Tag: 5+5

BGS 5+5: Palmer T. Lee

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Artist: Palmer T. Lee
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Latest album: Winebringer

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

The moment I first realized I wanted to be a musician was catalyzed by an experience I had when I very young. I don’t remember why I was there but I do remember the height of the ceiling, the shape of the windows, the colors of the building, and the smooth painted bricks of the gymnasium. So I know I was at the junior high school of the small town I grew up in and that it must have been the junior high band set up on the floor just in front the stage, and the folding chairs wrapped around them. I was standing in the back and could see the horn section. I have a distinct memory of the ineffable feeling that surged through me the moment the band started playing. The movement of the players, the loudness, the vibrations pulsing through my entire body. Though I was so young I somehow knew I was old enough to where I wasn’t supposed to cry in public, but I wanted to.

Years later, I was maybe in junior high myself at this point, my brother had a garage band. It was just two of them, guitar and drums, and my brother invited me to come watch them play a couple songs. I sat on van bench a few feet away, they began to play Led Zeppelin songs. Immediately, the loudness, the movement, the vibrations, the urge to weep and the stoicism that held back all but one or two tears, that ineffable feeling, something like if you were able to feel beauty with your fingers. Shortly after I began “borrowing” CDs from my dad and my brother and when no one was home I would crank the stereo do my best Robert Plant impressions. That’s when I learned how incredible singing feels and that it’s what I needed to figure out how to do.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Which artist has influenced me the most is a little tricky because there have been a number of periods with varying influence. But lately, the past two or so years, without hesitation would be Jason Isbell. He’s like a Steinbeck of songwriting, the way he can paint a picture with words, so vivid and visceral. And his delivery is genuine and powerful; he can give the simplest line a potent and palpable quality.

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

If I had a mission statement for my career it would be to continue to grow musically and find new ways to express myself emotionally and creatively, to always pursue evocative expression, to create a space where people can simply feel something. It’s a simple idea but I know I am not alone in finding tremendous value in it and it’s important to me that other people know they are not alone in finding value in that cathartic experience.

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

Literature informs my music greatly and regularly. I really enjoy emerging myself in the world and voice of a novelist or a poet to the point where I start thinking and processing things in that voice. It’s a really interesting and fun place to write songs from. It’s a place where I most often surprise myself.

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

I don’t, very often, hide behind a character in my songs, they tend to be very naked and personal reflections. Though characters do happen and it happens that a song will take on different meanings and contexts over time and I will use different mental imagery while performing them in order to get behind it and into it. When that happens the people and the “me” in the songs may begin to shift or switch around and that can vary as quickly as night to night or even mid-song.

Photo credit: Jessie McCall

BGS 5+5: Songs From The Road Band

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Artist: Songs From The Road Band
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Road to Nowhere

Answers by Charles R. Humphreys III

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

Oddly enough the first moment that I knew I wanted to be a musician was when I was watching Low Country Boil Bluegrass Band from South Carolina perform at The Cave, which was a dive bar in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1995. The band was actually more of a jam band that covered Grateful Dead and New Riders of The Purple Sage songs from the best I could tell. At the time I was not a performing musician but was definitely a diehard music lover. When I felt how much joy this tiny band was bringing me in an empty bar I decided that was what I wanted to be able to do for other people. At that moment I decided to devote my life to learning to play music and write songs.

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

The toughest time I ever had writing a song that I actually like occurred while writing the title track to Songs From The Road Band’s third studio album Traveling Show. The goal was to write an anthem for a traveling acoustic musician. This co-write with Jonathan Byrd was a struggle until he suggested we look within and write about true life experiences. Then after several months of editing, the material was whittled into a song that made us proud.

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

Songs From The Road Band’s pre-show rituals are not incredibly unique, but they do exist! We typically meet in private 5 or 10 minutes before the set to go over song order and transitions. A major goal for the group is to create a musical show that flows. Unlike most bands in our genre, we strive not to talk or emcee at all. We then all join our fists in the middle and yell out something inspiring usually related to Team America World Police. “Do it for your country, Gary!”

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

Mountains and hiking trails are the elements of nature that I spend the most time with. Being an ultrarunner means I’m often running mountain trails in distances that extend beyond the marathon length of 26.2 miles. The Bartram Trail which stretches from North Carolina to Georgia is the longest trail I’ve ever traversed continuously without stopping for sleep. The trail traces naturalist William Bartram’s traverse through Appalachia and the Southeast. He encountered Native Americans and many species of animals and plants that had never before been documented prior to 1773. His journey took four years and led him to publish his journal, Bartram Travels. I was able to cover approximately 120 some miles of his trek in 42 hours. Images from these mountains and trails often appear in songwriting like in Song From The Road Band’s recording of “Silk and Lace” on the Traveling Show album.

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

My dream pairing of a meal and a musician would be a good ole oyster roast with the The Grateful Dead. Ideally it would be the line up from 1977 or 1989 doing an acoustic set as I think that would pair well with the oyster roast vibe. Hopefully the shucking tables would have crackers, butter, horseradish, and hot sauce. I love the “sters” slightly steamed or raw, but the best part of the experience would be sharing the meal with friends new and old. I guess the current touring line up of The Dead including John Mayer would still be a decent experience.

Photo credit: Ken Voltz

BGS 5+5: Fate McAfee

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Name: Fate McAfee
Hometown: Murray, Kentucky
Latest Album: Diesel Palomino
Rejected band name: Little Bill & the Late Fees

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Bob Dylan. He created the potential of the singer-songwriter to be a popular recording artist without compromising the quality of the work. I grew up listening to him, and I’ve found his colorful discography speaks to many different phases of life. He stayed true to himself, despite the backlash he faced while exploring new territory.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory thus far was performing with my backing band (Leonard the Band) and my duet partner (Melanie A. Davis) all together at a recent show in Paducah, Kentucky. The energy created amongst six people on the same page musically is a special thing, and I feel there is a lot of potential there.

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

A lot of my songs are driven by imagery, so I enjoy reading content influenced by that. I also have some specific literary references in my songs, so I’m certainly inspired by the concepts in the poetry and novels that I read, as well. I enjoy writing that offers just enough for the reader to infer the rest. I think about it like triangulation; if you can give someone two specific ideas, they can deduce what the third (the main sentiment) might be.

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

I had a long, reserved introduction to performing live. I spent quite a few years writing and practicing before I ventured into public with my songs. But the moment I learned that I wouldn’t have the chance to try out for a college baseball team as I’d planned, I felt my wheels turning in another direction. It was disappointing at first, but I grew excited by the freedom. I began to use more of my time writing songs and practicing guitar, and within two years I began playing shows.

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

I believe it’s all of our responsibility to help out people who are less fortunate. My father, whose influence is all over Diesel Palomino (lyrically and in the artwork), dedicated his life to this sentiment. He was a photo-journalist who documented human rights abuses by crumbling regimes in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and much of his writing was centered around the concept of privilege vs. responsibility. I believe that humility is humanity.

BGS 5+5: Scott Mulvahill

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Artist: Scott Mulvahill
Hometown: Friendswood, Texas (near Houston)
Latest album: Himalayas
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): I played one show as “Scott Hill” towards the end of college. I was self-conscious about my rather different last name, but after that I just decided to embrace it. If Jake Gyllenhaal can do it…

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

A few years ago, I played a show in Nashville where I gathered a bunch of friends to cover all of Paul Simon’s Graceland album, which is one of my desert island records. It was as fun as it sounds!! But we had a moment of true magic when the power went out in the building. Everyone in the room gathered in and gave us light from their cell phones, and we sang the song “Homeless” acoustically — just my upright and about 10 singers, no PA [system]. It was so powerful, and a moment of chaos was turned into something beautiful. We actually captured it all on video and it’s on YouTube. After we finished the song, the power miraculously came back on and we finished the show. That was such a great moment that I recorded that arrangement of that song and included it on my album.

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

I just finished a new one that I re-wrote about five times. Eventually I had verses in a decent form, and I ended up writing the chorus with my brilliant friend Ben Shive. At that point it was good, but still not quite there, so I took it into a co-write with the great Beth Nielsen Chapman, and we edited it line by line and she made it so much stronger. So that was a long process, but worth it because I think the end result is pretty special. I’m excited to record it.

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

I don’t believe in pre-show rituals, besides a very simple warm-up of singing or playing just about anything. I’ll sing a few notes, noodle on bass, mostly just relax. If I had some elaborate ritual that I depended on, I think that would be a mental crutch more than a help. I’ll hear singers talk about certain warm-up routines, or how dairy will throw you off, how you must drink honey, and stuff like that. I want to get my technique and experience to a level where I’m not worried about things like milk ruining my show. Was it really the milk?

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

To always get down to the truth, to find the edge of my abilities, and try to spend as much time there as possible. A song can’t be too vulnerable or too personal in my opinion. The more personal and vulnerable, the more distinct and powerful it’s likely to be. People are looking to artists to be brave in their music, to speak truths from their own angle, and that’s my goal.

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

At times I’ve done this without knowing it; I’ve written songs that feel powerful, and only half-way through writing it do I realize that it’s about me and my real-life events. I almost never purposefully write characters, and I wish I could… it’s a different approach that I just don’t know how to do convincingly yet. So my songs to date are almost all autobiographical. And that doesn’t prevent them from being relatable for people. For almost every song I sing, I have a person in mind that I conjure while I sing the song, and that helps me re-enter the emotional space of when the song was written. For songs that are about real events, I want them to feel as real as possible for the audience.

Photo credit: David Dobson

BGS 5+5: Danny Schmidt

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Artist: Danny Schmidt
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Latest album: Standard Deviation
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): “The Widowmaker,” for the exploits of my youth. Just kidding.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

There are two moments that really stand out to me. My wife Carrie Elkin and I got to perform at the Ryman Auditorium for a show with Emmylou Harris a few years ago. That represented so many dream moments of mine colliding in one evening that it was utterly surreal and disorienting. The other evening that especially stands out to me was a show when Carrie and I were on tour with the podcast “Welcome To Night Vale,” and Carrie had just announced she was pregnant, and immediately began to crowdsource the name of our daughter live in front of 2000 lunatic Night Vale fans. It was a beautiful silly moment of shared celebration.

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

I’ve always been a lover of photography, both as an appreciator of other’s photography, and of taking my own shots. I love the static nature of the form, the sense of capturing something fleeting. And I love how that static nature forces your eye to choose images that have some sort symbolic quality and associative properties to try and tell a little story in one still impression. It’s a lot like songwriting in that particular way.

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

I had only been writing for a couple years when 9/11 hit, so it was a craft I was still learning and not very confident in. But like everyone else at that moment in time, my mind was hard at work trying to process all the emotions and geopolitical realities of the situation. So it wasn’t like I set out to write a 9/11 response song, it’s just that I write about the things that are on my mind, and that’s what was on my mind. But it was such a complex stew of emotions that it was extremely hard to distill it down to what felt like a fair and nuanced encapsulation. In the month it took me to write that song (called “Already Done”) to my satisfaction, I wrote about four or five other songs, cause they all felt so easy by comparison, that they just popped right out.

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

Be inspired by everyone and don’t listen to anyone. Cause, y’know … it’s beautiful to be inspired and influenced by the work of other folks in your community. At the same time, you have to have an unflinching internal compass as an artist or you’ll lose your way.

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

That’s a great question! I think the answer is very often. I question the word “hide” though. Sometimes it is hiding. But sometimes it’s choosing a voice that can best deliver the message, and sometimes that’s not the first-person. And sometimes you’re just writing a fictional account in the third person and realize somewhere along the way that the character is starting to feel suspiciously familiar. I think it’s true that, at the very least, we put a lot of ourselves into everything we create, whether it ends up in a highly coded form, or whether it’s completely straight forward.

I picked songs that in one way or another changed the course of my personal life:

Bob Dylan – “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”

I discovered Dylan’s music when I was a very disaffected 15-year-old. I thought the world was insane and everyone in it was blind. I still think the world is insane, but Dylan taught me that not everyone was blind, at least, and he helped me start getting my head around the madness of it all in a manageable way. I connected very strongly with his worldview (especially with the stuff he was writing from 1964-1966), and it had a powerful affect on my sense of isolation. From across the world, and across two decades, there was a friend who would commiserate with me. It taught me a lot about the power of song.

Carrie Elkin – “Berlin”

This was the first song I ever heard Carrie Elkin sing, on the night we met. We would go on to become husband and wife, and so “Berlin” was sort of her siren song.

Anaïs Mitchell – “Why We Build the Wall”

I heard Anaïs sing this song around a campfire my first night at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2006. Anaïs was one of about 20 young songwriters huddled together all night around the fire that evening, almost all of them new to me, and almost all of them would go on to become my closest friends and conspirators in this world of music. If the world could’ve heard the songs shared that night among compatriots, I feel like it might’ve fixed a lot of broken spirits.

Mississippi John Hurt – “I Shall Not Be Moved”

This album inspired me to get an acoustic guitar for the first time, and convinced me that if I practiced for 60-something years, I could get good enough at fingerpicking that I wouldn’t need a band.

Ayub Ogada – “Obiero”

My daughter was born to this album by Ayub Ogada. My wife asked me to pick some music for the birth, something that was calming, soothing, and ethereal. Ayub Ogada might actually be an angel. And Maizy was safely delivered.

Photo credit: Chris Carson

BGS 5+5: Sean McConnell

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Artist: Sean McConnell
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Secondhand Smoke

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I would have to say David Wilcox. When I was beginning to write songs as a kid, David was a massive influence on me as a songwriter, guitar player, and vocalist. Nobody writes a hook like David Wilcox. He’s the king. Songs like “Language of the Heart” and “Show the Way” are still to this day on my desert island list.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One of them would have to be playing two back-to-back sold out shows at the historic Gruene Hall last year in New Braunfels, Texas. Taking the stage both nights with a thousand people singing my songs back to me was completely intoxicating. The energy was [unlike anything] I’ve never experienced before.

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

Literature is a big one for me. I’ve always been a big reader. I don’t read books to intentionally look for song ideas. It’s more that what I’m reading expands my worldview, opinions, spirituality, and such. That then directly affects what I’m writing songs about. That is most definitely the case with my latest record, Secondhand Smoke.

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

The moment I played a chord on a guitar I just knew it. That sounds like a bullshit line out of a movie, but I can’t deny that it’s true. I first learned to play on my mothers 70s Yamaha. I had a chord book and figured out the basics. From the moment I felt those chords start ringing under my fingers I was hooked. Later on I would sneak up to my parents bedroom and take my fathers Taylor 515 Jumbo from underneath the bed and that only confirmed my addiction.

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

What a great question. I think Glen Hansard pairs well with a strong IPA and a basket of fish and chips.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

BGS 5+5: The Way Down Wanderers

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Artist: The Way Down Wanderers
Hometown: Peoria, Illinois
Latest album: illusions

All replies by Austin Krause-Thompson and Collin Krause

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

As a band, we’ve had some amazing opportunities to perform at venues all across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Needless to say, we’ve cultivated some unforgettable moments together on stage. One of the best feelings a musician can have is looking out an audience and seeing people singing all of the lyrics. It is moments like these where we are inspired and encouraged to keep touring and writing as much as possible. At our live show, one of our favorite ways to end a high energy set is to get off the stage and join the audience for a final unplugged song. These usually turn into a giant sing-along/dance circle.

At one particular acoustic encore, we were playing for a large crowd in a tight space and Austin accidentally hit Collin in the face with his guitar peg. Collin got a pretty rough-looking black eye, but this certainly turned into a bonding experience for the two of them and the band looks back at this memory with amusement. Whether it’s a show that ends with an accidental black eye, or a group sing-along, we try to make the most of every song we play. We cherish every second we get to share with our listeners and with one another on stage.

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

This isn’t a technique that we have used too often, but it is used once on the album illusions. “Old Ford” is a song where the writer is hiding behind “you” when it’s actually “me.” It’s a song that tells the story of a broken friendship, and the feelings of guilt, remorse, and bitterness. As a writer, using this technique is challenging. It calls for self-actualization and putting yourself in another’s place. Doing this can open so many doors of possibility. Writing from a single perspective can also become very challenging over time. It’s easy to fall into writer’s block, or become stagnant. We try to push our writing techniques as well as keep listeners on their toes.

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

Having the opportunity to totally immerse oneself in nature can be such a valuable thing for emotional health and creativity. That peaceful break from the fast-paced, hustling city environment was channeled multiple times on different songs in our new album illusions.

When I started writing “Crooked Pines,” I remember being specifically inspired by a location in nature. I began working on the song after Austin and I started spending more time together around my sophomore year of high school. Austin introduced me to a then-secret hiking trail in our hometown of Peoria, Illinois, called Rocky Glen. After a short drive you reach a Buddhist temple. Behind the temple, there is a small clearing where, if you explore, you’ll discover a narrow, overgrown hiking path sown with thorns and stinging nettle. The winding path continues for about a mile and spits you out at a steep slope. After descending a ridge, you’re greeted by a deep quarry filled with massive stones and a small waterfall.

Austin and I would explore Rocky Glen at least a few times a week that summer. At our visits to the Glen, I felt as though I was visiting a location that fulfilled my human spirit and recharged me spiritually. In writing the song “Crooked Pines.” I tried to express the feeling I had when I visited Rocky Glen and how nature itself is a powerful force that doesn’t want the change of mankind.

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

Before studio sessions and live shows we have the ritual of vocal warm-ups. Warming up is a crucial part of executing a good performance for us. Over the last year we’ve worked with a great vocal coach, Mitchell Hutchings, to prepare for the recording of illusions. We were taught some warm-ups that are as helpful as they are hysterical. For example; singing “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH” through arpeggios in various keys. As well as things like “Frank will thank the bank!” We have fun taking these out of context and singing them at random times on the road.

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

We love making music because it is constantly informed by other art forms. Movement is something that is commonly informed by music, but oftentimes, we can refer to in which ways we want to move or dance to inform the feeling of a song. The music video for “All My Words” shows different forms of expression through dance and American Sign Language. This helps convey the message of one having a lack of expression.

Literature and poetry are other art forms that inspired the title track of illusions. The concept for the song is directly influenced by a Virginia Woolf quote: “Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.” This statement about childhood, and how one’s perspective and emotions can change over time, sparked the notion that life is really a series of illusions; it’s up to us how we respond to them.

BGS 5+5: Carsie Blanton

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Artist: Carsie Blanton
Hometown: Luray, Virginia, but currently New Orleans
Latest album: Buck Up
Personal nicknames: My stage name ages 14-16 was Carsie Bean Blue. And “Carsie” is technically a nickname; my legal name is “Carson” (my namesake is Southern Gothic novelist Carson McCullers who was, by the way, a badass).

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

I find poetry and novels very inspiring as a songwriter. My new album has themes of desire and futility, and while I was writing it I had an excerpt from a poem by James Richardson hanging above my writing desk (which I also included in the album liner notes):

And what was King Kong ever going to do
with Fay Wray, or Jessica Lange,
but climb, climb, climb, and get shot down?
No wonder Gulliver’s amiably chatting
with that six-inch woman in his palm.
Desire’s huge, there’s really nowhere to put it
in our small world that it will stay put

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

I write most of my songs in my writing studio, The Watermelon, which is a freestanding 8′ x 8′ shed in my backyard–it’s all mine and nobody else has a key! It’s green on the outside and watermelon-pink on the inside, and it’s filled with every object I own that inspires me or makes me feel lucky: terracotta pigs from Chile; a badger skull; milagros and alebrijes from Mexico; prints by my favorite artists; books by my favorite writers (plus a collection of rhyming dictionaries and thesauri); orchids and succulents; prayer candles from my local voodoo shop; and both of my guitars (a 1907 Washburn parlor and a cherry red 1972 Gibson ES-320). There’s also a sea-green writing desk with drawers full of markers, stamps, and newspaper clippings. When I’m ready to write, I light all the candles and water all the plants and make myself a cup of tea.

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

Pleasure and playfulness are serious business. I believe it’s possible–nay, necessary–to thwart fascism and make capitalism obsolete while having maximum possible fun, writing great hooks and taking breaks for sex and cookies.

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

Rare steak and old Scotch with Ray Charles.

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

The one that comes to mind is seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at Merlefest when I was ten or eleven. I was already a huge fan, and I had brought an autograph book and really wanted Gillian’s autograph, so I knocked on the stage door after her set. A bouncer answered, and for some reason, he let me in! I remember seeing all the people hanging around backstage–musicians and crew–and thinking, THIS! This is where I belong.

Photo credit: Jason Albus

BGS 5+5: Cale Tyson

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Artist: Cale Tyson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee by way of Fort Worth, Texas
Latest album: narcissist

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

This is going to sound self-deprecating, but my favorite show of all time was at this dumb barbecue restaurant in Kentucky. It was the first show of a three-week tour and I had assembled my favorite band of musicians. We rehearsed a ton beforehand and I was promoting the hell out of the tour for weeks leading up to it. Anyway, the barbecue restaurant was the first show. We were supposed to play for like an hour and a half, and about 30 minutes into our set, the sound guy came up to the stage and was like, “guys, no one is here…just stop playing.” So we did. I could immediately tell that the tour was going to be a major success.

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

Every single song I’ve ever written has been a tough time. I honestly have no idea how anything of substance ever comes out. Every time I sit down and write a song that I’m somewhat proud of, I’m like absolutely floored. I don’t understand how it happens. Then, I proceed to freak out and convince myself that it’ll never happen again and that was the last song I’ll ever write. Fast forward a few days, weeks, or months, and somehow it happens again…fingers crossed.

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

Before a show, I like to drink a bunch of herbal tea and use a Neti pot, then completely counteract that with beer, tequila, and some shitty food from my rider. I’m working on getting better at this.

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

Obviously, this would be Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) and a nice bread bowl of tomato soup from Panera Bread. I like to imagine that Mark eats at Panera as much as he mentions it in his songs. Panera sounds really good right now actually.

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

I used to do this a lot, but lately I’m pretty transparent about it. If there’s a character in my song, there’s about a 95% chance the character I’m referring to is myself…or at least shares some essential qualities with me. I think my biggest personality flaw is oversharing brutal details of my life, but I’m working on convincing myself that it’s good for my songwriting.

Photo credit: Bridgette Aikens

BGS 5+5: Steve Gunn

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Artist: Steve Gunn
Hometown: Landsdown, Pennsylvania; currently Brooklyn, New York
Latest album: The Unseen in Between

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

One guitar player that has influenced me over the years has been guitarist Jack Rose. Sadly, Jack passed away too young, nine years ago, and I still think about him on a daily basis.

I first met Jack in Philadelphia in the late 1990s. I was just out of high school and getting serious about playing guitar. We both worked at place called the Reading Terminal Market, with Jack working at the coffee shop, and me at the ice cream stand. I would always walk over to the coffee shop when I had a break, and we would talk at length about various records and all things guitar related. I really looked up to Jack, and he was super generous with his knowledge of music to my young ears. I learned so much from those conversations.

He lost his job at the coffee shop suddenly for apparently not giving a cop a free cup of coffee, and immediately after that he started practicing acoustic guitar about five to eight hours a day. I witnessed the results of his woodshedding at a house show in Philadelphia shortly after that, and was completely astonished and inspired by his playing. Seeing his hard work pay off — and his demand for respect as a performer — was revelatory. Jack taught me how to practice. His willingness to share his guitar ideas, work ethic, and encouragement with my own playing has stayed with me.

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

I think the first moment I wanted to be a musician is when I saw Prince play guitar in the film, Purple Rain. When I was young I was very enamored with pop music. I loved Michael Jackson, Madonna, Def Leppard, etc. I watched a lot of MTV and listened to a lot of radio. Music was always on in the house, car, basement, or garage. My parents played a lot of records from the ‘60s, and they also liked the ‘80s stuff a bit. At a pretty tender young age, I somehow was allowed to watch Purple Rain, or maybe I watched it at a friend’s house — I can’t remember. I do remember being astonished by this pop musician who could absolutely destroy on guitar. He also looked cool as hell and drove a purple motorcycle. It can’t be denied that he was the best. He’s still one of my favorites of any era.

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

I knew that I wanted to write a song as a tribute to my father, but it was hard to summon one during a pretty fragile and delicate time in my life. “Stonehurst Cowboy” from my new album, was emotionally exhausting to play and sing. The song is the deepest I’ve reflected on my own emotions since I started making records. It was a difficult, sentimental, but also very cathartic time to write.

The words came to me pretty quickly, but I had trouble singing it when it was first written. It’s an extremely personal song. I had to let my guard down for this one, it was almost as if I didn’t have a choice. It was a hard one to write, but I know I had to, and ultimately I’m very proud of it. My family and friends that knew him seem to really appreciate the tribute, which means a lot me.

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

Trying to remain calm is important! Nerves can be the worst deterrent in performing and recording for me. I’ve been figuring out ways of dealing with this for years, and in many respects I have learned the hard way. For a performance, I do a few stretches and breathing exercises to calm down a bit. Often times, especially with performing, I like to have glass of wine before I go on stage. Warming up on the guitar itself really helps also. Strumming whatever random few chords allows me to connect myself to the instrument a bit better. For me it’s important to connect with my mind, telling my body that it’s time to get it together.

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

I’d like to grill some fish, eat oysters, and drink wine with Neil Young. We could have a few bottles of really nice wine, a bunch of salads, a few different types of fish and oysters. This meal would ideally be outside, just me and him. Maybe a few dogs. I’m thinking this could be somewhere in coastal California, obviously, right along some rocky ridge somewhere. We’d light a fire after the meal, I’d listen to his stories, and later strum some old 1930s Martins together. Sounds good, right?

Photo credit: Clay Benskin