody loves you. It’s a fine line, a fickle game. It’s about the music and the fans and continuing to spread our brand of country music wherever we go.

Ireland is important to us and we will come back because we are committed to Ireland and want to earn the love and respect. You have to be able to start at the bottom and work your way up. New markets are exciting; unchartered territory. It’s an honour to be here.

My Mother has Irish roots and wants me to get some dirt from Ireland for her garden. I wish every woman was as easy to please!!

Postscript:

Aaron Watson gets his wish when Lonesome Highway presents him with a small jar of Irish soil during the show for his Mamma back in Texas. He is thankful and comes across as a genuinely enthusiastic and very likeable person who is fully committed to his craft. He speaks with a refreshing candour and is generous with his time and energy. We look forward to welcoming Aaron Watson back to Ireland and to watching his career continue to blossom in these territories. Aaron Watson's new album Vaquero is out now.

Interview by Paul McGee and Stephen Rapid  Photograph by Stephen Rapid

Erin Rae Interview

We are not normally in the habit of reviewing an album on two separate occasions at Lonesome Highway. There are exceptions however, as was the case with Soon Enough by Erin Rae. A promotional copy of her album was reviewed by myself in June followed by a further review of the album in October by my colleague Paul Mc Gee. Whether this was an editorial master stroke or an oversight is neither here nor there! More to the point is the impact the album had on both of us with references to ‘one of the finest songs of the year (Clean Slate)’ and ‘one of the highlights of the year and a must buy’ being included in the reviews. Lonesome Highway caught up with Erin Rae after she returned to Nashville following a whistle stop tour of the UK supporting Cale Tyson.  

Your recent tour of the UK with the Meanwhiles received hugely positive feedback. How important is it for you to create a market in the UK/Europe?

We had a really great time. I felt and feel very fortunate to have such a warm welcome our first time to the UK ... I'd say it's just as important to me to develop the market and relationships over there as it is to do so in the States. It has been at the forefront of my dream of being a musician. Ever since loving the Spice Girls as a little girl. (I was Posh). 

You’ve moved to centre stage with your album Soon Enough having performed as a backing vocalist for many artists in Nashville. What prompted the move? 

I've been working on my own music from the beginning. It's a fun part of being in the community and being a singer and getting to sing harmonies to share and support in friends music! We all help each other. Molly Parden has been singing with me for a few years, and she's got some exciting things coming her way! It's neat to see us all grow at different times. We each have our own paths, and it’s such an amazing thing to witness and help each other with. 

Soon Enough was recorded in two days, basically a live recording, over what period were the songs on the album written?

2012-2015. So a lot of the songs had been played for a couple years as a band, making the live recording fun and easy. And special!

On repeated listens the album reveals itself as possibly a commentary on a life’s experiences to date. Should we consider it autobiographical?

Yes, every song (excluding Pretty Thing) is autobiographical. However the sentiment of that song still is true to me. 

The album, for me, benefits from not being over produced and its quality is not in any way compromised by being recorded in such a short time frame. Had you and your band been performing the material live over a period of time?

Most of it we had! At least half of the songs, maybe more. There were some that were saved to release on the record, but we did already have the band template in place, so we used a similar format for those songs, taking away or adding elements where that was needed.  

The quality of female singer songwriters in Nashville operating under the Americana banner seems endless at present. I’m thinking of yourself, Lilly Hiatt, Molly Parden, Kelsey Waldon and Margo Price to name a few. Has Margo Price’s breakthrough acted as a confidence booster in terms of possible career progression for an artist like yourself?

Love all of those women, and the list goes on! Tristen, Caitlin Rose, Kristina Murray, Liz Cooper, Emily Nenni, Becca Mancari, and more and more! I think it acted as an affirmation of the path we are all on. That big things can still happen, that the reach can still be far for real music! That turn around has been happening. But, it has been such a cool time for music. So many incredible records were released in 2016, with more to come in 2017, and I think it's just a really good time for music. Also, the community here is such a supportive one, so it's changed a lot of the motivation in my mind from mainstream success being the focus, to creating a true path for myself. It's cool that those things might realign again for more of us, as we see with Chris Stapleton, Sturgill, and Margo, Aaron Lee Tasjan, to name a few. Margo has been so generous with me, inviting me to be part of really neat things as they come up, like her panel at AMA fest in Nashville last fall. I think a lot of people heard about me through that, and came out to my show, and its things like that which serve as the real confidence boosters. Feeling like the friends that you look up to and admire are also fans of your work is so invaluable. Thank you, Margo!

Your writing and delivery, for me, is as much West Coast influenced as Nashville. I detect certain parallels with artists such as Judee Sill and early Joni Mitchell for instance. Was this a sound that was influential to you when you were developing a musical direction? 

 I love Judee Sill. I think I discovered her on the Elizabethtown soundtrack, and the song Jesus Was A Crossmaker has become one of my recent favourites to try and cover. Those two voices weren't primary influences, but I do love them! I'd say my parents music and voices were the most directly inspiring/ taste-making for me, followed by Kate Campbell's voice, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, Slaid Cleaves, Greg Brown, John Prine, Feist, etc. I love great voices with strong songwriting. I definitely love the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Neil Young, etc., so I'm sure that has helped to create the laurel-y sound!

What’s next in terms of a career move for Erin Rae. Do you intend returning to Europe to further promote the album and is there a follow up album under consideration?

We are actually going into the studio on Sunday at Cory Chisel + Adriel Denae's place in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is called Refuge Foundation for the Arts. It’s a monastery, turned creative space, right on the Fox River. Dom Billett, Jerry Bernhardt and I will be the main players, with Dan Knobler engineering/producing. That will come out later this year. We will be returning to the UK in June!

Can we expect some dates in Ireland on your return to Europe? 

Yes! I believe those are in the works now, official announcement should be out soon via Clubhouse Records UK. Thank you so much for having me!

Interview by Declan Culliton – Friday 10th February 2017