Tag: 5+5

BGS 5+5: Riley Downing

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Artist: Riley Downing
Hometown: Kansas City, MO
Latest album: Start It Over

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

It is hard to pick just one artist that has influenced me the most. I am a fan of all kinds of music and genres as well as underdog musicians, current and long since lost in time. It might sound cliché, but if I had to pick one who influenced me the most it’s gonna be Woody Guthrie. If it weren’t for finding Woody Guthrie in high school, I never would have started to appreciate folk, blues, and roots music that made me think the same way that punk rock did at the time. I also never would have ventured out to Okemah, Oklahoma for the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival when I was 18 and met the guys that eventually would form the Deslondes. Woody is an American hero who tried to save the world with a song that gave people hope, morals, an education, a good laugh, and thoughts to chew on to get them through lean times. Woody, as simple as some of his music seems, was much, much more than just a musician. I never stop finding more and more meaning and inspiration from his life’s work. I always loved his copyright law, too. He basically said, warning, if you sing these songs you might just be a friend of mine, which I do and I am.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I have a lot of good memories of being on stage, whether late at night in a small club or a backyard or opening up for and getting to hear some of my favorite musicians every night. But I will never forget the first time we got to play the New Orleans Jazz Festival. That was kind of an epitome of all the hard work and hard traveling the band had done in the previous years all leading up to that one moment. It felt good to be accepted and supported by the New Orleans music community all those years and finally playing the biggest show you can really get down there. It was a surreal honor and never stopped being or feeling like it.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

The first moment I knew I wanted to be a musician was probably when I learned how to finally tune the guitar. Ha ha. I got my first electric when I was 13 and would just smash my fingers all over the strings and thought to myself, this almost sounds like I’m shredding. I thought all strings must have different sounds and tried out different kinds until my cousin finally showed me how to tune the guitar. Then came the power chords and once I was able to put a few together, I knew I needed to write words over them and attempt to sing them even though I didn’t know how to do that either. I did it anyway. Then came the buddies who also wanted to play music as well as different instruments and the realization that this is what we really love to do. I have been hooked ever since and honestly the process of doing that and the joy I get from it hasn’t changed much.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

The elements of nature that I spend the most time in that affect my work are in the rolling hills of Missouri. I love small town life, sitting in the sun fishing all day, or on a back deck BBQing and taking my time driving slow through the backroads that I don’t have to look up GPS, or listening to music or just making up songs and singing a line over and over until I have to stop and write it down. It is true, there is no place like home. I traveled all over the US and world, wide-eyed and wondering where I should end up, but Missouri is home and I always feel a great weight lifted off my shoulders when I’m there. Even when I’m not there I can always write a song that takes me back. I am sad I missed morel mushroom season this year though, but hopefully that means there will be more to find next year.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Food and music do go hand and hand. If I had to make a pairing it would be a small BBQ festival that all my friends bands could come play at and ‘lightheartedly’ compete for who does it right. My Alabama buddies will tell you it’s all about the white sauce and my North Carolina friends will argue that it’s all about the hot pepper vinegar or Carolina Gold sauce. I grew up with a BBQ squirt bottle in my hand and it’s one of my favorite pastimes and meals. Whenever people ask me where to get the best BBQ in Kansas City I have a hard time answering that question because the answer is at my house. I’m not sure who invented the red sauce but I first had it in South Carolina and pick it up any chance I get. I am loyal to KC, but South Carolina definitely gives us a run for our money. KC is spoiled though with wide variety of BBQ sauces and seasoning selections at grocery/hardware stores. I have almost successfully left or sent a bottle of Head Country, an affordable Oklahoma dry rub, to all of my friends’ houses all over the US so when I visit it’s always within reach.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

BGS 5+5: Graham Sharp

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Artist: Graham Sharp
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Truer Picture

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I think Steve Martin has influenced me more than any other artist. The level of attention and devotion he brings to every project (music, film, books, etc.) is inspiring. I don’t think I know any other artist quite so single-minded as Steve. When we began working together I had no expectations, but could easily picture him resting on his past success and coasting; nothing could be further from the truth. Over and over again he’s shown that to be successful you have to put in the daily work, keep pushing yourself and not be afraid to take chances.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

I try to keep a few approaches in my toolkit, so if A isn’t happening one day maybe B, C, or D will. Sometimes I’ll try to remove myself completely from a song and let the story unfold. More often I can’t quite get away from myself and a lyric is my way of processing a situation. Likewise, I like to place myself in a more unfamiliar setting and try on a different voice or perspective. I think my songs, in general, have become more personal over the years and they’ve helped me be more empathetic. Often a song can encourage me to say what is otherwise scary or difficult to express.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

The toughest time I had writing a song was probably “Honey on My Tongue” from the newest Steep Canyon Rangers album. We were holed up in a hotel in Vancouver for several days with no shows. I wanted to use the time to write a song for my daughter but sat there with paper and pen for hours on end with little or nothing to show for it. At some point I bought a ticket and visited a little Japanese garden nearby. But when we left town I still had nothing to show for it. It was familiar frustration of having something in sight but just out of reach. I try not to let that bother me too much, but it’s often in the background. When we got to the next tour stop, maybe Calgary, I got out my guitar backstage and the first thing that I played was a little melody. After that the whole tune just fell into place. Those are good moments.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I write directly about nature a lot. The song “Deeper Family” is a good example. I was spending time in the woods hiking and had just read The Overstory by Richard Powers. The book talks about the interconnectedness of the forest and a vast life taking place underground. Other times, the woods is simply a great place to let the mind wander and find itself. The forests feel have the great effect of calming the brain while firing up the senses. After a bike ride I can usually count on a new line or perspective or melody.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

I tend to write best and most when I’m reading books, stories, or poems that I love. Short stories especially mirror what a song sets out to do. The scene is set and characters come to life so completely and economically. I think the same about the best songs, where no word is wasted and every line has a purpose.

Terry Allen – “The Beautiful Waitress”

The way he paints a scene, you find yourself sitting there in the booth with your bowl of chili and you can’t help but fall in love with the beautiful waitress. I admire writers who can set you down in a world so completely that you start filling in all the gaps from your own imagination. And the spoken word outro is the maybe the best ever.

Don Williams – “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend”

A perfect country song, outlaw with a soft touch. If I could trade my voice for anyone’s it would be Don Williams.

Nina Simone – “The Assignment Sequence”

The way this song starts in easy and builds to a monumentally intense groove never fails to get my heart pounding. Nina Simone is one of the absolute giants of American music, and she has long held my fascination and admiration.

Steep Canyon Rangers – “Honey on My Tongue”

A little song I wrote for my daughter. It’s hard to encapsulate everything that is the love of a parent but I’m proud of how this one turned out. I love the band’s take on it, from Barrett’s Astral Weeks-style bass to Ashworth (normally our drummer) playing a fantastical bubbly banjo line.

Graham Sharp – “Generation Blues”

When chaos seemed like it would swallow the world back last year, I wrote this while thinking about what we’ve inherited and what we can choose to bring with us or leave behind. Seth Kauffman, who produced the record, must have intuited how much I like The Kinks because the feel on this landed just where I didn’t know I wanted it; it seemed like he did that for every track on the record!

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

BGS 5+5: The Accidentals

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Artist: The Accidentals
Hometowns: We split hometowns of Traverse City and Nashville; we have houses in both (Sav and Katie) and Michael is from Grand Rapids
Newest Album: TIME OUT (Session 1)
Nicknames: Savannah is Sav, Katherine is Katie, Michael is ALWAYS Michael. haha.
Rejected band names: Flavor Monkeys, Savage Kittens (now our publishing company), Go Dog Go, Jalapeno Honeymoon, Comfort and Dismay. We were The Treehuggers before.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Katie: Brandi Carlile is one of those through-line artists we bonded over when we were teenagers and have never stopped learning from. I’ll never forget hearing “The Story” for the first time and doing a double take when the music drops out and she belts the chorus like there’s no tomorrow. As a socially anxious kid I wanted nothing more than to be able to hurl my feelings out of my lungs the way she does. Over the years we’ve watched her do everything from producing records to making her own music festival in order to support women artists.

One of the last shows we saw before the lockdown was Brandi playing with Kim Richey at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. We had just moved to town and as we sat on the worn wooden pews overlooking the stage, I was moved to tears watching the young girls in the front row throwing their heads back and belting along to “The Story.” Never in a million years would we imagine that a few months later we’d be writing music for our TIME OUT EP with Kim Richey, but we’ve learned even our heroes are humans who we can talk to on Zoom while wearing sweatpants and talking about bread baking. When we cancelled all our tours in 2020 we started feeling lost, but so many artists including Brandi reminded us that you never have to give up collaboration, activism, hard work, and heart.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Katie: Looking back, I have to say that 90% of my favorite moments were the unplanned ones. In 2018 we had the opportunity to sing on stage with Joan Baez for the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. I had just finished reading her biography and was starstruck, but once we were onstage her voice made everyone at ease and soon there were thousands of voices singing along. While everyone was walking off stage she grabbed my hand and I felt like my feet were floating.

Another favorite memory was playing Summerfolk Festival in Ontario — they have a tradition of pairing up two bands at the festival who’ve never met, and put them on stage together to play an after-party set. We had no idea what to expect when we loaded in our gear, but ended up playing an insanely fun hour-long set with Turbo Street Funk, a five-piece brass funk band including electric guitar, drums, sax, French horn and a hand-painted sousaphone plugged into a bass amp. We improvised on each other’s tunes all night, throwing in covers of “Ghostbusters” to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to the Black Keys. We’re friends to this day, it was amazing.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

Sav: Katie and I pick up inspiration everywhere we go. Usually every song is a culmination of things we’ve picked up around us – a piece of an Edgar Allan Poe poem here; the first sentence of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief paraphrased; a story in the New York Times about an endangered kind of parrot; an art piece made entirely of thread in the Crystal Bridges Museum, or if you’re Katie, sometimes a perfectly made plate of zucchini noodles is all it takes to be inspired.

We never really know where the moments of inspiration strike. I keep voice memos on my phone of little ideas as they come to me (usually in a public place, so I have to mumble them into my phone like a nerd) and a whole list of sticky notes of random billboards saying ominous phrases or things I pick up in conversation. There’s an episode of the Song Exploder podcast featuring John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, who talks about keeping a whole list of song titles written down at his disposal, so I started picking that up recently, too.

I will say that being in the music industry requires you to know a little bit about other art forms like film and visual art, because you never know when you’re going to be writing a treatment for a music video, or brainstorming / creating an album cover from scratch. Seeing how projects like TIME OUT EP or our upcoming album Vessel translate into film or visual art is fascinating, because it shows how when an art piece becomes multimedia, it starts to feel like you’re not just looking at a picture anymore – you’re standing in a room full of color, and you can see how it all fits together.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

Sav: I think the answer would be different for both of us — our processes for writing vary song-to-song, but also Katie and I are really different writers. Katie usually takes her time with writing, and she’ll work on the same song for months at a time until it’s perfect. I usually like to knock out a song by sitting down once in a blue moon and just getting it down in two hours. So a process like “Night Train,” co-written with Dar Williams over the course of many Zoom calls, was pretty tough for me. That song had a Leonard Cohen-like aspect where it had infinite verses; the stories Dar told would have amounted to at least ten different songs. It was really hard to pick and choose what best told the story we were trying to tell.

Ultimately the version we kept is a travel journal about the power of community, the magic you experience in meeting strangers and finding common ground. The song is about coming to the realization that we are more alike than not, and there is more goodness in the world than we might believe. We wanted a song that would speak to every generation and community, a song about healing and investing in our future, because there’s still work to be done.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Sav: This is one of the very first things Beth Nielsen Chapman called me out on when Katie and I were doing our first co-write with her (which was also our first co-write in general). Beth made a good point that using “you” too many times in a song starts to sound pretty accusatory. If that’s what you’re going for, great! Ha ha. She went further to say that saying “I” makes it more personal. I definitely have a habit of doing this — putting “you” where “I” should be — and sometimes I still do it, but I’m watchful of it now.

One thing we picked up this year is that songs don’t always have to be about us, necessarily. They can be from someone else’s perspective, while still using “I” and “me.” On one of our weekly Monday writes with Tom Paxton, he told us one of the best ways to get started was to pick up a newspaper, read a story, and write like you’re a person standing in the room where it happened. There will always be some personal piece of you invested in it by the time you’re done. The goal is to get outside of yourself for a moment and write for the sake of the story. That was a good lesson to take away after a year of isolation. It’s human nature to tell stories — whether that story is to heal, to inspire, to relate, or to learn from. So even if it’s “me” or “you” or “they” or “we,” the goal is for someone to walk away feeling like they got something out of that story, so that they may retell it in their own way.

Photo credit: Aryn Madigan

BGS 5+5: Charlie Marie

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Artist: Charlie Marie
Hometown: Burrillville, Rhode Island
Latest Album: Ramble On
Personal Nicknames: Charlie

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Patsy Cline was the first country artist I ever listened to. My grandmother can be very critical of singers, but she was in love with Patsy. I would listen to her CD over and over again. I got a Patsy Cline songbook, so I could learn her songs at my vocal lessons. What Patsy taught me was to sing with your soul. Hardship is inevitable in life, but when you feel the stories that you tell you can process that pain. When you feel the hurt in your voice and hold it, then let it go, it can set you free for a moment.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

It was one of my first live performances. I was around 10 years old. My vocal coach, John Cottone, put on a show for his students’ friends and family. It took place at the Caruso Club in Lincoln, Rhode Island. I was really nervous, but once I got onstage the anxiety settled. I sang “Crazy” and “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline while using a bar stool as a prop. I had this little skit that went along with the songs. I rehearsed it for days in my grandmother’s living room. When I finished everyone clapped and cheered. I felt a rush of joy exiting the spotlight and found my grandmother waiting for me near the students’ dressing room. She helped me change out of my show clothes and I told her how I wanted to be a country singer.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Luckily the fear and anxiety that come up around certain music events force me to meditate. Before a “big” show or before a studio day, meditating is what helps me put my head on straight. It helps me see the big picture and recognize what’s going on inside my mind and body. A few years ago I found Tara Brach on YouTube and have been visiting her website weekly ever since. On her site, she has hundreds of free meditations and “talks” for people to use. I highly recommend giving one of her meditations a whirl.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

My favorite place to write songs is rested on the grass. I spend most of my time with the earth and air. During the summer I deeply enjoy being with the ocean. Luckily I live in a secluded area surrounded by woods. When I’m sitting on the front steps and the sun is shining down, all I want to do is write a song. Being in the elements inspires me. It is the place I feel safest and where creativity flows.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

My ideal pairing would be Frank Sinatra alongside a plate of Chicken Sorrento and homemade pasta from Pat’s Italian Restaurant in Johnston, Rhode Island. Local Italian restaurants always play him in the background. Every time I experience the combination I feel young again. Everyone is together and we are all having fun.

Photo credit: Owen Filion

BGS 5+5: Casey Driessen

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Artist: Casey Driessen
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Otherlands:ONE

Editor’s Note: Casey Driessen has released Otherlands: A Global Music Exploration, a self-produced travelogue of on-location recordings, short films and essays that documents collaborations with masters of regional music in Spain, Ireland, Scotland, India, Japan and Finland. Otherlands was filmed and recorded between 2019 and May 2020. During this time, proceeds from the Bandcamp sales of Otherlands:ONE will support music and folk arts rural communities in West Bengal, India.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I’m going to give some big props to fiddler Richard Greene, by way of Darol Anger. Back in the mid-1960s, while playing in Bill Monroe’s band, Richard invented a percussive bowing technique on the fiddle/violin called “chopping.” Darol Anger was the first person to learn this from Richard, and I then pulled parts of the technique from Darol. Chopping has been an essential part of my musical trajectory and has allowed me to fit into all sorts of exciting musical situations.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Two polar opposite ones just appeared in my mind simultaneously… 1) Playing a daytime set at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in a trio with Béla Fleck and Bryan Sutton, staring out at the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, when all of a sudden I hear amazing vocal rhythms joining us, and Bobby McFerrin appears by my side. I couldn’t stop smiling. 2) Playing an evening set with Steve Earle & the Bluegrass Dukes (Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Dennis Crouch) when a heckler starts asking for “Copperhead Road.” It’s in the set, and we’ll get to it, but that’s not good enough. Heckles continue. Steve gives him the finger. A full beer can sails through the air (mind you, we’re all around one mic), hits the stage, bounces and hits Dennis’ bass. A fight breaks out in the audience. The guy is taken away. The next thing thrown on stage is a bra.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I’m very visual and find inspiration in painting, drawing, and sculpture. The forms, shapes, patterns, lines, colors, and composition all give me ideas about how to approach my instrument or music.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

I’ve never written a song, only instrumental compositions. So, I suppose the toughest time is all the time. That said, no particular composition sticks out to me, but the process of applying compositions to a live looping setup (when I was doing my Singularity project) was quite challenging. There are so many parameters to work within, from effects pedal limitations, physical coordination to pressing buttons with your feet while singing and playing, how to create engaging live looped arrangements from song to song without becoming repetitive or boring, and keeping a solo set interesting for yourself. They were some tough puzzles to solve.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

I think either “A global music exploration in red shoes” or “The fiddle can’t be on everything?…I’d like to try.” I’m hungry for experimentation and inspiration from unlikely sources.

Photo credit: Arthur Driessen

BGS 5+5: Sunny War

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Artist: Sunny War
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Simple Syrup
Personal Nicknames: Syd

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

That’s a tough question for me… I would have to say I was probably most moved by Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten. I really started getting into old blues when I was 13, and that’s when I first discovered Elizabeth Cotten. When I learned that she was around my age when she wrote songs like “Freight Train” I was very inspired. Just a couple years after learning to play “Freight Train” I actually started hopping freight trains! So the song has become even more meaningful to me over the years as well as her extremely unique guitar style.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory from being on stage was when Aroyn (my bassist) and I played with a new drummer at Live Oak Music Festival in San Luis Obispo. We only managed to get one rehearsal in and the whole performance was a bit of a gamble. The drummer was a friend of mine who we asked to play just a few days before the gig. With such short notice we had to totally wing it and ended up playing the most aggressive version of my songs… ever! But the crowd loved it and we had a great time. On stage it felt like a disaster, but afterwards the audience let us know they really enjoyed how chaotic it was.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

I have wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember. However, I didn’t realize I wanted to pursue music professionally until I was about 23 years old. I had four roommates at the time, a full-time minimum wage job at a mall and no college education. I was so busy working at the mall I had no time for music. I knew that the only way I could afford to be a musician was to either get a degree or figure out how to get paid to play music. I busked on the streets for many years, but slowly broke into the club scene and started touring.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Before a show my biggest ritual is running through my entire set a couple times. I don’t rehearse vocals but I always rehearse my guitar parts. My guitar style is so silly that I struggle a lot with remembering how I originally played certain songs.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

I would pair Nina Simone with black eyed peas, rice and cornbread. Cos that meal is church and so is Nina. Southern Blacks have been eating that meal religiously to welcome the new year since long before my grandma made it for me and my cousins, and Nina has a way of giving me a “fresh start” with every listen.

Photo credit: Randi Steinberger

BGS 5+5: Eli West

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Artist: Eli West
Hometown: Olympia, Washington
Latest Album: Tapered Point of Stone

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Probably Paul Brady, as a singer and guitar player. While I don’t play Irish folk music much, the tradition, while having lots of shapes and inflection, isn’t inherently showy. You don’t see an Irish folk musician put their foot up on a monitor to take a solo. I think communicating something interesting in an understated way is so satisfying…. Leaving room for the listener, not hitting you over the head with an idea. Tim O’Brien is an American version of that as well.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I’m a visual learner. Visual and spatial art, woodworking, painting, all have something to do with my musical decisions. I love understated chaos, like arranging things that seem to already be there. Goldsworthy is an obvious example of this, but there are many folks who do this in a variety of mediums. I tend to overthink, so anything that helps me escape my head to see things in a simpler way.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Running, for my mental health. Also, getting to know a new town before a show. Also, eating. Big fan of eating.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I grew up on salt water, sailing, and kayaking with my dad. Also skiing and backpacking in the mountains of the Northwest. I think the understory of a dense cedar grove is pretty inspiring, usually quiet while full of life.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Huh… I love seafood. There is a restaurant in Tel Aviv called the Old Man and the Sea. I would love to sit outside, eating fish, talking to someone like Django or Jim Hall about guitars. Since both those guys are gone, maybe drunk BBQ with Sting or Mark Knopfler would be fun (all those things borrowing from my high school self).

Photo credit: Jenny Jimenez

BGS 5+5: Zach Schmidt

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Artist: Zach Schmidt
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Raise a Banner
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Schmidty is kind of a birthright when your last name is Schmidt, you are going to be called it whether you like it or not.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

If I have to pick just one, without a doubt I would say Guy Clark. I have loved his music as long as I can remember. Sometimes I feel like it has always been a part of me. Every time I listen to him I hear something I have never heard before. The songs tend to evolve over time for me. Over the years I have studied his words in written form, learned his songs, and listened countless times. I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to Guy Clark and his music has absolutely changed my world in a dramatic way.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

I try to draw inspiration from everything that I encounter but literature and film certainly inspire my writing in a significant way. The song “I Can’t Dance” from this album was written right after I saw the movie Manchester by the Sea. I won’t try and spoil it for people who have not seen it, but the house fire scene absolutely wrecked me when I saw it. Facing loss and working through it is something we all can relate to, especially after a year like 2020 and the way that movie portrayed the protagonist was so beautifully heartbreaking.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

I think when I try to co-write with someone I don’t know very well. That is something I didn’t know anything about when I moved to Nashville and something I reluctantly tried. Trying to force out a song for the sake of time or a sense of accomplishment is brutal. These days I don’t mind writing with friends but I always need some time to work into my own creative flow.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I will make any excuse to spend some alone time with Mother Earth. Being alone out in the woods is one of the best ways to clear your head. I love to hike and mountain bike any chance that I can. I also find myself digging through the trash and recycling a fair amount to sort what belongs where. We have to take good care of this place.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Since I was talking about Guy Clark earlier I will stay with him. As he says in “Lone Star Hotel”: “Give me greasy enchiladas and a beer to wash it down.”

Photo credit: Curtis Wayne Millard

BGS 5+5: Abby Hollander Band

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Artist: Abby Hollander Band
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Latest Album: Letters

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

I’ve always been a musician. Growing up in Woodstock, New York, with musician parents, brother, friends, it was just a natural part of life, the expression of self through song. I started picking out cartoon theme songs on the piano when I was 4, and kept learning and playing from there. By high school I’d sit in with my parents at their gigs, and I first did my own gigs (singing in a jazz trio) by college. It wasn’t until after I’d graduated with a BA in theater that I realized in order to be an actor you have to audition; but to be a musician, you just have to play.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

My training as an actor has had a big impact on my music, especially when it comes to performance. When acting, you’re taught to always be in the moment, and that despite knowing what words you’re going to say you never know exactly how they’re going to come out, because you’re listening and reacting to what’s going on around you. That’s something I’ve tried to take with me into my music… even if I’m singing the same words or the same melody, a song doesn’t become stagnant because each time it’s sung, it’s being informed by the present moment. I also try to transport myself to the circumstances of the songs as I sing them. For example, “Still Got It Bad,” a John Herald song on this new album, is a heartbreaking story about never getting over an old love. That’s not my reality, but the way he wrote the lyrics is so relatable and so true that it puts me in a place where I can sing it honestly.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Actually, I’ve found myself writing too many first-person songs! When I was writing “Back When We Could’ve Been In Love,” I decided to turn it into a character and started saying “she” instead of “me.” It’s really still about me though probably. And now you know!

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

I try to be really dedicated about taking care of my voice, and that’s especially true leading up to a recording or show. Right after we released our first album, in 2015, I was diagnosed with polyps on my vocal folds. My voice didn’t sound like me, and I got hoarse after singing even just a few songs. I eventually had surgery to remove them, and through voice therapy I’ve learned how to take better care of my voice. I even went back to school to become a speech-language pathologist so I could work as a voice therapist and help others avoid these problems. It was an incredibly scary time (it’s what the song “Eyes of Loss” is about), and so these days I’m much more diligent about keeping my voice in good shape. That involves frequent warm-ups, vocal exercises, and being mindful not only when I’m singing but also speaking.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I don’t have one specific favorite memory, but every time I’m on stage and I’m singing with friends, or even strangers, if there’s a tight harmony that clicks in the right way I feel this current, this electric charge of life and joy, and that’s what it’s about for me.

Photo credit: Justin Camerer

BGS 5+5: Declan O’Rourke

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Artist: Declan O’Rourke
Hometown: Kinvara, Co. Galway, Ireland
Latest Album: Arrivals

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Joni Mitchell. She taught me to sing. When I was a kid I could sing well, but then my voice broke as a teenager and fell into my boots. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was already playing guitar and loved it, so I concentrated on just that for a while, but I started writing songs along the way, and presumed they’d be for someone else. Unbeknownst to me I kept singing along with my favourite records and somehow learned to use what I had. Joni was my biggest teacher. It was accidental and surprised me, as of course I was singing in another register and didn’t realize it was happening. Then one day I started singing my songs. I owe her a lot!

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Breathe. Remember that my parents always told me to make every show count. That whatever happens it doesn’t matter. Life will be over before we know it and you’ll be happier you did it than if you didn’t. Say whatever you feel. Enjoy it. And oh yeah, where are my fisherman’s friends? I always have a couple in my pocket going on. In case my mouth gets dry. And they remind me of my Grandad — and that all my ancestors and relatives are with me, and inside me.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I was in the middle of a gig with a 50-piece orchestra on Valentine’s Day in a concert hall in Dublin. While introducing a song some lady about 20 rows back shouted up some alluring funny comment, it made us all laugh so I shouted something back and had this little dialogue for a moment or two. It was fun. Unusually for me there was this wireless microphone and when the song started I walked down into the auditorium, went and sat on her knee, sang a few lines to her, then made it back to the stage just in time to finish the song. The atmosphere was electric and fun, so spontaneous. Just for giggles, I said on the mic, “I hope that was the right person.” The conductor who was barely holding it together told me to turn around, and pointed down to the lady I’d sang to. I had to squint to see her, and he said, “You see the woman in the green dress about five rows in front of her? That’s the woman you were talking to!” Well I almost died laughing. I finished that part of the show by saying, “I should have gone to Specsavers.” You couldn’t make it up.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with, and how do those impact your work?

I live by the sea on the west coast of Ireland. There’s just a couple of fields between me and it. It absolutely zens me out. I love it. It makes it into a lot of my songs, and did long long before I — reared as a city boy — got to live so close to it. In fact singing about it helped me to get there. Manifested in a way.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

Move people. Remind them of what’s the important thing in their life at any given moment. Help to ground yourself first, and if you can do it, and share a thought or an emotion that’s pure, and felt very significant to you then there’s a good chance it will resonate with other people too. We’re all more similar than we think we are.

Photo credit: Lawrence Watson