americana
Jingle Boom (Presented by SPARKBOOM): An Interview with Cloud Caverns
The stories of Brandon Peterson and Dan Bouza emerge from East Islip, NY roots. Their history dates back 10 years when they lived less than 10 minutes away and attended high school together and their paths have continued to converged ever since. But it wasn’t until two and a half years ago (when Brandon approached Dan with a song he felt needed to be heard), that music became an entirely new operation for the pair. What began as two friends embarking upon a single-song recording experiment in a backyard-shed-turned-recording-studio, became a brotherhood. Cloud Caverns was born and “Unto Ourselves” became the earliest recording for the Blind Willow EP.
The Cloud Caverns name unites the extremes; that which lies both above us and within our depths. When Dan isn’t devoting his time to Cloud Caverns, he works as an engineer at VuDu Studios in Port Jefferson, and is involved in several other projects. Brandon has been dividing his time between his wife (they married just last week), the band, Hotel of the Laughing Tree, of which he is also a member, and moving to Tennessee.
Check out my recent interview with band members Dan Bouza and Brandon Peterson, to gain some insight into what makes this duo tick. You can also get to know Cloud Caverns by downloading their very own “Christmas Yet to Come,” (released, hot off the virtual press, exclusively for SPARKBOOM’s Jingle Boom: Holiday Bash), and joining us on Saturday, December 20th in the Huntington Arts Council’s Main Street Gallery, for this FREE event. As you listen to Cloud Caverns at this holiday event, with the gallery bedecked in festive decorations and original art, you’ll appreciate the season and the music in a new way. Oh, and of course, don’t forget to wear your best ugly sweater, so you can Jingle Boom, all the way.
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Lauren Jahoda: What are each of your roles in Cloud Caverns?
Dan Bouza: With Cloud Caverns it’s kind of hard to define roles, because Brandon and I–since it’s such a studio-based project– the two of us kind of do everything. So sometimes I’m playing bass guitar and keyboards, and sometimes Brandon’s playing bass guitar and keyboards. He does most of the singing and he writes the lion’s share of the stuff, and then I just come in and add a bunch of bells and whistles and production to it. And that’s how it gets made.
When you say it’s a studio project, are you referring to the band itself?
DB: Yeah, at least it started out that way. We weren’t playing a lot of shows and it was just me and Brandon in an old shed that I converted into a studio, writing songs and recording them.
Where is this shed?
DB: It’s in my Dad’s backyard, in East Islip. We have since graduated from the shed (laughs).
(laughs) What is the shed being used for now?
DB: It’s sitting empty and has all my books in it now (laughs).
What did you study in college? Was Cloud Caverns a part of the plan or was something else?
How long have the two of you been “Cloud Caverns”?
DB: I think it’s about two and a half years now. Brandon came to me with one song. It was the last song on the EP, “Unto Ourselves,” and we recorded that and he came back with 4 or 5 other songs, and that’s when I knew we were going to keep doing this and it would turn into something.
What affect, if any, did growing up on Long Island have on your music?
Brandon Peterson: Although I don’t think Long Island has had a huge effect on us musically, lyrically I think it’s definitely part of our core. We both grew up here and it’s always been home to us. So all the memories and stories we’ve cultivated growing up here, make their way into our songs somehow.
Why did you choose “Gypsy Loft” as the title track for the album?
Dan Bouza: I had just moved into a house that was previously occupied by a family of real life Gypsies. When I moved in, the place was a wreck. A group of friends, Brandon included, helped fix and scrub every inch of the place over a period of about two weeks. My bedroom was in the loft, which is where the majority of the album was recorded, so it seemed fitting.
Album Art: AJ Estrada
What are your plans, if any, for your next album?
Dan Bouza: We have about 20 songs lined up for the next album. We’ve been in pre-production/writing mode basically, since we finished Gypsy Loft, and we’re getting ready to start actually recording it next month. We’re pretty excited to get back into the swing of things.
How did your connection with SPARKBOOM come about?
Dan Bouza: A friend of ours had mentioned to Raj [Tawney] and Michelle [Carollo] to check us out when the album first came out. They reached out to us to play the after party at their screening of Mistaken for Strangers. We had a blast and realized that they’re really doing something special for Long Island.
Did you create “Christmas Yet to Come” specifically for Jingle Boom? If so, how did you come up with it?
Dan Bouza: We did. Brandon showed up with a demo one day after Raj had asked us about playing a Christmas song. Brandon wrote 95% of it, so it’s probably best if he answers how he came up with it.
Brandon Peterson: I wanted to write a Christmas song that transported me back to the 90s. I remember as a kid, the week of Christmas was the absolute best week ever. We’d be with our loved ones every night, go driving around to look at lights and decorations on other houses, see distant family members, etc, etc. I tried to channel all these manifestations into one song. It is also inspired by Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, hence the title of the song. It has to do with hanging on to old holiday memories, whilst harvesting new ones.
Listen here…
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“CHRISTMAS YET TO COME”
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And join us here…
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20th
6 PM – 10 PM
Huntington Arts Council, Inc.
213 Main Street
Huntington, NY 11743
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LIVE PERFORMANCES:
Cloud Caverns, NonStop To Cairo and Robert Sloan
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SPOKEN WORD/POETRY:
Steven T. Licardi, Bri Onishea, James Kim, Frankie A Soto, and Meredith Nussbaum
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WINDOW ART:
Caitlyn Shea and REME 821
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Craft Beer courtesy of Saint James Brewery, delicious treats courtesy of Stella Blue Bistro, and yummy water by Hint Water, prize giveaways courtesy of Sip Tea Lounge and more!
THIS IS A FREE EVENT ($5 SUGGESTED DONATION)
Questions by: Lauren Jahoda & Andrew Kase
“F’ Yeah!”: This is Leif Vollebekk’s Interview
Leif Vollebekk and I met in New York on Friday afternoon, just prior to his opening performance for The Barr Brothers show at The Bowery Ballroom. As we talked, one of the Barr Brothers was showering in the next room. We were sitting on a couch (Leif and I). It was the day after Lief had just heard the news, that he (as well as Nathaniel Rateliff), will be touring with Gregory Alan Isakov, come January 2015. Leif and I discussed a variety of things including his degree in philosophy, Newport Folk Festival, the Montreal music scene, his collection of musical instruments, how to cook, and… a stolen journal. “F… yeah! This is Leif Vollbekk’s interview!”
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Lauren Jahoda: You released your first album, Inland, four years ago, right?
Leif Vollebekk: That’s probably right (laughs). I don’t remember. Yeah…four years ago…2010.
What were you doing right before you committed to pursuing a career in music above most other things?
I was at school. I was studying philosophy in Ottawa because they said it would be free if I went there. I would have rather gone to McGill University but they said it would be $1,000, (laughs) like nothing (laughs), but I was like “Fuck you McGill! You don’t want me bad enough to pay for all of it!” (laughs) It turns out that I should have gone to McGill (laughs) because I moved to Montreal eventually and that’s where all the musicians I fell in love with are. That’s where these guys [The Barr Brothers] are from. I chose philosophy because I liked it and I knew I’d end up doing music somehow and I didn’t want to do it right away. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it made sense.
Did you finish your degree?
Yeah. I finished my degree. It’s hard to go back into that head space. I remember writing a lot of songs then and six months later thinking, uhh, that’s the worst song ever. That’s so terrible. I’m embarrassed of that. I remember thinking, just keep on writing. I told myself that if I don’t hate it after a year, maybe I’d be onto something.
You needed to let the songs sit.
Yeah. I was really thankful that I didn’t put out the first things that I did, like the home recordings.
If you listened to those very early songs now, do you think you would still feel the same way?
Oh, I found a bunch of them in my parents’ basement. My mom said, “What is this?” It was the old four-track and then I listened to them. They were from when I was 16, 17, 18…just thinking about it makes me so grossed out. I don’t even know, ugh. It’s really gross (laughs). The old me is a weird me.
I think it is for everyone (laughs). Was music a large part of your childhood? What was your first instrument?
My first instrument was the violin and then I picked up the guitar. I just didn’t get anywhere with the violin. I was pitchy. I started playing the guitar and everything was in tune because of the frets. So one summer, when I was 15 or 16, there were days when I just got up, picked up the guitar and then it would be 6 PM. I would not stop playing. I wasn’t practicing, I was like the monkey at the beginning of Space Odyssey, ya know. Just bashing at it (laughs). By September, I learned how to play guitar. I knew what a chord was. I knew how to tune it. I knew how to sing songs. Growing up though, my folks listened to a lot of music, but no one really played that much piano. My mom’s dad and all her brothers did, so all my instruments I got from them. Because they’re all dead (laughs). I have dead people’s instruments (laughs).
Oh no. Did they give them to you or did you inherit them somehow?
The electric was given to me by my uncle. He said “If you want it, take it, my arthritis is so bad.” He called it his Hawaiian guitar because he set it up to play slide on it and sing Hawaiian songs (laughs). In the 60s, there was this trend of Hawaiian music I think? (laughs) Maybe there’s something there? I don’t know (laughs).
It was exotic (laughs).
Yeah. It was exotic and it had this [Leif mimics the sweet sound of Hawaiian music]. So I just set it up and yeah, I love it. It sounds great. It can only do so many things but, what it does is amazing. I play my grandfather’s acoustic. They all sound great, but they also have limits, which is what I like about them too. That way, I don’t have to make a choice… like buy a Martin for $2,000.00 (laughs).
So you still use those same family instruments?
Yeah.
Have you bought anything else?
I bought a Wurlitzer. I bought two of them actually because they break…[Leif catches me imagining a Wurlitzer keybo]…(laughs) I want to hear what you think it is.
I think it’s an organ (laughs).
Kind of, yeah. It’s basically the electric guitar equivalent of a piano.
That’s actually what I was imagining (laughs).
It’s kind of amazing. Some famous recordings, like “What’d I Say” by Ray Charles is on a Wurlitzer and Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend.” It kind of sounds like an electric guitar, but it feels like a piano.
The comparison is a bit of a stretch, but I imagine that, like the pedal steel, it doesn’t have a…it’s not an earthy sound. It’s more like an ethereal sound.
Yeah! It is kind of like that. That’s interesting because the pedal steel also didn’t exist pre-1950s. Inside the Wurlitzer it’s kind of like a xylophone.
Is it easy to transport?
I have them here with me. It’s heavy, but not too heavy. I prefer to play the piano, but I got tired of playing gigs where there weren’t pianos. I would just play acoustic, electric guitar and sing and part of me would be think, that’s right you can do it, but I didn’t like doing it. I felt like I wasn’t playing songs with the right feel or the way I wanted to.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s sort of like you know what’s missing. You know what’s good for your songs.
Yeah. Totally. It becomes way too much about the lyrics if I do solo/acoustic all night. So I just started bringing the Wurlitzer.
Can you tell me about the music scene in Montreal?
It changes every 10 years. It just morphs into a different beast. The people who do really well end up disappearing or playing less. When you start selling out arenas, you stop playing Montreal 10 times per year, not like when you were starting your band, playing with different people and trying new things. I think that also makes things change. And if you don’t do well, you quit and get a job sometimes. Every 1o years, it’s totally different people, and different shapes and sizes. There’s a band called Shapes and Sizes but they changed their name (laughs).
(laughs)
There are a few clubs that are part of it…it’s kind of complicated. There’s the French scene that’s not part of the English scene, and there’s the English scene that’s not part of the French scene.
Do they ever mix?
They mix sometimes. I played on this amazing French singer’s record a few months ago. So that’s cool. So they mix. I’m finding that it has started to happen within the last two years. The scene is great. It feels like a really small community of artists, but if you’re not in it, it’s quite large. There are a lot of venues and a lot bands. A lot of different configurations and crossovers. I’m too immersed to describe it (laughs).
Do you live in the city?
Yeah. I live on the cusp of the French and the English areas, that metaphorical line.
Can you name some current or fellow musicians who inspire you?
I really got into Gillian Welch. Her and David Rawlings’ thing is very rootsy and they are inspired obviously by the Carter family and that kind of thing. It’s kind of weird because my current influences are people who are influenced by what I’m influenced by. Even the Ryan Adams record I really like and even the later Bob Dylan records I’m really into, but those are especially rooted in old folk songs and ripped off of 1940s/1950s melodies. I love Sigur Ros. They’re the best.
Yeah. They’re awesome. I’ve heard you talk about them before.
I miss the keyboard player in that band though. He left and he was one of my favorite parts of that band. Really beautiful.
I saw your journal online…it’s called “FuckYeahLeifsJournal” (laughs), but the last post was from 2012.
Yeah that’s my friend Andrea. I left my journal…it’s not really a journal, more like my songbook…and I left it at City Winery here in NY. I was in Vancouver and she was going to NY and I asked her if she would get it for me once I realized that’s where I left it. I didn’t know her that well at the time so she thought it would be funny to be like “Yeah, sure. I’ll be sure not to read it”…*wink**wink*. So she took a picture of everyone she met in New York City reading my journal. She’s got firemen reading it, police officers, tourists, her friends and some really angry people who didn’t want to do it, the naked cowboy with his guitar. That’s what that was.
(laughs) Wow.
I think that’s safe to say (laughs).
Can you tell me about your experience performing at Newport Folk Festival this summer?
It was great. It was the best festival I’ve ever been to, ever. Every stage there was someone amazing playing on it, all the time.
Which stage did you play on?
I played on the Quad Stage. It’s a great stage. Inside the Fort. It was amazing. Gregory Alan Isakov played there right after me, so we were sharing a dressing room and that’s when we met and that’s how these things work out. So I get to tour with them. Otherwise, I don’t if we wouldn’t have met. Everyone who runs it is a sweetheart. I got to talk to Mavis Staples too. I went to one of the after-shows too and that was great.
You recorded at four different locations for North Americana — what was it that made you arrive or leave those places?
It’s not even an interesting story. I started recording at this one great studio in Montreal and I decided I wanted to go further and do different songs and record them differently because I was figuring out what sound I wanted. Then they booked up and I was touring. They were booked out for about 8 months. So I went to the places where people sounded good. I ended up in France because I was touring and I ended up at this studio because I was working on someone else’s record — it was where Feist did The Reminder. It’s a nice place and I decided to do a couple of days there in between my tour. So, I didn’t have to pay for a flight to get there or anything. Then, I liked this one engineer who worked on a Sigur Ros and Ryan Adams record, so I wrote him and asked him where he wants to record and he said at this place. So we did this place in New York. I just had songs that needed to be recorded and I had to figure out where I was, in relation to who I wanted to work with. Yeah. It just kind of happened.
I really love the song, “From the Fourth.” Can you tell me a little about writing that song?
That’s the last song I wrote for the record, so it’s always nice when people like that one. I wrote the first two verses and then I carried them around for awhile. I was working on it in this little village in Ireland called Clonakilty and I was on tour with Sam Amidon and then he missed his flight and I had to do the show solo. They were so amazing, this bar called De Barra’s and this guy Ray…he was like, “Well, how about I get you an apartment?” So I stayed there and I had the apartment to myself. I worked on it there. I liked the song but it was missing something. I don’t remember when, but I wrote a third verse because it had only two verses. It was very in-need of that third verse. It takes forever sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. The ones that are good and the ones that are bad aren’t distinguished by how they are written at all. It’s just a bunch of stuff all the time. It’s like cooking. Some things take time and it’s better if you braise it for 10 hours and sometimes it’s better if you just don’t cook it at all. But the timing can really kill things and sometimes it can help things. Just keep all the burners on and don’t fuck it up.
Did you just make that analogy up right now?
Yes (laughs).
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I very much enjoyed meeting and talking with Leif. His music is amazing. He was obviously at a high point, just moments away from opening The Barr Brother’s concert, and still aglow in the fresh news that the next leg of his musical journey, to begin in January, will be alongside Gregory Alan Isakov and Nathaniel Rateliff. It is a certainty that, in the days to come, you will suddenly see and hear more and more of Leif Vollebekk and his incredible music… like the very moment when the subway comes above the ground.
Cambridge Presents: Red Line Roots, Julie Rhodes, Danny Roaman, Bill Scorzari & More
This weekend marked our very first Heartstrings visit to Cambridge, Mass., for Bill Scorzari‘s performance at Gallery 263 on Saturday night. As it turns out, Cambridge was full of great surprises.
On Friday, we received word that Danny Roaman (Jonah Tolchin‘s guitarist) would be accompanying Julie Rhodes at the famous Club Passim (formerly Club 47) Saturday afternoon, for the “Locals Covering Locals” showcase (produced by musician, Brian Carroll of Red Line Roots). Julie sang several originals and local favorites, including a cover of Jonah Tolchin’s “Mockingbird,” with Danny on guitar, alongside a second electric blues guitar, a thumpin’ stand-up bass and a smokin’ blues harp with that classic, taxi-cab microphone plugged into a dirty amp, howl. They were absolutely incredible! If you haven’t yet heard Julie sing, you need to. Julie Rhodes is the blues done right, with one of the most effortlessly authentic voices I’ve heard in years. There’s no doubt that we all will hear more about this incredible vocalist and her band in the days to come. Look for the release of Julie’s debut album (maybe this Spring?), produced by friend and mentor, Jonah Tolchin.
Additional performers featured at Club Passim were Jake Hill, Connor Millican and Haunt the House — a folk trio of guitar, accordion and stand up bass, who played a rousing set, which included Ian Fitzgerald‘s “Melinda Down the Line.” It’s inevitable that something great is on the horizon for this band. I can just feel it.
The Whiskey Boys took the stage last, with their virtuoso set of bluegrass/folk music of the best kind, which even included a cover of “Feel Good Inc” by the Gorillaz.
We spoke with Brian Carroll after the show, about his vision of organizing local musicians to support each other by performing each other’s music, locally. To say this event was a great success, would be an understatement.
After the show at Club Passim, we headed to Gallery 263 for Bill Scorzari’s show with special guest, Annie Johnson — a 4th-year Berklee student from Idaho, who along with her sister, Katie Johnson, opened with a half hour of Annie’s masterfully-written original compositions. Check out Annie’s music on Soundcloud.
Bill Scorzari then took the stage.Bill’s debut album was released this past May to critical acclaim, and can now be heard on Pandora. This night, Bill performed a collection of original Americana music slated for his second album, which is currently being recorded and produced by legendary audio engineer, Scott Hull of Masterdisk, right here in New York. Bill passionately delivered these heartfelt, real-life narratives, powered by his intense, pervading voice and sublime guitar.
An impromptu collaboration followed as Julie Rhodes and Danny Roaman joined Bill on stage to close out the night. Julie turned it on like a thousand-watt bulb, as Bill and Danny’s guitar work added to the glow. Check it out out here:
Guitar Mash & the Music-led Life: An Interview with Mark Stewart
November 16, 2014 marks the THIRD ANNUAL GUITAR MASH BENEFIT CONCERT + JAM + AUCTION at City Winery NYC! Along with Music Director, MARK STEWART and Artist Chairs, TOM COLICCHIO (Top Chef) and CHAD SMITH (Red Hot Chili Peppers), the concert will feature performances by DAVID BROMBERG, CHRIS “CRITTER” ELDRIDGE (Punch Brothers), VALERIE JUNE, ROBERT RANDOLPH, DUKE ROBILLARD, SCOTT SHARRARD, NANO STERN and QUINN SULLIVAN.
Guitar Mash is a movement. From metal shredders to acoustic aficionados, Guitar Mash uses live events and social media to create opportunities for amateur and professional guitarists to play together.
Guitar Mash was founded in 2012 with the goal of creating opportunities for people to be actively involved in music, and to make music with other people. It was founded on understanding the guitar to be The Great Connector, that which gathers people around the proverbial campfire. What began as an untested experiment in communal music-making grew with the beautiful leadership of our musical director Mark Stewart into the acclaimed Inaugural Benefit Event at City Winery November 2012, and a series of “Campfire Jams” around the New York area, as well as stints at events like Make Music NY.
In addition to connecting amateur and professional musicians, Guitar Mash has helped people rediscover their potential to create, and has inspired many to reacquaint themselves with their guitars.
(http://guitarmash.org/about/)
In anticipation of this year’s GUITAR MASH event, HEARTSTRINGS MAGAZINE interviewed Mark Stewart. In addition to being the Music Director for GUITAR MASH, the rather accomplished Mr. Stewart also hails as music director/instrumentalist for Paul Simon, founding member of Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Polygraph Lounge, and has performed with musicians including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Edie Brickell, James Taylor, The Everly Brothers and many, many more. During our conversation we discussed topics as varied as, touring with Paul Simon, his childhood family-band, Stony Brook University and didgeridoos…oh yes, and of course…Guitar Mash.
Lauren Jahoda: You were born and raised in Wisconsin — how did you end up in Park Slope, Brooklyn?
Mark Stewart: Well, New York is one of the centers of the cultural universe and I completed my graduate studies on the cello at SUNY Stony Brook (Long Island). I chose Stony Brook for two reasons — it had a world class faculty and also because of its proximity to New York City. So I thought when I was done with my studies, I would have at least some knowledge and also some gigs going on already in town and would start my professional life in what really is the most vibrant of American cities, culturally and musically. And so, that’s precisely what I did. That is, in a nutshell, how I ended up in New York.
So while you were in graduate school, you were gigging in NYC and the Long Island area?
Yeah, I was gigging in town and my name was starting to get around, but it was as a cellist. Also when I finished my doctoral studies in ’89, I got a gig as a college professor at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. So 3 days per week I was out in Pennsylvania teaching at Mansfield and the other 4 days I was gigging with different groups.
Were you strictly playing cello at that time?
I was doing both (guitar and cello) by then, but I was known as a cellist in New York.
When did your career as a professional musician begin taking shape?
The first thing that changed things for me was that I got a call from Bang on a Can. They were putting together Bang on a Can Allstars, and they called me and asked if I was interested in being their guitarist. That was in 1992. Of course, I was thrilled to get that call and I started doing that. But that was only one music scene in NY. The second was two years later, when I resigned my college job and moved into town full-time. I got a call from the lead guitarist for the Broadway production of Tommy. He was having a hard time finding a sub and the problem was finding a real rock and roller who could follow a stick, a conductor. And he was speaking to a cellist friend of his and his cellist said, well I know a cellist who’s a real rock and roller and he gave him my number. So I got the call and I worked my ass off for a month to learn that book, and went in and succeeded and overnight I had a reputation as a guitarist. It was a strange fluke. You spend a long time working your way up, which I was prepared to do on the cello and was involved in doing just that. But with the guitar, it was overnight, just because of my strange skill set — a rock and roller who could follow a stick.
How did you become the Music Director for Paul Simon, and eventually for Guitar Mash as well?
I was suddenly in the Broadway world, and I did that for about 5 years and one night I was playing the opening night at Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center and Paul Simon was there that night. I was the head musician and at the reception at Tavern on the Green, he had a lot of questions for me, and the last one was, “Can I get your phone number ?”(laughs). So he came over just a couple of days later and we had a great afternoon together. A month later, I joined his band. I’ve been playing with Paul since ’98. And yeah, I get to play everything with Paul — guitar, cello, wind instruments, banjo…it’s just a lovely gig.
As for Guitar Mash, I grew up with a father and mother who led everything in song, so that was always very natural. We sang at home and we also had a family band called the Stewart Family Troubadours. 15-20 concerts per year. Medieval, Renaissance vocal music and instrumental music, and American folk music. We played from when I was 6, until I was 16. My two siblings– my older brother and younger sister– and my parents. So when I say “led in song”, my dad was an Episcopal priest and a very vibrant celebrant, he would get the entire congregation to sing and he would improvise call and response things. So I grew up seeing a lot of joy in music together. So Rebecca Weller (Founder/Producer of Guitar Mash) called me a couple of years ago with this idea and said people tell me you’re my man. That’s the short story.
That’s an incredible story. When did you begin creating music?
My earliest memories include music. I was probably singing at the same time I was beginning to talk. My parents were singing so much in the house. It was just a part of life. We love to crack each other up with songs. We love to pull up a song that someone hasn’t thought of in a long time. And when I was young, my parents were just so involved in music, not only in the church but they were involved in a concert in Milwaukee called the Milwaukee Pro Musica, and so they were in a professional group singing early music — music from the early 13′, 14′, 1500s. It was modeled after the New York Pro Musica, and it was led by Noah Greenberg in the 50s in NY. When they would come over, those remarkable musicians, that’s where I learned to play the cello. They would let me bounce the bow on the string. I wouldn’t use the word “create” music, I would say my earliest memories are always accompanied or led by music. A composer Charles Warnen says an interesting thing — when people ask him about creating music he says, “Humans do not create. Humans organize.” (laughs).
When asked what kind of music you play, in the past you’ve answered: “Well, I play a little bit of popular music, quite a bit of semi-popular music and an enormous amount of unpopular music.” I love your use of the word “unpopular” to describe experimental music — how did this reference come about?
I guess it was born out of a frustration with standard labels of music, but it was also an attempt to genuinely describe what I do in a succinct fashion. What I realized, looking at the way music is categorized, was that this was the most succinct way I could describe what it is that I do. I felt like it kept the standard labels out of it. There’s a reason we have names for things. There’s a reason the blues are called the blues, there’s a reason that techno is called techno, jazz is called jazz, classical is called classical…there are all sorts of reasons and there are all sorts of music in between and so many people who live in between those words or above them or with them. That’s one of the great things about NYC. Frank Sinatra kind of had it backwards when he sang, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere…actually in NY, you can make it in a way that you can’t make it anywhere else. The reason being that there are so many communities, cultural communities, in the city and so for me, that’s why I love NY. All the things that are going on here. All the different communities, all the different music, all the different schools of thought and schools of openness. This is the place.
I watched the fascinating video that Q2 Spaces (New York Public Radio) shot about your instrument lab, while inside your home. When did you start bringing life to instruments that were left behind?
Yeah. It started early. The seeds of it began in my family’s home. We had a music room and it was filled with sound makers of all different kinds, some of them fairly recognizable — old piano and a beautiful pump organ, a harmonium — and then of course, all the instruments the kids were practicing — violin, french horn, cello, flute, those kinds of things. Then there were also instruments my mom used when she was teaching public school — xylophones, kettle drums, tambourines and glockenspiels. It was a place where music would emerge no matter who was in there. My friends would come over and they wouldn’t be kids who were taking music lessons but they always had a great time in that room. I think that was my initial inspiration for what would then come to flower later in my life. But it was when I joined Paul’s band–when you’re on a pop tour, you’ve got some free time because you have a great community of people helping you out. I’m not carrying stuff and I’m not responsible for getting myself to the airport. What I’m responsible for is being in the lobby when I’m told and playing really well every night. So I had a lot of free time and, right away, I realized that I wanted to work on projects, and something that occurred to me immediately was that I wanted to play wind instruments. I had always played stringed instruments. So when we were in San Francisco, I wandered down to this wonderful store called Lark in the Morning and found a beautiful cheap didgeridoo, and I bought that and started playing wind instruments and discovered that every single cardboard tube or metal tube was a didgeridoo waiting to happen. When I discovered that, I realized there were a lot of simple sound-makers around us, just walking through the world. I just started making instruments of all different kinds and keeping my eyes open for those instruments that have been left or neglected in the dust bin of history. I think I said something recently that they used for a title — “The Island of Misfit Toys” (below) — I think I’ll stand by that analogy.
We have these wonderful instruments, pianos, saxophones, guitars, that do everything very well. You can transpose and play in all these different keys, we have this equal tempered scale…they do that very well, but I am being attracted to instruments these days that do one thing. They don’t do a million things. They do one thing and they do it really well. If you find a great lamppost that you whack and it rings in a beautiful way — ah! (laughs) There it is! It’s a perfect example — and you get your ear right in there and listen to all those overtones. You’re not going to be able to make an instrument that does that, but you can find an instrument that does that and because you just found that lamppost, you’re there! And if you’ve got a buddy with you, you can just say “lean in, listen to this…” and there’s an audience of two. And then you move on and that lamppost says “Finally, finally somebody realized.” That’s kind of what I’m into these days (laughs).
Mark’s involvement with GUITAR MASH has been equally as hands-on and community-building, as is his continuing request that we simply lean in and join him to experience the music that is there waiting to be discovered and realized in the world around us. So grab your guitar and lean in to the City Winery on Sunday, November 16, 2014, for GUITAR MASH and the music-led life movement that awaits you there.
‘True Story’: Joe Purdy at City Winery NYC
Despite the relentless downpour taking place outside City Winery NYC on Wednesday night, Joe Purdy fans, as usual, packed the house for this sold-out show. It was the perfect setting for the crowd to sing along to Joe’s 2004 “I Love the Rain the Most,” which we were all secretly hoping would make it onto his set list (and, of course, it did). Some sat on stools at the bar and along the windows, while others sat at the small, candle-lit tables surrounding the stage. I sat at one of those tables beside Joe’s manager, Brian, and his parents who came in from Connecticut that night to see Joe play. They were as enthusiastic about the performance as the other Purdy followers in attendance. I heard Brian’s dad singing along to Joe’s songs as we sipped our waiter’s wine recommendations, which included a homemade specialty of the night. The label on the bottle simply stated, “Joe Purdy Wine.”
I last spoke with Joe in September (My Hillbilly Confidence: An Interview with Joe Purdy), just prior to his AmericanaFest performance in Nashville. After spending an hour or so on the phone with him, it was clear that Joe had discovered early on that, creating music is what he always wanted to do, and that, driven by his passion to pursue it at all costs, Joe was able to avoid doing what others might think he would otherwise have to do. With that ethic, Joe has tirelessly made his music available to us — from the self-titled Joe Purdy (2001) to Eagle Rock Fire (2014) – straight from his heartstrings to ours.
Joe follows his own simple formula– he says what he wants to say and does so with an inspiring mix of raw talent, authenticity and humor — which sometimes takes the form of witty annotation during his live performance. At City Winery, Joe repeatedly interrupted himself mid-song to say …”true story”… (using humor to accomplish light, yet unmistakable reinforcement of the thought he just sang). When he pauses during the performance of his songs, and uses his humble, confiding voice to speak directly to and personally with his audience, it is a mellifluous gift that Joe Purdy brings. The result is that each participant in his diverse and international fan base, is engrossed and united by that overwhelmingly warm sound and honesty.
Joe began his set with several songs off of Eagle Rock Fire (2014), followed by “Sinkin’ Low” from Take My Blanket and Go (2007). He then put down his acoustic guitar and walked over to the piano, to give us a unique performance since, as Joe pointed out, it’s unusual that he has a piano available to him on stage. There, he played one of my all time favorite Purdy tracks, “Been Up So Long” (piano) from Last Clock On the Wall (2009), among others. He subsequently played a series of what he calls “short songs,” including “River Boat Captain.” The short songs resemble sonnets — brief, organized and powerful. Each lasted no longer than a minute. As Joe pulls you in, ever-so-quickly on each short adventure, and then releases you seconds later, you can’t help but feel the astounding fleeting embrace.
The newest song in this evening’s performance is what I like to call the “Emmett Till” of songs. For those who do not know the reference, Emmett Till is a young boy, whose murder became the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Within this song, Joe collects and brings forth the unsettling injustices of our history into one palpable composition:
My brother was killed by a policeman.
My brother was only 19.
My brother was shot by a sniper.
My brother, he died on the street.
My brother was beat by policemen,
and he died on the prison floor.
My brother, he fought in Vietnam.
My brother was killed on the front of war,
My brother, he died in his hometown…
We wear stars and stripes in the broken heart of the country…
Joe and I had scheduled to meet after the show, as a follow-up to our last interview. Prior to our meeting, I watched Joe come up the basement stairs to personally greet and meet with his fans in the main room. Although more than half of the capacity crowd remained (waiting), Joe spoke at length with every single one of them. But there weren’t just the usual, “great show!” and, “thank you’s!” exchanged. The coolest part was that, as I watched, I saw Joe glad, even eager to directly connect with each one of his fans. Joe’s willingness to make himself accessible to his listeners, both through his music and personally, is just who Joe Purdy is. It can all be summed up in what Joe told me about his experience at AmericanaFest–how he had missed most of the festival’s events because he chose to spend time caring for a friend who had become ill. We see it in his recorded music and live performances, in his post-performances and in the decisions he has made along the way (which are all his own). This night was no different and only increased the appreciation I have for Joe Purdy the musician and for Joe Purdy the man. They are genuinely one and the same. True story.
‘a dream of my heart’: An Interview with Skaggs & White
By Sharla McIver
There are few more beloved names in the world of country and bluegrass music than Ricky Skaggs and his wife Sharon (of the legendary country music family act — The Whites). The two have been close friends since their teenage years through music, first meeting at a festival where White was performing with her father Buck White and sister Cheryl and Skaggs was performing with Keith Whitley.
It was, however a bumpy road with a few difficult curves that finally led to them to becoming husband and wife 33 years ago. But through those difficult times and sometimes painful places, the couple has built a strong relationship founded first on faith, and second on family.
Although Skaggs has performed with the White Family at a number of shows and events over the years, another duet or duet album had yet to happen. Instead they chose to continue to focus on their individual careers: Skaggs with his award-winning solo career in country music including 12 #1 songs, 14 Grammy Awards and numerous CMA Awards including Entertainer of the Year in 1985. He continued on to have a highly successful career in bluegrass, in his native state of Kentucky, with his band Kentucky Thunder; White continued to tour with her family’s band. As a couple, they chose to focus on raising their children, Molly and Luke, and making their family and faith their continued first priority.
In 1987, after being married for about six years, the couple won CMA Vocal Duo of the Year for “Love Can’t Ever Get Better Than This,” the first married couple to win the award. The likely decision in the commercial world of music would have been another duet soon to follow their win, if not an entire album of Skaggs/White duets. But once again, the pair did not choose the seemingly obvious course. It wasn’t necessarily their personal choice, Skaggs explained. “We thought then it was a good idea. We loved singing together, we had a hit and the next step would be to do a record. But at the time we were on competing labels. And the label I was on didn’t want to have me recording with an artist on a competing label, even though she was my wife. At the time there was disappointment, but looking back it was probably a good thing. Our hearts might not have been in the right place at the time and our motives wouldn’t have been what they are now. Looking back I know God already knew that, and He knew then when the time would be right.” Apparently that time is now.
Decades in the making, the couple have finally released a duet album, Hearts Like Ours, a beautiful collection displaying the faith, values and love that only time together through the years could authenticate. The collection contains honest, soul-searching and heartfelt love songs, about the good and the bad and the dreams we all have for lifetime love. A good measure of sound relationship advice is interspersed throughout. If you had asked the pair just a while ago, they would likely have told you a duet album was not likely in their future — “I had really decided it would probably never happen,” White explained. “We were invited to sing some songs at a couple’s event a couple years ago, and share a testimony, and we put together some songs. They were songs we had been singing for years. Ricky was really the one who brought in the idea of recording. The timing just felt right. We are at a place where we have learned some things together, about love and commitment, family and faith. I’ve always had the desire in my heart to do this, but if we’d done it back then it couldn’t have been what it is now, or meant what it means to us,” White said. “I am so happy that Ricky and I have finally done a duet CD, which we have wanted to do for years and I think our hearts are in the right place to do this now. It was great to pick songs together and share ideas about how we wanted to do them. I have always enjoyed making music with Ricky, so this album is the fulfillment of a dream of my heart.”
Her husband agrees — “Hearts Like Ours is a dream come true for Sharon and I,” said Skaggs. “Being married for 33 years, you get to know someone’s heart. I know hers and she knows mine, and we hope you can hear that on this CD. I loved getting to work with her.” Skaggs believes in White’s ability to find and choose songs, and although it was a joint project from beginning to end, he relied on her to choose much of the music for the album. The couple said they listened to a number of songs and put a great amount of thought into their choices, mostly reflecting on what message they wanted to send, and songs that were meaningful to them. And although Skaggs has produced a number of records, many of the technical aspects were a new experience for White. “That’s where trust comes in,” she said. “Ricky made the final call, and he listened to me if I had a strong feeling one way or the other. It’s not my area, but we both agreed that we would agree. And it really ended up being exactly what we both wanted.”
Although they don’t consider the album a gospel album, they do hope it will be inspiring to others. “It expresses our commitment to the Lord and to each other,” Skaggs said, and that priority is obvious in each track. Their faith and strong family values are evident throughout the album, from the acknowledgement that marriage is sometimes just difficult, and their faith in God is what keeps theirs working. Starting with the award winning duet “Love Can’t Ever Get Better Than This,” the pair chose songs that would best reflect their faith and family values, from the acknowledgement that marriage is sometimes just plain difficult, and their faith in God is what keeps theirs working on the song “It Takes Three.” The title track and the song “I Run To You,” serve as a clear proclamation of love and security between the two of them. Both were penned by Skaggs’ family friends, Connie Smith and Marty Stuart. “Home is Wherever You Are” comes across as absolutely genuine, in a way that might not be so obvious without the heartfelt love and spiritual connection between the two.
“Hold On Tight, Let It Go” features Skaggs on vocals and is a treasure of relationship advice for ALL relationships. The lyrics: “Hold on tight; let it go. Our love is always strongest when we let our weakness show. We don’t have to give in to the prideful winds that blow if we hold on tight; let it go,” are a few words any couple, young or old, and any friends, old or new, would be wise to heed. “Be Kind” features vocals by Skaggs and is a testament to the importance of simple acts like kindness and forgiveness in every relationship.
White chose the bluegrass tune “No Doubt About It,” most famously recorded by Flatt and Scruggs, after hearing it one day and deciding it would sound great as a male/female duet, and thinking it would be a fun song, a solid old bluegrass standard, to include among the others. As for something a little different from the theme of love songs, every person can relate to “When I’m Good and Gone” written by Buddy Jewell and Leslie Satcher, which features White on vocals. The song reflects on what we each want to leave behind when we are no longer on this earth; how we want to be remembered. Skaggs said he had joked a little about the song, saying, “You don’t want the preacher to have to lie about you at your funeral.” He added more seriously, “You want to leave something good for people to remember when you’re gone.”
The album is poignant, inspiring, and filled with a treasure of relationship advice for every couple – or any kind of relationship. And although none of the 13 songs they selected were written by either Skaggs or White, they are not at all opposed to the idea. Rather than focus on what will play on the radio or the commercial aspect of an album, they are focused on ways to incorporate some of the songs, or how to do some of the songs from each of their vast inventory of recorded songs, into their live shows. And for all of the fans already loving the album, there is good news ahead: the two are already discussing songs they would like to do together at some point in the future.
The CD can be purchased on iTunes, and it is also available on the Skaggs’ family web site, www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com. Fans of Ricky Skaggs may also want to check out his recently published autobiography, Kentucky Traveler, which has just been made available in a paperback version.
Every Mile: Nathan Stanley’s “Bluegrass Album of the Year”
By Sharla McIver
Individual God-given talents run deep within Nathan Stanley’s family. Stanley, the grandson of Bluegrass icon and Grammy Award-winning musician Dr. Ralph Stanley, won the “Bluegrass Album of the Year” at the 2014 Dove Awards this month for his most recent album, Every Mile. The Dove Awards took place on October 7, and Stanley, who was described by the Dove Awards as “such a genuine heart,” displayed his humble and gracious character in his reaction to his first nomination and win after the announcement was made.
“I am truly honored!” said Stanley. “I was so honored to even be included among the nominations with the great artists I was nominated with in the category. I’ve known the Isaacs since I was a little boy, and was truly humbled and grateful for the nomination alone. This was my first Dove nomination. I cannot express how thrilled I am to have won this award, not just for me, but for my Papaw. He has paved the way for so many including me. Having him on this album was special enough, but to now share a Dove Award with him takes it to another place. I want to thank everyone who played a part in making this happen. Most of all, I give all of the praise and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Without him, this would not have been possible.”
Every Mile includes a combination of Southern Gospel, Bluegrass and Country styles and features collaborations with a number of well-known artists from each genre, including his grandfather on “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” Vince Gill on “Hand in Hand With Jesus,” Jeff and Sheri Easter on “Heart That Will Never Break Again” and T Graham Brown on “Baptism of Jesse Taylor.”
Stanley expressed his gratitude to the artists for taking their time to work with him on the album. “I know it’s a gift for them to lend their time. I have my hands full as Band Leader for Papaw’s band, trying to direct the show and keep it rolling, taking care of as much of his stuff as I can and working on my own music as well, but it’s worth it. So I really appreciate the gift of their time in making this album.”
Of Brown, Stanley said, “He is just a wonderful guy. As nice as it gets. He is also an amazing vocalist, and stylist. I was really honored to have him work with me on the track.” Another favorite for Stanley on the album is the song “Lord, You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” Stanley said, “The words are so powerful. A lot of people will be able to relate to those words. Everyone has ups and downs in this life. Wes Hampton did this song with me, and he is a dear friend and one of the best singers around.” One song almost didn’t make the final cut, and has turned out to be one of the most meaningful and poignant songs for Stanley. “”You Can’t Make Old Friends” was very emotional to sing and to record, especially with my Papaw. It was also recorded recently by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, but bringing the Grandfather/Grandson point of view to the song makes it different, a different meaning,” he explained.
Stanley is proud of and grateful for his heritage and honored to have spent many of his 22 years touring with his grandfather, Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Cinch Mountain Boys, starting by playing the spoons to serving for the past seven years as band leader, rhythm guitarist and singing lead vocals for the group. He is quick to add, however, his desire to not ride the coattails of his legendary grandfather but to make his own place in music based on the gifts God has given him. His grandfather is proud of him as well. Dr. Ralph Stanley said of his grandson’s album Every Mile: “I’m very proud of my grandson Nathan. I think he is doing a wonderful job of building his own legacy in the music industry. If you like good gospel music, I highly recommend this new album. It’s a good one!”
“I started touring with my Papaw when I was two years old, one of the first times being on the Grand Ole Opry. I’ve stood beside him, watched what he did, and try to be the same but in my own way. I don’t want to be Ralph Stanley. I want to be Nathan Stanley,” he explained. “At a concert not too long ago, some folks came up to me and said they saw me on stage with my Papaw when I was 6 or 7 years old. They said I had become so tired that I ended up laying my head down on his boots and fell asleep, and Papaw just stood there so as not to disturb me and kept playing and singing. It’s really fun to run into people who have watched me grow up on the stage and share their memories with me.”
Despite his desire to be unique and himself, he knows he stands in a tall shadow. “You have to prove yourself when you have a name with such a legacy. There are some positives and there are some negatives, just like everything in life. I’m not competing but there will always be people who are comparing. But I’m so grateful for my heritage and I don’t take it lightly,” he explained.
Stanley has recorded and released seven solo albums including My Kind of Country, which in 2011 was voted “Classic Country Album of the Year” by the National Traditional Country Music Association. This project featured collaborations with Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Gene Watson, Rhonda Vincent, Marty Stuart, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jim Lauderdale and others. Two music videos were released from the album, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Long Black Veil”.
These artists have high praise for (Nathan) Stanley as well. T Graham Brown said, “Nathan’s version of ‘Hand in Hand with Jesus’ makes me want to tighten my grip. This is a standout cut and I know that he is making Dr. Ralph proud. I’m a Big Fan!” Gene Watson added, “Very seldom do you get to work with someone destined to become a Legend. So it was a great privilege for me to record with Nathan Stanley who is definitely on his way to becoming just that, A True Legend. Nathan has got the gift of music in his bones. At his young age, he’s already a super talented musician with a great sense of style and superb vocal talent.”
In addition to his responsibilities with Ralph Stanley and the Cinch Mountain Boys and his career as a solo artist, (Nathan) Stanley currently hosts his own television show The Nathan Stanley Ministry Show, which airs on Saturday nights on the Living Faith network. He has appeared on a number of television shows including Bill Gaither’s Bluegrass Homecoming and The Late Show with David Letterman.
| EVERY MILE TRACK LISTING: 1. Every Mile (feat Wes Hampton) 2. Baptism Of Jesse Taylor (feat T Graham Brown and Judy Marshall) 3. Heart That Will Never Break Again (feat Jeff and Sheri Easter) 4. I Know Jesus Will See Me Through (feat Sonya Isaacs Yeary and Becky Isaacs Bowman) 5. Let Me In Your Heart 6. Green Pastures (feat Jeff Bates and Judy Marshall) 7. Piece Of Clay 8. Where No One Stands Alone 9. Hand In Hand With Jesus (feat Vince Gill) 10. Where Will You Go 11. Would You Be Ready (feat Adam Crabb) 12. Lord You’re The Best Thing (feat Wes Hampton) 13. You Can’t Make Old Friends (feat Dr. Ralph Stanley) |
Album Review: Cheerleader’s “On Your Side”
By Andrew Kase
The sheer joy rising from the sound of Cheerleader‘s latest EP, On Your Side, is the epitome of fun. The four-track EP was officially released today and with its consistent blazoning of pop, audiences will soon discover their unapologetic sound to be as infectious as we did.
Title track, “On Your Side,” is nothing short of a crowd-pleaser. As the song begins, you may be fooled into thinking you’re in for a slower track until it changes its course and bursts into an energetic splash of pure indie pop. With their melodic bridge, and easy-flowing words, the song should start gaining traction for the group.
Cheerleader’s second track, “Perfect Vision,” is a bit lighter fare, taking you on a softer passage, but is also highlighted with some catchy hooks. By the time you’re half way through the EP, it’s obvious that the group knows how to instantly grab your attention.
The initial reaction to the Cheerleader’s third track, “Future Stars,” lies in the song’s first five words — “There’s a party this weekend…” — this lively debut unquestionably will cause listeners to want to jump up and down, proving the track’s title to be a prophetic nod to the success that lies ahead for these five young men. “Tomorrow Always Knows” is the last entry on their first EP and is another mix of uber-positive lyrics and consistent rhythm throughout.
While On Your Side is definitely reminiscent of more-seasoned acts such as Nada Surf or earlier releases from Neon Trees, Cheerleader also establishes their own identity and undoubtedly stands out as such. With their original sounds and genre-crossing appeal, they should see be seen as stars in the not too distant future.
Cheerleader hails from Philadelphia and is comprised of Joe Haller, Chris Duran, Paul Impellizeri, Josh Pannepacker and Carl Bahner. They’ve just begun first official tour to promote it On Your Side and will be making a stop at The Mercury Lounge in NYC on October 23, 2014.
http://www.cheerleadersounds.com
All the Right Reasons: An Interview with Joe Fletcher
Joe Fletcher and I decided to save our interview for post-AmericanaFest, so that we could extend our discussion to the next stop on his festival trails and delve into his 3rd (but 1st solo) album, You’ve Got the Wrong Man, just before its October 7th release.
We spoke mid-day Monday, while Joe was still in Southern California, subsequent to his performance at Way Over Yonder on Santa Monica pier. As a devoted attendee of Newport Folk Festival, but only a far-off admirer of their sister festival (Way Over Yonder), I was excited to hear how the weekend was spent. Joe reflected on the camaraderie and spirit backing all Newport Folk events, some performers that us East coast folks should be tapping into, and the prospect of embarking on next year’s ultimate cross-country adventure — Newport Folk Festival to Pickathon — back-to-back weekends, back-to-back fun.
In anticipation of his upcoming solo release, we interviewed Joe about everything from his 10 years as an English teacher, white lighter superstitions and word selection for his record title in attempt to avoid iTunes and Google search confusion, to carrying on the music and memory of David Lamb.
♦
Lauren Jahoda: Hey Joe! I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.
Joe Fletcher: No! I was just in a thrift store…one of my weaknesses.
Me too (laughs).
(laughs) And I’m in a rental car and I don’t have a lot of CDs with me, so I was just stocking up on some music for the rest of my trip.
Cool! Did you get anything good?
I got some old favorites — a Jim Croche Greatest Hits CD that my dad always used to play, I got PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love, which is one of my favorite records…these are sadly all CDs that I have at home, I think every one of them, but they we’re really cheap so…I got Achtung Baby by U2, which really brings me back to my senior year in high school and there’s one more…Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints — this is a real trip back to my high school years. A mid-life crisis or something (laughs).
That’s awesome. Where are you headed?
I just got on the highway in San Diego and I’m going back to Los Angeles. I spent a few days already. I flew into Los Angeles, I was there Tuesday and Wednesday. and went to Joshua Tree to play. Where are you located?
In New York, on Long Island.
I saw that you were at AmericanaFest. Did you have fun down there?
Oh yeah! How about you?
Yeah, I sure did. That’s where I live, so it’s pretty awesome when something like that comes to your town, especially when you get to be a part of it.
Yeah. It was actually my very first time in Nashville.
Did you leave with a positive impression?
Definitely. I can’t wait to go back. I could see myself living there. Everywhere you turn there’s someone who can help you in some way. Everyone is connected through music.
Yeah. I noticed that. I visited it for years and I toured there a lot, 6 or 7 years before moving there and I caught the bug early. I wanted to move there for a long time. I just moved there a year ago, actually on October 1st, it will be exactly a year that I’ve been living in Nashville.
That’s great. Are you happy that you made that move?
Oh yeah. I’m on the road 6 or 7 months of the year, so it’s amazing to me that it’s been a year. I’m really happy with it.
Do you live outside Nashville?
I live in East Nashville. I don’t know if you made it over there while you were there.
We did. We went to the Groove a couple of times.
Oh yeah. I’m about 3 miles from there. Tucked away in a little neighborhood.
I interviewed Jonah Tolchin in East Nashville. You probably know Jonah, since you both come from the Rhode Island music scene.
Yeah, we had a breakfast the following Monday!
Jonah had a lot of wonderful things to say about you. He’s such a great person.
He is. Very warm and open.
Yes. You performed at Way Over Yonder this weekend — how was it?
It was actually fantastic — not that I expected otherwise — but I didn’t really know what to expect. Newport Folk is involved and I’ve been involved with Newport Folk for 3 years now and I had a feeling it would be a pretty top-notch operation. It was just really cool. I couldn’t really picture the scene, the way it was — it’s actually on the pier. It takes place actually on the wooden boards of the pier. The audience, the stage, the backstage…everything. And there’s one main stage, that Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams and Chris Robinson played on. Then there’s the Carousel Stage for the smaller acts. Just two stages. The stage is literally in the carousel. The horses are right there in front of you.
Wow, that is certainly unique. Did you feel that Newport spirit there, despite it being so far away?
It is very, very different than Newport, but the one similarity that I noticed was just the vibe among the musicians, ya know, friends reuniting and just meeting a lot of new people. I saw a lot of cool bands. A lot of the bands that I had not heard of were from California or more specifically the Los Angeles area. Just bands I wasn’t aware of before. The Far West — who I actually saw, they played in Nashville the Sunday before AmericanaFest — my friend JP Harris threw a record release party in East Nashville and they were on the bill. They were out touring, so I saw them and their name looked familiar to me but I couldn’t figure out why. I eventually figured out that it was because I kept seeing it on the Way Over Yonder poster too. They blew me away in Nashville and they blew me away again at Way Over Yonder. It was nice getting to spend time with a group of musicians who you like their work. I felt the same with a girl who I didn’t know before, her name is Leslie Stevens. We had a lot of mutual friends who put us in touch in advance and she came up on Friday and sang a song with me and I sang a John Prine song with her during her set on Saturday. So I just made a lot of friends in a short period of time. I was able to connect with people. It was just a pleasant atmosphere surrounding any event that Newport puts together. There’s no real ego among the artists and everyone’s just kind of in it together. Whether you’re in Newport or on Santa Monica pier, you’re in an idyllic location and it’s just hard to be in a bad mood.
I can understand that completely. Way Over Yonder is a lot smaller than some of the festivals you might be used to playing.
Yeah it is. Newport Folk is only about 10,000 people a day, which usually blows the minds of people who have never been there before. Because it has such a name and such a history, people think of it as being bigger. It’s just not, and I think that’s one of the reasons it’s still around. They could try to move it to a different place…I mean they sell out every year before the line-up is announced, these last few years…so they could obviously sell more tickets, obviously they could make more money, but the history and the location is really important to them and I really admire anything these days in the music industry that isn’t based upon the financial bottom line. It’s rare.
I feel the same way. It’s that commitment — to the history, to the location, to the fans and musicians — that brings me there every year. I went to Pickathon Music Festival over the summer for the first time…
Oh yeah…that’s my girlfriend’s favorite festival. She wasn’t there this year, but she’s been there the past few.
I can’t imagine not going back every year for the rest of my life. It’s that good.
Yeah, it was killing her to miss it. She had been at Newport Folk the weekend before and she couldn’t make it. She works for a company called Live & Breathing. They do really top-notch, high quality video sessions usually in really cool locations. They go to Pickathon every year and they have an area called the Pumphouse where they set up shop.
Oh I know it well (laughs). What’s really incredible about Pickathon, that a lot of people don’t know, is that they cap the festival at around 3,500 people.
Wow, I gotta make it out there. Hopefully I’ll be playing next year.
Yeah I hope so too! I know that Newport is the weekend before and that makes things tough. I actually met Jay Sweet while I was at AmericanaFest and this was the first summer I couldn’t go to Newport because I arrived early for Pickathon and I was worried that he was going to ask me if I was there this year because it was the first weekend in a long time that I wasn’t. And of course he did ask, and I said no because I was at Pickathon (laughs). And he said honestly if you said any word other than Pickathon, I would have yelled at you (laughs). For those who know about it, there’s a lot of respect for Pickathon.
When is it?
They are back-to-back weekends. Newport is the last weekend in July and Pickathon is the first weekend in August. My goal is to get both done this year somehow.
Yeah, yeah. It’ll be worth it.
You weren’t born and raised in Rhode Island, but you did live there for a long period of time, correct?
Yeah, most of my life. I was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Rhode Island right before kindergarten. It’s kind of a long story but I moved around a lot when I was in elementary school, but from 5th grade ’til about a year ago, I lived in Rhode Island, except for one year while in college. But yeah, basically not born but certainly raised in Rhode Island.
Nathaniel Rateliff, who I interviewed during AmericanaFest and who was also at Way Over Yonder, is originally from Missouri.
Leslie Stevens is from St. Louis, Missouri too. It’s nice to see these Missouri kids making good.
It certainly is! Small world. I also read that you were an English teacher — is that true?
That is absolutely true. I was a teacher for 10 years.
When did you start teaching?
I started in 2001 and I left after the school year that ended in 2011.
Pretty recently then.
Yeah, three years ago. I was playing music and touring…I played music all year round but I would tour over summer vacation, February vacation and April vacation. It was a really good job for trying to launch a touring lifestyle because of the amount of time off was really conducive to getting out and losing money. You had a job and you didn’t really have to worry too much about making money. Once I figured out how I could make money, then I had to let it go. But it was a really wonderful experience. It definitely shaped who I am in a number of ways. Definitely a very valuable experience. I’m glad I did it.
What ages were you teaching?
I started out the first couple of years in middle school and pretty much went on to teaching high school. It was a charter school k-12 campus, so there was some flexibility straddling middle school, but then I think the second to last year I had high school classes, except for one 8th grade class, that I did as a favor (laughs).
I actually went to school for teaching English, grades 7-12, and received my certification.
Oh yeah?
Yeah. I remember reading that you said you taught your students about Robert Johnson and some others.
The school let me invest in an American roots music elective, it was separate from my English classes, but for 3 or 4 years I taught this elective and was able to propose things that were my genuine interest. I had a good audience of musicians and music fans, who wanted to know where the music was coming from. I had a really wonderful experience with that class. We put on a concert at the end of every year and by the time we got to the end of the year and you had kids arguing over who was going to the Johnny Cash song or the Robert Johnson, that’s when you knew…kids were walking away with an expanded musical mind. I think it’s important to have a frame of reference. There are so many things these days…the White Stripes are a perfect example because of a lot of the kids in the class were fans of that band and so much is drawn from early country blues and roots musicians, there are a lot of references. It’s important to know where that stuff comes from.
Yeah. I also read that with the new album, you had asked your booking manager to book your tour throughout Alabama and that is what ultimately inspired You’ve Got the Wrong Man.
Yeah, that was a tour I did right after I left teaching, in the fall of 2011. The previous album was already out, so I was touring on behalf of White Lighter at the time, but I happened to be out on this solo trip and yeah, I had asked the guy who was booking me at the time because I’m really interested in the traditional American styles and I’m a big Civil War buff. At that point in my career, there were only a handful of places that people were asking me to come to so I’d go where I’d want to go and set up a tour around the historical sights I wanted to see. Now it’s a little more complicated because you have to hit this city and that city, but I still do a lot of stuff during the day, in between shows. I get up early and go to museums, Civil War battlefields, especially if I’m out on the road alone. That’s one of the reasons I like touring solo.
There are a lot of references to Alabama. The Hank Williams Museum, which I visited for the first time. It was a really moving experience. Florence, Alab. was just something I kind of began imagining while I was down there. Florence, Alab. is not mentioned in the song but it’s the title of the song. Something about that trip was a turning point in my life. I had two weeks worth of shows in Alabama and that was my first trip totally alone. That trip was actually supposed to be a duo tour but the guy coming with me quit the band the day before we were leaving. I had never been on a long two-week trip on my own before. Ya know…am I going to be able to do all this driving? What if something happens? What if I get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere? I just thought of all the things that could happen. But what actually happened is that it was one of the best experiences of my life. Ya know, him quitting the band, although very upsetting at the time, it was probably the greatest gift he could have given me. It put me out of my comfort zone — something I was afraid of, but now something that I cherish.
Yeah, leaving your comfort zone is almost always necessary and traveling alone is an extremely rewarding experience.
I love it. I’m out in California and I’m out here another week by myself and then my girlfriend is flying out. That’ll be fun too, but being alone is a beautiful way to see the country because you don’t have anyone else to talk to. I’m a bit of a shy person by nature but when your in a club in San Diego, which is a town I hadn’t been to before, it kind of forces you to connect with people and meet with people. If you were traveling with the band, you kind of talk to the people you know, even if you don’t like them so much (laughs). Not that I don’t like my band (laughs)…you just tend to gravitate towards what’s comfortable. I was talking about that with a guy who was in the band I was playing with last night because he was asking me about traveling alone and I said I probably wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation if I had three guys with me.
Yeah, that’s so true. I’ve traveled alone before and it’s so amazing because you take advantage of all that is around you. You just absorb every opportunity because you can and because you should and because you’re alone.
Yeah. It’s a good thing. You learn a lot about yourself and what you’re capable of…how far you can drive in a day (laughs). Farther than you probably think.
I realized that the titles of your records aren’t named after songs within them — where do your titles come from?
I did actually write a title track for White Lighter that came out after the album came out. So there is a song called “White Lighter,” it’s just not on White Lighter. It’s not on any record. The reason I called it “White Lighter” is because I grew up in an area where a white lighter was considered very, very, very bad luck and a lot of people know that and a lot of people don’t. It seems to vary by region. Some places know it and some have no idea what that refers to. I just like the sound of it as well and I read a little more about it and it has a lot of connotations from the witch world, which I’m not into in any way, shape or form, but a good witch is a white lighter and I just thought it was an interesting pairing of words and it meant a lot to me from being a college student. I know it’s something that signified bad luck.
Yeah me too. I remember everyone refused to use white lighters.
Yeah, I would be at parties and if they asked you for a light and you pulled a white lighter out of your pocket, they’d take it and throw it off the deck and into the woods…just like get that out of my house, what were you thinking bringing that in here…don’t you know?
Yeah. It’s really interesting.
Originally when I was writing for the record, there was a song called “You’ve Got the Wrong Man” that kind of fell by the wayside. I knew it was going to be a solo record. My band is Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons, so one of the reasons was that my first record came out under the name “Wrong Reasons,” my second record came out under “Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons” and this being the solo record, I had no choice but to call it “Joe Fletcher,” so technically if you’re looking on iTunes, it’s a nightmare because it’s three separate bands. It sucks. I’ve tried like hell to get them to fix it but it’s like trying to walk to Oz. The kingdom is impenetrable (laughs). So I was playing with titles that had either “wrong” or “reason” in the title so that people might see and be like oh that is the same guy…that’s funny I know Joe Fletcher, that’s Joe Fletcher from Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons. So I figured if it had one of those words in the title, it might help. It’ll probably help in a Google search too. “You’ve Got the Wrong Man” is a song that I nearly finished that I abandoned a year ago that I really liked at the time but it’s part of my process to sit with it for awhile — to get really excited and then the next day, week, month or year later, I see the flaws in it and I disappear it (laughs). I liked that title and I felt it fit the record. It was going to be that or Just One Reason and I think I made the right choice.
And if you had named it Just One Reason, you would have “Reason” to link to “The Wrong Reasons.”
Yeah, exactly. And instead of the Wrong Reasons, it was a solo record so that’s “just one reason.” Yeah. It started to feel a little bit corny to me, but I still like this one.
(laughs)
The track “Oceanside Motel” — is that one of the songs you recorded in a motel?
I recorded a lot of songs in hotels, but none of those actually made it onto the record. I recorded in a lot of places but only 3 of those locations are actually represented on what I ended up keeping for the record. I was traveling around and touring when I was making this record and I had a very mobile recording unit, it only takes about a half hour to set up, but then you have to play with it to see how the room reacts to the microphone, ya know. So it’s not the kind of thing you want to do every night after a show because it’s a little involved just to get the right sound. If I was going to be in a hotel for a couple of days, if I had some off days, I’d get a room for a few days and record something. I did that a handful of times, but I ended up keeping stuff I recorded in my old apartment in Rhode Island before the move and then in the meantime, I spent a lot of times at this property outside of Athens, Georgia and that’s where the bulk of it was recorded. This old farmhouse from the mid to late 1880s…right after the Civil War…1867, 1870…somewhere around there. And then the last 3 or 4 songs were done in my new house in Nashville. Any song that has guests on it was recorded there. I recorded everything alone up until then. We just threw a party and before things got too out of hand, we moved everybody into a couple of rooms and arranged them by the loudness of their voice. It was all recorded by just two microphones. Everything on the record is live…playing and singing at the same time. It’s just supposed to be sitting in a room, listening to me play by myself.
What kind of equipment did you use to record?
I have a relatively new, nice tube microphone that is the main mic and then I have one other condenser mic set up and an old, I don’t know what year it was made…probably the late 80s…a Tascam 4-track cassette unit, it just takes regular cassettes. It can layer up to four things and you can do it any number of ways. When I was in college, a lot of people had these and then that was all replaced by digital. But on most machines, you can record on all tracks at the same time, if necessary. I think there’s something to be said for working within limitations and deciding what the important things are. What are these four tracks going to be? For this record I only used two tracks. I just played the songs into the two mics and those mics were in different places in the room. And those difference places I recorded were as important as the equipment, they are as much a part of the sound as the equipment. When you really listen to it, you’ll hear the sound of the songs change. So sometimes my voice sounds far away, there’s a lot of reverb on it but no effects, it’s just the placement of the mic in the room. For instance, in the house in Georgia, there’s a room with a really high ceiling where if you clap your hands it echoes for a few seconds.
I can tell, almost every song sounds a little different.
The only two songs recorded under the exact same circumstance were the two with the background vocalist because we recorded those back-to-back. The place in Georgia was just a wealth of possibilities. You could be in the double parlor or in a secret stairwell or in a closet. I just had the most fun moving it around. I recorded a lot of songs under a lot of different circumstances — just trying to see what fit the mood for the song. It was a lot more involved than it sounds, when you say “I recorded my new album on a four-track.” A lot went into it. It was a hell of a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
I have to talk to you about the song “Mabel Grey” for a number of reasons — I want to talk about you covering Brown Bird’s song but before I do, I want to address the lyric: “We landed our ship in Malta…” I’m Maltese and I couldn’t believe it when I heard it because many people have never even heard of Malta before or just know very little about it. Is David Lamb the original writer of that song?
He is. He actually co-wrote it with another friend of mine.
Do you know the background of that song?
I do know it was an actual ship. From what I’ve read about the ship, it does not sound as though the song was written about that particular story. It was a shipwreck. It was kind of a well-documented shipwreck. I haven’t read anything about it in a long time. I was covering that song, beginning when Brown Bird stopped being able to play live, when Dave was basically going through treatment and then recovering and I had decided that way before the situation changed that I was going to put it on the record. Dave heard that version of it but I wish now that I would have asked him more about the song. I mean I loved it, I heard him play it for years but I never really inquired any more deeply, but he had a great imagination. He was very interested in sea stories, just like I am and he worked in a shipyard until he stopped working fully to concentrate on the band. I have a feeling, if I had to guess…I could ask MorganEve about it, she would probably know. I still close my shows with that song every night…for awhile now. I just can’t see not doing that any time soon. He had the opportunity to hear me play it and hear the recording that is on the record — that was done in February of last year and I had already asked his permission to put it on the record, but he didn’t know I was going to have all the guests on it, so I sent him the recording as soon as I could. It was a lot of our mutual friends who showed up to sing on the song. It was a strange turn of events because I started it as a tribute to keep their name out there when they couldn’t be on the road and then the situation obviously changed for the worse.
What is it like playing that song in his memory?
It’s different every single night. I try to make it very much a sing-a-long, with the chanting parts at the end. I show everyone how to do that and then I switch to sing Dave’s part and so while the crowd is doing the la-dee-dahs behind me, it’s a flood of ya know, different emotions and mental pictures…never the same but sometimes it chokes me up pretty bad and other times it makes me smile. It’s kind of about where you’re at and what the situation is, but the one thing I can say is that it is different every day.
What made you choose “Mabel Grey”?
I like crowd participation. I’ve seen Brown Bird a lot and I like how they always got the crowd going and Dave closed with it a lot. There are many songs I love and I’m definitely going to introduce more of them in my sets but that one is just…I can’t think of one that you can get the participation on. Especially when I am out playing alone. People don’t always get excited seeing a guy take a guitar out of a guitar case and I try to debunk a lot of the stereotypes of the sad man with the acoustic guitar.
That’s my favorite kind of musician, by the way (laughs).
(laughs)
Since the first two albums were recorded with your band and this one is solo, what is that like? Do you think you will continue solo for the next album?
No. I have a lot of songs for the next record and it’s definitely going to be a band affair. Undoubtedly.
♦
You’ve Got the Wrong Man comes out on Tuesday 10/7/14. In the meantime, you can stream it here.
You can pre-order the album from iTunes and it’ll also be available via Amazon, Google Play, etc. on Tuesday! Find out more information at www.joefletchermusic.com!
Be Here Now: An Interview with Jonah Tolchin
Since discovering and writing about Jonah Tolchin‘s Clover Lane in early July we’ve stayed in touch and agreed to schedule an interview when our schedules would permit. It had been quite some time since our first contact and upon realizing that we both would be attending AmericanaFest mid-September, Nashville was the obvious choice for where we would finally meet.
After Joe Purdy’s spellbinding set at the Mercy Lounge (see the pre-show interview below), the Heartsrings crew and I crossed 8th Ave. and headed over to Jonah’s 9 PM showcase at Third Man Records–Jack White’s extraordinary studio. We had been there the night before, as witness to amazing back-to-back sets by Frank Fairfield and Gregory Alan Isakov. Frank captivated the audience — a capacity crowd which included Gregory Alan’s fiddle player, Jeb, and Bob Boilen — founder of NPR’s All Songs Considered. It was the third time I’d seen Gregory Alan play in an 8-week period, and his performance, once again, simply astounded and enthralled. We were also fortunate to meet with Gregory and his band after the show (see Gregory Alan’s earlier interview below). For those of you who don’t know, Third Man Records is the location where Neil Young recorded A Letter Home, on Jack White’s 1947 Voice-O-Graph — the only one available to the public in the world (find out more on KEXP’s exclusive interview with Jack White here). Give Jack a call. You can record on it too, if you like. The elephant-head taxidermy which the American Pickers found for Jack (I watched that episode when it first aired), was hanging on the wall to the right of the bar, just in front of the elevated control room. Third Man is a special place indeed.
Tonight, as I mentioned, we were here to see Jonah Tolchin and his band. As they took the stage, (even before the very first note hit the air), we already knew that they were worthy to be counted among those who can say they have performed upon these hallowed grounds. One of my traveling companions, singer-songwriter, Bill Scorzari, commented on the ability of Jonah’s phenomenal guitarist, Danny, to seemingly effortlessly evoke the legendary Derek Trucks and even at times appear to channel Master, Duane Allman himself (yeah…Danny’s that good). It was also clear, from drummer Michael’s performance, how Michael’s formerly “temporary” position with the band (as a “sit in” for a prior performance) instantly became a permanent position. As for Jonah…well, 100 percent pure emotion exuded from every single pore of his body. In fact, I think I might have actually witnessed a split-second moment when just one single pore tried to catch it’s breath, only to have Jonah instantaneously identify and coax it back into service. The trio is a fascinatingly well-oiled machine. The absence of a bass player–a fourth-man (see what I did there?)–was only visual, not sonic. The additional instrument was unnecessary, as Jonah, Danny and Michael had it all covered somehow. This night was clearly made for Jonah Tolchin and his band, and it was as magical and profound as it gets.
That Friday night’s show was followed by a mid-day performance on Saturday during Americanarama in the courtyard outside Grimey’s/The Basement.The sun was at its peak, but Jonah and his band played as sensationally in the open air as they had the night before, inside Third Man’s blue-lit, cool-aired studio.
We spoke with Jonah after the Grimey’s show and walked with Danny to get some of that greenish kiwi lemonade from the “Mas Tacos” truck– a staple vendor that provided mobile sustenance throughout AmericanaFest (especially at The Groove the day before–where we had mucho Mas Tacos). Before leaving Grimey’s, Jonah suggested we reconvene outside The Wild Cow, a delicious vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free restaurant in East Nashville. We met Jonah, Danny, Michael and Blue (Jonah’s wife) there, and laughed about the weird looking Mexican restaurant across the street, with the sign outside that read: “No one loves Kanye as much as Kanye loves Kanye.” We walked to a quiet grassy area near a large rock pile and sat, comfortably getting to know each other better–which I found to be incredibly easy and pleasant, surrounded by this most inviting group of kind and genuine friends. Oh, and they were really funny too.
♦
Lauren Jahoda: Jonah, where are you from in New Jersey?
Jonah Tolchin: I grew up in Princeton, NJ.
LJ: That’s where you had your Clover Lane release party — how was it?
JT: Yeah. It was a lot of fun, like the dentist was there and my parents. The mailman, the mail woman actually (laughs). It was really nice. We’ve been on tour with Black Prairie and they just did…it wasn’t quite a CD release, but it was a show in Chris Funks’ hometown in Indiana. It was like the same thing, so it was cool. I like that home vibe.
Michael: And they’re great people. They’re super friendly. Nate, their bass player, has been sitting in with us and he’s amazing. They played last night. Same time as us.
LJ: I know it took 3-5 years to create Clover Lane. How do you write songs? Do you collaborate or is it more of a solitary act?
JT: Yeah. I would even say that writing Clover Lane was sort of a life-long process for me. There were ideas that I had many years before I recorded it that I sort of put together. And for me, songwriting until pretty recently has been a solitary thing. I like to go into a room where it’s quiet and it doesn’t really matter where it is and usually what will happen is I’ll get a feeling. A song for me is a feeling and that’s why I listen to music. It’s all about feeling. it’s all about emotions. What I’ll try to do is capture that feeling as best as I can through music and words. That’s the most important thing to me — the feeling. I wouldn’t consider myself a great lyricist by any means, but I strive to be good at capturing feelings and it’s definitely a learning process.
LJ: That definitely comes across when listening to your music — that feeling transfers to your listener effortlessly. Although it took a long time to create and release Clover Lane, I also read that you recorded it in just 4 days.
JT: (laughs) Yeah.
LJ: I can relate to that in some way, to finish my Master’s degree, I was required to write a thesis…
JT: Congratulations! That’s a lot of work!
LJ: Thanks! The process was very similar — I spent 6 months researching, reading book after book after book, but when it was time to write the paper it took about a week. It’s a strange feeling committing to something so wholeheartedly and for so long, and then to release all of that energy in such a short amount of time. What was that process is like for you?
JT: Yeah. It’s hard to describe. I mean, it’s the same thing when you’re ordering dinner at a restaurant and you’re waiting around and then your food comes and it’s gone in about 12 seconds (laughs).
LJ: That’s probably the best comparison I’ve heard yet.
Michael: …Especially at Wild Cow down here in Nashville (laughs).
JT: For me, it was a strange process because I actually finished a lot of the songs right before. Literally the week before, I got some of the songs ready and we went and recorded it in only 4 days. A few months later, the record got picked up and then there was this waiting period of about a year and a half. So since then, I’ve actually written a whole other record that’s about ready to go. But it’s interesting trying to keep these songs fresh while on the road because these songs have been on my mind and been played on the road for a few years now. Last night I played some newer songs and we’re just really feeling those right now because they’re new. Everything always changes. As people say, the only constant is change so we try to keep playing these songs that we’ve been playing for 4 or 5 years, whatever it is, and it gets kind of old after awhile, ya know. And you want to stay fresh.
LJ: I know the meaning behind Clover Lane is really strong, with the connection to and story of your parents’ home on Clover Lane — what is guiding you in terms of the new record?
JT: Yeah. About a year or so ago I thought of an idea to write and record an album that was based around the book Siddhartha and so there was about a year of time that passed and I didn’t do anything on it. I read the book and sometimes I’d think about it but not really. And then one day, this inspiration just struck and again, I wrote all the songs in a few days, all the songs, and now it’s just ready to go.
LJ: What’s your plan for the new album? Do you have a time frame in mind, in terms of release?
JT: As far as the release, I can’t really say. But for recording, I hope to record this December. Maybe in a church in Western Mass.
LJ: You have a place in mind?
JT: Yeah. There’s a studio that I’m going to check out at the end of the month and we’ll see. Hopefully, it’ll be the spot.
LJ: That’s awesome. Bill (Scorzari), who I manage, talked about recording some songs in this church that was built in East Orange, New Jersey in 1868. He’s building a studio in New York and for seating he bought some antique pews that the church had removed, and it sort of inspired this idea of recording there.
LJ: I know that your spirituality is a big part of who you all are, and everything you do.
JT: I guess the way I think about it is that it’s all there is. For me spirituality is reality and I’ve grown a lot as a person from being around Danny, who has his own path as well, and I’ve been really lucky that our paths have become one in some ways. Same with Blue. I’ve learned so many things from being with Blue because she’s very connected to what’s going on. I consider spiritually to be reality in the deepest sense of that word. Ya know, being here, right now, which we never are, ya know what I mean? And it’s been amazing because Michael’s been on the road with us and because, until recently, we’ve been playing with other musicians who aren’t. They’re not as focused or centered on who they are and they struggle, but with Michael, and from my experience, he’s just going, and he’s always here and now. And to be in the car with all these people who are just going and trying to live a healthy life and a conscious life, really is inspiring. It makes it a lot easier to be healthy and conscious. Ya know? Because if you have one negative polarity in the car or on the stage, it can bring down the whole ship. So it feels really good to be traveling with these guys and spending time together.
LJ: Yeah. You guys seem pretty lucky to have found each other. You really are so nice. It’s as simple as that.
JT: (laughs) You guys are as well.
(laughs)
LJ: I read somewhere that you’re a big fan of Game of Thrones. Are you all GOT-obsessed?
Band: (laughs) Yeah! (laughs)
Michael: Not me (laughs)
Danny: We’re getting him ready for Season 5.
JT: We gotta prep him (laughs). Well the three of us are living in a house in Bar Harbor, Maine, so when it came out every Sunday, we’d all watch it.
LJ: I do the same thing. How about True Detective?
JT: Ohhh yeah. True Detective.
Danny: What’s funny is everyone in the house would be like “Oh my god! It’s 9:30. Let’s go watch Game of Thrones!!”
LJ: It’s a bonding experience!
Danny: Oh yeah! And sometimes we’d be like WTF! Because we get so into it.
(laughs)
LJ: When I wrote about you a few months ago, you made a lot of effort to spread the article around to your friends and on your Facebook. Thank you for that. It’s nice that you give back to those who are writing about you.
JT: You’re welcome. Thanks for writing it. I definitely do my best to always do it. I guess these days with social media it’s kind of complicated. Say you get Three pieces of press that come out the same week or even the same day and you post them all that day, sometimes people will be like you’re talking about yourself too much, on your own facebook page. So sometimes you have to stagger things so I’ve been learning about the best way to do that. But yeah. Of course, I love to support people that support me. Ya know, we’re all in this together and doing it for the same reasons.
LJ: How did you end up in Rhode Island? Were each of you there as well?
Blue: Yes, after we graduated…I’m from Rhode Island…and after we graduated, we started living together so we moved there for a bit. We traveled a lot the first year after high school but yeah, that was our base for awhile and we just started doing open mics. The thing about Rhode Island that we always say that because it’s so small, there’s only one degree of separation, so anyone you see in Rhode Island, you know someone the same. So as far as stating out there, it was great because we were one person away from anyone in the state that we needed to know.
LJ: Michael, you hadn’t joined at that point yet right?
Michael: Not yet. We were playing some of the same places, but I was with a different artist at the time, so it all really came together this summer.
LJ: Can you tell me about some of your first monumental experiences in Rhode Island, either meeting someone or playing somewhere?
JT: Yeah. I think one of the coolest things that happened was we went to the Low Anthem CD release concert of Smart Flesh…I think it was the first time we saw Brown Bird…that was so incredibly inspiring. And we got to see the Low Anthem play..that was just ridiculous. That was definitely in the top 5 I would say. Then going to Newport Folk Festival was obviously pretty big for me, to be able to spend time there. And I just did a lot of open mics in the beginning. I just tried to play one every day, all the time. I did a lot of open mics (laughs). The way that I work is that I have hyper ADD about some things sometimes but if I just put my focus on one thing, I’ll just go and that’s all I’ll do. So when I decided I wanted to play music as a career, that’s all that I thought about and that’s all that I did and I found a healthier balance now, that the ball has started rolling down the hill. What I feel like is that I pushed this ball up the hill and now the work is all starting to pay off and I can relax a little bit.
LJ: Yeah. Everyone has their different moments of when they realize and decide to fully commit to that career. you figured out at a very young age that this is what you wanted to do, right?
JT: Yeah. Danny and I were in a band together at our high school. He was a senior and I was a freshman. So that was a really powerful experience for me, to be a part of something like that and to just be playing music a lot with friends. And I think it was after that probably that I got this passion and felt this confidence because you know as a freshman and coming into high school and being taken under the wing of a senior, is a pretty big deal, at the time. So that was really cool. It was a confidence boost thing. So I was getting all these signs about it and I decided to blow off school and play more music and not take the SATs and knew that I was going to do this. There was never a question. It was almost subconscious in some ways, like I never had anxiety about it or anything like that. I was just like, oh yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.
LJ: Danny, what was it that brought you to Jonah? Or did he find you?
JT: I think I bothered him quite a bit (laughs).
Danny: Yeah (laughs). It was really funny. So the year before Jonah came on a Sunday to the school to visit the school, to stay a night or two in the dorms and I had just got back from my parents house over the weekend and I was in my dorm room playing my guitar and my friend Tyler walks in and is like “Oh there’s this prospect student coming and he’s a guitar player.” So Jonah comes in and I think, I don’t know if he asked me if he could play my guitar or if Tyler told him he could play it, but I guess I gave it to him, but I really didn’t want to. I was thinking “Get out of my room you little twirper” (laughs). But um, then he played and I was like, cool…
LJ: …Alright maybe we’ll keep him around (laughs).
Danny: (laughs) Yeah, and in September, when school came around, for the first two weeks, Jonah would knock on my dorm room, because I would play guitar after school every day, and Jonah would knock on my door and say “Can I jam?” (laughs). For the first week or two, I didn’t really know what to think of it, but something happened where one afternoon i was playing and Jonah was in the library pretty far away on the whole other side of the campus and somehow he just knew I was playing and ran over and that’s when stuff started cooking. i mean, Jonah and i in high school both had an affinity for blues music from our dads and that’s a rare bond that you don’t find, especially when you’re a young teenager.
LJ: Yes. At that age, it is unique. As a young teenager, I wasn’t listening to this stuff yet.
Danny: The thing is, Jonah used to be, and always is like… he’ll surpass or get interested in something so much and then share those interests with everyone around him, at least in music. It becomes a collaboration of music styles, I guess.
LJ: A favorite question of mine comes from photographer/blogger/creator of Humans of New York: If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?
Danny: Whatever you believe is your reality.
Michael: Remind yourself that your perspective isn’t the only perspective. If you can stay mindful of that it can help you out in a lot of situations.
JT: I just have so many things. They’re really all the same thing. I feel like there are so many people in the world that are trying to change the world. They’re trying to solve people’s problems and do all these external things to try to make the world a better place, but from my perspective, the only way to do that is by changing yourself, focusing on your own reality, your own mind, your own body. It’s all about interconnection, this universal mind, this universal consciousness. The only way we can really understand that is by meditating on that and caring about each other, but the only way you can do that is by caring about yourself. I think there are so many people who have this self-loathing and so many problems, and they don’t focus the lens inwards–that’s really the beginning of changing the world, by everyone changing yourself.
LJ: You can’t work on others until you work on yourself.
JT: You really just have to be the change you want to see.
Bill Scorzari: Yeah. I agree with that, and would add a lyric from one of my songs: Nothing can outlast patience and time.
LJ: Well, I can’t thank you guys enough. I want to hang out all night.
JT: Yeah, we’re around! (laughs) We’re going to Joe Fletcher’s show tonight at midnight.
LJ: I plan to be there too. I’m so glad I got to connect with you all.
JT: Likewise.
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Just before we parted ways, I noticed the tattoo on the inside of Jonah’s forearm. I asked Jonah about it and he explained:
“This is an idea that came to me, well, the triangle and the heart and the infinity sign just popped into my consciousness one day when I was sitting at a picnic table in New Hampshire, and then Blue sort of drew it all out for me because I’m terrible at drawing, and she made a cohesive piece and added the three triangles. The words are a reminder that I need to “BE HERE NOW.” It’s all I really need to remember…What’s that fucked up movie, is it Memento?…I kind of feel that way about being present.”
“The words are from the book title “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass…Of course these are just three very simple words that no one man has ownership over.” – Jonah Tolchin
Photo Courtesy: Jonah Tolchin
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Don’t miss Jonah Tolchin and Mandolin Orange at the Mercury Lounge in NYC this Thursday (Oct. 2)! Get your tickets here.
HEARTSTRINGS MAGAZINE 