Josh Gray Interview

Establishing yourself in the over-crowded singer songwriter genre is no easy task and demands - alongside no end of talent - forbearance and good fortune. Josh Gray’s recent album, WALK ALONE, explores a broad canvass of issues alongside personalised plights. In a recent interview with Josh, we learned of his somewhat late entry to his professional career, his move to Nashville to follow his career path and his new record.

You were a late starter as a professional musician. Was there any particular inducement for you to go down that career path?

I never saw music as a career path until recently. I've always loved music, but my main focus was writing. I started with a lot of bad poetry, and that eventually became lyrics. My parents got me a guitar when I was around sixteen, and I enjoyed playing without the intent of performing live. What I think made performing a possibility for me was discovering what I would call accessible artists. Artists who convey deep emotion without having a perfectly trained singing voice or being a virtuoso on guitar. It's important to listen and learn from great artists. But it's equally important to find artists you enjoy that make you feel like you could do that too. One final thing that encouraged me was that my favourite songwriter, Leonard Cohen, released his debut album when he was 33.

What was the music scene like in Frederick, MD, before you moved to Nashville?   

Frederick was founded in 1745, and you feel that when you see the historic row homes downtown. I miss that small-town feel of walking down the street and seeing friends going about their day. The music scene was small but very welcoming and creative. I attended the open mic at The Frederick Coffee Company for around a year before performing, just enjoying the music and learning. I think it surprised a lot of regulars when I got up and played for the first time. Mainly because they knew me as a listener and never realized I played guitar. Going to open mics early on was essential to me writing albums, and hearing other musicians inspired and pressured me to write new songs instead of playing the same ones week after week.

Nashville is the epicentre for singer-songwriters and musicians at present. How have you integrated into that scene, and have you found it overwhelming at times?

The main reason I moved down here was to surround myself with talented people, challenge myself, and get better. When I first moved to Nashville in 2016, I continued going to open mics. There was one open mic in particular that was my favourite; it was at Café Coco, a 24-hour hangout for local musicians. I met several great songwriters there who I'm still friends with. I think that's what you do: you find your friends and then start playing a bunch of shows together. I feel that I've integrated into the scene well enough. I'm kind of reclusive, like many songwriters, so I could be better at networking. But really, it's a city full of talented people all doing their own thing. There's no room here for big egos; it's true what they say about Nashville; even the mailman is a better guitarist than you.

Did you avoid the 'paying gigs' playing downtown when you first arrived or used that scene for an opportunity to play and generate some income?

When I moved here, I already had a full-time job. Playing hours and hours of cover songs for drunk tourists never interested me. The pay is unpredictable and largely dependent on tips. I always gravitated more to venues in East Nashville, where original music was more appreciated. Nashville is for networking and being near career opportunities. As far as getting paid, it's hard here unless you're a big name, due to the surplus of artists willing to play for free.

Is the title of your new album, WALK ALONE, a statement on the industry, labels, and radio station's lack of support for anything not seen as readily marketable? 

The title is a statement on how I've felt within the industry to date. Overall, artists had it a lot easier back in the day. You grow up hearing stories of famous artists being discovered in some small club, that just doesn't happen anymore. It can be argued that now you can reach anyone in the world via the Internet. But we all know that cutting through the clutter of the internet isn't possible without putting money behind your content. Being a good artist is important but less important than your Spotify or Facebook numbers. You're expected to be a great songwriter, musician, expert in social media and marketing, and booking agent, and you also need thousands of dollars to record.  I'm not trying to be negative; I'm just saying it's hard out here. I feel that very few chances are taken on artists anymore. I also feel that with proper promotion in the US I could be a lot bigger than I am. 

You speak for the multitude and yourself with the album's opener, Radio Stations. Money or Blood is equally forthright. It rages sonically and lyrically against the unscrupulous employer, gun control and the Government. Another song that commercial radio will definitely not play?

I don't think I'm unique when I say that to me music is a form of therapy. With that being said, if I can't speak my mind in my music, then where can I? The more songs of mine that you listen to, the better idea you get of who I am.

When you're writing a song and the thought of commercial viability enters the conversation, it's time to throw that song in the trash. Are you trying to express yourself and advance the art form, or are you trying to impress your shareholders?  I've become good friends with several radio DJs over the years. Many of them have the freedom to program their shows based on their own personal taste. But yes, heavily commercial radio will never be a friend of mine. I just don't ever see myself having the money or lyrics vague enough to ever compete in that arena. I have had friends spend more money on radio promotion than they did on recording their actual album.

 The quieter moments on the album also work exceptionally well. The closing track, a classic duet with Morgan Connors, Building Paradise, offers hope and simplicity and bookends the album with a sense of positivity. How vital was the track scheduling for you?

Thanks so much; I think track order is extremely important. It's an art that has gone by the wayside in the age of Spotify and releasing singles without albums. I wanted to arrange the songs in a way that displayed the variety of styles on the album. I like the idea of getting a listener's attention by creating peaks and valleys with songs of different tempos. I also think that when vinyl eventually comes out, the shock of going from Cheyenne at the end of Side A to Money or Blood will be really cool. I made it a point to put the song about my daughter She Thinks the World of Me right after Money or Blood where I talk about school shootings. It's my way of saying look, this is personal for me; we need change.

Where did the character on the track, Cheyenne, come from? Fictional or based on real-life individuals? 

I always have a bunch of different CDs in my car. At the time of writing the album, most of them were Texas Country but one of them was this compilation of songs produced by Lee Hazlewood. There's a song on there performed by Duane Eddy called The Girl on Death Row. So, I think that was part of the inspiration for sure. The character is fictional but when writing a story song, I try to put myself in that place. I've explored the loneliness of the open road in songs before but that's a kind of lonesome freedom. I wanted to illustrate a story of someone coming to terms with their fate. The drums are the slow shuffle of routine, the reverb is the echo of the cold concrete walls, and the steel is the lonesome cry of hopelessness drifting into the midnight wind.

Tell us about your decision to record at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville. It can boast classic analog recording equipment and has been the studio of choice for many of our favourite artists' recordings in recent years.

When I was looking for a place to record my second album, SONGS OF THE HIGHWAY, I started by listening to modern albums I enjoyed. I put on Hurray for the Riff Raff's Small Town Heroes and loved the sound. Looking in the liner notes, I found the studio was amazingly only ten minutes away. I contacted them and took a little tour with the band before making the decision.  The Bomb Shelter feels like home to me, and I think that's extremely important. You want a place that feels comfortable because there's a lot of vulnerability to recording, especially for a vocalist. You need to be around people you trust to have the patience and honesty to get the best performance out of you. Sure, there are a lot of big-name studios with crazy rosters of artists. But when you walk in the door and see their fancy décor many of these places feel sterile and egotistical, like a place where songs go to get all the life polished out of them.

Alongside your regular bandmates, Julio Matos on bass and Jason Munday on drums, you also brought Sean Thompson on board to play guitar and Brett Resnick on pedal steel. What drew you towards those two players?

Sean was recommended by the Bomb Shelter when I told them the sound I was going for. We hadn't met previously, but he came into the studio and killed it. He's a badass guitarist who also writes his own music and plays with Erin Rae, one of my favourite artists in Nashville. 

Brett has been on my short list of people I've wanted to record with since probably 2016. For this project, I decided to reach out and everything fell into place. He's an amazing player but even more importantly he listens and plays off the lyrics.

Congratulations on the album's artwork. Album cover design work should be given more attention with the current emphasis on downloads. Who can take the plaudits for the artwork?

Thank you, I'm going to just start by patting myself on the back here a little bit. My family and I are lucky to live near this huge wooded park that we spent a lot of the pandemic exploring. Knowing this area so well I scouted out several good locations. I then contacted Kristin Indorato about doing a photo shoot. It was early in the year and freezing outside; we met up a little after 6 a.m. to catch the sunrise, not to mention she was pregnant. I felt a little bad, but we got some amazing photos. I found Nikhil Dafre on Instagram and loved his design work. I reached out and I don't think he'd ever designed an album before. But that didn't matter to me; I believed in him, and he was up to the challenge. We went back and forth with a ton of layout ideas and fonts. He made everything look pretty and put up with a million messages from me. Design skills are important but without patience, nothing moves forward.

Designing an album is a hell of a lot of work, especially when you're dealing with a lyric booklet. There are a million little details and corrections. I'm thankful to everyone involved.    

You teamed up with Continental Record Services in Europe. Is that, for you, as it is for many of your peers, a concentrated effort to target the mainland Europe market?

The partnership with CRS to distribute throughout Europe has been going well. Friends in the Netherlands first brought my music to Europe and I'll always be grateful. When I say in the first song on this album "See I don't have the money to hire a publicist" that's not just a lyric, that's real. So, when I see that more people are listening and buying my music in Europe, I'm going to dedicate more time to Europe. I'm one man but I'm doing the work of five. I'm handling a large chunk of my own marketing so I have to identify where my time is best spent and focus there. 

Congratulations on WALK ALONE. It's a great listen, and hopefully, we will have the opportunity to see you perform the songs over here soon.

Thanks so much for the great review and this great interview. Also, thank you to everyone buying, listening, and sharing my music with friends. I don't know all the details of the European tour yet, but one is definitely in the works for next year! 

Interview by Declan Culliton

Summer Dean Interview

Turning her back on a secure teaching career in her late 30s to follow her dream, Summer Dean launched herself into a full-time career as a recording and touring musician three years ago. Her current album, released earlier this year,  THE BIGGEST LIFE, is a gilt-edged collection, following on from 2021’s BAD ROMANTIC. Her impact on the music scene was further recognised in February when she was voted Honky Tonk Woman of The Year at the Ameripolitan Music Awards. In our recent chat with Summer, she was overflowing with enthusiasm and positivity – and we expect to hear a lot about her in the coming years. 

You recently toured Australia for the first time. How was that? 

Yes, I just got back. I left Sydney at the same time and the same day that I got back to Texas. I had a wonderful time. I had a complete Australian band there who were fantastic pickers. I'd love to bring my own band, but it's so expensive. Sometimes it's hard to trust other players that you've never heard play before, and I felt that way going to Australia but I spoke with Dale Watson and others that tour overseas, and they all said that these guys are great, so I just went with it and was pleasantly surprised. We played two great festivals, one in Melbourne called Out On The Weekend and another in Sydney called Groundwater. I had eight shows and eight flights in ten days. I didn't see anything except the venues, airports and hotels, but it was great. I really need to go back and see more of Australia because the people were fantastic.  

Asleep at The Wheel, Brennen Leigh and Joshua Hedley also played at those festivals.

Yes, Brennen Leigh and Joshua Hedley were special guests as members of Asleep at The Wheel. They both got to do some of their own songs with Ray (Benson) and Asleep at The Wheel.

Tell me about your family's ranching background in Texas.

It moves generations. When I was a little girl, my momma's daddy was running it, and my parents run it now, so next, it will be my brother and me. It gets passed down, so we didn't all live there. 

That ranching lifestyle is similar to that of a musician; retirement is not an option, is it?

No never. When my grandad died and it was time for my parents to take over, they had already retired from their own jobs, and they are busier now than they were before. They are both in their 70s, and I think that activity keeps you alive. They are moving every day and have problems to solve every day. It keeps their body and brains in tip-top shape. It's a blessing. I'll have my turn. 

You launched your professional career as a musician at a relatively late stage. Was there any one motivating factor for that?

People ask that a lot because it's unique to start full-time a little later in life. I don't know if it was one instance; I did have some realisations. The reason I didn't do it in my younger years is that I didn't think it was feasible. I was raised right by my parents, and I was scared. My parents wanted me to get a salaried profession. I have good parents, so they wanted to make sure that I was all right. I also didn't think I was good enough, either. In my late 30s, I was doing a bit of both and saying 'yes' to everything. And finally, I got to the point where I couldn't do both anymore. I was so tired. I was a school teacher and I was taking naps under my desk while the kids were at other classes. My brother is a successful businessman in Texas, and he said there are people in this world who do things, and there are people in this world that do not. I did not want to turn 40 and be unhappy, and I'm proud of myself that I made those changes. You can always make changes but you cannot go backwards. I don't know where I got the gumption, but I guess all the ghosts of my loved ones who had died before me just picked me up and said: 'go for it.' And I'm so glad that I did. In country music, it was never about the girls; it was always about women, grown women and women my age. If I'd done it in my 20s, I would have probably messed it up. 

Have your expectations been realised since turning professional?

Yes, I am living like I'm 23 and I am 43. Again, just like my parents working on the ranch, it keeps you young and keeps you going. I also have a lot of things to say with my songs and things to say about mistakes I've made already that I can put in perspective. It was all meant to be. 

You worked with Brennen Leigh, Colter Wall, Matt Hillier and Robert Ellis on your albums. Are they people that you reached out to? 

They were all friends that I had before. Back in college, I played a little music and I always had friends in the industry. I did a little bit without completely jumping in. So, I always had my toes dipped in songwriting and performing. They were all gracious enough to lend their names next to mine and help me, and that has helped me so much. Especially Colter. I'm not ignorant of what a duet with an artist like Colter can do for the career of a small artist like me. I know what that meant and I know how flat-out lucky I was to do that. I can stand on my own, but I'm forever grateful that Colter let me sing next to him because he is a big deal and a good man, and I'll appreciate that forever.

 It has to be so difficult for emerging artists with the depth of talent out there.

It is. You're out there trying to get the gigs, trying to get the right producers, trying to get a spot with an agency and trying to get a label. There are a lot of people looking for those spots. It's easy to get wrapped up in the competition of it and everybody does. To shoot an arrow to go forward, you have to pull it right back. It's those times when I sometimes question myself: 'Am I not doing enough? Am I not working hard enough?' I just say I have to pull my arrow right back again. 

You took a different direction with your latest album, THE BIGGEST LIFE, than on your previous albums. It's lyric-driven with many highly personal songs.

They are real stories and I'm glad you recognised that. Thank you. That is exactly what we meant. I was concerned that it might disappoint some of my hardcore traditional country fans because it wasn't, in my opinion, a hardcore traditional country record. That's where my heart was, and this album was about lyrics, stories and songs from a grown woman's perspective. It was risky to put it out because it's so vulnerable, but I'm very proud of the songs and writing, and recording that album all analogue. It changed my life and changed my goals also.

Lonely Girls Lament, She's Not Me, and Other Women are seriously open-hearted songs. Was it challenging to pour your heart out to that extent?

Yes, they are all real and it is a little embarrassing pouring your heart out like that. I seldom do the three songs live because it can be so heartbreaking. But what makes it a little special is that when I do one or all those songs at a show, and I'm not exaggerating, they speak to people, and I get a lot of tears and not happy tears. There is power in positivity and power in pulling someone up from their despair, but there is also power in relating to somebody else's despair. When people hear someone that they think is the happiest and luckiest person and they hear real thoughts come out from that person, it's validating – and having your feelings validated is powerful. I didn't know any of this was going to happen when I was writing those songs, but I am really proud of them. Because the album is often quiet, I have been doing a lot more solo shows to showcase the writing.

How did the connection with producer Bruce Robison come about? 

Bruce actually emailed me. All songwriters would love to make an album with Bruce, but I wasn't thinking about that then. In fact, I had a three-album plan: a rocker album, a songwriter album, and a covers album that I wanted to do. It was a three-album plan over five years. I was trying to find a producer and a record label that would help me out with that, and then I got an email from Bruce. I had to scratch my eyes to see it was from Bruce Robison. We then talked about the songs and decided to go ahead and make an album. So, I didn't seek him out, but I am so glad that it worked out the way it did. Having a songwriter like Bruce tell me that my songs are worth his time and money was a game changer for my confidence. I was just another lucky girl getting the right email at the right time. It hadn't even been my plan at the time, but when you get a green light like that, you have to follow it.

Did you write the songs specifically for the album?

Yes, I write a song a week and when Bruce called and said he liked my songs, I just started sending him what I call 'kitchen demos.' I was literally in my kitchen singing into my phone and then texting them to Bruce. I didn't actually realise there was a theme there until we put all the songs together. But those songs are what I knew and felt at that time.

Next stop, Bruce Robison's Bunker Studio outside Austin, Texas.

Yes, it was the right record to do with Bruce Robison in his analogue studio out of Texas. We let the lyrics lead everything we did. We let the lyrics and the stories lead every decision that we made.

Did Bruce bring the players on board?

I knew people who worked in Bruce's studio quite a lot, and we agreed to use those people. For example, Jeff Queen played steel and guitar. I'd worked with Jeff before, and I knew he worked a lot with Bruce, so that was an easy decision. I also wanted Emily Gimble on the keys and harmony, and I knew she'd worked with Bruce before in his studio. We then collaborated on using different drummers and bringing in other people for certain songs.

How did you find the experience of working with him?

I trusted Bruce to produce the record; he drove that, but it was the two of us making decisions. We made decisions based on what was feeding right, and I trusted him when he thought he had an idea on a particular player or an arrangement, and I'm glad I did.

Was it a challenge vocally to work in an analogue environment without the option of tweaking the vocals after they were recorded? 

I was focusing on my breathing, getting the words right, and doing the best that I could, but at the same time, letting go of perfection. When any artist focuses and does their best, you'll get some pretty good and interesting work; it was a cool experience. That's how they do it there, so if anybody wants to do a record with Bruce at The Bunker, you'd better be ready. The way they describe things there is 'no digital shenanigans.

How does that compare with recording in a studio where overdubs are an option?

There is something to be said for those beautiful, cleanly produced records; that's a whole different challenge. Making those records can be fun because you can actually do whatever you want, but it's another type of fun making an analogue record. All artists should do both in their lives, although I particularly like the analogue option for a singer/songwriter record. If I want to put out a rocker record, I would probably want to put some cool effects in there. It's 2023 so we can't knock computers. We love them, they're our friends.

Are you noticing a younger age profile coming to country music shows in recent years?

We are noticing that okay, but it is baby steps; you have to give it to them a little bit at a time. It was interesting being out with Asleep at the Wheel. They've been around for 50 years, and they have an older audience. But there were a lot of younger people at the gigs. They are the target audience, 25 to 35-year-olds, as they're the ones that you need to get on board business-wise. They're the ones who buy the tickets, go to the festivals and buy the records. It's going to take them a while for them to find everybody in country music, but if they go to a Charley Crockett show, they might find out about James Hand, and that may lead them to Merle Haggard, Connie Smith and Johnny Bush.

You mentioned earlier that a covers album may be something you would consider.

I would love to do a covers album, and it is in my plan. Right now, I'm just telling people who I am. I'd love to put out a record of all Johnny (Bush) and Connie (Smith) songs, but that would only be relevant to a few people. You have to make artistic decisions, and you have to make business decisions. And you have to navigate where those go. I'd love to get to a point in my career where I could say, 'Well, I'm a big enough deal now. You think this is good; well, listen to some Connie Smith and Johnny Bush songs.' I did that Leona Williams song, Yes Ma'am, He Found Me In A Honky Tonk on my BAD ROMANTIC record so that I could talk about your every night at my shows. A good cover can do a lot for your career. Charley Crockett is really good at that, as well as a lot of other things that he's good at. He can really pick cover to suit him and sound like it's his own song. 

Are you heading back on the road when the jet lag from the Australian tour passes?

Yes, I'll play around Texas for a while. We usually play at the weekends, that's how we work. We go out for a month and then back home to Texas for a month. I never want to leave Texas for more than a month or two. I also have some solo shows in the UK coming up. Ags Connolly will be opening up for me and driving me around, so that will be fun.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Chris Stamey Interview

Musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and author Chris Stamey has been involved in every facet of the music industry for over forty-five years. A founder with Peter Holsapple of the indie rock/power pop band The dB’s, in his early career, Chris also played with the renowned Alex Chilton, lead singer of Big Star. He founded the independent New York record label Car Records and has recorded over twenty albums, including solo recordings, The dB’s recordings and numerous collaborations. His most recent record, THE GREAT ESCAPE, is a splendid blend of power pop and West Coast country rock. As part of his upcoming European tour, Chris is scheduled to play shows in Dublin and Waterford, his first trip to Ireland.  

You moved from North Carolina to New York at a relatively young age. Was that primarily to further your education?

The answer to that is a little complicated. I had done everything required for a music degree at North Carolina University but did it out of order and needed to take certain things. I was also eager to go to New York and get a degree in philosophy in a semester. Although I studied music composition in North Carolina, my degree is in philosophy, and it is from New York University.

What was the music scene like in North Carolina before you headed to New York?

Much like Big Star and Ardent in Memphis, we were Anglophiles; many people were. Not so much The Beatles; The Move was the popular band. There was such a lot happening back then; I was a huge fan of Cream; also a band called the Hampton Grease Band that later became Colonel Bruce Hampton’s thing. In our town, we were encouraged to play original music; the churches had coffee houses, so we didn’t have to play cover songs, the biggest influence on all of us was our friends and the songs we were trying to write and how we were trying to gather and decode how that is done. 

You embraced the CBGB scene in New York. 

I had been going up to New York in the summers before that and had seen Television up there and had an idea of what was going on, which made me interested in going there. It was a pretty crazy time; New York had devolved to a certain point where it was a bit like the Wild West without the horses. There was a small arts scene centred around Soho and Tribeca, and there were a lot of musicians who were really only artists who took up a guitar, but they were doing interesting things. The same thing happened later in Athens, Georgia, around REM and the big Art School there, so people there also had that sensibility. 

The sound of your recent album, THE GREAT ESCAPE, has a late 60s West Coast groove.  

I remembered seeing The Byrds during their time with guitarist Clarence White and how great they were live; we all loved what they were doing. I hear some of that on THE GREAT ESCAPE. 

 Where did the title come from?

There is of course a Steve Mc Queen movie with the same name. The song and album title talks about a guy in desperate straits but trying to put a brave face on it. I don’t know if it’s the perfect title; there wasn’t a deep meaning to using it, it was the “placeholder” title that morphed into the real title, I guess.

Unlike the vast majority of current albums, it sounds out of its time. It's hook-filled and melodic, so easy on the ear yet with deep and often sad lyrics.

Generally, at any given time, there’s a lot of music that is just ok and then five per cent of stuff rises above that. I’m sure that’s true of my music too; I try to jump up to that higher standard, though. This album started with a group of maybe five or six songs, and I thought I should work with them and make a complete record. I write a lot of different types of songs, and I selected some choices from them. I did a tour as music director with Alejandro Escovedo; we had strings on the tour and Eric Haywood on pedal steel. I would be up all-night writing parts for the string quartet, and Eric would sit down and wiggle his fingers, and it would sound as good if not better, so I thought I’d like to get in to a studio with Eric. We did that and cut some of the tracks on the album, and that was really the spark for the record.

Had you worked with pedal steel before?

Yes. BJ Cole played on a Peter Blegvad record that I produced. Do you know BJ Coles Debussy record? He plays the orchestral writing of the impressionist French composer Debussy; it’s wonderful. There’s a guy here in NC named Allyn Love, who I’ve played with before; he is also great.  

Eric Heywood’s playing on the track The Catherine’s Wheel borders on prog rock. Was that the direction you asked him to go?

I guess it is prog. That song is a bit of Crosby, Stills and Nash turning into Led Zepplin. I didn’t think of it as prog then, but I’ve heard that said since. I just asked Eric to play something epic. Eric, like many good musicians, may be known for one thing but can do all kinds of things. 

Sweetheart of the Video is a particular favourite track from the album for me and one that regularly has me pushing the repeat button. It’s cinematic in its lyrical content. What is the backstory to it?

It’s written about a friend of mine who killed herself. I changed the facts slightly, but I’m just telling her story. I tried to make it feel right, and I had a very hard time singing it; I sang it once and broke down; it was so close to me. I’ve gotten to where it is just a song for me now, and I can sing it, but it was very hard for a while.   

Is there connectivity between the two deeply melancholic songs, Dear Friend and (A Prisoner Of This) Hopeless Love

Dear Friend was written much earlier than Hopeless Love and is very simple; the lyrics are very sparse. I just wanted to have a song of reassurance for a friend who was going through a hard time. A version of that song was actually recorded by the dB’s in 2007, but we never finished it. Peter Holsapple and I were singing it together, and I thought it would fit nicely on the record. With Hopeless Love, I just love The Carter Family, Louvin Brothers, Everly Brothers, that kind of church harmony. I went to the piano and pretty much wrote that song in about fifteen minutes; I was thinking of pictures of the Carter Family’s homestead and what they might sing on the porch. I did not feel imprisoned by a hopeless love; I’m a songwriter, but that one song is really simple, Sometimes, when I played it before the record came out, people would come up to me and say, ‘I want to buy or stream that right now.’ That’s the reason it ended up on the record.

You also include your take on She Might Look My Way, a throwback to your time with Alex Chilton. It fits seamlessly on the album.

I had already done that with Terry Manning some years before; I had started that track and gave it to him to finish. When I was making this record, I kept going back to that song, and I liked what Terry had done to it and would use it as a sonic touchpoint for the record. In the end, I went back to it so often to refer to it that it ended up seeming to fit on the record for me. It was a reference point, and I had played that song a lot with Alex Chilton; we recorded it for Elektra Records as a demo, but they never put it out. 

Given the number of musicians credited on the album, how much of the recording took place in the studio instead of remotely?

Like everything these days and particularly a record that was worked on during the pandemic, some of it was remote. Mostly people came to my studio, which is at the back of our house here. 

We cut many of the tracks with three or four people playing together, however, and did all the strings at my place. Some of it was also done at Mitch Easter’s and at Compass Point, Nassau, for the song She Might Look My Way that Alex (Chilton) wrote.

Alongside the West Coast sound to the album, there is also a considerable amount of New York references. Back In New York, in particular, has a Lou Reed feel to it.

It’s weird, I had two-thirds of the record done, and I wanted to figure out what songs to include. I had a big list of songs to narrow down, which is normal. I don’t mind records that are all over the place, whether musical or geographical. I included the Back In New York song on the album, but I was thinking more of California than New York generally when making the record. 

(The One and Only) Van Dyke Parks is laced with humour but also a genuine ‘star-struck’ ode to the legendary producer.

The funny thing is that I’ve gotten to know him a bit, he’s done some conducting for me. I go over to his house now when I’m in Los Angeles. I’m still star-struck; he’s still pretty chipper, sharp, and very funny. I wrote that song a long time ago, I just had never recorded it. I told him I was going to put it out and had another line in the song, and when he heard it, he corrected me to make it more accurate. I’m pretty sure he liked it. I played it in Los Angeles two weeks ago – he was originally going to come and play the gig with me but unfortunately had to cancel – but the audience in Los Angeles was very aware of him and sang along. It was fun; I like a lot of the lines in that song like ‘it was 8 am, I was still in my sleep attire.’ I was also thinking of a New York writer, back on the Lou Reed thing, I guess, named Jeffrey Lewis, a very good narrative songwriter, and his style affected me when I was writing the song.

In your book A Spy In The House Of Loud, you address the New Wave/ Punk explosion in the 70s that followed the overblown arena rock that dominated the industry then. Do you foresee a possible similar challenge reoccurring in today’s market?

The world keeps making left turns, I imagine there is still more change to come. The thing about being a musician is that you paint these imaginary worlds and people think that wisdom comes with that, and it really does not. I encourage people to do what I try to do, which is to keep learning more about music theory and how all types of songs are put together. There’s such a demand to promote yourself and be on social media today that takes away from the lonely hours in the bedroom. I want to point out The Lemon Twigs as an example of something that is exciting to me. I’m just finishing another record called ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, and they are very kindly singing these amazing harmonies on it. Thay are so old fashioned but the thing about them is that they are serious musicians who can really write and play; many people I know are seriously taken by them. Every record by them is an evolution. There is a lot of incentive in show business to, if you find you are doing something an audience likes, just repeat it and stay there, but the Lemon Twigs keep changing and expanding. 

Change can be challenging, particularly if an artist or band are being pressurised by their record label.

When I was growing up, the model was more that you never stay in the same place, and you wanted to buy the band’s next record to see where their evolution was and, where they had gone, and if they take that further. That may not be the way to make a living, but it is a good way to go deeper into what drew you to the art in the first place. I always value anyone trying to take it further. With Carla Bley dying recently, I thought of her album, ESCALATOR OVER THE HILL. It made me also think about Jack Bruce. He did well in Cream and had a lot of incentive to just sit around the house and play revival shows. Instead, he made the record HARMONY ROW, which is in its musical and lyrical language, trying to take it far beyond anything he had previously done. A lot of my heroes were restless and constantly changing, I think a lot of people should get off their laptops and go deeper into their art.  

Are you playing in The States with an entourage these days? 

It’s all different, I often write the music, and it takes less rehearsal if people read music well. That concert in Los Angeles two weeks ago was French horn and trumpet, banjo and mandolin, a string section and flutes, acoustic bass and drums, and a backing singer with me; it was a big group.

Will you be playing solo on your upcoming dates in Europe?

I’m thinking of just doing it myself, I do like how personal that can be and being able to connect more directly with the audience. I don’t know if audiences in Ireland are going to know anything about me; I’ve never played there. I haven’t been to Europe in a long time, and I’d like to see a little bit of light of recognition from the audience if they hear something they know. Maybe a few unusual choices, but three-quarters of the set will be from the dB’s and my solo records from a long time ago, and then about a quarter will be things from the new record. I’ve run out of quarters but I’m also going to do some brand-new songs from the record that will come out next year. I also have three dates in London, then Glasgow, Stockholm, Malmo, Leiden and Antwerp, of course Dublin and Waterford. Before London, I’m in Paris for a week for a concert with Matthew Caws [Nada Surf] and this recording supergroup called The Salt Collective, I recommend that your readers check them out. After Ireland, I’m going to Spain for a week to play with Mike Mills, Jody Stephens, Pat Sansone and John Auer. We have an unnamed group that is playing the Big Star catalogue. Jody was in Big Star all along and John was in the later version of the band. Mike and Pat are wonderful musicians and everyone sings, including Jody, who is sounding wonderful these days; we really like being able to bring those great arrangements to life.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Sean Burns Interview

Sean Burns was the host of radio show Boots &. Saddle on CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg for over 230 episodes spanning between December 2016 to May 22. The Northern Report Podcast was launched in 2021 as an arena for Sean to interview artists from local legends to regional stars and the cream of the Canadian crop. To date he has had a number of albums and singles released of which LOST COUNTRY is his latest. It is an outstanding album that pays tribute to some of Canada’s finest traditional country music singers from the past.

In 2022 Burns become the bass player and newest member of Corb Lund & The Hurtin’ Albertans. When he’s not on the road with Corb, he regularly performs around Winnipeg and across Western Canada, solo or with his band, Lost Country. Which is currently a lean and mean trio with Sean on upright and electric bass, Grant Siemens on guitar and Joanna Miller of drums and vocals.

Your deep love of traditional country is obvious from your recorded music. When did you initially become interested in that traditional genre?

 Country music - traditional country music - is the earliest music I recall hearing but it wasn’t until I was 14 or 15 that it really took hold of me. 

How was life growing up, obviously with a name like Sean Burns, there is likely to be some Irish heritage in your background.

 Yeah, we’re a blend to be sure. Mix of Scottish, Irish, English, French. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-20’s that I was really exposed and dug into the traditional music and literature from over there. 

You are currently touring, and recording with Corb Lund. How is that experience?

I’m so grateful and thankful for the opportunity to play in that band. I’ve never met anyone as dedicated to their craft and to this life as Corb is. There’s a high expectation every night and that’s the kind of pressure I’ve always wanted. We tour often and we tour hard, and when we’re out there, it’s typically 6 shows a week, so it can be a grind, but it’s very rewarding. He’s got a strong and dedicated fan base and every night is a meaningful show. We cut a record in the Spring that’s coming out in February. He wrote some really great songs for that. 

Is it much different from your own gigs, and do you play mainly solo or with a band?

The primary difference is in the size of the fanbase and venue. In Canada, especially in Western Canada and in the American West, we play some fairly large rooms. In my solo work, my audience is a little humbler in size. But often the same kind of venues. This year I’ve almost exclusively operated as a Trio; sometimes a 4 piece. Less solo gigging these days but it’s something I still do and do consciously. I had a nice little solo tour in Saskatchewan & Alberta earlier this year. It was nice to make sure I could still do the thing.

Your new album is full of nuggets from earlier country acts. How big a scene was that through the years? Hank Snow might be the best-known from the early days.

 Big in some sense. There was plenty of work to be had in the taverns and bars for about 30 years. You could stay home and gig constantly, earning a middle-class wage. Or you could stay on the road for 50 weeks a year. On stage 6 nights a week. So, from that comes all of these great artists and musicians and most of them, you’d never know of if you didn’t live in their town. Hank Snow was, and is a legend, no doubt. He moved South and was a big star, as we all know, but the fellas we covered for Lost Country, well they were mainly local legends, some who didn’t tour at all. The Honky-Tonk, Country music scene was thriving in Toronto from the early 1960’s-90’s. Western Canada to even out in the Maritimes where maybe the money wasn’t as good, always had country music happening. As it goes though, folks flock to where the people, jobs and money are so the larger markets, especially places like Toronto and Calgary had heavy infrastructure and support for working musicians. Tons of working bands, pickers and singers.

Did you have to scour second-hand and thrift stores to find original albums, or is it now easier to find the songs online?

It’s extremely difficult to find some of the music online. I spent a lot of time on discogs.com doing research when I was hosting Boots & Saddle (on CKUW) and didn’t take long for me to start ordering copies of whatever I could find that I was interested in. You pay a ton for shipping, but it’s worth it. 

What is the attitude to hardcore country over there?

I think there will always be fans of hardcore country music out there but in terms of the broader interest, accessibility or understanding from the music business and consumers here, I’d suggest it appears there’s a disinterest. 

My own experience with country music from Canada was limited to the few acts who released in the US such as Prairie Oyster and Blue Rodeo other than an album by Scotty Campbell. Would they have been considered more mainstream?

Of the acts you mentioned, Blue Rodeo “crossed-over” the most in to the mainstream. Not to say that I’m not a fan or appreciate them, but it’s not the kind of country music that moves the needle for me. Prairie Oyster was a favourite of mine from a very young age. They were the LAST actual Country Music band to be regularly played on commercial radio in Canada. They have some great records. Scotty, who we covered on this record, falls more into a similar category to me and my path in my solo career. I mean, I still regularly play some of the same rooms Scotty did 20 years ago... Scotty is certainly the most old-school honky-tonker of the groups mentioned. 

Where do you draw inspiration for your original songs, from listening to older material or creating something from your own experiences?

I try to draw on my own experiences or relay stories or scenes I’ve observed. I look back to the classic country songs to remind myself that you can tell your story with simple, relatable language. Doing that correctly and doing it well is more difficult than it seems.

Canada is a large country; I would imagine that presents difficulties for a touring band.

Touring Canada is a serious grind. It’s not uncommon for a 6-8 hour drive to happen on a show day. In America, you often have a major or semi-major market every 2-3 hours. It just isn’t like that here. We don’t have the population or as strong a culture surrounding live music as our neighbour’s downstairs do.

Do you have a particular favourite from the tracks on Lost Country?

Less on favourite tracks and more on favourite moments. Grant Siemens solo on The Final Word, Mike Weber’s Pedal Steel playing on Destroy Me and Drinkin’ Me Six Foot Under, Dennis Conn’s guitar solo on Drinkin’ Me Six Foot Under, Redd Volkaert’s guitar solo on The Same Old Thing Again, Sean O’Grady’s perfect drumming on Before She Made Me Crawl, Paul Weber’s vocals on Me And The Old Promised Land.

But if you're making me choose ... Drinkin' Me Six Foot Under, Souvenir, Before She Made Me Crawl.

Have you had opportunities to travel overseas or tour in the USA much?

As a solo artist, not overseas but a little bit in the USA. A ton in America as part of Corb’s band. We’re down there more than anywhere.

How did the pandemic and recent events affect you personally as a musician?

Well yeah, I mean, it was crippling emotionally. Beyond the financial hit it was the absence of connection and the loss of release you get performing live. That said, I got a lot of shit done. Made a lot of content for Boots & Saddle and The Northern Report Podcast. Put out a solo record, recorded and released the TRUCKIN’ album with the Lost Country band here in Winnipeg. 

At that time, for those artists, was there a particular sense of clothing and style which related to the music they played?

I’d have to say no; there’s no adhering to a sense of style. These folks we covered were in the trenches and we’re a little more blue-collar and didn’t wear (or couldn’t afford) nice suits like Webb Pierce or Porter Wagoner would’ve worn in those years. In terms of visuals, it was the album art and design that I wanted to ensure could capture that feel and look of yesteryear.  

What’s next for Sean Burns as a solo artist and as a band member?

 We’re playing a show at our hometown spot, the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club (234 Main Street, downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) the night the album comes out. I’m on the road with Corb for all of November and have a handful of local shows with my band in December. Busy year ahead touring with Corb in support of his new album. When Corb touring slows down, we’ll likely do some touring with my band to bring the new album out to the people.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Dylan LeBlanc Interview

For his fifth full-length album, Dylan LeBlanc headed to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to self-produce and record COYOTE. Dylan spent over three years of his childhood in Muscle Shoals, where his father worked, brushing his young shoulders with industry legends such as Rick Hall, Spooner Oldham, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson. An album that is most likely to cement his reputation as one of the standout artists in the Americana genre of the past decade, the collected stories in COYOTE are rich in detail and content, and feature Dylan’s most personal writing to date. When we spoke recently with him, we heard of those early years in Muscle Shoals – where he currently lives – his absolute passion for his art and the recording of his latest project.

As a child, you spent some years there while your father worked at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Did you appreciate the importance of that studio at the time, or did it go over your head?

It definitely did not go over my head because I was obsessed with music. I moved in with my father in 1999, and we moved to Muscle Shoals shortly after that, I lived there for three and a half years. I pretty much lived at Muscle Shoals studio because my dad worked there. Back then, he would write a song and record it at that studio, and I would sleep on the couch there a lot late at night, and all these guys would be coming in to play. I did not know who they were or what they had done because when you meet people like that, they do not talk about their accolades and also, I was so young. It wasn’t like ‘Hi, I’m Spooner Oldham and I play with Neil Young,’ people don’t do that. As a kid I only listened to what was on the radio and it was only later when I started paying attention to older music. I remember when I was twelve or thirteen hearing My, My, Hey, Hey from the live version of RUST on a classic rock radio station. I asked my dad who that was, and he told me it was Neil Young. Right after that, Babe I’m Going to Leave You came on by Led Zeppelin, and I thought: ‘who are these people?’ I just started diving in and started talking to people like Spooner who told me he had been on the road with Neil Young for years. It was crazy. So, the whole Muscle Shoals thing didn’t go over my head.

Did your father encourage your interest in music?

Absolutely, he was almost like a coach and very intense about it. He’s an intense guy period and old school in a way that if you’re going to dedicate your life to music, go all the way, don’t waste my time or anybody else’s time. If you’re going to write a song don’t write half of a song. I made the mistake of doing that one time and bringing him half a song. He just said: ‘I don’t want to hear half a song – bring it to me when it’s finished.’ He’d then tell me to play it to him or someone else. He was all business about it in ways and that was good for me because it disciplined me to take things seriously, and treat things with respect if I was to choose to do this as an occupation.

I understand that the legendary producer at Muscle Shoals, Rich Hall, used to practically foster you when your father was on the road touring.

The Hall family were the only family that I really had in Muscle Shoals. They had grand-daughters, Rebecca and Mary Elizabeth and I was really close to them, and also Rick’s son Rodney. Mr. Hall was like a surrogate grandfather to me and they all treated me really good. I stayed with them a lot, and they were really kind. It was a lonely time for me in many ways because I was on my own in Muscle Shoals, well my dad and me. The secretary at the studio would pick me up from school and take me to Wendy’s to get a hamburger and she would help me with my homework. I was not a good student as my head was always elsewhere. Rick’s wife still runs the studio. Just yesterday I was recording there for a live video session. I just love them all, they are still a big part of my family. Like my dad, Rick was also a very intense guy. I was surrounded by very intensely passionate people about music. Rick could be downright militant about music sometimes. I remember when my first album PAUPERS FIELD came out, he called me to his office and pressed play on that record. He had a killer stereo system in his office, it was amazing. I was sitting across the desk from him and it felt like I was sitting across from Don Corleone. He was sitting back in his chair and looking at me and he said: ‘I want to talk to you about this recording.’ My blood literally ran cold because he was ‘the man.’ He basically told me he would have done things differently. He would have put a different mic on me, but he also told me that my voice was interesting and that the song he played from that album was a really good one. I had never played Mr. Hall my stuff because I was too scared to because he was a bit intimidating. So that was a terrifying experience for me. But it was cool to hear him go through the album and he didn’t mince words. He would tell you if he didn’t like something but there was also a lot of encouragement.

You had people with serious work ethics around you. Did that rub off on you because a work ethic isn’t necessarily something you’re born with?

It’s a silly thing to think that every time you sit down, you’re going to write something great. Young people often get discouraged if it’s not happening for them. I’ve always written alone, which can be extra hard because that well of creativity has to be refilled. It simply gets drained and has to be refilled. The hard work is sitting there when it’s not happening and just doing it. That’s simply discipline and that got bred into me. I always wanted to be a songwriter and I wrote every single day when I was eleven years old.  I was always told that to have songs you have to build the foundation before you can finish the house – and I had to learn how to crack a song. By the time I was nineteen, I had written a ton of songs, not all of them very good, but I just wrote all the time. I did the work then and I still do the work and, as you say, work ethic is not naturally bred. It comes with discipline. I don’t write as much nowadays. I write when I’m getting ready to make a record. When you’re on the road a lot its hard it’s hard to write so a year or so before I make a record, I’ll write for that project.

Regarding your latest album, COYOTE, was it always your intention to record a concept album?

It didn’t start out like that. A lot of those songs, like Dark Waters, are deeply personal. I had the idea for this character Coyote, but I didn’t solely focus on making the story come together because I kind of knew that that would happen naturally by the ways that the songs were set up. Sonically, it was working out pretty much the same the whole way through.  I really started putting it together as the songs were playing themselves out and that built the central character even more as I went on. I love writing through a character because you can say things from that character’s point of view that maybe you’re uncomfortable saying because they are so personal to you. So, on the album I used the character as an outlet in some ways to express my own feelings. It’s a personal album as much as it is a concept album for me.

How much of Coyote is Dylan LeBlanc?

A lot of it is, especially Dark Waters and Forgotten Things – those are things that I’ve lived through. So much of life is getting through the pain to find the beautiful experiences, it’s up and down as life can’t be beautiful all the time. A lot of the album has to do with expressing my own feelings through the eyes of the character, plus I wanted it to be exciting. I feel I can be more dramatic writing through a character and also make it more cinematic through the music. I just love the idea of that.

The title track emerged from an extraordinary and bizarre encounter, didn’t it?  

Yes. I was with a friend of mine in Austin, someone whom I always seem to get into trouble with. I’m from Shreveport, Louisiana, which is a dangerous city; there’s a lot of gang warfare and a lot of poverty there. I always used to lean into the more dangerous things in life, they’re the things that excited me. I was due to play at Anton’s in Austin and I was hanging out with this buddy, who had moved there from Shreveport, and we were walking through the Green Belt, which is a fault line that runs through Austin. Every time I hung out with this guy, I got into some sort of trouble, we always seemed to get into a fight when we hung out. So, he started climbing the face of this rock wall – I didn’t want to do that, first of all, because I don’t like heights. So, I started climbing and following him up and he got up to the top, which was like a steep hill where you had to hang on to the trees to pull yourself up to get to flat land. He was already gone; I couldn’t even see him at this stage and I was trying to pull myself up to the safe zone. Next thing I could smell this really musty animal smell and I saw this racoon fly by me while I was still barely hanging on. Then, this coyote comes to a screeching halt and just stares at me. His bottom jaw was literally hanging off and he looked as menacing as shit, and he starts walking around me and started growling at me. I didn’t know if he was rabid or not. I thought, ‘Now you go around me and I’ll stay where I am, you don’t try anything and I won’t try anything.’ But he just took off and went somewhere else for his meal. It was unreal, like a cartoon.

You engaged Jean Paul White and Dave Cobb to produce your last two albums. Did you feel you had enough studio experience to self-produce this album?

No, I was going to work with another great recording engineer and producer in Memphis. I had wanted to work with this guy for a long time but we were going to have to do this in Memphis. I asked if we could do it at Fame, but he didn’t want to. I had a budget set aside and he wanted quite a bit of money and I also wanted to hire really great A-list session players for this record. I’ve never had the opportunity to do that before. I wanted this record to be the best I’d ever done, a really world-class record musically, not that the musicianship wasn’t great on my other records, but I wanted the best for this new one. My budget didn’t allow for both that producer and those players, and it was taking a long time to negotiate back and forth. So, I called John Salter, who is the head of ATO.  I didn’t expect him to say ‘yes’, but I told him that I could book ten days at Fame, hire incredible players and that I’m a pretty good producer, and can do this myself if you give me the budget. He told me that he’d called me back and he did an hour later and agreed to do this but added: ‘you’d better deliver.’

You indeed hired the best, bringing Fred Eltringham, Jim ‘Moose’ Brown and Seth Kaufman on board.

They are A-list session players from Nashville who play on everything from pop country music to Willie Nelson – their resume is huge and wide. When I’d hired that level of professionalism in people, I didn’t feel that I’d actually produced anything, because they were so good.  Fred is an incredible drummer, and drums to me are so important, and he nailed it. I’m a huge J.J.Cale fan and I was referencing a lot of his records and also all that Tulsa, Oklahoma mix and Laurel Canyon sonically. I always think of those people when I write and draw so much inspiration from that era. They were all incredible players; Moose is an incredible keyboard player and he got it, as did Seth on bass. They just took one listen to the demos and they all just got it. We did seventeen songs in four days; that’s how good those guys were, but only thirteen made the record. 

You are due to tour Europe for six weeks at the end of this month. How important is the market for you over here?

I started my career in Europe with PAUPER’s FIELD and spent a lot of time laying groundwork in Europe. My girlfriend and my daughter are both European and I want to continue to build and have a steady career in Europe.  I’ve been doing this for thirteen years and desperately need to get a step up. I’m hoping that this record will do that.

I expect that the shows will be as passionate and full-on as usual.

They will. I‘m not the type of singer songwriter that stares at the floor and talks about how sad I am when I’m playing. I like to rock.

Interview by Declan Culliton

GracieHorse Interview

 A former member of the Boston Indie-band, Fat Creeps, Gracie Jackson released her debut self-titled solo album under her stage name, GracieHorse in 2015. Working as a full-time travel nurse restricted the time she could dedicate to her art, but the combination of recovering from a neck injury and the pandemic gave her the space to complete her new record, L.A. SHIT. The album is loaded with left-of-centre alt-country gems and has been regularly pouring out of the speakers at Lonesome Highway HQ since its release a few months ago. We got the insight into the album and the change in musical direction from Gracie when we recently spoke with her.

When I think of Boston, bands like The Pixies, Passion Pit, and Aerosmith come to mind, rather than country or alt-country bands. Did you play country music growing up there?

No. I definitely always liked country music but I didn’t play it in Boston, I didn’t really feel confident playing country music until I came out here in L.A. I’ve always listened to a lot of different types of music and when I lived in Wyoming for a while and I heard so much great country music there, I really got inspired. When I moved to L.A. it seemed that people were also playing country music here and I felt that I could at least perform more of my country songs here.

What artists in particular inspired you?

I started with Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Loretta Lynn; I really like sixties country and was also listening to Waylon Jennings and Jessi Coulter. I like a lot of soul music too, artists like Betty Harris, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Mistress Mary and also folk artists like Karen Dalton. The Gun Club was another band that had a kind of country thing going, that I loved.

How did the album L.A. SHIT come about? Was it a conscious decision to go in a country direction sonically?

I let a lot of songs and stuff just stew around in my mind for a number of years and when I had all those parts together, I started figuring them out. During my time in Wyoming, I had A lot of these songs stewing but I just didn’t have enough time to work on them because I also work as a nurse full time. I got a neck injury back then and had nothing to do for a few months and I just started to think a lot more about those songs, mostly to help me stay calm. My neck injury meant that I had difficulty doing things with my hands, I was getting this shooting electricity sensation. So, I got my procedure done, started to feel better, and worked on all these songs that were playing around in my mind. They all just happened to be country-ish type songs.

When and where did you record them?

During the pandemic at our house, my husband has a studio and we recorded it there. We could only have a couple of people come over at a time to limit the exposure, so we got everything together slowly. We had one or two days of full tracking with bass, drums and guitar, and the others would come in one at a time and we would add their track.

The album’s title suggests a degree of frustration with your time in L.A.

It has taken a lot of time to get used to living here and a lot of the songs are about being homesick.  I’m so far away from my home base in Massachusetts and hadn’t expected to stay in L.A. for so long and a lot of the songs on the album are about people and situations, generally me trying to get used to life here. The album’s title refers to some of the more superficial and slimy aspects of L.A. It’s like ‘I hate it here, but I’m not going to let you take me down.’ I did hate it when I moved here first but I do like it now, I just had to learn to communicate differently. In Massachusetts, it’s very direct, whereas here in L.A.  it’s more like an earthquake culture and you have to tip around things in a specific way to say things. It’s like a more complicated dance here. It’s just so different than the East Coast, I’m sure the rest of California is probably not like that. But there is a great music scene, I also sing in my husband’s Jonny Kosmo’s band, which is more soul and funk, fairly eclectic.

My favourite song on the album is the opener Hollow Heart, which seems to point a finger at less-than-genuine and condescending people.

That song is not about L.A. in particular, it’s really about a few different people over my life. It’s a song that is very special to me and the lyrics really speak for themselves, probably better than I can explain.

If You're Gonna Walk That Straight Line Son, It’s Only Gonna Hurt is a great title and song. Where did that one come from?

That song is about a friend’s partner who was going around town. Everyone knew that he was playing around but didn’t want to get caught up in the middle of it. I didn’t want to be too direct about what was happening, so I wrote the song and I showed it to them. They both were like ‘cool, what do the lyrics mean?’ When I heard that, I just gave up!

By the Light of His White Stetson is another interesting title.

That song is from my time in Wyoming. I had never been to a honky tonk bar before where people would two-step and this was my first week in Wyoming. The song is about one character that I met at that bar one night who was just too much. I didn’t want to dance with him but I thought if I gave him a couple of dances, he would leave me alone, but he didn’t. He had no sense of rhythm, was just whipping me around, was way faster than the music, and was getting really sweaty, even though two-stepping does not require that amount of physical effort. This other guy saw that I was having a hard time and just said ‘Mam, if y’all want to come sit with us, you’re welcome.’ I was glad to join this table of random cowboy guys, who became the first friends that I made there. It was really nice and that is how people in small communities look out for each other, even people that are brand new to the area.

Is the album a one-off or will you continue down an alt-country path going forward?

I do think there’s going to be an L.A. SHIT part two. I have fun with the country thing, I think it’s great for storytelling and I really love the sound of pedal steel. I was just so shocked when I got to play with pedal steel players for the first time. I just love that sound and look for any way that I can include that vibe in my music. Pedal steel and sitar are probably my two favourite instruments.

How do you balance your professional career as a nurse and your artistic career?

I worked as a travel nurse because it’s hard to live off music and you have to support yourself. A travel nurse contract is like a temporary assignment which means you can pump up your coffers and then play music for a while. I like working as a nurse but I have periods of time when I feel that I want to focus more on music. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve switched to less physically demanding avenues of nursing. Times when I was working full time in hospital, I had no energy for what I needed for music and writing and things have got easier for me since I switched to less physically demanding nursing jobs and that is where I’m at now.  

You are due to go on tour with your band including a show at The Basement in Nashville on 24th September.

Yes, this is the first full-length tour that I’ve booked myself. We will be playing as a quartet; I’m bringing two friends with me that were in my band in Massachusetts and I have a friend from Nashville joining us on pedal steel. We are playing alongside Sean Thompson’s band in Nashville, we played a show together before at SXSW. It will be cool to play with him again, I really like his music.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Victoria Bailey Interview

Your 2020 album, JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE, arrived during the pandemic. Do you feel that you didn’t really get the opportunity to adequately tour that album?

I don’t really feel that I did. It just took so long for things to feel normal again and I never really hit the ground running with a tour for that album. But I’ve been playing those songs for a few years now and that developed into writing the new record. I’m moving forward on a more normal path with this new record, I’ll be touring this one in October and also next year. I still feel that the first record’s songs still got a lot of light in shows that I did.

That album was very much an appreciation of the Bakersfield sound of your home state. You have gone in a more old-timey, gospel and bluegrass road with A COWGIRL RIDES ON.

I didn’t grow up with country music, it was something that I fell into in later life.  So, JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE sprung out of my first steps into writing country songs and fully embracing it. For that album, I was learning about all the country music that came from California. Learning about that really fascinated me, I just loved the sound and I then formed my first country band. Fast forward to this record and I feel that the sound is also what I love about country music, the bluegrass, gospel, and old-time sound. I really wanted this record to feel different from the first album and to sound very raw and live, I think the songs really deserved that. We recorded the new record live and all together in one room with a four-piece band and I wanted all of that to come through on the record, as I felt that was very important for the genre of the record and the stories that I had to tell. Both records are very different, but I feel that they are both true to my sound.

What were your pointers towards the sound of the new album?

When I first started thinking about this record, I was listening to an Emmylou Harris album, I just can’t think of the title now, but it was not necessarily labelled as gospel but a lot of the songs have religion and gospel tied into them. I think Emmylou has often done that on her records, where she sneaks a gospel tune in from time to time. I kind of did that with this record, half gospel and half bluegrass. Another big influence was the Ricky Scaggs album, SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, we actually cover a song, Waiting at The Gate, from that album, on the new record. My producer and good friend, Brian Whelan, who co-wrote the record with me, when we sat down the first few times, we also just kept referencing O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, the way that it was recorded, and the artists on that album. We wanted it to feel raw and live, just like that album.

I feel that the new album really reflects your maturing as an artist and songwriter. The lyrics are less playful and more soul-searching than the last album. You open the album with these lyrics from the title track, ‘She’s a drifter, miles from it all with no one around her or a place to call home.’ I believe the song was inspired by Melissa Chapman’s book, Distant Skies, but is the song also somewhat autobiographical?

Yes, definitely. It’s an intertwined story about myself and the author of the book that inspired it. The book, Distant Skies, is a book about a woman who rode cross country on horseback in the mid-70s. I was really moved by her story and her truth and heartache, and the song just poured out as two stories into one. Something really cool then happened. Her book publisher got wind of the song and she ended up reaching out to me and we’ve become pen pals writing back and forward which is the full circle from reading that book, writing the song, and gaining a friendship out of it.

I also particularly like the song Sabina on the album.

I’ve had that song for a long time now. It also came about from a book that I read years and years ago by Anais Nin, called A Spy In The House Of Love.  I pulled some inspiration from the character in that book who actually would be vastly opposite to me and I’ve been playing that song for years. I had recorded it before this record but never felt at peace with it and never felt it was recorded the right way. I used to play it when I had a jazz band project for a few years and it didn’t fit the glove then. So, bringing it into this room and this project, it finally felt right as a bluegrass-type song. It just feels it has finally found a home because I’ve been singing it for five to six years. 

You also include a break-up song, Forever, You and I. Was it difficult to open up your heart and write that one?

I hadn’t really done that before and it was a weird way of closure, writing that song. I was afraid that singing it every time would be a big deal, but it’s the song that I’ve had the biggest reaction to. I’ve had messages from people telling me that they can really relate to it and that meant a lot to me because it’s one of my favourites on the record. It was actually the last song I wrote for the record.

You mentioned previously the Ricky Skaggs cover, Waiting At The Gates. What attracted you to that particular song of his, given his vast back catalogue?

I had that song on repeat for so long, the harmonies reminded me so much of Brian Whelan, who produced the record and sang harmonies on it. I just had a clear vision that we were supposed to do that song together. It’s also a feel-good gospel song and it was super fun doing it. It also went on to inspire the song Snake Trails on the record.

Tell me about that connection to Brian Whelan and how you got him to produce the record.

A few years back I got asked to do this filmed Merle Haggard tribute show. There were a few artists asked to play and I hadn’t met Brian before, but he was doing a song after me and I was so mind blown, I just loved his voice and his style. We had a quick interaction but that stuck with me for a while and I looked into his background, the records that he has made and the people that he has worked with. I pretty much cold-called him one day and asked him if he’d be interested in co-writing with me, which is something that I had never really been comfortable with before. We met up, it went really well, we had a good connection and he completely lifted my songs up and so I just asked him ‘do you want to make a record together?’ All the stars aligned, as if it was always meant to be.

Where did you record?

We recorded in L.A. in the Station House studio. In the past, I had worked with my own circle of musicians and bandmates down here who I love, but for this project, I was ready to try something new and out of my comfort zone. I let Brian hold the reins in far as pulling in most of the musicians at that studio, where he works with the engineer Mark Reins. I stepped into that scene and immediately fell in love with it. It was so meant to be in that setting, in that I was uncomfortable in a very good way, which helped me a lot to grow into that situation of having other ears and eyes around me in the studio.

Alongside the playing and your vocals, the harmonies are wonderful on the record. You got Leean Skoda on board to record backing vocals and harmonies live in the studio.

Yes, I feel that Leeann is the Emmylou Harris of the L.A. scene. She is known for that and is everyone’s first call for background vocals and has toured with a lot of great musicians. She brought great energy into the studio.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Broken Radio Interview

Broken Radio is a solo project by Klaus Patzak who started making music under that name back in the early 90s. With a background in folk, rock and country, he also discovered a preference for pop and electronic music. A combination of traditional songwriting and contemporary ingredients became the DNA of Broken Radio's complex and eclectic sound - from pedal steel to synthesizers, from campfire guitars to drum loops. In 2010 Patzak released his first full-length album HIGH FIDELITY. It had been a few years in the making and featured Texan guitar wizard Phil Hurd and Klaus’ long-time buddies Thomas Ganshorn and Axel Ludwig who were also part of the recording sessions. Now Broken Radio is back with a new album DIRTY COUNTRY. Lonesome Highway took the opportunity to ask Patzak about the background to the album and his journey to making it.

Germany, has links to country music going back to Army Forces Network radio which played traditional country music for the GIs stationed there post World War 2. One of those, of course, was Johnny Cash. You are well aware of this I’m sure, but when did country music enter your life?

This was in the seventies when I was a kid. I used to listen to Armed Forces Radio, which played very different music than the local radio here in Bavaria. It was mostly rock, but also country, which was new to me. I heard classic songs by Johnny Cash, George Jones and Merle Haggard as well as contemporary artists like Tanya Tucker. I loved the melodies and the mood that came out of this music, and I was captivated by it. My English was not good enough to understand what was being sung. Only much later did I realise what great stories were often being told here.

Much later I learned that Johnny Cash worked as a radio operator in the early fifties just two miles from where I live today. I can't help but think of that when I drive by the former air base guard station today.

Another major influence that brought me to country music was Neil Young, who was a very formative artist for me. His 1977 album American Stars And Bars has some great country songs with great vocal harmonies. Neil was largely responsible for me learning to play guitar in the first place.

What part did it play after that in your musical journey?

I consider it my home base. I listen to a lot of different music myself, some of which has nothing to do with country music at all, like electronic music. But those are just detours into other areas and I always come back to country music. It's the same with my own work. Country music is the real thread in my musical world.

You lived, for a time and played, in Austin, was that also a pivotal part of creating Broken Radio?

Broken Radio already existed when I moved to Austin. I had recorded a song for a Hausmusik label compilation, but didn't pursue the solo project because I joined a folk-rock band.Working in Austin has been an opportunity for me to spend an extended period of time in this wonderful city. The reason I came there in the first place was for the music, of course. I've never experienced anything like it here in Germany. So many great bands and artists of different styles in one place, so many live clubs. It seemed like this city was all about live music. I felt like I was in heaven and enjoyed it as much as I could, only to come to work in the morning totally exhausted.

After my return from Texas I was invited to play a festival in Austin with my band at the time. Friends who ran a record store there organized everything for us and even got us together with a lead guitarist. Our actual guitarist couldn't fly with us because he and his girlfriend were expecting a baby. After the festival a few more gigs followed, including one at the famous Gruene Hall. It was a great experience.

Dirty Country, is your latest album. Tell us something of its creation and who was involved with you in its recording. Did you bring other musicians in?

I produce my music mostly independently in my home studio. I see myself first and foremost as a songwriter and producer. The recording artist comes in second. I cannot play all the instruments you hear on Dirty Country. I work a lot with virtual instruments, which I play via a midi keyboard or in extreme cases even program note for note. This gives me the opportunity to add a fiddle or a pedal steel to the arrangement. I do have a pedal steel, but my skills are limited. Using the virtual instruments, I can get very convincing results. From time to time I also work with samples or add a drum loop. The most important thing to me is that the result sounds real and natural despite my computer-heavy approach. The real should be the foundation of country music. I'm pretty happy with how I've done that on Dirty Country.

I think I have made a virtue out of necessity with the way I work, because I can realise my musical ideas without any limitations. Of course it would be great to record and work with a real band again.

Most of the songs on this album were written and recorded during the pandemic. It took me about three years to get it all done and ready for release. That seems to be my rhythm, so far there have always been about three years between albums. I write all the songs on guitar. It's usually a hybrid of writing and recording at the same time.

I often struggle with my vocals, so I'm very happy to have found two singers, Lois Walsh and Teodora Gosheva, to take Dirty Country's recordings to a higher level. They are both the icing on the cake. I hope there will be more to come.

You have made a number of YouTube videos of the tracks on the new album. How are they conceived and produced?

If I have an inner movie running in my head while I'm writing or arranging a song, then the song is working for me.

If I'm lucky, these initial ideas can be captured with simple cinematic means. Actually, I just use my smartphone and an action cam. I then edit the scenes together in a way that best highlights the music. Most of the time, though, that's not enough and I need additional footage. I love to dig through archives for old public domain footage, or even use stock footage if I like the images and they enhance the music.

I never have a script or a set process. I just try to create and find footage that might fit and then put it together like a puzzle. I let the images guide me. That's why it's always a particularly beautiful task to begin with the realisation of a video, because the images add new facets to the finished music recording. Sometimes I even hear and understand the song in a completely different way than it was originally intended. Actually, it's like a movie score, but unlike a movie score, the images serve the music and not the other way around.

How has your music been accepted in your home territory and further afield in the America?

To be honest, it's pretty hard here in Germany. Country music has an absolute niche existence and the fact that all my lyrics are in English does the rest. When I look at various statistics, be it streams on Spotify, sales on Bandcamp or hits on my website, it is mainly people from English-speaking countries who listen to my music. UK, USA, Sweden, Canada, Brazil is the order, then Germany.

But I am very happy that there seem to be no borders and that I get great feedback from all over the world, even from the U.S., where this music actually comes from. Feedback is the most valuable thing of all, it motivates immensely and is the real reward for the work.

As you are not living in the States, although you have visited , where do you draw the inspiration from?

My musical coordinate system is of course shaped by what I hear myself. As far as inspirations for the lyrics go, I'm not fixated on the USA. The content and the themes are usually universal.

Of course I sometimes use metaphors that are more or less common and typical of the genre. But, for example, interpersonal themes are the same everywhere.

Also, there is a lot of rural area here in Bavaria. Tow Truck Driving Lady, for example, is a true story that happened to me here a few years ago with my old classic Chrysler. So you don't necessarily have to be in the Texas Hill Country to get the inspiration.

Did film and literature play a part in that?

Of course, movies and literature round out the picture, providing inspiration and influencing one's world view. I love classic movies, especially westerns. I really enjoy old grindhouse and B-movies. I definitely have a taste for the absurd. As in music, I love a certain simplicity, a good story, interesting characters and no frills. The simplicity you can find in a three-chord song.

What do you think of the emerging more traditional country artists in the States now, and also your thoughts on the more mainstream acts?

I'm a big fan of those traditional artists. Artists like Charley Crockett, Sierra Ferrel, Melissa Carper, just to name a few, but also artists who have been around for a while like Dale Watson.

I'm not really into mainstream country, but I'm sure there are some interesting songs and artists out there. I usually don't notice it until a few years later when I think to myself, "Wow, this is pretty good, why didn't you like this before?

Given this and previous album releases are you able to tour to promote them and do you play solo or with a band?

Not really at the moment. I definitely want to play live again and try out the new songs on stage. But I don't want to do solo performances any more. I don’t consider myself the greatest performer, and I can't get across what my music is all about the way I'd like to on my own. I would really love to have some gunfighters at my side. I'm currently planning something with a friend, but we're still in the early planning stages.

How big is the home grown scene in Germany, I know there is a thriving scene in Scandinavia?

As already mentioned, the scene for this kind of music in Germany is quite small. And especially here in the south it is really dead. The interest seems to be not that big and there are only a few booking agents who book country bands. The live club scene is also difficult and there are only a few clubs where you can see live country acts. The local country bands are mostly just cover bands. Things are a little better with the neighbouring genres, Rockabilly for example has a real scene here.

Are there other acts you can recommend and indeed acts with whom you see yourself aligned in the rest of the world?

It's all pretty scattered around here and I, at least, have a very limited network. But I'm sure there are some very interesting bands and artists that I don't know. One pretty well known singer/songwriter is Markus Rill, who I'm sure some of you have heard of.

There is another band on my label by its owner Wolfgang Petters called A Million Mercies. He is releasing a country double album at the end of September called Unten im Süden. It is a collection of western poems by Franz Dobler, who is a very cool German writer. The music is pretty raw and unconventional, sometimes bluesy, but really good. The great lyrics are in German though.

Are you a prolific writer and do you see yourself getting back to record in the next while, or has the process of recording and releasing become more difficult?

Yeah, I think it's getting harder and harder to put out good new material. I try very hard not to repeat myself, but on the other hand to keep a certain “brand core”. It's not that easy. And also, of course, the demands on yourself increase with time and I want to try to have the feeling that the next album is the best I've done so far and what I can do at this point in time. It wouldn't make sense to put out something that falls short of what I've done before.

I'm writing and recording all the time. I have to try things out, get a feel for the new song ideas. At some point it clicks and I know what direction a song should take. Especially because I'm working without a band, I need a lot of takes with different instruments to get a picture. So there are already some very concrete ideas for the next album. But it is still a long way to go.

You also seem to identify with a certain cowboy/outlaw look. Is this a part of the whole package for you?

Well, it's not a masquerade for me. I don't slip into a certain role and play something I'm not. It's all real, although I don't usually jump around in a cowboy hat. I went a little overboard for the videos and the artwork, just because it was fun for me.

Likewise what part do you play in the creation of the artwork?

I do all of that myself. I have a certain affinity to graphics and also to photography due to my daytime job as a web designer. Similar to what I said about the videos, it's really fun for me when the music is produced to put it into a picture. For example, the cover of Dirty Country is an old black and white photo I took somewhere in Wyoming many years ago. Somehow I was always waiting for an opportunity to use it. I recoloured it on the computer, which gave it a wonderful vintage effect. The Cowboy Motel with the pickup truck in front of it, almost kitschy. Somewhere along the way I got the idea to insert myself into the picture with a recent photo. I admit I was inspired by the Elton John cover of Tumbleweed Connection.

Finally. is it easier to keep the mystique of a band name rather than release under you own name?

I don't know if it's easier, but maybe it gives you more options. Broken Radio hasn't always been a one-man show, we've been a four-piece band in different lineups. It's easier for new band members, who I hope will be around again, to play a weighty part and identify with the band name if they're not under somebody else's name.

But honestly I never thought about it that much, I just always liked the name and I didn't see any reason to change it, especially since I reached a certain level of popularity at some point. By the way, the name Broken Radio comes from an old song by Green on Red, a band I've always admired.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Jobi Riccio Interview

It can take a decade of commitment, frustration, endless hard work and a lot of good fortune to make a breakthrough in the crowded music industry that is Music City, Nashville.  Not so in the case of Colorado- born singer, songwriter and musician, Jobi Riccio. Having moved to Nashville after completing her studies at Berklee College in Boston, in a few short years Jobi has recorded and released two records, got signed to the Yep Roc label and earlier this year was awarded the Newport Folk John Prine Fellowship. Her first record, STRAWBERRY WINE, was loaded with catchy tunes and was a reflection of her childhood, surrounded by classic country and bluegrass. Her recently released record, WHIPLASH, is an entirely contrasting affair. Jobi’s unflinching lyrics tackle thorny matters such as sexuality, the transition from adolescence to adulthood, vulnerability, and rejection. Forged from both modern and traditional roots, and with a splendid production and a host of great players, the album is one of the standout recordings of the year for me. Jodi’s enthusiasm, commitment to her art, and overall positivity were very much to the fore when we recently chatted with her.

Were you part of the Colorado bluegrass and country scene growing up?

The first musical community that I found was when I started playing mandolin at eight or nine years old after hearing Nickel Creek on the radio, but I didn’t actually start taking mandolin lessons until I was fourteen. There is a pretty strong bluegrass scene in Colorado and they were the first people that took me under their wing and thought that I was good and could have a career in music. I still have friends in that world and still go over there and jam with those friends from time to time. 

I understand that you were awarded a scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Yes, I ended up getting a scholarship that helped me finish at Berklee, it was through the family of the blues singer and Boston artist, Lee Villiare, who had passed away. The scholarship meant that I was able to finish debt free which is pretty incredible.

How did you find studying at Berklee? Was it an enjoyable experience or did you find it overwhelming in any way?

I had a mixture of both. I did find it overwhelming at first but did eventually adjust. I had never been in an academic musical setting before; I didn’t grow up with a music theory education. Where I grew up did not have a great musical or arts programme in the schools, nor did the private Catholic school that I ended up attending for high school, there wasn’t an emphasis on arts or music at all. That adjustment was really hard at first for me but once I felt that I could catch up and hold my own in the more rudimentary music classes, I quite enjoyed it. It was stressful but I feel that I found a great community there, both through the school and outside in the greater Boston and New England folk scene that I came to be a part of by working at Club Passim, which is a great folk club in Cambridge, across the river.

You then shifted two hundred miles from Colorado to Nashville.  Had you contacts in Nashville before moving there?

I knew a lot of people there and also friends of friends and music people that I had connected with through social media. The social transition was not too hard but Nashville is a completely unique place in that it is so transient with people coming and going a lot.  It can be super hard to feel connected here, simply because people are on the move so much. And those moments of connection do help me to feel good about being part of the community here. I won’t lie, it is tough because in the heavy touring season in the summer, Nashville becomes a ghost town.

Did you have many opportunities to play during your early time there?

I was relatively fortunate because I knew so many folks here that really helped me. I actually had more trouble getting gigs back in Denver, in particular gigs where I could play my original music. I did a lot of cover band and bluegrass gigs back in Denver and Colorado as a teenager and I continue to do those because they are fun but at the end of the day, I have studied songwriting and had this record I was working on and I was really excited about my original stuff. Nashville is a more nurturing scene because there are so many people looking for places to play their original music and looking to write and collaborate. I think I had an easier transition coming here because there are definitely gigs to play in Nashville but it can be hard to find what you would call a really solid gig when you first move here, so it’s important to play in rooms even if you feel it’s the worst gig ever and everyone’s yelling over you and you make literally no money at all, because you meet other people on the bill, other musicians just like you, and you become connected to your community that way.

What venues in particular gave you the space to perform your own material?

I’ve played The Basement a lot, I really like that venue and think that it’s really intimate and can take on energy from the audiences they get in that room. It can also be both a listening room space or a raucous rock club. I also love playing at The East Room and Dee’s Cocktail Lounge, I played there a good amount and there’s a real party vibe at Dee’s.

You were awarded the Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship earlier this year. How did that come about?

That was something that I wasn’t even aware of at the time. My manager briefly mentioned it to me as something he was thinking of recommending me for. I hadn’t met John’s wife Fiona Whelan or his son Jodi, so I didn’t know Jodi when he came to one of my shows at The Basement this Spring in Nashville. He heard my music and my songs and soon afterwards I heard that they had chosen me for this Fellowship. I was over the moon; it is the biggest honour of my lifetime and it’s been amazing meeting John’s family.

Your first recording, STRAWBERRY WINE, was very much a reflection of the bluegrass and country music that you grew up with. Did you feel pressurised to go down that road with your debut record?

I didn’t feel pressurised, I was just really interested in that sound at the time. That was the music I was studying at the time, I was a complete music history nerd into decades of roots, folk and country music.  I was just devouring all that music in early college around the time I released that EP, STRAWBERRY WINE. I put that together so that I would have something to sell at the merch table and have something physical that was representative of what it might sound like if you came to my shows, which at the time were centred around a string band. That then developed into a country band and from there I feel like it has become less about what the genre is and more about ‘here are the songs, here is my story, here is what I want to convey and connect with.’ I’m taking inspiration from other genres and not just classic country or bluegrass, and I feel like making that first record was a great introduction. It doesn’t feel like who I am anymore but it is definitely a part of me and where I come from. I sold out of all the physical cd’s so people obviously bought them.

Your new record, WHIPLASH, is most certainly ‘here is my story.’ It relates your journey from adolescence to adulthood exceptionally well and with no holds barred. Did you have any hesitation opening up to that extent?

I didn’t have any hesitation because it was what I was writing about and songwriting has been a process and tool for me for a long time. This record is relatively personal and is really me coming into my own as a writer in different ways. A lot of my favourite artists’ music is pretty personal. I’ve always loved Joni Mitchell and her music is very personal, she just lays it out there, she is the original one to do so. I’ve also always been touched by vulnerability; it is a powerful thing. The shows that I go to and remember are ones where I can share in the artists’ vulnerability, be moved by, and go home afterward inspired to write.

Getting signed to the Yep Roc label is an endorsement of the album’s quality. How did you make that connection?

One of the co-producers on the record, Gar Ragland, is from North Carolina, based in Ashville. He knew some of the folks at Yep Roc through that North Carolina connection and brought the record to their attention. The album had been recorded at that point, I co-produced it with Gar and Jessie Timm, who is a friend of mine from college. A patchwork of friends from all over the country play on the record because we did the bulk of the recording in 2020 and 2021. Mike Robinson, who played pedal steel and electric guitar and also played on STRAWBERRY WINE, is on the album. Josey Toney, who played the string and fiddle parts, was also on my first EP.

The production is also very impressive and quite nuanced and experimental. Who co-produced with you?

At the very beginning of the process, it was just myself and Gar Ragland and we had endless time to think about it because of the pandemic and lockdown. We were thinking about records that we were really excited about and the ones that played into the strength of my songs which come from different influences and genre fluidity, as so many of my favourite artists also do. A friend of mine from college, Jessie Timm, has worked on my music with me and is someone that I have taken my songs to since those days in college, we used to write literally side by side in the dorms. She has worked very closely on my arrangements for a long time and is a creative partner of mine. She was pushing me to think about the artists that I really love, like Anais Mitchell and the work she does with Bonny Light Horseman, because there is so much being played with in those songs and arrangements. That was certainly an influence, we listened to that Bonny Light Horseman first album a lot. I was also aware of Isaiah Beard, he had also gone to Berklee, he was a year ahead of me so we never connected at school. He had done a record with two of my friends and I thought the production was super moody and had this indie and contemporary spacey touch. So, bringing him on board took the project into the more experimental place that it is, with all those super spacey interesting reverbs and playing with mellotron, having woodwinds, different ways of having my voice doubled in more of an Elliot Smith and Phoebe Bridgers way, and still using pedal steel. We also had country songs like Relief, which was part of weaving together this tapestry of a record thanks to that creative team that all worked together and brought different strengths to the project. I just think I got so fortunate to have worked with all those people.

The lyrics are so clever yet honest and revealing. I love the lines on Sweet, ‘I’ve squeezed these hips into someone else’s jeans and I have said I’m sorry when I didn’t need to be.’

Thank you. Sweet is being played on the radio a lot over here on different folk and Americana stations

For Me, It’s You, is a super classic love song. I could imagine that song being covered by others and making you a lot of money.

Thank you. Hopefully, it will, I need the money (laughs).

Is that song based on personal experience?

It is based on a personal experience and I was moved to finish that song as it’s also based on universal experience. Like I say in the song, everyone has someone who does not love them back and experiences that pining and longing at some point or another. It is a personal song, but it’s also inspired by classic songwriting and specifically classic country songwriting. 

What songs are getting you the most feedback so far?

Probably the two you mentioned, Sweet and For Me It’s You. Those songs are such a contrast to each other. They are both lead singles and I think both songs grab people because of the personality, attitude, and lyrics. I was also looking to write some classic songs, so it’s very affirming to hear positive feedback from people. I’m really interested to hear about other songs on the album because it’s difficult to get people to listen to a full record. I have some sleeper favourites on the record and I’m interested to see if they also have an impact on people.

The ’Queer Country’ community in Nashville is booming at present with artists like Jaime Wyatt, Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlisle, to name but a few, leading the charge. Do you feel part of that community since moving there?

I definitely feel part of that community and it is a very special thing and expands beyond Nashville, even if it is a hub here because people are always travelling through here. It’s all about queer artists taking up space in folk and country music, which used to be totally rejected and particularly in mainstream country, and now that community is having a bit of a moment. It’s great to see music as a whole become more diverse, social media has allowed more interesting and diverse voices to be heard, voices that I think we needed for a long time.

Interview by Declan Culliton Photograph by Anthony Mulcahy

Interview with Edie Carey

From her debut album, released in 1998, Edie Carey has built a career in music that has seen her gain much recognition and praise for her songwriting. She performs on a regular basis throughout North America, filling venues and playing house concerts for her growing fan base of admirers. Her previous releases have shown her to be a singer-songwriter and guitarist of enduring appeal and her songs are rich in worldly insight when it comes to matters of the human condition and our search for real meaning and lasting love. She brings together both compassion and empathy with an honesty that marks her as an artist of deep integrity. Edie’s new album, THE VEIL, recently received a European release and is currently the forerunner for my album of the year. Lonesome Highway caught up with the very eloquent and engaging Edie Carey for an enjoyable conversation that touched upon many interesting moments in her career to date.

Congratulations on the release of THE VEIL. Have you been pleased with the media reaction to the album so far?

I think that there’s always different factors that weigh into how you feel about how something has been received. There’s the fans reaction to it, and there’s the publicity reaction to it. I feel like it’s been one of the best, of the records that I’ve made, so far. I think that your fans tend to be on your team most of the time but people also like what’s familiar, so when you make something new it’s like they want to hear what’s new but they also want to just know what they know and what they feel connected to. So there’s always that seal that has to be broken for listeners who have been listening for a long time.  But I have been getting very positive feedback from people who say that this record has gone up a big notch from the previous ones. I also feel that it did, in as much as Covid was such a horrible, scary time and continues to be in so many ways; it was the first time I really had space to stop and stay home for a long time. I could go and do a deep dive, to really polish these songs, rip them apart and sew them back together again. I was able to learn piano and there are four piano songs on the record. Guitar has always been my home and so, what I really hope is that people see that I put every ounce of myself into this record because I had the time and space to do that, being home and unable to tour. And I have gotten that precise feedback from people, both on the press side and on the fans side. It’s been really wonderful.

How vulnerable do you feel in the writing process. Many of these songs are very personal and although they can also be viewed as universal themes, there is the risk of being too honest. Is that a line you have to be conscious of?

If it were something that I was supposed to be conscious of, then I’ve never been particularly good about recognising it. That’s the space I always naturally go to in my writing. It’s not that I want to be overly indulgent in how personal it is, because a lot of these songs are written through other peoples’ points of view. That’s one of my favourite things about writing, taking on other people’s stories even though many of the songs are also personal. But I feel like the music that moves me the most is music that tells a really deep and honest, and sometimes, uncomfortable truth. Because music that makes you feel less alone in those vulnerable moments, what a gift that is. I know some people don’t want to listen to music like that and all they want is a celebratory sound and to have fun and dance, and I love all of that too. But I want to create music that emulates the music that makes me feel so deeply and also know that I’m not the only person that feels this way. So I have always been drawn to songs that make me feel in that way and therefore I’m naturally drawn to songs that go right to that place of vulnerability. I’ve always wished maybe I could be a little more mysterious and write lyrics where nobody really knows what’s going on. But it’s just not who I am. After I get offstage sometimes I think why did I just sing that song in front of all those people and be struck by the vulnerability of it. But then people will come up to you after the show and share their experiences and what a cool exchange that is. It’s like ‘I’ll show you my heart, if you show me yours.’

If we go back to your debut album in 1998, THE FALLING PLACES, the opening song, Margaret, begins with the lines ‘Hearing your voice was like hearing the future.’ There is a sense of wanting to break free and to live your own life in the song. As your career has grown, is there a fear of writing the same song over and over?

I’d say that maybe on a superficial level I could worry ‘am I circling the same drain again and again.’ But I don’t think that you really can because, hopefully, you’re growing and changing and evolving over time as you’re seeing the same people in your life and you’re experiencing the same situations. You’re not the same as when you were 20 or when you were 30, and I think that your perspective and your experience changes, so I feel like as long as you are evolving somewhat as a person then I don’t think that you really can write the same song twice because hopefully you are growing and learning. You have more trauma that informs your experience but you also have more wisdom that comes from that trauma that informs the experience. That song Margaret was written when I was living abroad for a year in Italy and the song references my mother in seeing the struggle that so many mothers and daughters have to face as you separate out to become your own person. Seeing the hard stuff about your parents and then seeing the hard stuff about yourself, and then becoming a mother yourself  and having a lot more compassion for your parents than maybe you had when you were young.

Your next album in 2000, CALL ME HOME, has an interesting song titled Emma and I was wondering if this was another person that influenced your early development and journey?

Emma came from a dream I had about having a daughter one day and I always liked that name. It was a stream of consciousness thing that happened when we were making the record. And it felt like a perfect outro to me for the album, so it was really just a fictitious little girl.

Another song, Black Wool Dress, has an interesting lyric and the lines ‘Cause I am your mother and it should have happened to me’ got me thinking that this was a song about bereavement?

I really love writing stories in the first person through another person’s experience. This song was inspired by thoughts of a mother having to say goodbye to a child. I wrote it just a couple of days after John F Kennedy Junior died, together with his wife and her sister, in a plane crash back in 1999. I remember thinking about what the mother would have been going through after losing two daughters and a son-in-law on the same day. And trying to understand what it would be like to be that person in the middle of all that noise and people swirling around trying to comfort you, but ultimately feeling completely alone in your grief.

On the new album, THE VEIL, the final song You’re Free seems to capture that sense of a chance to be reborn, letting go and of having a clean slate?

That was inspired by a friend of mine who lived in NYC and she was moving out of her apartment. She had everything in her life packed in a van and she ran up to give the landlord back her keys, but when she came back down the van had been stolen. She literally had nothing left, everything in the world was gone and it was obviously deeply traumatic.  But it ended up being this unbelievably freeing thing. She hated her job, had no regular boyfriend and she wanted to have a kid. After this happened she quit her job, she started her own business and had two children on her own. She felt so light and said that she could make anything of this. There is something so freeing about losing all your history, all the photographs from your childhood and all the things that you carry from place to place as you move in the world. It was devastating to lose it but she also felt so light. I found it so interesting how material things can really hold us down in so many ways and be emblematic of the internal things that we carry. But it could also equally be a song about a person moving on from a relationship.

Given your surname, do you have any Irish roots?

I know that my Carey family name has roots in Donegal, but also British and Scottish on my mother’s side. I have travelled in Ireland but never played there. I visited a few Irish pubs but I don’t have the chops to sit in on a traditional Irish session! I would love to go back and actually tour there, it’s something that I want to do.

Have you played much in Europe over your career?

I lived in Italy for a year and I have toured in the UK and Belgium and the Netherlands. Mostly I play in America and Canada but I’m hoping to do more touring now that my children are getting older.

Your song The Middle says that you can be funny when you talk, but too damn serious when you sing. Do you get a great outpouring from people when they see you live?

Yes, it can be very funny when people come to my shows and I sing my more serious emotional songs, and then I tell idiotic stories in between as a kind of palate cleanser before the next song that may make you weep. Also, I have long time fans who bring friends to shows and I can see their friends crying. When they come up to me afterwards and say that they didn’t expect to be doing so much weeping, I say that is the best compliment you can give me, that my song resonated and makes you feel seen and less alone with whatever feelings you may be having. I had a neighbour who came to a show and he made up all these labels and tissues that said “I ugly cried with Edie Carey” and I started giving them out at shows – it was very cute. It’s a normal reaction at my shows and it seems strange to want to elicit that but I write the songs for myself so what an incredible gift to have people join you in that moment of vulnerability. It’s such a privilege to get to meet people that way.

How do the songs come to you?

I think early on I would wait to be struck by the muse or have some kind of terrible break-up that would spur a lot of the songs. I write a lot of commission songs for people as another part of my income. Those are assignments that I get, maybe for a birthday or a wedding, and I have one coming up shortly for a woman on her 75th birthday that has been requested by her daughters. So right now I have all the material and photographs that I’ve been sent and I’m marinating myself in her story and the information that I’ve been given. I will set my alarm clock for 4.30 in the morning – I really love that time of the morning, sort of a liminal space between sleeping and waking, and get up and  free-write for an hour. I have a whole process through which I do that and I like a deadline to work towards. Usually those song commissions don’t turn up on my records even though there a couple on THE VEIL where I asked permission to use them. For my own songs, I tend to develop thoughts if I wake up at night and I will quickly get ideas and play around on my guitar or piano until a mood comes and I can start weaving them together. 

You did release an album of these commissioned songs; PAPER RINGS: 8 LOVE STORIES, in 2016.

Yes that was all commission songs but I always try to put some dark into the songs in order not to make them too saccharine. I think that mixing a hint of the dark with the light allows for the love story elements to mean that much more. My goal is to have every word reflect the stories that I have been given.

Your guitar playing is quite superb and the synergy between your vocal and guitar is quite beautiful. Did you start playing at a very young age?

This is probably the thing that I feel most self conscious about. I was always a comfortable singer and I loved to write, but so many of my peers started playing guitar when they were about ten years old. I started when I was about nineteen so I always felt very behind the ball. I’m not a dexterous player where I’m playing tons of melodic lines with my left hand, that’s not what I do. Patty Griffin is one of my favourite songwriters on the planet and she plays pretty straight-forward, simple guitar and it doesn’t matter because you believe every word she’s saying and what she’s playing supports what she’s doing really well. So I think I’ve come into my own in feeling comfortable in my guitar playing, but it’s only been in recent years that people have been saying “you’re a really good guitar player.” I still feel like I just started playing last year, but it’s been interesting to learn how to play piano in the last few years and to start a new instrument which feels so scary and nerve wracking. I’ve come to realise how at home I am with my guitar playing, so it’s funny how your perspective changes over time. I do love guitar and I’m so grateful for the way in which it allows me to write songs and grow whatever story I’m trying to tell.

All your albums have been self-released. Do you also handle all your own management and tour bookings?

Yes, and it can be a lot, but I love knowing how to do all the parts of my career, because if someone left my team then I wouldn’t be totally lost as to how to carry on. I once had a manager but when he went off to law school I just never managed to find someone else. I did consult with people over the years but I am really happy running my own ship, even though it’s only a tiny little row boat. If I want to take time off then I can, and I’ve had booking agents and they’re wonderful, but I do so many house concerts that those relationships come directly from my fans and we become friends over the years. I have a constellation of people whose homes I have played at and when I go back they have invited new friends to come and hear me play. So it’s word of mouth and I don’t really need an agent for that. I only tour one week a month at the moment, and I also play venues when I know I can fill them and I will do media and press around those. Building my fan base is always the aim and I sometimes wish I were driving a bigger boat but then I really love that I’m self-contained and in control of running it how I want it to be run. I also do all fan fund raising for my records and have done so for the last 20 years .

You have tended to use different producers across your albums. What do you find that different producers bring to your sound?

I think that after doing this for so long, I know of what my sound is and what feels authentically me. My focus is always to have the story and the voice at the centre of what is happening. I want my voice to sound like it’s singing into your ear and that it’s a very connected and intimate experience. And then that the production supports and underscores that and it’s not like a wall of sound with my voice off in the background. So a very singer- songwriter type of production. I have fans saying the they love just the voice and guitar and that they don’t care as much for the production, and I totally get that. But as an artist I love having the layers of production and I’m hearing the cello and the bass, the piano and the guitar. It feels like what I do when I’m solo and when I’m live is like a line drawing and when I make a record it’s a different animal and here are these songs fleshed out, flooded with colour, and my hope is that the songs stand alone and are strong enough in their bone structure that they work both ways. I like changing-up producers and I have always had very positive experiences when I’m working with different producers. I fell in love with Scott Wiley’s production when he produced the album 'Til The Morning: Lullabies and Songs of Comfort (2014), that I recorded with Sarah Sample. He also produced The Veil and I had such a great time working with him.

Interview by Paul McGee

Hannah Aldridge Interview

DREAM OF AMERICA, the latest album from Alabama-born, Hannah Aldridge, found her leaving her comfort zone and taking inspiration from unforeseen sources. While many of her peers’ thought processes and writing were driven by personal soul-searching during the pandemic, Hannah’s inspiration came from an entirely different place. She had already exhausted many more private issues on her previous records, so why revisit them? Her debut album, RAZOR WIRE, tackled the demons that haunted her at that time and GOLD RUSH, which followed three years later, was tinged with a degree of self-doubt and depression. Instead, the catalyst for DREAM OF AMERICA came from the movies, podcasts, and books that she devoured during the lockdown, coupled with an irregular, dream-inducing sleep pattern.  Hannah gave us the background to the album, her chosen career, and an insight into her childhood in our recent interview.

When we spoke back in 2018, you commented, somewhat tongue in cheek, that some days when you get to a venue, you have plotted a whole new career but by the time you play the show you are re-energised and want to keep going. Has it got any easier in the intervening years?

Well, since then we've gone through a pandemic, signed a record deal, and released a record or two, so things have certainly changed. One thing I've learned about the music industry as I go on - I solidify this thought in my head more and more - there are periods that are almost critical when I feel like I want to quit because of circumstances. I think: ‘Oh, this is the last record I'm going to ever do’ or ‘This is the last tour I'm going to do.’ And then you find another reason to keep doing it. I've learned that this is part of the process for me, feeling that way. There have been several times that I thought I was never going to do it again. Certainly during COVID-19, I felt that way about it, but you slowly get back on the saddle, as we say, because you realise what the reality would be like without that life as a musician. If you really are dedicated you can't quit even if you want to and even if you do quit, you're going to sit at home for a month or two and then go: ‘I think I'm going to go back on the road.’ If you don't feel that way, then you shouldn't really be doing it.  But things, I have to say, have not gotten easier. I just did one of the hardest tours I've ever done in my whole life this summer. I was in Europe for seven weeks and the shows were absolutely incredible. However, everything behind the scenes was a total disaster, a nightmare.

In what way? 

Every single flight was a disaster, either cancelled or delayed. My guitar got destroyed on one of my flights, my bag got lost on the first flight. It's that part of it that is difficult, coinciding with the fact that travel has gotten very expensive and the money for shows has not gotten better. But it is a labour of love and I wouldn't do anything else in the world.  I certainly wish it was easier sometimes and I think it will get easier. I do think things are going to level out again.

How has signing to the Icons Creating Art label helped you?

They do all the heavy lifting regarding distribution and publicity and all that kind of stuff. I absolutely love them and I have been so lucky to just magically run into them because they are such a perfect match for me. They're a metal label and a part of a bigger metal label out of Stockholm and they're completely into dark rock kind of stuff. So, they've been absolutely a perfect match for me. 

Do you still manage yourself and book your own shows and tours?

I still book nine out of ten shows that are on my schedule. I book them myself and if I don’t book them myself, I micromanage the booking agent to the point that they're probably ready to kill me. I think that even if I was signed to a massive booking agency that did all my booking it would drive me nuts. I think it would give me major anxiety not knowing where I was going. I would have a really hard time hopping on a tour bus and just go with the flow.  I like to do it myself because it gives me a sense of control over my career and my schedule. For example, I've got some shows in Ireland that I'm putting together for fun in the first week of December. It’s on the tail end of my album release tour in the UK in November.  I just haven't been in Ireland in a while and if I wasn't in a position where I was able to do that, then I wouldn't have as much control over what I choose to do with my schedule.

Your new album DREAM OF AMERICA is a departure from the more personal themes of your previous work.

The whole record was written, produced, and created during COVID-19, which was a time when I literally felt so uninspired. I felt like I did not have anything to say or anything to write. There were a handful of people that were able to be very poignant during that time and I was not one of them. I had nothing to say about anything because we were all going through the same experience. It's hard to write about what everybody else is experiencing and making art about the same thing. I didn't really mean to do this project until it had snowballed to the point where it was actually a record. I started writing about the books and podcasts and movies that I was consuming. The song Dorero, for example, is based on a podcast called Root of Evil. And the song, The Fall, was based on a podcast called S Town.

DREAM OF AMERICA as opposed to AMERICAN DREAMS?

Yes, exactly, it's a spin on that. It's like the idea of something not being exactly what you thought it was going to be and it also came from that whole sort of lucid dreaming feeling that I had during COVID, where I was in and out of sleep.  I really have enjoyed putting out something weird and dark, and it's been a bit of a conversation piece. It's interesting even for me to listen to as I'm like ‘Do I love it or not?’

That song you just mentioned, The Fall, is my favourite track on the album. It also has an Irish dimension as it’s a duet with Ben Glover, who is also credited as co-writer.

Yeah, I love Ben as a person but also his voice has always really creeped me out.  I was like, ‘I want to write a duet with this guy’. So, we got together and talked about that podcast, S Town, and how much both of us were really moved by it. So, it just naturally fell into place. That whole song was just something that could only have been created at that exact moment. And with Ben’s particular voice in mind, I was really glad we were able to get him in to sing on it, even though it was during lockdown.

That theme of darkness and mysticism is all over the album.

There was a lot of unsettling dark literature around me during that time as well because I finished my film scoring degree, and I had a minor in Gothic literature.  I was reading a lot of Faulkner and stuff like that and a lot of that imagery came from there. It is a very sort of lucid dream kind of record because my sleep schedule was completely upside down and I felt very aimless at that time. I think the record is very reflective of that mindset. It was one of those things that could have only happened and only been produced during that specific time and scenario. That’s what I love about that record. That whole experience was unexpected for me. It was a weird and unique time for me, and I don't know if I could ever recreate something like that again.

You also had to overcome recording the album remotely.

The whole record was recorded with all of us in separate spaces. I still haven't even seen some of them, so it was it was a really weird situation because of that. Everybody had to just do whatever felt right for them creatively because we couldn't sit in a studio together. I just sent the tracks to them and they sent something back, what they felt was the right thing to put on there. So, that made it a really unique experience, as there was no guidance at all for me or the producers as to what anybody should do.  I would just send acoustic tracks to Lachlan Bryan and Damian Cafarella, who produced the album, and a couple of days later they would send me back a whole track. I loved that whole vibe, it was interesting.

Tell me about the origin of some of the other tracks.

Beautiful Oblivion was written about suicide. It was written with a guy that I co-write with, and we both talked about the concept of feeling suicidal. And then Unbeliever was a song that was written about my personal experience. The Great Divide was literally written in my bedroom about being divided from people that I loved and were separated from at that time.

The song Unbeliever is the one particularly personal song on the album. I presume it reflects your growing up in a fundamentally Christian environment?

Yeah, it is the only song that was written before COVID-19. Actually, I wrote that song in Australia with the two producers, Lachlan and Damien. We were just writing a song that started out very tongue-in-cheek. Lachlan and I both have a very dark and dry sense of humour and both of us relate to the idea of not being believers, and being unbelievers. I started thinking about that word and how my whole life I've been taught to be a believer, and what that really required. You have to unbelieve some of the things that you've been taught whenever you're young, and that can be anything from religion to Santa Claus. So, we tried to relate that song to being a chronic unbeliever but also finding the positive side of that.

How difficult was it for you growing up in that environment, given that you obviously had doubts at an early age?

I went to Church of Christ schools and that requires that you go to church every day at the school and your whole curriculum is based around that. That belief system, school, and everyone around you and their families were not just Christian, but Church of Christ. That denomination meant people wanting me to be involved in youth groups and go to Christian summer camps, the whole thing. There was no room for doubt in any of that. I didn't have a choice to go to a public school or anything like that. I try to be careful when I talk about this not to totally throw my parents under the bus, but that being said, I do things very differently with my son.  I've never said a word to him about religion or God, because the truth is, I don't have a clue what the truth is, and I can't tell him that he has to believe in something. So, I'm going to let him figure that out. And if he were to say: ‘I’ve been studying Buddhism and that resonates with me,’ that's totally fine with me, every bit the same as people’s choices in sexual orientation.

That pressure to conform had no doubt also been enforced on your parents.

My parents were doing the best that they could in their defence. It was very much about appearances and people being judgmental. I felt that my whole extended family and all of our friends and their families would be judgmental if we didn't conform. I think it was more like a peer pressure kind of thing. My grandfather was a Church of Christ preacher on my mom's side, and all my dad's family were Church of Christ. I just think it was one of those things that they felt that they had to do for their family.  

You obviously rebelled at some stage.

Yeah, at some point it was very clear and very obvious that I was not like the rest of the kids in my friend groups or the kids at my small Church of Christ schools. I was very arty, I questioned everything, I was always one of those people. I was very, from day one, not on board with it and that was definitely difficult. In a way, I'm really lucky that I had my son when I was nineteen years old. I was lucky in two ways because I think my parents and my family at that point, stopped pushing me to fit into a mould because they were like: ‘We'll just let her go to hell.’ I think it really helped me gain perspective on my life and what things you should, in my opinion, teach your kids and what you should not.

 On the live front, you are due to perform with your band on September 17th at The 5 Spot leading into Americana Fest, prior to heading off on tour again.

Yes, I love doing that show.  I always try to put something together right before Americana Fest because so many people are coming into town that haven't been able to see me play in other places and it's such a fun night.  I’m really excited about it actually - it should be really good fun. I don't really participate in the Americana Fest, I don't feel like I need to be a part of that, although I love a lot of musicians that are involved in it.

Interview by Declan Culliton Photography by Amanda Chapman

Lillie Mae Rische Interview

A multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and more recently, mother, Lillie Mae Rische has been playing music and performing from the age of three. Her career started as a member of her family band alongside brother Frank and sisters Scarlett, Amber Dawn, and McKenna Grace, but Lille Mae soon established herself as one of the most talented fiddle players in Nashville. Recognising her talent, Jack White invited her to his Third Man Record studio, where she contributed to a number of soundtracks he was undertaking. That relationship led to Lillie Mae playing on three of White’s solo albums and being a member of his touring bands. She recorded her first solo album, RAIN ON THE PIANO in 2015 and followed that with two albums on the Third Man Record label, FOREVER AND THEN SOME (2017) and OTHER GIRLS (2019), both of which charted in the US Country and Heat charts. Her most recent record, FESTIVAL EYES, is due for release on 8th September. Lillie Mae is also currently a member, alongside her husband Craig Smith and brother Frank Rische, of Jim Lauderdale’s band The Game Changers. 

Firstly, congratulations on the birth of your daughter. You were heavily pregnant the last time I saw you on stage with Jim Lauderdale. How is motherhood treating you?

It couldn’t be better; my daughter Aberdeen is ten months old now. I’ve been so lucky with the help from my sister and my mom to be still able to play gigs.

I recall seeing you play in Dublin over ten years ago as part of Jim White’s band and also appearing on The Jools Holland Show at that time. What are your recollections of those times as a very young artist?

I had such a great time working on the road back then, it was such a weird time and I was so young. Touring with Jack White was such a unique thing to be part of. Travis Stevens, who is now Lucinda Williams’ tour manager was the first person that told me about the Jools Holland Show. He used to watch every episode.

Unlike many of your peers who headed to Nashville after college to find their way in the music industry, you’ve been part of it since childhood. Do you ever think what life would be like away from music?

It’s not an easy business to be in and it’s unfortunate that the business aspect is such a big part of it. As an artist when you’re writing a song you shouldn’t have to think about the business end of things, like album sales. You might be creating something that you think is larger than life and you’re not thinking about anything else, but what it boils down to is more about the business than the product that you’re investing in. There have been moments when I’m thinking ‘why am I doing this.’ But I’ve been doing this for so long, practice, get in the van, roll, play, we know how to do that and put the show on. Sure, when things get crazy you think of other things, maybe do some farming or live simpler but whether I like it or not, I’ll be doing this forever.

You were touring and performing in the family band from childhood. Did you ever resent that lifestyle?

No, I was always chomping at the bit. After my dad left town and the band when I was eleven, playing with my brother and sisters was all I ever wanted to do. There was never a moment when I was unhappy.

Do you still perform as The Rische Family band alongside your other projects?

We still play together but it’s an ever-changing thing. We haven’t made a Rische family album for a long time but we still play gigs. My sister McKenna Grace is an unbelievable artist, singer and songwriter, and my other sister Amber, Grace and I often play together, sometimes with my brother Frank, too. My husband Craig (Smith) also plays with us, we play every Saturday when we’re not out of town. 

How did the Jack White connection come about?

I started working at Third Man when I was nineteen. Jack was looking for a fiddle player and a mandolin player, and my buddy Joshua Smith, who is an engineer at Third Man, called us. He got our numbers from Joshua Hedley and he called me and my sister Scarlett in to do some recording. We did our first sessions over there at Third Man playing on soundtracks. The Lone Ranger soundtrack, which Jack composed for Disney, was the first thing that we did. They kept calling for me to work on several other things after that and one thing led to another.

Your latest album is FESTIVAL EYES. Where did that title come from?

The album title track was written during covid, and I wrote it on the piano which I don’t often do. We were having a discussion about playing festivals during the summer season and how there’s no grosser feeling than when you’re hot and it’s one hundred and twenty degrees out. That’s where the idea for the title came but also in multiple ways it also came from the shiny and sparkly excitement of playing festivals at a time when no festivals were happening. We were all missing that and thinking about what fun it is to get to play them.

Your cover of Neil Young’s Razor Love is stunning, as is the YouTube video of the song.

Thank you. We were going to do a live video for each song on the album but reckoned that we couldn’t do eight videos in one day and also that they all would visually be the same. We did that video for Razor Love in my sister’s house. A guy that lives three houses down the street and someone that I’ve known for a long time, his name is Jace Kartye, he did the video for us.

There is a connection between that song and your Mom. I understand that her maiden name is Razor.

That was actually just a coincidence, the song was something that the producer Beau Bedford brought to the table. I hadn’t actually heard the song before but because mom is a Razor and the song is Razor Love, I thought ‘well that’s cool.’

You recorded this album in Dallas rather than Nashville.

Yes, we did the project in Dallas, where Beau Bedford is based. We were on a tour for a few weeks and it ended in Texas. I had met Beau long before that and agreed to work together at some stage and since our last show was close to Dallas we thought it was a good opportunity to record there. There are eight songs on the album and we did the first batch of five songs in one day and finished the others in another two days. We came back to Nashville and ended up going back to Dallas for one more session. We did some more vocals late in Nashville at Creative Workshop when Beau was in town here.

Who played on the recordings?

My sister Scarlett, brother Frank and husband Craig were there.  The rhythm section was my buddy Aaron Goodrich who was on my tour on drums, our friend Geoffry Muller was on bass and then our long-time bass player Brian Zonn played the second time we went back to Dallas.

My favourite song on the album is Love Is. The vocal harmonies are stunning.

That’s my favourite track, too. It’s hard for me not to do harmonies, that’s my favourite style of recording. On this project, I didn’t want to do what I did in the past by singing the harmony vocals myself, because it never gets recreated live, or at least until I could afford to have another singer or two on stage with me. We’re not quite there yet.

You open the album with Cold June. Surely there aren’t cold Junes in Nashville?

There aren’t too many but there was that year. Nashville weather can be funny.

Where does the writing for your songs come from?

The songs come from everywhere, sometimes in the middle of the night. I’m always jotting things down and taking notes on my phone. I was kicking myself the other day; it happens so many times that some idea comes to you and you don’t jot it down. I had a good one the other morning before I was up and I missed it. I’ve also been co-writing a bit lately and I had one of my favourite co-writes the other day with a woman named Grace Adele, who I have known for a long time. She has a band with her husband called The Farmer and Adel. The idea was that the song would be about the music industry but the song ended up being about a guitar, which was cool.

Are you more comfortable out front leading your band or playing in Jim Lauderdale’s band, The Game Changers?

It all just goes hand in hand. One of my favourite things to do all my life is to sing harmony. Getting to do that and playing in Jim’s band has been one of the great pleasures in my life. The band The Game Changers with Jim is unbelievable. Craig and Frank on guitar together are amazing and Jay Weaver on bass, who’s been with Jim a long time and has also produced his last few albums. He’s the best bass player on the planet. The whole band is just so tight and it’s a great honour to get to play with such great musicians. We are just back from California where one night I played and sang in Jim’s band but also got to do my own set beforehand. The next night we did some songs that we’ve been working on with Jim where my brother Frank, Craig and I sing the songs, which was such fun.

Fashion has played a major part in the music industry forever. You and your family have always had a very individualistic style.

I am becoming more and more aware these days of fast fashion, which is changing the game. I’m really conscious these days and aware of clothes that are eco-made. Otherwise, you just get rid of a gigantic amount of what you have shopped for. We’re actually setting up a sewing room at my sister’s house where we can create our own pieces because fashion has always been a big interest for us.

You’re heading to Europe with The Game Changers shortly.

Yes. I haven’t been over there since long before the pandemic, so we’re long overdue to get over there. I’m really grateful to get back there although it will be really hard to leave the little one for two weeks. She’s going with my sister and my mom to Canada to visit my other sister and her twin cousins so she gets to use her passport for the first time.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Erin Viancourt Interview

The name Erin Viancourt may be new to you in country music circles as it was to Lonesome Highway until we received a review copy of her recently released debut album, WON’T DIE THIS WAY. The Cleveland-born artist has spent the past eight years in Nashville steadily and deftly growing her profile from playing small dive bars to more recently playing arenas while touring with Cody Jinks. The first signing to Jinks’ Late August label, her debut album is forged from both traditional and modern country roots, while avoiding anything that approaches the pop/crossover sound currently dominating the airwaves.  A maturing artist with a crystal-clear career trajectory and mentored by one of the most successful independent country artists in Cody Jinks, Viancourt is set to move swiftly from the ‘one to watch’ category to the ‘one that has truly arrived.’

Was there more rock and roll than country music surrounding you growing up in Cleveland?

Yes, lots of rock and roll of course being in Cleveland, but my family also listened to a lot of Jerry Jeff Walker, Asleep At The Wheel, Patsy Cline and John Denver. Lots of Irish music too, we’re a bit of Scotch, Irish and French, we have a heavy Irish bloodline.

You headed to Nashville when you finished school. Was that daunting at the time?

Not at all, it was wonderful. It was ‘get me out of this town, I’m ready to go.’ I had a very supportive family. My dad drove me to Paris, Tennessee, before I moved to Nashville as I had a cousin living there. That made it an easier move. It was fun telling my high schoolmates that I was going to Paris to sing country music. I didn’t tell them which Pari

Did you have contacts in Nashville?

I did not. I just wandered into the first bar that would let me play and played to nobody for a long time. I played Your Mother’s Bar and Grill and I met people that are still some of my very best friends there, including the guy that plays guitar in my band on the road with me. He was one of the very first people I met in town in this little hole-in-the wall bar. People that were playing to nobody with me back then are now getting to do all this fun stuff together.

I understand that you worked at 3rd & Lindsley for a number of years. Was that a conscious decision to work at a music bar with the opportunity of networking?

I worked at a few BBQ places before that but it was better to work at 3rd & Lindsley and get to see The Time Jumpers play every Monday night. If you’re going to be a waiter or a bar attender you might as well listen to good music too.  As well as filling my soul with good music and resetting my brain if I was getting a bit down in the dumps, the owners and promoters there were kind enough to believe in me from a very young age. They would put me up as an opener for acts when they had the choice to do so. They let me open for some wonderful names like Paul Thorn, Travis Meadows, Mikey Guyton, and Alex Williams. Alex actually played a big part in connecting me with the people I’m working with right now, which helped me get my record deal and make this record.

You recently had your album release show at 3rd & Lindsley which must have been particularly pleasing for you.

Yes, I got to do my album release show there. It was really full circle for me back playing there and we had a good turnout.

When did you make your first formal recording with the debut single, Playing Old Records?

I opened up for Alex Williams at 3rd & Lindsley in April or May of 2019 and released that single, Playing Old Records, in September of that year. The team that I have behind me now reached out and told me that they were paying attention and asked me to come to Texas and talk to them, which I did. Then the world shut down, but I stayed with them and as soon as things opened up again, they had me opening up for Cody Jinks and Travis Tritt, and they kept asking me back to play more shows with them. They also told me that I needed a record out and that’s what we did.

You had already written a number of the songs from your early days in Nashville. What were the first and last songs that ended up on WON’T DIE THIS WAY?

Yes, I had. The first song, Beautiful Night For Goodbye, was written in 2014 and the last ones, Some Things Never Get Old and the title track, Won’t Die This Way, were both written in 2021.

Is that title song, WON’T DIE THIS WAY, tongue-in-cheek or factual?

That is a very literal song. When you’re in a situation in your life when you are so heartbroken and you think ‘This can’t be it, this isn’t how I want to live only knowing this feeling. I got to do something about it.’

The album is truly modern country. You avoided going down the more mainstream pop/ country crossover road.

I won’t die singing pop-country music. I tend to like old country music and not the mainstream country. There’s room for all of it, although I don’t necessarily listen to the crossover stuff. I want to make the kind of music that I’m a fan of. You don’t know what the end result is going to be like while recording an album, as much as you attempt to make it the way you want it to sound. My goal while recording is always to make an album that I would love listening to.

You have blended the classic country sound of yesteryear on songs like B24, Old Time Melody and Beautiful Night For Goodbye, alongside the Brandi Carlisle-type anthem, Should’ve Known Better, which is a show stopper.

That’s a song that I get a lot of messages about, people saying that they’ve screamed that line from the top of their lungs many times. That song can be about so many things. It’s the classic thing that most people can relate to, ‘I knew better but I still did it.’

You are the first signing to Cody Jinks’ Late August Records. How did that come about?

When I played that show with Alex Williams at 3rd & Lindsley, Cody’s management team heard what we were doing and asked us to come down to Texas, which we did. From there we signed on as a team with them and after Covid, we went down to Austin and opened up for Cody Jinks and Travis Tripp. They were kind enough to ask us back continually and we did a good amount of touring with them from last year. We spoke a lot with Cody about music and protecting the integrity of your own music in this business. He’s just a good guy that not only wants to help young artists to get their music out there but to also inspire them to keep making music and writing honest and authentic music, and to be aware of protecting it. So, I’m very proud to be on Late August records and have that team around me. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in Nashville.

What has it been like touring with Cody and playing to large audiences?

The most fun thing about playing shows with him is the variation.  Some days we walk into an arena or a large amphitheatre but there are also shows where he goes back to small dive bars that only fit a couple of hundred people and they’ve got them packed in there. I know that’s what fills his soul, playing those smaller gigs where you get to be up close and personal with the audience. We’ve played to fifteen hundred people, twenty-five thousand and a couple of hundred people. It’s really sweet to watch him weave in and out of that and loving what’s he is doing. As well as opening, I get to do a couple of songs with him during his set. We sing his song, We Get By, which is one of my favourite songs of his and also cover the Bob Seger song, Still The Same. We actually recorded that song and will be releasing it sometime this year.

As the opening act, how does playing in large arenas compare to smaller rooms?

I’ve only played once to twenty-five thousand, so I have a long way to go to get there for my own shows. When you’re the opener in a show you can be playing to a lot of empty seats sometimes. It’s almost like a challenge to find those people that are there that don’t know who you are. But, you can see some that are enjoying themselves and also tune out the people who have got up to go and get a beer.  You also find people that are singing along and they are the ones that I’m singing to. For smaller crowds, you just play like there are twenty-five thousand people singing along to your songs. As well as a support act we’re slowly making our way to headlining shows, where I get to pretty much play the whole album out on the road.

A lot of artists like yourself comment on how hard it can be to get regular shows in Nashville away from the commercial tourist scene.

Yes, you wouldn’t think so, but it can be hard to find yourself a spot to play in and get paid in Nashville. There are many wonderful spots in Nashville where the locals go and not really tourists. So, if you want to hear good country music there are a lot of community-based places like The Underdog, Honky Tonk Tuesday at The American Legion, Dee’s Cocktail Lounge, where you can meet your friends and play music.

I get the impression that you’re a very structured and goal-driven person. Where would you like to see yourself in ten years’ time?

My ten-year plan is to be consistently touring, ideally with a full band that I can pay handsomely, still making music and being able to pay the bills doing that. I’ve dreamt of places that I’d love to play like The Opry, The Ryman, and Red Rocks. Coming over to play Europe and especially Ireland and maybe making ten more records.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Charley Crockett Interview

With the music industry these days appearing to control the market and attempting to regulate the public’s listening choices more than ever, it’s very tough for independent artists to survive in a meaningful way. Charley Crockett’s career progression has not been dependent on the industry moguls. Instead, his trajectory has been based on an entirely different model. His early days of busking, wayfaring, train hopping and self-education, set him on a path of self-sufficiency, and an awareness of the possibility of existing in the industry without selling his soul to others. Eight years into a recording career that has yielded thirteen albums to date, his hard graft, patience and astute self-management, means Charley has carved out an effective survival path. His busking times are far behind him. These days he’s sharing stages with Willie Nelson and Chris Stapleton, playing The Ryman in Nashville and enjoying his days on the road. He was in his usual engaging and buoyant form when we chatted recently prior to his return to Ireland to play Vicar Street in Dublin on 5th September. 

When we spoke in August 2020 at the height of the pandemic, you were still pretty upbeat and resolute telling me ‘They better watch out in country music, because I’m just getting started.’

That sounds like me alright.

They are the words of a positive man.

It all depends on where you’re coming from. People are always asking me if I’m doing ok out on the road, touring all the time. If you start out on street corners, hitchhike, ride trains and walk across this country the way I did when I was a younger man, riding around on two buses, having a crew and people that are taking care of you, which I do now, that’s a fantasy. I’m being honest when I say that the way that our business was paralysed during the pandemic was an advantage for me. It levelled the playing field a bit.  I hadn’t been getting the money and resources that a lot of people in the business had been getting. While others were financially paralysed in the pandemic, I made a play, wrote my songs, and got to record them.  

You have certainly been true to your word. Since then, you’ve been on stage with Willie Nelson and Chris Stapleton, played The Ryman, and recorded and released your most commercially successful album, THE MAN FROM WACO.

That record is interesting because I recorded it live to tape with my road band The Blue Drifters. The songs that we recorded were being viewed by business people around me as nothing but demos, but I took those so-called demos and we put them out. I was writing those songs on the increased visibility that my other records WELCOME TO HARD TIMES, MUSIC CITY USA, 10 FOR SLIM, and JUKEBOX CHARLEY, had got me. But more than that, I think that the song writing and magic of my band on THE MAN FROM WACO translated to people in a way that those messages would probably not have come across on a lot of really well-recorded records. It’s not necessarily how perfect a record sounds; it has a lot more to do with capturing the performance of the band and how somebody feels when they listen to those songs. You could take those same songs and build them piece by piece in a studio and it might not have the same effect as the live recording. I think that’s the main reason why that album did so well. Also, because it’s a concept album, where I was telling one big story about a character’s life, that also seemed to really connect with people.

You co-produced it with Bruce Robison and recorded it at his studio outside Austin. Was he surprised that you put the tracks down in one or two takes?

I think he was surprised but he was really laid back. I got to know Bruce from running into him on the old country circuit that we were both working for many years. We met in Oklahoma at a festival a bunch of years back and he invited me down to his studio to record. Both times I ended up down there to record, I was really surprised and pleased with how warm those recordings sounded after coming in and throwing down songs without hardly thinking about it. We’d do one or two takes, hear the playback from that two-inch tape on that old board of his in the control room and every single time I was completely surprised at how good it sounded. The thing I love about Bruce is that he went with everything I wanted to do with THE MAN FROM WACO production-wise. When I was sure of something I wanted to do with that record, he would follow me. If I had interfering record label business people around me, I would not have been able to record the way I did.

Had you road-tested the songs with your band before you recorded them?

No, besides the song, Trinity River, those boys hadn’t heard any of the songs. They were learning them as we were recording them.

That song, Trinity River, seems to be very special for you as your latest single is a live version of it from your show at The Ryman.

It is. I wrote that song standing over a small bridge over the Trinity River. That river forks above the Dallas Forth Worth area. The west fork runs through downtown Fort Worth and the east fork runs south of downtown Dallas. When it floods that river can be as big as the Mississippi and it has these huge levees on either side of it to try and control it. Without those irrigation systems that area would be nothing but marsh. When I was coming in and out of that area, I would spend a lot of time hiding out down there between those levees, down at the river writing songs. One day, probably ten years ago now, I sat down there and that song came to me and it really felt like the river gave that song to me. I put it on A STOLEN JEWEL, the first official album that I put out.  Over the years the song became a staple in my live shows and I decided that I should record it again for THE MAN FROM WACO, when I realised that I actually knew what I was doing. That’s something that I learned listening to guys like Willie Nelson or even Jimi Hendrix. He would rerecord the same songs all the time because he was progressing so quickly. A lot of jazz and blues guys also do that.

As you mention Willie Nelson, tell me about playing with him in Central Park, New York, last year, very close to where you used to busk early in your career.

You can’t make that kind of stuff up. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. That was a fourteen-year circle, from the first time I played under that bridge in Central Park, to be a hundred yards from that bridge on a stage with Willie Nelson. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. Willie saw how important that was to me that night and I saw one of the greatest of all time. Even after his eight-decade journey, I could see his appreciation for the crowd that night when he was finishing the show and taking his bow. I had never stood next to a man like that, a man so far into an eight-decade life journey who had done it his way and it worked. I’ll be eating from that plate for the rest of my life. I had gone to the Warner Music building that afternoon and shook the hands of some record executives and gave them a little wink and a ‘no thanks’, and then walked back to the park to play with Willie Nelson.

That journey for Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings wasn’t over night success either. They had to deal with an industry just as unsupportive in their early careers, in some ways similar to what you and others face today.

There are a lot of things that are similar now to the period from the 60s leading into the early 70s. There are similarities between how the country music charts worked then and how the Americana charts work today. Waylon Jennings talked about that. He said that when he was on RCA in the 60s, he was often at the top of the country charts but it was a broke deal. He’d be at the top or near the top of those charts and playing seven nights a week, and he couldn’t keep his head above water. I was reading about him talking about that at a time that I was at the top of the Americana charts, but could still be shut out by the broader business. Even if the DJs and programmers were spinning you on Americana radio that didn’t necessarily translate to making ends meet or being able to sell tickets to a broader audience.

Eventually, those guys pushed their way into the forefront with the Outlaw movement, as it was called at the time. The industry had to take notice because their popularity was steadily growing. Do you see an almost identical pattern emerging with artists like yourself, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers and Colter Wall, and women like Summer Dean, Sunny Sweeney and Brennen Leigh?

All those guys talk about what they’ve experienced and it’s also like what I’ve gone through.  Waylon said that ‘there’s always one more way to do it and that’s to do it yourself,’ and he was right. I’ve experienced this in the way I’ve had to come up and the path I’ve used. That’s the way it was when I was playing street corners, if you were walking up to a subway platform waiting on your train, I was in the way and you were going to have to deal with me. I was lucky in a way because I went from there building my chops up firstly as an itinerant and then getting into the bars. When I finally transitioned to Thirty Tigers, I was making my records for next to nothing, getting my repetition in, and cutting my teeth as to how to properly make records. As hard as that old record label model was, at least back then if you did get signed like Willie and Waylon did, you’d be ok.  One of the very big struggles that I see today is how a Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings type is going to arise in a system that is built around discovering artists that are pretty much naïve and inexperienced. The industry blows them up and milks maybe the one record for three to five years and then moves on with another artist. That’s something that I became aware of very quickly while I was making records cheaply and putting them out fast. I just knew that I needed to do that. So, very quickly I’ve managed to get to a number of records, twelve or thirteen now, maybe more than that with a couple more that I’m sitting on.

With all those recorded albums, another couple in reserve, and a hectic touring schedule, do you write on the road or when you get time away from touring?

It works for me either way. It’s a constant thing, writing on and off the road. The one thing that I need to finish songs is to book sessions. That gives me a deadline and a reason to finish songs, otherwise, I would just continue to start more and more stuff. I need those deadlines.

Another recent milestone for you was performing at The Ryman in Nashville, despite having a dig at Music City on your 2021 album MUSIC CITY USA.

As Texans, you always feel that you’re on the outside in Nashville. The regionalism of Nashville is obviously going to heavily favour Appalachia, that’s just natural and makes sense. But in truth, the industry, business, and the parlour floor in Nashville is bigger now than it ever was in its heyday. In its heyday, it was strictly country music, and country music from a Nashville point of view. RCA and those big studios were spending huge money on music back then. Those walls have been broken down and Nashville is now the international entertainment capital of the world, and in a way that I never thought would happen. Nashville didn’t previously rival New York or the West Coast, but it does now.  Its business is throughout and across the genres and entertainment, beyond solely the music business. I’ve got a song that I’ve recorded that isn’t out yet and I have a verse in there that says ‘They laughed at me in New York City, called me a fool in L.A., I doubt that Nashville saw me coming, besides the bar folks working late.’ But really, I’ve never had a problem with the working folks of Nashville, and all the business people that have become good partners of mine are pretty much all based out of there as well. The people working in the bars when I was playing street corners there, open mics, and jams down in Printer’s Alley, I found nothing but good people. Like any kind of business when you start getting into the real scene, the music can become something besides the music, and that can be the jungle that is Nashville. So, to get to the stage at The Ryman and have that experience, I think people were looking at me from the outside in, because I’d put out that record MUSIC CITY USA that is critical of Nashville, but I found that people actually identify with that and that’s why they’re showing up.

You seem to be making all the right business decisions, have a killer band, and are steadily growing your career. Are you getting good advice from your team? I was struck by how you came over to Ireland with a full band last year, which must have been a loss leader. But, as a result of that, you’re due back over here and will be playing in a considerably larger venue and to hugely greater numbers.

I hear everybody out and then I usually don’t do anything that they say. To be honest with you, they wanted me to come over to Ireland as a solo act because they didn’t want me to lose money. I said ‘no’ because I can’t be told that I’ve got a big future over there and then shoot myself in the foot by cutting corners.  I can play great by myself but I’d rather roll the dice, invest in myself and bring everybody over, which I did and which is a policy that I have. It’s the same with Australia and Canada, anywhere we’re going, I’m bringing everybody. If people are coming to see me, I want them to get their money’s worth and not feel like they are only getting a piece of me because we’re crunching numbers on some spreadsheet.

You’re about to play more shows with Chris Stapleton, performing to very large crowds.

I’m really grateful for that. I wasn’t too sure what to expect going out with Chris. The first night I played with him, I was really overwhelmed. Playing in front of twenty-five thousand people is not the cult world that I’ve come out of. But by the third night, I shook that off and figured out what I needed to do playing in front of a crowd that size.  It was, and is, a wonderful opportunity and I’m the kind of guy that will try and make it work anywhere. There are a lot of people that we could be playing in front of where it wouldn’t make any sense, so we wouldn’t just go out and play in front of anyone. I’d be just spinning my wheels. Chris Stapleton is somebody that deserves to be in the outlaw conversation that we spoke about earlier with those other men and women. When I was playing on street corners in New Orleans twelve or thirteen years ago, there was a guy that would stand around on the corner with us collecting our money and keeping some of the gutter punks away from us. This guy kept showing me this video of a guy playing this song that he said I needed to cover. It was a song by Chris Stapleton when he was in the band, The Steel Drivers. It was a You Tube video of Chris playing the song If It Hadn’t Been For Love, under a ten-by-ten tent with nobody paying attention.

Your vocation has been described as ‘a last resort career opportunity that’s going to go on for a lifetime.’

Yes, it is. This is not America’s Got Talent, this is not a TV show model, which unfortunately is the way most of the business behaves right now. They look at finances, they look at strategy, promotion, and investment in artists, much like those game shows and reality shows. It works well for the industry but not for the artists. That’s why you always need the breed of artists, like you said that can push their way through that.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Milly Raccoon Interview

‘Music & Art for Magical Nerds, Weird Western Swing, Cosmic Country, Fairy Metal, Cowboy Goth, Space Shanties, Stop-motion Animatrix, Quantum Court Jester.’ That is how Nashville-based artist Milly Raccoon describes herself on her Instagram page. It’s a wide-ranging and accurate representation of a free spirit whose fiddle playing and vocals have journeyed from classical violin from a young age to her current musical position as a somewhat left-of-centre country artist. Her most recent recording, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, is a genre-swinging delight, moving from Celtic - influenced traditional music to classic country folk. She’s also very much at the heart of the thriving bohemian musical scene in East Nashville – fiddle virtuoso Lillie Mae and her brother, and splendid guitarist, Frank Rische both play in her band and contributed to her new album.

You’ve played in a variety of bands with diverse backgrounds from psychedelic rock, bluegrass, traditional Irish, and even Turkish and Egyptian music. That is quite a mixture.

Violin is a very versatile instrument and people in bands often want the sound of a violin for all kinds of things. As a child, I played classical violin in school. I didn’t really play any folk music growing up other than songbooks that I found around the house. I didn’t play in bands until late high school when a couple of my friends got a Grateful Dead band together and I got a taste for improvising with that type of music. After college, I moved to Seattle, Washington. That city has a very diverse music scene. I found a bluegrass jam online there and started going to those jams but I also just kept meeting people that were playing different kinds of music and wanted the violin with their music. Because of the versatility of Seattle, I got into a lot of different music genres.

I’m aware that you have travelled quite a bit. Was the move to Nashville to further your professional career?

My motivation to move to Nashville was around country music and bluegrass. I had been living in New Orleans for a number of years before that and got to play a lot of jazz and other interesting music there, but not enough country and bluegrass. I wanted to get to the heart of where people were really serious about those genres and improve my playing. Also, people really focus on the culture of expanding their careers in Nashville, more so than in other cities. So, I was attracted to the career possibilities of traditional country and bluegrass music. I’ve been here almost four years which is hard to believe. The pandemic makes it feel more like one year, or maybe two.

Was it easy for you to integrate with like-minded artists in Nashville?

It’s one of the more conservative places that I’ve ever lived, although some people from around Nashville would probably disagree. I’m coming from places like New Orleans and Seattle that are super wild and free, so I had to reel it in a bit until I understood how I was going to authentically represent myself here. I think I’ve gotten over a lot of those hurdles and found a balance and how to be my wild self without losing all of my community.

Do you enjoy a full workload?

I keep my workload full but in terms of paid work, it’s hard. I’m always working on art and music but not necessarily always for any commission or pay. There are a lot of avenues you can take to have a full workload here if you want to play music full-time. You can get involved in the Broadway touristy scene downtown where you can play for thirteen hours a day. That’s not for me right now. I’m building my particular art form and working on what I eventually want to be.  

Your 2018 album – YOU’RE IN COUNTRY COUNTRY – had a jazzy feel to it alongside the country elements. Was it a conscious decision to seek a more country and traditional folk sound with FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH?

I don’t think it was that much of a conscious decision. I recorded YOU’RE IN COUNTRY COUNTRY in New Orleans and there weren’t as many country players there as there are here in Nashville. For me, it’s like a half-country album. In some ways, I feel that FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, despite its different genres, is more country because of a lot of the players that played on it. I wasn’t moving away genre-wise. Whenever I make an album, I’m really showcasing my latest songs for the most part or rerecording songs, which I seldom do. My song The Fine Art Of Taking It Slow, is one I rerecorded and it’s on the last album but with a different style. The latest songs that I had for the new album included a few more swingy things. The songs often depend on what city I’m in when I write them. I was in New York when I wrote the more jazz and swing tracks.

You co-produced the new album with Grammy Award-winning producer Misa Arriaga. How did that connection come about?

I met Misa through Frank and Lillie (Rische). They had worked, recorded, and played with him and were very close to him. It was really a friend connection and the way that this album came together wasn’t really a clear plan that we executed. I originally recorded half of it at another studio and ended up not using that half. I had self-produced all my past albums but I learned so much from Misa about what producing actually means.  I didn’t know exactly who he was and intended only going to do a song or two with him. I didn’t realise what he could do when I started recording with him, but once I started working with him, I saw how he could take a song’s idea and turn it into something I could never even imagine. I thought that I should do this with all my songs and make it continuous across the whole album. Misa allowed me to co-produce the album with him and that was a great learning experience.

Did you record in Nashville?

Yes, Misa has a home studio in Nashville and it was recorded there. Sometimes you think that a home studio is not state of the art but Misa has some amazing equipment at his studio.

I detected some wonderful Celtic influences on a number of the tracks.

One song that does sound Irish is The Offering To The Fae. I wrote that song right after my grandmother died. I was back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, for her funeral. I wanted to write a song that had some Celtic influence to it because my grandmother was English and Welsh – her husband and my grandfather were Irish. I thought writing a song with her heritage and my own heritage would make sense at the time.  A lot of the heritage of American country and bluegrass music comes from Irish and English music so I think it was a fairly natural progression.  Also, when I researched the song, The Girl I Left Behind Me, I found that it was related to an old Irish tune.  

I understand that the album’s title is a reference to the collaborative nature of the project.

Yes, it does. Those two herbs, frankincense and myrrh, are traditionally used together in a lot of sacred churches and holy ceremonies. That goes back to ancient times. They are related plants and their resins alchemise together to create a new experience. I’m just interested in incense and herbal things and the title connected with the whole idea of collaboration with Misa as producer and Frank, who plays on every song and also has a co-written song on the album. In the past all my albums, even though I hired other players, it was just me putting everything together, whereas this album felt much more like reaching out to the community for ideas and ways to do things better.

One of the most intriguing and interesting songs on the album is Walk Down The Stairs. I watched your YouTube video (readers should really check it out) where you explain in detail the background of the song and how personal it is to you. It touches on karma, missed opportunity and fixation quite spectacularly.  Did the writing and recording of the song put closure on the matter?

Yes, writing and recording that song helped me get that out of my system and there’s even a lot of detail I left out of that story. But that song was a healing process for me. The fact that I co-wrote the song allowed me to get out of my normal patterns of how I explain things in a song.

It must be a source of encouragement for you and your peers to see like-minded artists Sierra Ferrell and Billy Strings doing so well at present.

It is encouraging for all of us bluegrass and roots musicians to see Sierra and Billy Strings doing very well, people that I’ve played with and been in the same circles when we were younger. It’s great seeing them loved by such a large audience. I do think that they both have something very special. A big part of their success is how unbelievably talented they are. Not everybody doing that kind of music would be able to be that successful, so they are in bringing so many people to roots music which they might not have heard otherwise.

You held your album launch at our favourite bar in Nashville, Dee’s Cocktail Lounge.

Yes, the launch was there on July 1st. I like playing there. It feels like a real local scene and you know your friends are going to come out and see you play. I have to think about which venues are more open-minded when it comes to my particular type of music and know that they are going to be open to what I sing or talk about. I can’t say that for every venue, so I feel comfortable and accepted there.

Have you been on tour much lately playing music from the new album?

I’ve been touring a little bit recently, mostly near my state of Tennessee. I’ve gone to some nearby states like Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa. Not too far from home lately. Sometimes I play solo and sometimes with my regular Nashville band.  Both Frank and Lillie Mae Rische, and Misa play in my band. Frank and Lillie also play regularly with Jim Lauderdale.

Is Nashville a permanent home for Milly Raccoon now?

I seem to stay in each city for around five to six years. It’s possible that Nashville might go the same way but I don’t have any immediate plans to leave Nashville right now. There is a very supportive music community here and I feel that I’ve been accepted by and have worked with a lot of like-minded musicians, I would miss that if I were somewhere else.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Roseanne Reid Interview

Edinburgh-born Roseanne Reid’s sophomore album, LAWSIDE, moves slightly away from the Americana sound of her 2019 debut, TRAILS and closer to a more traditional folk direction. TRAILS revealed her to be one of the most promising, emerging artists in the Americana genre, outside of Canada and the U.S.A., and featured a duet with Steve Earle, a declared admirer of the Scot, who shared the lyrics on the song, Sweet Annie. With the recording taking place close to her adopted home of Dundee, LAWSIDE finds Reid embracing her Celtic origins on a number of tracks with the inclusion of fiddles and bodhran drums. The result is an altogether more confident and relaxed sound that will, no doubt, attract growing numbers to the song writing of an artist successfully and steadily moving up the industry ladder.

Was music a large part of your life growing up?

It was, there was a lot of music and it was a good mix, to be honest. My mum played a lot of country music, so that’s what I grew up listening to. My dad loved rock and roll, and punk, so there was a really good mix going on. I then found my way into folk music; I was drawn towards folk and the storytelling side of things in my teen years.

Was that American or UK folk music?

Both really, but I first landed on American acts before UK or Irish music. I was listening to bands like Peter, Paul and Mary and I loved Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, that type of acoustic stuff. But I also loved listening to Luke Kelly, The Dubliners and The Pogues.

Do you recall the first-time venue you attended that you dreamt of performing at?

The first venue I was at where I thought that I would love to be on that particular stage one day was The Usher Hall in Edinburgh. I went to see Rufus Wainwright there when I was twelve and as a twelve-year-old, it looked absolutely gigantic. That was then but now I would love to get on The Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville. That’s probably the pinnacle for me, but to be fair, it’s probably the dream for most Americana acts. Though I don’t see many acts from outside The States or Canada getting on stage there though there are more opportunities for grassroots artists and not just country artists to play there.

The title of your new album, LAWSIDE, sounds like it was inspired by a hard-boiled crime novel but nothing could be further from the truth.

The title does sound as if it could have a crime-associated background all right. LAWSIDE is the title of the area where my wife and I now live, and it represents where the majority of the songs were written. We’ve settled here in Dundee and the title is paying tribute, in a small way, to the area where we have settled as a family.

You recorded the album locally under the supervision of David Mcfarlane, unlike your debut album TRAILS, which was recorded in the States.

The recording of TRAILS was very exciting. It was recorded in The States in four or five days and working in that Brooklyn studio was a whole experience in itself. LAWSIDE was recorded half an hour down the road in Perth with David. It fitted my schedule a lot better having become a mum in the last year. We started recording it when my wife was pregnant and it didn’t involve having to go over to the States for a couple of weeks, which I didn’t really want to do. With this album, I could go into the studio for six or seven hours and come home, which was much less pressurised and suited my state of mind. I also like having familiar surroundings around me so it all felt a lot more relaxed and I hope that comes across on the album.

Were you working to a deadline?

I wish. Deadlines with me go out the window, whether that’s down to time or budget restraints. After TRAILS came out, I would have loved to have released another album within a year, but the pandemic happened and I became a parent.

Were the songs all written before your son was born?

They were all written before he was born. Since he’s been born, I haven’t had the time or creative headspace to get anything written. All the songs were written over the past three or four years.

Why did you pick Call It Love as the first single to be released from the album?

It’s always a bit of a dilemma choosing the first single to be released. What my audience is used to is very much acoustic, I don’t go out on the road with a band. With Call It Love, the release time was coming into spring and it’s quite a light sounding track. In many ways with its atmosphere, it felt like the natural single, and looking at it from a commercial standpoint that song was the most likely to get a bit of radio play.

It’s also a happy song and I also get that upbeat vibe from the album in general.

Absolutely, we’ve been here three years now, and the adjustment of moving from Edinburgh to Dundee was a big one. Since we’ve settled here it has given us a new state of mind, we’ve started a family here and we are very fortunate to be where we are. I do think that comes across on the album.

The vocals are out in front on the album as if to ensure that the lyrics are clearly heard.

Definitely and that’s something that we did differently from TRAILS, where the vocals were more blended with the instruments. We were very clear from the start that the vocals should be front and centre this time, but not just to emphasise the lyrics. With the touring and the gigs I’ve done since TRAILS, my voice has changed and I’m more confident with it now – so I was happier to have it on display and not hidden as much.

The lyrics are also very personal, do they generally come to you prior to adding melody?

It varies, to be honest. I do tend to prioritise the lyrics every time, whether that’s writing for an album or an EP. Although I can seldom write a full song without getting some melody behind it. I classify myself more of a songwriter than a poet for sure, writing poetry is a totally different skill.

I’m getting a definite Celtic feel to a number of the tracks, Something Broken and Mona Lisa in particular. Were you intentionally introducing a more local feel to the instrumentation?

Yes, that’s definitely emphasised with the instruments we’ve used on those tracks, which are both quite Celtic folk-sounding.  We’ve got the bodhran drum on Mona Lisa and the fiddle is on quite a few tracks. That’s something we didn’t really have on TRAILS, which was more Americana sounding. I think the new album is more varied and eclectic sounding. I was quite adamant that the Celtic roots would come through this time.

I do feel that by adding that dimension, and also that you sing in your natural accent, is particularly beneficial to attract attention in the States.

I would like to spend more time in America. I’ve only done a handful of shows over there but the appreciation and enthusiasm for Celtic music really comes across and they do want to hear your accent coming through because there are so many American and Canadian artists doing this sort of thing. If you can have something that sets you apart a little bit it actually goes a long way.

You recently toured with Steve Earle. How did that relationship develop?

Steve runs an annual song writing camp in Upstate New York called Camp Copperhead and I went along in 2016, the first year that he ran it. Thankfully he liked what I did and what I was writing, and he has been a great supporter and advocate for me since then. However, I hadn’t envisioned getting to support him on tour so it has been a dream come true in every sense. I’ve loved his work since I was ten years old and this is a real milestone for me to support him.

The added advantage is that it’s a solo tour for him.

It’s a totally different experience because the venues he’s playing, which are mainly seated shows, reflect the fact that it’s an acoustic tour. That suits me really well because I’ve done shows where I opened for a full band and the audience is set up to hear something totally different from what I’m doing and it doesn’t always work. This tour is just such a good fit across the board and I can’t wait for it.

Are you a forward-thinker in terms of your career?

No, I’m struggling to think ahead to next week at the moment. The nature of this job is so unpredictable and precarious a lot of the time. To be at the point where I’m releasing another album is such an achievement in itself so I am just going to enjoy that for the time being and whatever happens next will happen, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, it’s just nice to have new music coming out and be touring and on the road with my family is so exciting. I’m just going to enjoy the days as they come.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Ags Connolly Interview

Ags Connolly from Oxfordshire, England. Oxford isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of traditional country, especially for an artist delivering original material that stands easily alongside the work of many of his contemporaries from the U.S. His debut release HOW ABOUT NOW was released in 2014 and received a lot of praise from the right quarters. The online review site Saving Country Music declared that he “deserves to be considered right beside his Stateside counterparts as one of the carriers of the country music holy ghost”. He continued to garner positive reviews with NOTHIN’ UNEXPECTED in 2017. Throughout that time he toured in Europe, including the UK and Ireland. The next album WRONG AGAIN was issued late in 2019, with BBC2’s Bob Harris saying it was “modern day traditionalism of the very, very best kind.” And the long-term dedicated country music publication Country Music People labelled him “the best ever UK country artist.” They have also called his latest release SIEMPRE his "best album to date."

This all goes to show that, when it’s done right, original country music with a traditional basis will receive recognition for that in itself (if not, at this time, from particularly large audiences). Lonesome Highway has been a fan of Ags Connolly for some time too and we took the opportunity to pose some questions to him about this new album and more.

What were your musical leanings growing up in Oxfordshire?

I was brought up on 50s rock and roll, plus The Beatles and The Stones, essentially. My parents moved out here from London, and my Dad had been a regular at the old Marquee on Wardour Street. That was his era. My mum liked country but it was never played around the house. I got into Buddy Holly at a very young age though, and looking back I think part of the reason I liked him was the country sensibilities that he had. It appealed to me even then.

Tell me a little of your journey from a fan to a performing artist?

I spent a long time going to watch my heroes like Loudon Wainwright III and Ron Sexsmith while knowing I wanted to be a songwriter. Eventually I discovered country and realised that that was the kind of songwriting I loved. I started out playing covers gigs doing 50s rock n roll, mostly because I like that stuff, people know the songs and it's easy to play. But really I was just waiting til I had enough material to play full sets of my own stuff. I was never concerned about the getting on stage bit but I was always aware of trying to do too much too soon, so I'm glad I took the approach I did.

There are now, and have been in the past, a number of credible artists performing original country music. Acts like My Darling Clementine, back to a country-rock band like Cochise. Were any of these an inspiration to you in the way that Wes McGhee was?

If we're talking British acts, then mostly I would say no. Hank Wangford was someone I liked, but I wasn't trying to follow him. I shared a label with My Darling Clementine just after their first album came out, but I always thought we were doing something quite different from each other. I discovered Wes shamefully late so he wasn't on my radar when I was starting out, unfortunately.

Your heart lies, to a degree, in the varied aspects of country/roots music emanating from Texas and especially from the border regions. Was that what appealed to you the most?

Not always. Texas honky tonk was the first country music I really got hooked on, thanks to Dale Watson. The border stuff came later - I gradually discovered I liked it in the same way I'd earlier discovered I liked country in general. There's a huge amount of depth to the country music that comes from Texas.

Do you have any ambition to move your base to the States rather than in the UK and Europe?

No. That's something I might've considered if I'd started out earlier. Austin was a place I used to visit regularly, but it's changed and the music has been edged out to a degree. Plus moving there to work as a musician is much harder now than it was back when Wes McGhee did it. I've never wanted to move to Nashville. 

Covid has been difficult for many artists, not performing live but using the time to write and record. How was that for you?

Tough. There was no inspiration for writing because there was very little travel and human interaction. Although I did actually begin recording something then which I'm aiming to pick up and finish soon. 

Do you feel the landscape for original country music has changed a lot in recent times, or is there still that media resistance to the more edgy acts as opposed to the more mainstream, more pop oriented acts?

I'd say there's been some resurgence of more traditional-leaning acts. But almost always those acts end up going in a different direction, either because they want to expand their audience or because they were only doing country to capitalise on a trend at the time. On the opposite side, mainstream country is now further away than ever. The Taylor Swift explosion made it OK for pop country to not bear any resemblance to country music at all, and that's how it's stayed. I will say that streaming and the internet has allowed a lot more people to delve into the lesser-known artists - you could say I myself would never have found some of the stuff I did without it. But the mainstream manufactures and ringfences its acts mostly now, so there is very little path out of obscurity for most.

Tell me a little about the recording process and how easy or not it was to bring in your important non-resident guests for that process?

It was fairly easy but I'd done it before. I started with the core band in the studio for a couple of days to get the main tracks down. Then Stuart Jones (the engineer) and I sent the tracks over to Michael Guerra (accordion, in San Antonio) and Billy Contreras (fiddle, in Nashville) and they recorded their overdubs. You can do that easily enough with exceptional players - it's not something you could rely on everyone for. Michael and Billy sounded like they were in the room with the band. BJ Cole also recorded his dobro part from home, which again was very easy.

What is your writing process, do you continually jot down notes or do you need a dedicated time and place to access inspiration?

I occasionally jot notes down. Mostly I let ideas go through my head - if they're any good I find they stick around or come back a lot. Once I've got a handle on the idea I might sit down with a guitar briefly and see if it goes anywhere. If not I'll leave it to gestate for a bit longer. I've never spent whole days writing loads of different outlines of songs. I find most of them will be crap and it feels like a waste of time. There's no place that brings me inspiration exactly, but when I'm committed to writing something I go up into the attic with no phone, no clock or anything to allow me to focus on it.

Would you have changed anything about the process?

Not that I can think of. I don't like to drag things out any longer than is necessary. I've so far avoided becoming a tinkerer who goes back and changes things for the sake of it.

You have always shown your love and understanding of the real roots of the genre and that obviously makes it easier for other musicians you meet on your travels to see your genuine love for that music. But was it hard at first to gain that acceptance?

Only in the UK. People just didn't (and some still don't) understand what I was doing or why. I mostly put it down to the fact country music has never been a huge part of the culture here, especially in England. Still now, I think a lot of promoters and other industry people are wary of booking a UK country act. That's true on the continent too, although I've recently managed to get a foot in the door in a couple of places. In the US, I find most people just love the fact an English guy is obsessed with their music.

Part of the recording and I imagine in creating the right sound was learning to play the bajo sexto yourself. When you did that did you feel that that was a major step forward?

Yeah it was important, and I've got Wes McGhee to thank for that. He said if you're going to play Tex-Mex you need have to have that authentic sound from the bajo sexto or bajo quinto. I never wanted anyone to be able to say I wasn't doing this album properly. I could've asked Michael Guerra to play bajo sexto, because he's a very good player, but I felt I needed to make the effort. He did show me a few things though just to make sure I was on the right track ...

You have credited the Texas Tornados as, perhaps, your favourite band - one that had its music based on 60s rock, as well as country and regional influences such as Tejano - is that amalgamation of sounds something you would like to explore further?

I'm not sure I would directly try to emulate those guys. It was a very special sound emerging from the Sir Douglas Quintet, through classic country and into Tex Mex. It's great fun and I don't think anyone can do it like them. That said, I think I'll always have the Tex-Mex/country crossover thing in mind and people may even come to expect it from me.

It’s been something of a journey to get to the release of SIEMPRE and its release on CD and vinyl - plus the promotion of the album. How big a learning curve has that been?

Somewhat I guess. Crowdfunding campaigns are quite a big undertaking because you're assuming the responsibility for all the money people have backed you with. You need to deliver both musically and in terms of rewards. People are very understanding though: I've backed a few fairly shambolic campaigns by others in the past, but I was aware I needed to hit my proposed targets. What I will say is that making an album has got more expensive just like everything else, and it's harder than ever for independent artists to produce work that competes with everything else in the market.

The opportunity of playing some gigs with a band, how does that compare to your solo gigs?

It's fun. I really wish I had more opportunity to play with those guys, but the money is hardly ever there to make it viable. I do enjoy playing solo, mostly because I don't have the anxiety of messing things up for the other players ... there's no denying that people react really well to a band though.

You also do some gigs with friends like Pat Reedy that must be fun also?

Yeah it is. I'm fortunate that people like Pat, Todd Day Wait, Dylan Earl and others have accepted me as their peer in the UK. I don't take that for granted. Pat and I have spent a lot of time on the road so we're ensconced in each others' lives, whether we like it or not.

What about the time spent in the studio bringing these songs to life, is that a very different reward than playing live?

Very different. The reward comes much later. I'm not someone whose idea of a good time is fiddling with a kick drum tone for hours. I find recording a very intense and pressured experience, but that pressure mostly comes from within. Once the recording sees the light of day is when I can enjoy it (or attempt to).

You have played in Europe a lot. How does that compare to the UK?

It's different and as an artist you have to respect it as such. I think it's important to learn what works and what doesn't depending on where you are. I've been in Sweden recently and country music seems to have been a bigger part of their culture than it ever has been in the UK, but it's not just about country music. I like to try and understand generally what makes people tick in whichever country I'm playing.

Did you feel in any way that your faith in the music you love has been restored with the wider acceptance of your (and others’) take on country music?

I don't know. A good friend of mine, who has been following country in the UK and beyond for a lot longer, says the traditional stuff always comes back around. People always gravitate back to it because it's so primal.  I think that's how I expect it to go, that if I keep on the path that I am, there will always be someone interested in it.

What does the future hold now for you and what do you want to achieve with your music?

Good question! This current album was a long term plan I had, but at the moment I don't know exactly what the next original album will look like. I have a few ideas and none of them involve abandoning country music. All I've ever really wanted in music is recognition; recognition that I'm doing it the right way, that my output is consistently good and that I've stayed the course. I've always believed if you do those things for long enough, people will notice. And I can't afford to stop doing them yet.

Interview by Stephen Rapid

Eliza Gilkyson Interview

Taos, New Mexico is home to Eliza Gilkyson. She relocated from Austin during the Covid lockdown when she purchased a “rambling 100-plus-year-old adobe” in the town that was founded back in 1615. She has just released her new album, HOME, and it is right up there with her best work across a career that has seen her revered as one of the leading lights in Folk music. We caught up with Eliza recently to get her thoughts on the new album and much more besides.

Congratulations on the release of the new album, HOME. If my counting is correct, this is your twenty-sixth official album? 

I’m so glad that someone is keeping track because every time I try to do it, I forget something. There was that MORE THAN A SONG album (2021) with Iain Matthews and Ad Vanderveen, plus the Red Horse project with John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky. It’s adding up, and I guess when you divide it into my seventy-two years, it’s not that many records. 

With your previous album, SONGS FROM THE RIVER WIND, you started a process of returning to the places of your youth and falling in love with the environment that shaped you. There also seems to be a sense of returning home as a theme that runs through the new album.

That is so true, I think there is a sense of settling into myself and my environment, my home, and my relationships. My circle has gotten smaller in that sense, and I’m enjoying it, and I think there is a peace that comes from that and an appreciation of what is exactly around me, and the people that are around me. My love life is good, and I think that comes through in the love songs and, indeed, a sense of place. 

Unfortunately, I’ve had long Covid for a year and a half now and I fear my flying days are over. I’ve been pretty well grounded for almost two years, but I’ve ended up making a bunch of records so that part has been fun. I just can’t tour. 

Looking back at your earlier album, 2020. It was a very socially and politically aware album and written on the cusp of the Covid lockdown. How did you find the immediate aftermath? 

Well, I had to stop touring and it was like ‘Here’s my record, but now I can’t go out on tour.’ There was a feeling of frustration because the whole purpose of making that record was to have a statement about the election year, even if I didn’t have the chance to get out there and rally my troops and like-minded souls. I felt that we were all on the same page anyway, so didn’t feel that I didn’t do my duty. The songs got out there, they went where they could go and for me personally, I felt satisfied that I had gone on record during that really important election year. 

There is always a thread of service that runs through your albums. I know that you have reached out in support of many activist groups and causes over the years, and I wondered if this was still very strong with you?  

I feel very grounded by my illness and there has been an element of surrender involved with that. I don’t feel that I am an activist anymore, I probably wasn’t the most front-lines activist, as I was older. But I always felt that I could show up at places and be on stage and talk about projects that were important to me. Even if I can’t tour much anymore there are still things here that I care about. I’m much more involved with the New Mexico Acequia Association and our own little DITCH* group of four hundred and fifty people. I’ve just gone local, and if I’m needed to do a benefit for a project around town, I’m available, and have just become very home-based. I’m fine with that and I think that the young people are doing a killer job getting out on the front lines and I think they are energetic and have good politics and they don’t need an old white woman like me shouting ... “this way” (laughs). I don’t think it's necessary and it’s timely and appropriate for me to back off now. But I still want to make music and I still want to write, that part is really fun for me. I do love touring, but I just can’t. 

You live in the little town of Taos, New Mexico, which has a large Hispanic community and is home originally to many Native American tribes. It also has a strong artistic community.

It really is a very artistic community and the Anglos are not the majority population. It is Native American and Hispanic. It is interesting to be in such an egalitarian community and it feels very good to us, we love it. Even our DITCH association is an egalitarian society where water rights are involved, you have to put in ‘x’ amount of work and you get back ‘x’ amount of watering days in a season. It can be very loaded and emotional, but everybody has to work it out, and it’s kind of a socialist organization and I find it very satisfying. It’s a great microcosm of how those systems can work. I love the cultural thing; I love the art scene here. It’s not as much of a music scene as I had in Austin, and I just can’t compare the two music scenes, one from another. I do miss the music scene in Texas. I had so many friends there and started a women’s musician group with all these young women whom I love, and I do miss them. But overall, this has been the right move and, in general, I’m pretty satisfied. 

Back to HOME, the new album. Co-producer Don Richmond has joined you for the second album in a row. 

Yes, he has a studio in Southern Colorado which is only an hour and a half from me. It's only a hop up the road and a beautiful drive so it’s really easy. When I said earlier that there’s no music scene, he is the music scene in this part of the world. He is an amazing person and an amazing instrumentalist and just a lovely human being. That has worked out really well for me, we love working together. 

You used other studios as well in the process of recording the album.? 

It was all file sharing which can be tricky. Sending it out to Nina Gerber in California for guitar and sending it out to Cisco (Ryder) to do a drum track. It’s tricky but we’re all doing that now, it’s pretty much how we roll right now. It’s not as much fun for me to say ‘ok here’s the song’ as opposed to being there and involved in the song’s direction and as a producer it’s more fun to work in the studio with the artist. But I’m working with artists that are so good that I can trust that they're going to nail it, with a couple of tries back and forth, so it networks all right. If we didn’t have file sharing for recording, I don’t know if I could have moved here to Taos. 

Has that been the key change in the music process for you when you look back? Has technology freed you up to be more in control of the music now? 

I do like that control, I really do. I’m older now and I know what I want. I like starting with just me and Don in the studio and I play the guitar part first, and then I start adding on. I want to keep things centered around ‘What does this song sound like if it’s just by itself?’ I think especially in folk music and we’re also hearing it a lot in Americana too; that things can get really stripped down now and get right into the song. If I’m writing good enough songs, I don’t want to put too much stuff on there. I’ve got to get it straight right on that track when I lay it down and that is very different from the old days when we all went into the studio at the same time and I could lose control so fast if the band went off in a different direction. Nowadays Don and I are in control, like riding the herd!  

The album does sound like you recorded it live, off the floor in one studio. There is such an intimacy in the music. 

Well, that has a lot to do with really connecting with that first track when I lay it down. Sometimes I’ll go back and think ‘That didn’t really work, let’s try playing it a whole other way’ and I love that freedom. Because on that first track, I lay a rough vocal on top and I can say to myself ‘this sings and this works’ and the players can really tune into that and it’s not a myriad world of options, they’re tuning into what I got there initially, and they can play off that.  

Your brother, Tony, plays on a few songs and he is such an intuitive guitar player. You also channel your father, Terry, on the album and even invite some of his old music friends to play along. The song Man In the Bottle is especially poignant. Did it bring up childhood memories? 

So much so, it’s been almost painful. With that Man In The Bottle song, I had that idea twenty-five years ago, I found it in a notebook and I’m so glad that I’m doing it now as opposed to then. I cried when we recorded it, it just brought me back to him doing that song and having Rod Taylor (The Rifters), sing those parts of my dad’s band. It just killed me, and I once again appreciated what a great writer he was. I picked three songs of his that not everybody knows because he has his hit songs but there’s a great back catalogue of amazing songs and I picked those three. It was a way to honour him but also the grief around him and the alcoholism, how that affected me as a child, and how badly the child of an alcoholic wants that relationship with their parent but it’s so complex. This record goes back and forth between the child longing for something and then the adult, his genius, and his weakness. It was a tricky thing to try and pull off.  

You reached out to some old friends to join you on certain tracks. Robert Earl Keen sings on How Deep and Mary Chapin Carpenter appears on Sparrow, which I believe is a tribute to your fan base? 

Sparrow is a tribute to my fan base, thank you very much, not everybody got that. When I write songs, I imagine my fan base listening. It pulls the songs out of me and until the fans witness the songs, they don’t really come alive for me. I know that Mary Chapin Carpenter really relates to that too.  

During the Covid lockdown, you did a lot of live streaming. How enjoyable was this for you? 

I had no problem with the live streams. I loved them and I’m going to keep doing them because I can’t tour. It meant a lot to me to set up a stage, with lights, a monitor speaker, and working on getting the sound really good. My husband worked the computer side of things and I ended up really getting into it. People would check in and type ‘hi’ and the revenue stream has been fairly consistent for me. I have friends that did them every week which I did at the start of Covid and it always paid some bills and I made sales. It also let me reach people that I’m obviously never going to see again in person, so I’m going to keep doing them and hope that people will continue to check in on Facebook or get on my mailing list because I post them on YouTube too. I really think it's an essential part of my having to be semi-retired from touring. I love it, I feel I’m making a connection, and it makes me feel good. After a show, I get the same old thrill, which is satisfying. Let’s hope I can keep it going (laughs).  

The intimacy of your performance still comes through in these live streams. You did a memorable stream with Nina Gerber which was such a highlight. 

That Nina Gerber stream that you were talking about, that’s where we did that song World Keeps On Singing. Nina is a one-off player, she never does anything the same way twice but I have on record what she did that day and it was so pretty that when it came time to do the record, I called her and said to her ‘this thing you’re doing here I can build a whole song around it. So, when you go into the studio give me that as a foundation’ and she did it beautifully. It just came out of the top of her head in a live stream show.   

The new record starts with the song True North which I see as a love song to us all. A beacon to guide us. You finish the album with the title track, Home. Coming home to the source. 

Home is such an amazing and timeless song. It works through any age; may we all write one timeless song like that. I couldn’t decide whether I should open the record with Home and close it with True North and I played around with it for a while, but it felt so right to start with True North and end with Home, which is really getting back to that sanctuary. I love the song and the original writer,  Carla Bonoff, has been very supportive of me doing the song.  

I also get a feeling that there is a greater acceptance and forgiveness of all the wrongs you see in this world in these new songs?

I’m not a radical leftie anymore. Over time I’ve become more of a centrist. I still believe in the leftist principles but I don’t think they can get the job done, and we have to work with what we know we can actually do. That does change the narrative a bit for me and I think that maybe I’m not as angry, but I am sad. It’s more down to this environmental catastrophe that is coming down the pike so that’s more of a concern for me. Because I’m coming to be more accepting of my own mortality, I’m also becoming more accepting of this huge cycle that’s happening in nature that I’m powerless to stop, so there is an acceptance in that. The song Here Comes The Night is about how, perhaps the earth will find a way to deal with what we have done to her. It’s coming, and it’s scary but there’s something upbeat about that song because I trust that the earth can deal with it. I don’t know how that’s going to play out, but that’s where my hope lies. 

Your empathy and hope ultimately win out in your songs, despite your concerns. Do you ever think that the moral and environmental bankruptcy we face in society is at times overwhelming? 

They are overwhelming, but your life is too, and I always want to write redemption into my music because that is who I am. I look for redemption even in the worst of human nature and the stories. I don’t want to write stories about the end of everything, without the angels of human nature figuring into the equation. That’s just me, I don’t think I’ve been entirely doom and gloom, but I do have a sense of foreboding about the future, but I do believe in the redemption of the human spirit and I believe in the earth’s redemption. That’s what I cling to. 

People find great strength and joy in your music and the willingness to go on. Does this give you great satisfaction? 

That would be my sense of service which I pretty much have to maintain in my records and which satisfies my natural desire to serve, and maybe that’s more realistic. I can’t go out there and do anything but from this little place here I can make my small way in the world and that should be enough for me.  

The cover of the new album shows a painting of a lovely Adobe building. Is this your home? 

I thought about doing that but my home is so rambling. My granddaughter had actually fabricated a gingerbread construction that was of our house and I was going to have that as the cover but it was so weird and we were desperate with only a week to go to hand in the cover. So, I went on eBay and put in ‘vintage adobe house’ and there was this little painting that was old school from the 1980s. Someone’s grandmother did it, I looked her up but couldn’t find her, she’s an amateur artist. She nailed it, the cottonwood tree, the red vines on the old adobe wall, and the turquoise blue trim. I got it on eBay for seventy-five bucks and tried to find her because I wanted to pay her royalty for it but I couldn’t find her. Little did she know she was going to make it onto an album cover. 

Interview by Paul McGee 

*Acequias, or community ditches, are recognized under New Mexico law as political subdivisions of the state. Owners of water rights can govern the neighborhood ditches.

Michelle Billingsley Interview

Chicago-based Michelle Billingsley has returned with her sophomore record, BOTH SIDES OF LONELY, revisiting the   themes of loneliness and rejection of her 2020 debut, NOT THE MARRYING KIND. The new album’s direction is more vintage country than its predecessor as it follows a growing resurgence in 2023 of classic country recordings by artists dipping into the sounds of the late 60s and early 70s for inspiration. It’s been a busy time for Michelle between recording and promoting the new album, planning to tour in Europe in September and, most important of all, her upcoming marriage.

What were the timelines between the release of NOT THE MARRYING KIND and the new album?

We ended up releasing NOT THE MARRYING KIND in June of 2020 which was a bummer because of the timing: the shows we had planned didn’t happen. I went back into the studio in February of 2021 and we started recording it very slowly during that year. Some of the songs were new and some of the songs I had written around the same time as NOT THE MARRYING KIND, and which we reimagined. We spent all of last year mixing and mastering the album and waiting for the right time for it to come out. I had planned to realise it earlier in the year but with various moving parts the album launch ended up happening at the end of April. 

You’ve headed down a more classic country road with BOTH SIDES OF LONELY.

Definitely. I got the Americana and Folk feeling out of the way with the first album and I wanted to do more 60s and 70s vintage country feel with this one.

There is a noticeable recognition of albums recorded this year that hark back to that era. Brennen Leigh and Summer Dean have both recorded similarly themed records.

I love both Summer Dean and Brennen Leigh’s work. The sound of the 60s and 70s is so cool and it’s really worth making albums now that relate to that period. It was such a glorious time music wise. 

Jilted lovers, hangovers, one-night stands and lots of regret dominate the album. That’s surely not your life story.

No, it’s not all personal experience. The songs are stories that I find interesting or characters whose point of view I find interesting and so I like to explore this in my writing. It’s not all me.

Those themes were, and still are the backbone of classic country.

Yes, though gender roles have progressed a little bit since then but a lot of the personal themes of that time are still relevant today.

The first single and final track from the album, JOSHUA, is a departure from what goes before it. I believe it was inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road.

It was inspired by that book. I’ve always been into the sci-fi genre and that book really stuck with me for a long while and there are overlaps in that book of post-apocalyptic themes. There were so many descriptions of how your life changes in Cormac McCarthy’s novel and in another novel by Larry Niven called Lucifer’s Hammer, which also deals with the same issues. That was in the back of my mind when I wrote Joshua. I also included it on the album because it was more like the material on NOT THE MARRYING KIND for anyone that liked that album.

It's a stripped back recording with only vocal, acoustic guitar and cello.

I didn’t want to turn it into a band number. I wanted to keep it small and quiet with my vocals and guitar but also wanted to add one more instrument. Cello is such a beautiful sound and its low sound on a song can wonderfully complement the vocal.

The opening track I Love The Way He Says He’s Sorry sets out the regret that follows on the album with its change of tense toward the end of the song.

Yes, the first chorus is in the present tense and then as the song moves through the last verse and chorus it goes into past tense ending with, I Loved The Way He Said He’s Sorry.

You had your regular rhythm section of Brian Westfall on bass and Jordan Snow on drums in the studio and guest player Brian Wilkie, whose guitar and pedal steel playing is all over the album.

Brian is part of The Hoyle Brothers who I would call ‘the house band of Chicago’ in terms of the country music scene here. He also played guitar and pedal steel on my first album and he’s all over this album too. He’s fantastic and a local mini-celebrity in Chicago.

Is there a healthy roots/country music scene in Chicago?

It’s tiny, much smaller that you would imagine. The pandemic took away a number of opportunities venue wise. There are a bunch of excellent roots bands in Chicago but not that many places to play. 

I understand you plan to play dates in Europe later this year.

Yes, I’ve planned some dates in Germany and Austria in September. Some of the shows will be a duet with Wild Earp and some will be solo. I’m looking forward to getting to Europe because I’m told people really listen to the artists there and don’t talk like they often do here. I do love playing in honky tonk bars but that’s a whole different of vibe but it’s also nice to have people listen to the words.

You balance your musical career with a full-time job. Do you have ambitions of ditching the nine-to-five job at some stage?

I’d love to do this full time but it’s so difficult to find enough work to not only pay yourself but also pay a band. There’s also the administration part of the job, the social media posts and bookings take up so much time. So having a day job can leave you behind everyone else that might be full-time, it’s a whole juggling act.

We are loving the new album and hopefully many others will too. Keep spreading the word.

It is so hard. I actually took a week off social media last week as I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I know a lot of people are extroverts but I’m actually an introvert so sometimes I just need to take time out. There’s so much new music coming out every week that it can be difficult to find a voice among the crowd.

Despite the title of your debut album, I believe congratulations are in order and that you are the marrying kind. When and where is that taking place?

It’s on July 22nd and there’s so much work to be done. We’re getting married in Michigan in a little barn. I grew up in a small town there and it was nice to find a place close to my childhood for the wedding.

Interview by Declan Culliton

Laura Cantrell Interview

Two decades into balancing a career as a recording and performing artist, radio host, writer and mother, Laura Cantrell has released her sixth full-length album, JUST LIKE A ROSE: THE ANNIVERSARY SESSIONS. Originally intended to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her debut record, NOT THE TREMBLIN’ KIND, the pandemic and its aftermath delayed the recording and release. Laura recently told us about her latest project, growing up in Nashville and the roots music scene in her adopted city, New York.

Unlike many of your peers who gravitated to Nashville to follow their dreams, you left for New York but ended up with a distinguished career in country music.

I left for New York City to go to college many years ago now. It is an odd trajectory. If my parents, who were paying for me to go to university, realised that I would end up doing something related to country music, they might have been more sceptical about university in New York. But if you think about what many artists have to do to get their perspective, it's not that unusual to have to leave a place to actually put it in perspective. That is what I feel happened, leaving Nashville and Tennessee and my family's culture. They were very much country music fans of a certain typical era, listening to the Grand Ole Opry. I loved all the greats of the 40s and 50s but I'm not sure I would have been able to understand how different it was from the experiences of country music for other people in other parts of the country if I had stayed in Tennessee.  I also do have, what my husband and I call, the advantage of dual citizenship. We have family and friends in Nashville and we’re there very often and feel really much a part of a community.

Were you drawn to country music growing up in Nashville?

Yes, I had an interest in country music. This is just goofy, but you know how little children get attached to certain songs and certain music. It happened with my daughter with a couple of different songs she would ask us to play over and over again. When she was ten years old, she went headlong into The Beatles and knew everything about them. My parents tell me that I had a similar thing as a toddler when the Folsom Prison record came out. My parents said I was mad about Johnny Cash and I went around talking about Johnny Cash as if he was my boyfriend. Going back to the first thing that I was exposed to in terms of music, they really stuck with me in middle school - and going into high school I realised that I really liked Patsy Cline and I really liked Ernest Tubb. I thought about the classics of the Opry in a way that my friends didn’t. They were all listening to new wave and what was on the radio at the time, there was not that same kind of fascination with country music with my friends. That’s when I realised that I was a little bit different. Then as I went to college, even though I wasn’t in Tennessee anymore, I found a group of friends who were as interested in that music and we were finding out all about it, and deepening our knowledge of it and connecting it to other music. I got lucky to find those kinds of allies along the way.  

How does the Nashville of today compare with that of your childhood?

Well, it's a double-edged sword and I think this happens in every place. The development boom has brought a lot of energy and different people to Nashville, not all coming just because of music and there are a lot of positives in that. However, the classic thing that happens is the raising of real estate values and people get pushed out who've been there a long time.  I know a lot of long-time Nashville people and they really feel like the development has favoured the people extracting the value and not necessarily bringing the gains to Nashville in terms of better education, better services and transportation for the town, all of those things. Of course, there's also the increase in traffic and a lot of people who live in Nashville, including the music makers, don’t want to be associated with the bachelorette parties coming down Broadway. It has brought in tourists, which feels like the town has gone in that direction and is chasing the immediate dollar. I see those tensions but I also think that it's a very vibrant time in Nashville.

When I think of the roots music scene in New York, Cliff Westfall and Zephaniah OHora and you come to mind in particular. Is there a vibrant roots community in New York to perform live to?

Well, there definitely is but New York hasn't gotten any easier if you're a musician. It’s getting harder and harder for all of the places that have music to make money. So, they figure out a way to cut corners and one might be that instead of there being a sound man to properly mix your set and have it sound like it should after you've worked on preparing and crafting the music, they've got an iPad and they tell you to do it yourself. There are all these kinds of challenges for musicians and there are not as many music bars here. There is a really lovely place that Zach and I are booked in called Skinny Dennis in Brooklyn. Cliff has also played there and I just went to see Sunny Sweeney play a show there.  Even for my own record release in the next couple of weeks, I chose not to book Joe's Pub or City Winery, rooms where you have to sell 250 tickets. If you just want to play to get experience and to keep your chops up, and have that connection to a live audience, you might just want to go somewhere smaller. It’s like a feast or famine. Do you play to a room of 40 or 50 people and be barely able to pay the ban? It’s kind of a catch-22. The present scene is not the most hospitable environment for live musicians. Having said that, there's definitely a community of people that show up to gigs, people who like honky tonk shows and have a sense of the history of it - that audience for country music is still here and that's one of the reasons it's still satisfying for me here.

The pandemic delayed the completion of your new album, JUST LIKE A ROSE: The Anniversary Sessions. What were the timelines from start to finish?

I did think at a few points that it would never get finished as it was taking so long. We actually had just started raising funds to record it at the beginning of the pandemic.  I was assuming we'd be right in the studio then; my plan was to do short sessions with the different producers and we did eventually do that, but we had to do it more spread apart because of the pandemic. We started in November 2020, that was the first time I went in the studio with musicians. We were all masked and stayed far away from each other, which is not a great way to make music together as a communal thing.  But we managed to get through that session and then over the course of 2021 had several other sessions. We went to Nashville and did more sessions there with Paul Burch and then ultimately with Rosie Flores and Kenny Vaughan for the last set of recordings, which was very early last year. So, it spans from the end of 2020 to the very beginning of 2022. Every time we felt that in two or three months it'll feel better, then there would be Delta, then Rubicon. Musicians playing in front of people, even though it’s their livelihood, didn't want the risk of getting sick from possibly somebody flying in who has been on an airplane and who was maybe bringing in germs. So, it was a little tricky and it did take a lot longer. Normally you go into the studio to make a record over two weeks and maybe take a few months to mix it and finish the art, but this was a much more extended one.

Despite the interruptions and particularly with the input from five different producers, the tracks flow seamlessly from one to another throughout.

Thank you for saying that. That was my biggest worry especially because we were up and down and often didn't know which way it was going. When we eventually went for the mastering with the sequence, I thought the mastering engineer was going to have my hide, because there were so many different sounds. But when we got the first few songs down, I started to relax. I thought ‘that’s a really pretty good Side A’, thinking of it in terms of a vinyl record, even if the songs were recorded in different places and times.

The first two songs, Push The Swing and Bide My Time, are co-writes with Mark Winchester. How did that connection come about?

I met Mark when Paul Burch introduced me to him at a gig of mine in Nashville several years ago now. It was before my Kitty Wells record came out but I've written the song Kitty Wells Dresses. I was doing a programme at the Country Music Hall of Fame that showcased the music of Kitty Wells. In fact, as I had learned that set of Kitty Wells songs, soon after that and having a band in Nashville, I decided that we should go and record them, so that's how that record actually came about. So, I met Mark as part of that concert and, ultimately, I hired him a couple of times to play with me in Nashville. As he was learning some of my songs, he told me he was also a songwriter, which I didn't realise. I then saw his name on some credits for songs that he had written for a Carlene Carter record that came out some years ago, so we did a few writing sessions together and really clicked, and had a lot of musical simpatico. I really enjoyed working with him a lot and, of course, because he is also a great bass player. He plays in the Brian Setzer orchestra and knows the sort of slap style of bass and he brings a kind of musicality that is a little different than other people that I've worked with as a writer. We really enjoyed working together. In fact, we have one song that is not on this record that I'm hoping to do for the next one. He’s a great resource and a great talent.

Two co-writes with Mark Spencer also feature, the closing track AWM Bless and my favourite track Just Like A Rose.

Mark and I have toured together a bunch probably starting in about 2003 or 2004 and consistently since then. I've also worked in Mark’s studio in Brooklyn. The couple of songs on this record that we wrote together were our first attempt at working together that way. But I've done every other kind of musical thing with Mark, recording, traveling around in a car just the two of us. We’ve travelled to the UK to play as a duo, we’ve played as a trio and we’ve played with him fronting a rock band. He's a very versatile musician and also sings beautifully. Any band is lucky to grab him. My longest musical association at this point is with Mark.

 How did it feel revisiting the song When The Roses Bloom again and particularly with Steve Earle’s vocal contribution?

Steve is one of my major inspirations and such an amazing writer and artist. An arc of his whole career going back to the 80s has been consistently excellent. So, as particularly as a writer, I've often thought of him as a standard bearer for Americana, though he’d probably hate to be called just an Americana artist.   I do think he's one of our finest songwriters in the United States and over the years, I've opened a few shows for him. When he moved to New York, we were in somewhat the same circles and would see each other at some of the same events.  I had in mind to ask Steve to do something that I was working on and when we were working on this project, because it was to celebrate an anniversary, I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to take one old song of mine and just do a new version of it. I had been thinking about When The Roses Bloom Again because with the soldiers talking in first person in the song, I thought that while it’s not quite like a duet with two characters having a dialogue, but it's like two storytellers telling the story. We settled on that idea and thankfully Steve got it right away. He was like, ‘oh, yeah, that makes sense. I can do that.’ The one thing he told me to do was change the key so it could be a good key for him to sing in. And then he gave me a long lecture about how I should have been singing in higher keys my whole career.  We've actually just made a little video for that song; it'll be ready later this summer.

You have numerous dates lined up in the UK shortly including an invitation to play Glastonbury. Had you played that festival before 

No, I have not, this will be my first kind of jump into the fray. I’m very excited, to be honest. For me, as a person who started coming over to Europe and the UK. over 20 years ago now, the idea that I get to go back and get the opportunity to play events like Glastonbury is just amazing to me.  It's really an honour. I’m just very excited to reconnect with our fans in parts of the world. Unfortunately, I’ve no dates in Ireland this time.

Do you recall the first time you played in Ireland? It was in Whelan's and Holly Williams was the support act.

I do remember that because it was the last day of a tour with Holly and we had plans to celebrate in Whelan’s with a little Guinness and a little whiskey of some kind. Then about a month later I realised I was pregnant. You're not supposed to do that but I didn't know I was pregnant and so gave my daughter a little taste. She's 17 now, so she’s turned out ok.

Have you also been working on your parallel careers as a writer, radio presenter and in the corporate world?

I still do a show on satellite radio here. We are actually doing a George Harrison-based show on SiriusXM called Dark Horse Radio, in conjunction with the George Harrison estate. They actually provide the contents and a calendar of what's discussed on the show. That's been an amazing learning experience for me. I mentioned before my daughter had a very hardcore Beatles phase and George was her favourite Beatle, so it's amazing to get to do that programme. I've done some other short-term radio work; I also do some writing. During the pandemic, I couldn't do much as a performing musician so I did go back to work in a corporate job. What I realized in all of that is that there are artists who just, write, record and perform. They put out a new record every 18 months or so, that's their cycle. And there's a lot of folks that say that if you're not in that cycle, then it's not really legitimate, it's not really somehow as professional.  So, I'm really grateful that we're coming back around to having a new album and having the chance to come and perform and play live, and can look back at all of those agonizing moments during the pandemic when I felt like this might not even happen.

Interview by Declan Culliton