Tag: 5+5

BGS 5+5: Teddy Thompson

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Teddy Thompson
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Latest album: Heartbreaker Please
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Ted, Abudharr

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, January 2016. It was for the great Celtic Connections Festival and it was just one of those magic gigs. I have a lot of family from there, and also Glasgow audiences are just the best. At once erudite and rowdy. Good times.

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

Movies. I’m a film buff. I subscribe to The Criterion Channel and that has made my lockdown a lot easier! I like to be immersed in another world and a good movie gives me that feeling. Really I think I’m an escapist, but escaping into someone else’s world can make you see your own differently. Songwriters are always looking for an angle.

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

Playing at the school talent show, known as JFP, at Bedales when I was 14. As a somewhat awkward kid, lacking in self-confidence, it was a powerful feeling to be applauded on stage. After that, girls looked at me differently.

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

I like to smoke a cigarette right before I go on. Can’t be good for the throat, but there you go. I used to like to get shitfaced after the show, but now I don’t do that. I’ve aged out of the post-show party scene.

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

Sam Cooke and chicken.

Photo credit: Gary Waldman

BGS 5+5: Pharis & Jason Romero

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Pharis & Jason Romero
Hometown: Horsefly, BC
Latest album: Bet on Love

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

Music and handcrafting go hand-in-hand for us, and the connections between the sounds, the textures, and the colors the sounds create are an essential part of the art we’re making, oral or visual. The music we make is informed by the banjos we build, the jewelry we create, the gardens we plant, the overwhelmingly beautiful part of the world we live in.

We work as banjo makers, sending custom-made Romero Banjos to clients around the world. It’s a powerful artistic outlet, inspired by things like old furniture, deco and nouveau paintings, the look and feel of raw copper or wood, the feeling when you’re up to your thighs in river water and casting a fly rod, the geometry in tree branches and tall grasses; often our strongest inspiration is found in the forms seen in nature.

Jason is an old film nut — he briefly studied film in college, and old Japanese films really formed an aesthetic cornerstone for him. The texture of the film is something you can feel and almost taste, and his banjo playing draws on the texture of the instrument’s tone in a similar way. Pharis finds a large part of her songwriting happens with rhythm and nature — the swish of cross-country skis on snow, the soft splash of a canoe paddle. And like many songwriters, a turn of phrase in a book or poem can be her basis for an entire song.

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

Pharis’ parents said she came out of the womb singing — her family sang together from day one — but she didn’t want to be a performer. Pharis’ dad was part of a couple groups that were invited to play at Expo ’86 in Vancouver, BC. Her dad had her sisters up on stage but Pharis, 7, refused. She studied classical music from a young age, and being on stage was a painfully nerve-wracking experience for her. But she persisted (her mom persisted), and when she and her sisters sang a Beatles song in three-part harmony at a festival, it was good – and people loved it. That’s when Pharis really woke up to the love of singing harmonies and the lift it gives people when they hear them.

Jason always loved music — especially the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Cream — but his relationship was as a listener until he was 19 and heard a 5-string banjo played in an Irish bar band in Chico, California. That sound redirected his life — a month later he had a banjo and has been obsessed by it ever since.

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

We often have our two kids on the road with us. It’s incredible to all be together, but it means we need to pay attention to making time for quiet and stillness. We try to give ourselves a good hour before a show to sit, have a cup of tea or a glass of whiskey, not talk, and warm up our voices slowly. The important word here is “try”, as our most important ritual on the road is being adaptable and resourceful — and sometimes that means waiting for the babysitter to show up five minutes before we go on.

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

We live an hour away from our main town and there are few places to eat out, so we eat at home a lot and love making and sourcing good food. If we could sit down and play and sing tunes with some close old-time music pals, drink some mezcal margaritas, and then sit down to fresh greens and grilled veggies from the garden, pesto, some kimchi and a grass-fed burger, life would be excellent.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Pharis: I was in a band called Outlaw Social years ago. At a big CD release show, packed to the rafters, we had a guest fiddle player join us on stage. I meant to introduce him as our substitute fiddler player, but my tongue slipped and I introduced him as our “suppository fiddle player.” The bass player, bless his heart, quipped, “He just slips right in.” The room completely fell apart.

Photo credit: Laureen Carruthers

BGS 5+5: Reckless Kelly

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Reckless Kelly
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Latest album: American Girls & American Jackpot

Answers provided by Willy Braun

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

I get a lot of ideas from books, lines here and there, but a lot of time they’re just ideas. A theme or a mood. I get some ideas from movies as well but that’s a little more rare. I’d say most of my ideas for songs come from things people say or do in everyday life. I’m always writing things down.

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

I’ve always known I was going to be a musician. It’s the family business. My dad, uncles, grandpa, brothers, cousins, etc., are all musicians. I grew up singing on stage with my dad’s band and eventually my brothers and I all joined so there was never really any question about what path we were going to go down.

However, to answer the question more directly, I remember when I was about 5 I got up and sang a song with my dad at a chili cook-off. After the show the girl at the concession stand gave me my Coke for free, and I remember thinking that was the coolest thing ever. It may have been what hooked me for good.

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

I have a place in Idaho where I do the majority of my writing these days. It’s in the high desert with mountains all around so it’s really inspiring. It takes me a few days to get in a groove but once I find my rhythm I usually get a lot done. It also helps that it’s off the beaten path so distractions are at a minimum.

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

If I could meet one person it would probably be Sir Paul McCartney. I’m pretty sure he’s a vegetarian so I’d eat whatever he wanted to have as long as we could chat about writing and of course, the Beatles. I’m sure we’d have a couple bottles of wine to wash it all down as well.

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

I use a lot of metaphors in my songs so that’s a place to hide out, ha ha. I almost always write with a caricature in mind, so even when I say “me” I’m not usually talking about myself. A lot of my stuff is fictional so I don’t worry about hiding much. The new albums are the first time I’ve really explained a lot of meaning behind the songs. Normally I let people make up their own version of what they think it’s all about. This time I felt like it was important to let people behind the curtain a bit because of the concept. I wanted them to get it.

Photo credit: Cynthia Dawn Photography

BGS 5+5: Ruthie Foster

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Ruthie Foster
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Latest album: Live at the Paramount

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Sam Cooke. Growing up in a mostly gospel singing family, Sam Cooke’s music was playing on the stereo all of the time. He was not only the most melodic gospel soloist I’d ever heard, but he could sing anything from popular songs to fronting a full band with horns, changing stylistically as a singer (Sam Cooke at The Copa). I’d like to think that my music brings a similar energy to the live stage, which is why I decided to record with a big band on my latest release.

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

I was about 10 years old sitting on the front pew in my family’s church in central Texas watching and listening to my uncle sing a solo one Sunday afternoon. He’d sang the song many times before but this time it was different. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, his voice was shaky, and he had his hand on my other uncle’s shoulder, who was playing the piano. Visibly moved, he changed the energy in the entire congregation. Everyone was crying, me too. I knew then that singing was a true gift that can be used to elevate.

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

I have a tough time finishing songs when I’m in my head too much; I’ve had no problem starting them at all. “Singing The Blues” is a perfect example. At the time I was getting a little pressure about writing for my next album and I resisted. Touring a lot while house searching from the road and trying to write was stressful. It wasn’t until I decided to put those feelings on paper when I realized that the song was really about my life. So I was able to start and finish it, “Trying to find a new home, trying to write a new song. Trying to find a rhythm, that’ll help me get through it, singing the blues”.

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

I love to cook at home when I’m off the road. One of my favorites is baked fish with garlic, fresh dill, seasonal vegetables, and a good wine. I always prep and pair that dish with one of my favorite singers, Tony Bennett!

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One night onstage at a festival I started to lose my voice from really bad allergies. I tried to sing but after a few songs, I was straining and in extreme pain. I stopped and apologized for not being able to continue, but someone in the audience started singing the lyrics for me, then there were more people joining in on a few more songs and before I knew it, the set was complete and sung entirely by my beautiful fans while I played guitar for them! They had lifted and carried me through the show! I was incredibly moved and grateful.

Ruthie Foster – “Singing The Blues”

I’m very proud of being brave enough to tell my own story about how I came to the blues.

Sam Cooke – “Bring It On Home To Me”

Sam was soulful and a skillful in the music business, owning all of his own publishing.

Tedeschi Trucks Band – “Midnight In Harlem”

This tune reminds me of learning to adapt to my new environment while writing songs when lived in NYC.

Bill Withers – “Grandma’s Hands”

This one captures how I felt about my own “Big Mama” and reminds me of how she still sings through me.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – “Singing in My Soul”

The very first and baddest rocking mama on guitar ever! Huge influence on my playing.

Photo Credit: Yellow House Studios

BGS 5+5: The Sweet Water Warblers

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Sweet Water Warblers
Band members: Rachael Davis, Lindsay Lou, and May Erlewine
Hometown: Hoxeyville, Michigan
Latest album: The Dream That Holds This Child
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): “Party RD,” “Lou,” “Segue May” …also, Rachael’s daughter Lela calls the two other Warblers “MayLou” collectively

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Rachael: That’s hard to say for a trio, but for me (Party RD) that’s the simplest question. My parents are musicians and no other artists could have possibly influenced me more. They taught me how to play instruments, and sing harmony, and write songs! They taught me how to set up equipment and make a budget and how to be gracious and approachable and original. They supported me in all my artistic endeavors and never gave a shadow of a doubt that I could succeed. I’m not sure there’s any other artist that could approach that degree of influence.

May: It’s really hard to say, it’s an evolution of things. One influence leading to the next one. I will say Joni Mitchell’s bravery in her vulnerable music and also in using her voice to speak for justice is something I continue to draw from.

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

May: I draw from everything I possibly can. I believe that the art of noticing is directly connected to the act of being present. I try to explore and notice the world around me and use it to fuel my songs. I like to paint, draw, sew, cook, garden, run, walk, bird, read, write poetry, talk about things deeply.

Lindsay: The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd was a book we were reading and referenced a lot while we were putting the album together. It’s a moving memoir of a woman’s journey to find the sacred feminine, and it spurred some exciting late-night conversations.

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

Rachael: When we write together for The Sweet Water Warblers, we always carve out a good amount of time, space and intention for being creative. I think the first time we did a co-writing session with the three of us, Lindsay had just moved to Nashville, where I had already been living for a few years, and May was still living in Northern Michigan. Lindsay and I met at her house and we FaceTimed May in Traverse City. The distance and delay made the process not as fluid as it could have been. That is to say, that it really wasn’t that difficult, but it was technically the toughest time we had writing. After that, though, we did resolve to all being in one place for that process in the future, which we have adhered to since.

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

Lindsay: There were a few ritual-like things we did while making the album that focused our intentions. At the beginning of each day in the studio, every person there brought in a mentor to the spiritual space of making music together. We went around and spoke their name and who they are to us into the studio mics. It didn’t take much time but hearing about all the people who’d brought us to that moment gave our task an even deeper sense of purpose. I loved hearing who was named and the way they were remembered.

We lit a candle to mark the beginning of tracking for each song. The flame seemed symbolic of the offering in each like a unique being we set out to shine a light on. We also started our first in person meeting with Dan Knobler by sharing 10 minutes of silence. Nothing like silence to frame the experience of making sound.

For live shows we come together and sing in a quiet private space before we take the stage. Allowing our souls to harmonize for the sake of sharing the vibration is a sweet reminder of why we’re there, and it gets us aligned and ready to connect with the audience as one.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

May: There are so many, but I’ll get specific with this band in recent times. We finished a song at one of our shows this February and the emotional quality in the room was so thick, that nobody even clapped for a good 30 seconds. That was magic right there. I hope to always have new favorite memories on stage and with these ladies, that’ll be an easy dream to achieve.

Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi

BGS 5+5: Sarah Siskind

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sarah Siskind
Hometown: Brevard, North Carolina
Latest album: Modern Appalachia

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I would say my biggest overall influence is The Story, which was an alt-folk duo out of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the ‘90s consisting of Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Kimball. My dad used to bring cassettes home from the library of albums he would read reviews about and pass along ones to me he thought I’d like.

At the time I was way into Indigo Girls and Tracy Chapman (about age 13 or so), so when he first gave me Grace in Gravity by The Story, it unnerved me a little. But, then I woke up one morning and had to listen to it on repeat or I thought I’d die! So I listened to it on repeat. For years. The songs on that album are ingrained in me now. Dissonant harmonies. Bold chord changes. Strong female perspectives.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory on-stage is when Bonnie Raitt asked me to sing “Angel From Montgomery” with her as a duet for the first time… and then after… she handed her guitar to me and said, “Play one of yours.” I’ll never forget that feeling. I felt like I was flying.

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

The most effective ritual for me is to straight up pray. I ask God for peace of mind and for blessings over every note that comes out of my mouth. For Him to guide the show and for me to be a vessel. I also do some floor stretches if I can. When I toured with Paul Brady, I had a mix on my phone I would listen to before every show and it was Snatum Kaur, Lauryn Hill, and Mahalia Jackson; I would do stretches as I sang along.

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

Water, definitely. The county where I live in North Carolina has the most waterfalls per capita in the country. However, I absolutely love rivers. When I’m really stuck, or having a rough day, I go to either the Davidson or French Broad River in Brevard, North Carolina, and trail run or just sit and pontificate. Watching the movement of water brings me back to center. The sound even more so. It reminds me how ultimately small we are in the big picture and that this vast earth was created through suffering way bigger than mine.

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

I love this question. I’m a closet chef. If I could have dinner with any musician, I would have a big southern meal of pulled pork, greens, and pintos with Danny Barnes.

Photo credit: Brian Boskind

BGS 5+5: Roger Street Friedman

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Roger Street Friedman
Hometown: Sea Cliff, New York
Latest album: Rise
Personal nicknames: Rog, RSF
Rejected band name: Roger and The Rainmakers

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

There are so many… but in terms of songwriting I would say the most potent influence has to be Paul Simon. I am in awe of his ability to convey large swaths of meaning in one or two sentences. That combined with his sense of melody and the production value of his records. Just incredible. I strive to write meaningful songs and aspire to the kind of concise clarity he brings to his writing.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

In September of 2018 we played The Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass. It’s a theater that was built in an old church. It’s actually the famous church from the song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie. Anyway, it’s a beautiful theater and very quiet with great acoustics. We played it as a trio with acoustic guitar, upright bass and fiddle/keyboards. The encore was the song “Rise,” which is of course the title track from the new record. It’s a song about hope… the hope that we can rise above our petty differences and make a better world. When the chorus came I asked everyone to sing along, and all of those voices singing in that old church was a religious experience for me. I had the chills actually. I’ll never forget that night.

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

I had pursued a career in music early on. I worked in a studio and was recording other people’s songs as well as my own demos… and then my life took a left turn and I wound up in a career completely unrelated to music. Sometime after my daughter was born in 2006 I wrote a song for her and went into a friend’s studio to record it just for posterity. While I was strumming the guitar and singing into the microphone, I felt like I was in one of those movies where the world goes from black-and-white to color. I had forgotten how much I loved making music and the acts of writing, performing and recording music. I had an epiphany right then and there that I was meant to be a musician. I think I had always known this, but I’d just forgotten for a couple of decades!

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

When my father was in his early 80s he developed Parkinson’s disease. He fell a few times and wound up in a rehab facility where I would go to visit him. One evening when I arrived he was sleeping peacefully. He had grown a long white beard and that evening as he slept he had an almost Buddha-like expression on his face. I wound up sitting there for about two hours with him and then had to leave before he woke up. I felt bad because I didn’t want him to think no one had visited so I left a note on his side table.

When I got home I started a song called “You Are Not Alone” which is on my first album, The Waiting Sky. I wrote the first verse and chorus in one sitting but couldn’t figure out what came next. It wasn’t until after he passed away that the rest of the song came to me. It wound up being about the last night we were with him in the hospital. It was a very difficult song to write emotionally, but also very cathartic to finish.

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

I love being out in nature — we love hiking as a family and do lots of walks in the woods. I also ride a road bike and there are lots of two-lane “country” roads in the part of Long Island where we live. We are on the North Shore of Long Island so there are many spots where I go to be near the water. I use a lot of nature metaphors in my songs, from the wind to the stars to the sea… nature really does inform a lot of my writing.

Photo Credit: Drew Reynolds

BGS 5+5: American Aquarium

Posted on by Editor

Artist: American Aquarium
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Latest album: Lamentations

Answers provided by BJ Barham

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I can confidently say that I wouldn’t be the songwriter I am today if it weren’t for the discovery of Bruce Springsteen and his music in my early twenties. A friend played me Nebraska and I was floored. Must have listened to that album for a month straight. He was one of the first artists I have a clear memory of hearing and saying, “I want to do that.”

He writes these elaborate short stories set to music. The songs are expansive and cinematic. The characters are all people we know personally. Intimate snapshots into the lives of the working class. He speaks the universal language in a way not many people will ever be able to. There is something so simple, yet so complex about the way he tells stories. I don’t trust a songwriter who says they aren’t a fan of Springsteen.

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

I read a lot. I usually prefer fiction, but I’ll occasionally do a deep dive into a music-related autobiography. I tend to go for Southern writers and gravitate to the darker side of the genre. My songs take place in the darker corners of the Southern experience, so it doesn’t surprise me that my literary taste tend to go there as well. Faulkner, O’Connor, Harper Lee. The greats are what sucked me in.

I’ve been reading a lot of Cormac McCarthy, David Joy and Barry Hannah as of late. There is a familiarity of place that I really enjoy about them. I think a lot of the flaws in the characters of my songs are a direct result of the books I read in my leisure time. In my lifetime, literature has informed so much of what I know about people, I would be lying if I said it didn’t have an effect on me as a writer.

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

The first time I played songs in front of people I was hooked. I was double majoring in political science and history at NC State University with every intention of going to law school after my undergraduate work. Then I fell in love with songs. I remember the first show like it was yesterday. Me and some friends from high school played (horribly) at Tate Street Coffee in Greensboro, North Carolina, in front of about 20 people. I was hooked. I became a student of every aspect of the trade. Songwriting. Performing. Business. There was no looking back after that first show. I had found my calling.

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

I played a lot of sports growing up and every time I would complain about a loss or another player just getting a “lucky” shot, my father always said that “luck was the product of hard work” and that is something that has always stuck with me. Work Hard. Get Lucky. It’s so simple, yet so profound. I have those words tattooed across my chest to remind me every morning that luck is not just something that happens to people. There’s a really great quote about luck being the intersection of hard work and opportunity. I think that was what my Dad was trying to say all those years ago, just a little less poetic.

When I started this band back in 2005, I knew I wasn’t the best writer. I knew I didn’t have the best voice. The one thing I did have control over was how hard I was willing to work. I truly believe that willingness to outwork anyone that was better than me is the only reason that I am where I am today. I get to earn a living from writing songs and playing them for people because I dedicated myself to the craft of songwriting and refused to take no for an answer. Some friends always say that I’m so lucky to be able to play music for a living. I just smile and silently thank my father for the lessons he instilled in me at such an early age.

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

When I first started writing songs, they were extremely detailed and autobiographical accounts of my youth. The partying, the mistakes, the love lost. As I got older, I started moving more toward character based fictional narrative. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a little bit of myself in every single one of my characters. Some more than others. I believe it’s important to always add those dashes of personal experience into the songs. It makes them more believable to the listener and allows you to fall into those characters as you perform these songs every night.

The fiction is where you have the ability to make the songs universal and not just about you. The bigger picture versus the guy looking back at you in the mirror. I think part of the craft of songwriting is learning that balance. The greats came out of the gate with that gift. The rest of us had to learn it the hard way. It took me quite a few years to stop writing about the person that I currently am and start writing about the better versions of myself that I hope to become.

Photo Credit: Cal & Aly

BGS 5+5: LULLANAS

Posted on by Editor

Artist: LULLANAS (twin sisters Atisha and Nishita Lulla)
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Latest album: Before Everything Got Real EP

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

It’s really hard for us to pick just one… honestly our music catalogue really started developing when we noticed the music in the background of tv/film/commercials. Once we saw how instrumental (pun intended) songs were to telling the story… that’s what really took our breathe away. Some artists who inspire us through that realm are Ingrid Michaelson, Peter Bradley Adams, and Gregory Alan Isakov.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

We drove down to Nashville for a week and got a chance to play at the Bluebird. It was a moment we built up in our heads for a while and it did not let us down. We only played a few songs, but as soon as Nishita strummed the first chord to our song “Melody” on her guitar… the room went silent. It was the kind of intensity every artist craves. We could tell that the audience was taking in every feeling, every lyric, every note and any intimate artist to listener moment like that is a favorite stage moment for us.

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

When we aren’t creating music, we are in the kitchen baking up a storm. For us, baking is all about the process and attention to detail. The same goes for our music. One of our favorite things to do is create custom cookie designs inspired by artists who we look up to. We use baking as another outlet of artistic release. What we can’t write/sing about, we can bake about.

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

We had the chorus scribbled on a page for one of our songs off our latest EP. It was just a chorus for about seven months. No matter how bad we wanted to finish it… we just couldn’t. Eventually, taking a step back from it was what helped us complete it. It was one of the toughest times, but also one of the most rewarding.

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

To create music that helps people feel something in a world that can be a little numbing at times.

Photo credit: Lenne Chai

BGS 5+5: Paul Burch

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Paul Burch
Hometown: Currently Nashville, Tennessee. I was born in Washington, D.C.
Latest album: Light Sensitive
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): The members of Lambchop call me WP

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Bob Dylan and Hank Williams were the twin Apollos of songwriting in my youth. And I loved the fearlessness of Roger Miller. Elvis Presley — when inspired — gave his audience his soul. But the four writers who most echo my temperament and drove me to compose are Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, John Prine, and Sam Cooke.

Smokey has a gift for literacy. “I Second That Emotion.” John, like Hank Williams, had the gift for sincerity. The taller the tale, the greater the parable. John was seldom at the center of his songs so much as caught up in the center. He could be both in the story and above it. Sam was easy on the ears. “Cupid.” “Having a Party.” “A Change Is Gonna Come.” A Sam Cooke title was exactly what the song was about. By all accounts he was a man of sharp intelligence, a true believer in decency, a hater of bullshit, and a fan of all kinds of music. Chuck could make the past contemporary and the here-and-now heroic. “Johnny B. Goode” is like a film coming into focus — so much detail delivered in less than 20 seconds. “Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans / way back up in the woods among the evergreens / there stood a log cabin made of earth and wood / where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode.”

All of these writers feel like my relatives. Something bubbles inside me when I hear them. All four had a touch of melancholy which they employed to remind you to keep having that party. Chuck is the poet of rock ‘n’ roll. Smokey is the poet of time and place. John was Jimmie Rodgers crossed with Mark Twain and inspired Sam Phillips to come out of retirement. And Sam — well — Sam was Mr. Soul.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I was playing on my own in a bar in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, one Saturday night. It was about 90 degrees at midnight. All I had was a microphone and an electric guitar and a little 15-watt amp. To try to keep the show dynamic, I kept a tick-tack rhythm on the bass strings when I sang and then added loud accents in between the verses. There were about 10 couples or so dancing in front of me and I could hear the scrape of their shoes on the dance floor.

I thought to myself: “This must have been what Charley Patton heard when he played a dance — the sound of the dancer’s shoes on the floor.” It was so wonderful to think I was doing well enough with what little I had that I could keep them dancing. It made me appreciate that audiences are willing to meet you more than halfway. The intensity of what you’re doing is more important than volume.

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

I get dreamy over paintings and great photography. I love the photography that Sheila Sachs and Catie Baumer Schwalb took for Light Sensitive.

Film noir is great for a sense of place and for the dialogue. So much had to be conveyed by gesture or innuendo. It was years before I realized that when Ilsa goes to see Rick in Casablanca for the letters of transit, the spotlight tells you they made love one last time. Every time I see it, the ending feels different. I used to think he gave her away. But then you remember Rick said he doesn’t deal in buying and selling people — and that extended to love, too. Now I see that Ilsa was always going to be trouble. She was right for Paris, just nowhere else. And life can never just be about Paris. Even if you live in Paris.

Also, in a film — like in songs — everybody has a job. The cab driver is important when you need that cab. Lately, I’ve been paying close attention to plays and musicals, listening for the rhythm and syncopation in dialogue. Frank Loesser’s songs for Guys and Dolls are spectacular. “I got horse right here / his name is Paul Revere…can do!” Louis Jordan’s songs sounds like musicals to my ear. I’m always on the hunt for an idea. I’m a flint and life is a white-tipped match.

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

If I’m recording, I love walking into a studio with a fresh reel of tape under my arm, knowing that when I walk out the door, we will have created something that didn’t exist on Earth a few hours before. When I perform, I take time to walk all around the venue to get an idea of what the show will feel like from every vantage point. I like to talk to the sound engineer — usually someone I’ve never met — to get an idea what their job is like, if it’s a hard venue to deal with.

I ask them if they think the sound in the venue will respond to the kind of show I want to do. I try to make them feel like it’s our performance, not mine. Before the show, I think about my favorite people and my favorite performers. I’ll often write old friends just before a show — “How ya doin?” — just to demystify the whole thing. Other than having a new song in your pocket, there are few better feelings than walking on a stage at the beginning of a show.

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

I often imagine a perfect day of music would be some kind of outdoor event with a pile of fried catfish, margaritas, and then a show at twilight with a great lineup of the WPA Ballclub. In reality, outdoor shows are usually a drag. Bugs, bad sound, the drummer falls into the generator. I do think loud guitars and BBQ go together pretty well.

I used to stare at a photo of Little Richard playing at Wrigley Field with his band in the ’50s and thought it was the perfect gig. It must have been hot because the band were all wearing plaid shorts. Now that I’m older, I realize they were probably miserable — with an out-of-tune piano, distorted amps, and a lousy PA. But you know that first beer and smoke after the show must have been delicious.

As for a particular musician and food pairing, I hear that in the 1930s, all the jazz joints served Chinese food. If I could have seen Charlie Christian play guitar or heard Billie Holiday sing in a little joint with Teddy Wilson on piano over a hot plate of home-cooked crispy duck, I would have been very happy.

Photo credit: Emily Beaver