Artist: Nathan Bell
Hometown: Signal Mountain, TN
Latest Album: I Don't Do This tor Love, I Do This For Love (Working and Hanging On in America)
Personal Nicknames: I’ve never had a nickname and it’s uncool to give yourself one (just ask Kobe Bryant), but if I could have one, I’d like it to be “Wolverine.”
Your house is burning down and you can grab only one thing — what would you save?
I have a signed copy of a book of short stories by Rick Bass that my wife gave me when we were first together, so I’d take that. And my wife, of course. And our kids. And three dogs.
If you weren't a musician, what would you be?
A Major League Baseball mascot.
If a song started playing every time you entered the room, what would you want it to be?
“Atomic Dog” by George Clinton. Or, if I’m in a thoughtful mood, “It Never Entered My Mind” by Miles Davis. If somebody just died, Ralph Stanley singing “Rank Stranger.” Maybe always “Rank Stranger.”
What is the one thing you can’t survive without on tour?
The default answer is my guitar. But if you are allowing the guitar to exist separate of this question, my return ticket home. I’m a reluctant gypsy. I love to play solo live shows, but I’m a family man, and when they aren’t around, I need to know I’ll be going home eventually.
If you were a car, what car would you be?
A battered 1997 Ford F-150, with 4×4 and an 8-Cylinder engine. I’m not so fast anymore, but I get stuff done. I don’t need any girls dancing in the bed, which is full of junk as we speak.
Who is your favorite superhero?
Silver Surfer — because he’s a complete fucking loner.
Vinyl or digital?
Stone tablet. That way I could have liner notes and the proof that somebody worked hard to create something. But I love recording digital. Good microphones are all you really need.
Dylan or Townes?
Terry Allen. The greatest songwriter/sculptor to walk the earth. He’s unbought and unbowed, just doing his thing, perfectly.
Summer or winter?
Winter. Although, just to be contrary, I prefer Fall. Things dying, things sleeping, everything waiting to start over. The season that looks the least hopeful, like me, but, also like me, is optimistic that life goes on.
Photo Credit: Richard Duby
