Tag: 5+5

BGS 5+5: The Steel Woods

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Artist: Wes Bayliss of The Steel Woods
Hometown: Woodland, Alabama
Latest Album: Old News

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

My grandpa is one of my biggest musical influences. I grew up in a very musical family. Although most of them had a hand in teaching me about music, the most influential as far as style goes was Grandpa. I remember all us kids would be trying to watch TV when he would grab a guitar and start picking and pretty soon we were gathered around trying to pick along with him.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One of my favorite memories of being on stage would have to be the first time we played the Opry. It was not at the very top of my bucket list so I couldn’t have anticipated the feeling of standing in the circle. There are so many people that have dreamed of being on that stage all of their life and never got the chance. Realizing that in the moment was one of the most humbling feelings in the world.

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

My family had a southern gospel band when I was a kid so we were on the road a lot. One day when I was eight, my uncle bought me a harmonica at Cracker Barrel. I’m sure he immediately regretted that when he realized I was gonna blow it until my lungs gave out and we were all stuck on a bus together for hours at a time. He finally told me if I was gonna be making noise I would have to start making it sound good so I did just that. With his help I learned a few cross harp licks and joined the band within weeks. I knew then that music was gonna be my thing.

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

We don’t do much as far as pre-show rituals other than the one most important thing for any musician to do before playing. Tune your instrument! I still fail to do that until I get on stage from time to time.

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

If I understand this question correctly I would like to pair country fried steak, double hash brown casserole, fried okra and a sweet tea, with myself! I would follow that with a hearty helping of blackberry cobbler and of course, I would have to follow that with a day of fasting.

Photo credit: Alyssa Gafkjen

BGS 5+5: The Delines

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Artist: The Delines
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Latest album: The Imperial
Band members: Amy Boone, Cory Gray, Sean Oldham, Freddy Trujillo, Willy Vlautin

Answers by Willy Vlautin

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Man oh man that’s a tough question. I go in phases so I can’t name just one. I grew up worshipping Willie Nelson, he’s always been my personal sorta saint, next was X and then The Pogues and Los Lobos then probably Tom Waits and Louis Armstrong and a dozen others as well.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

The Delines were playing a gig in Madrid and in the audience, right in front of the stage, were two couples making out. A man and a woman and then two men, and I went to myself, goddamn maybe what we’re doing is working! With Richmond Fontaine no women ever came to our shows. It was all middle-aged drunk dudes and none of them had probably made out with anyone in years.

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

I always write songs thinking they are part of a movie and I write novels for a living so those two have always been a big part of my life. I love novels more than anything and I could spend my life in a movie theater. Since I started, I’ve written in characters and stories. For a shy kid it was always easier for me to do it that way. I could say what I needed to say without anyone looking at me. I was way too insecure otherwise. Writing in stories gave me complete freedom from everything, including myself.

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

Probably from age 12-26. I wrote obsessively, hundreds of tunes and not one good one. Not a single one. You would have thought I’d have stumbled upon one or two but I didn’t. But I loved writing them even though I knew I was no good at it. And then finally a good song came to me. I was 27 and worked at a trucking company loading trucks and all the drivers were talking about seeing shit on the road late at night, white line fever. I was like hot damn, I’ll write that tune. So I write the tune about a long haul trucker who never calls his wife and all the while his wife is on a bender and ends up in a psych ward. I was so proud of the tune, my first good one after 14 years of writing bad ones. Then I played it in a bar one night and a guy comes up to me and says, “That sure don’t sound like Merle’s ‘White Line Fever’ to me.” That’s when I found out Merle Haggard had already written the tune. Even when I was certain I’d gotten a good one someone had already done it.

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

It started for me around ten but I never thought I would be much of a musician. I just always wanted to plant my flag with musicians because I grew up believing in records more than anything else. Records were always my favorite friends in life. So after a while, just to get closer to them, I joined up.

Photo credit: Jason Quigley

5+5: Old Sea Brigade

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Artist: Old Sea Brigade
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Ode To A Friend
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Here’s an ongoing list of fictional band names. I’m sure at some point some of these were rejected band names: Dog Park, Denim Ego’s, Definite Lefty, Almost Pasadena, Almost Passed Adena, Chad The Gardener, Spiders in Australia

Which artist has influenced you the most and how?

I’d say Tom Waits. A friend of mine first introduced me to his music when I was 16, and having been a big Springsteen fan, I found a similarity between his and Waits’ music. I came to find a lot of influence from Tom Waits, particularly by how he lets his songs speak for themselves. He’s not afraid to change sounds and consequently allows his voice to present itself bare-naked to listeners. There’s such an intense degree of depth and emotion in his music that always draws me in.

What’s your favorite memory on stage?

Back in February 2016 I was on tour in the UK and Europe with Joseph. For the London date I had the privilege of opening up their sold-out show at Union Chapel. The venue is an old church that has such deep history as well as amazing acoustics. The date was particularly significant because exactly a year before I was traveling around the Midwest playing to basically no one. One night I had slept in my van and woke up thinking I was going to freeze to death in a Walmart parking lot. Going from that to playing a sold out London show in front of 900 people, exactly one year later, was definitely a memorable moment I’ll never forget.

What other art forms inform your music?

I think in a lot of ways, dance has greatly informed my music. With that said, I’m a horrible dancer, but my mom was a professional ballet dancer so I spent a lot of my youth hanging out in dance studios. I’ve always been drawn to the connections between dance and music, especially for ballet. I love the unity between free flowing motions and musical rhythms, and how they seamlessly morph together to form an even greater artistic expression.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song?

I’d say I generally try and avoid writing completely fictitious songs. If it’s a character-based song, I still draw on personal experiences. Sometimes it’s easier for me to come up with one central character that embodies multiple people in real scenarios.

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

“Love Brought Weight” was a tough one to finish. I wrote the main chorus hook years before I wrote the verses. When I initially wrote it I wasn’t releasing or performing my own music and couldn’t seem to figure out where the chorus should go. It was probably three years later that I wrote the verse to the song. I initially intended for the verses and chorus to be totally different songs until I couldn’t finish either. One afternoon I realized they were in the same key and they seemed to fit perfectly together. It was one of those moments where I realized, in just five minutes, I had solved a three-year puzzle.

Photo credit: Steven Mullan

BGS 5+5: VOTH

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Artist: Caleb Voth of VOTH
Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Latest single: “Sweetest Regret”

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

For me personally, it has been John Mayer. With older siblings, I was always listening to music that was different than my peers. I remember when the album Heavier Things came out. I was only 11 years old and was captivated by Mayer’s ability to create alternate melodies with his guitar that were different than what he was singing. I didn’t even play an instrument yet but I was picking up on the intricacies of his songwriting and it captivated me. He has a way of making you feel and reminisce about things that you haven’t even experienced.

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

I would have to say it was hearing John Mayer’s Heavier Things album. Like I said, I was 11 when it came out and picked up a guitar at the age of 12. “Neon” was one of my favorite songs so I thought, “I’m going to have that be the first song I learn.” Oh boy, was I in for a treat. I actually still to this day have never mastered that song fully. I literally don’t know how he plays that song with its alternate melodies AND sings it. It truly amazes me.

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

Probably a song that we haven’t cut yet. It’s called “Show Myself to the Door” and it was written from a real and raw experience I was going through. I really liked this girl and thought there was going to be something there. I completely shared my heart and feelings with her–and there was nothing back. The song describes the guy saying everything he could possibly say, her not feeling the same way, then him showing himself to the door. The showing myself to the door never physically happened, but it was a metaphor of putting yourself out there, not being accosted, then having no choice but to walk away.

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

Man, that is a tough question. I would have to say probably right now–a fat juicy cheeseburger while listening to Chris Stapleton melt my face off. He has inspired me as a songwriter to not care about what is on the radio or what is popular, and just write from the heart. And I love burgers.

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

Honestly, we don’t hide much behind our music. I think the most authentic music is written from personal experiences. So when you hear us saying “me” and “you” — it probably truly is a “me + you” experience. It’s hard for me to write and talk about things I haven’t been through before. A lot of people can pull it off–but for us, it’s a personal thing.

BGS 5+5: High South

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Artist: High South
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Change in the Wind

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

High South has many influences and each member has his own favorite(s), of course. Interestingly though, we really do share a LOT of influences! Groups like CSN, America, the Eagles and The Band all immediately come to mind as helping shape our music. I also feel like there was an era of music from the mid ‘60s through the ‘70s when artists were very socially conscious. They wrote about love, peace and inclusion. We’ve been inspired greatly by that same spirit and whenever possible try to inject those same ideas into our music. — Jamey Garner

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite “on stage” High South memory is a recent one. We traveled to Grundlsee, Austria, this past summer to play to 10,000 very enthusiastic music fans. It was our biggest crowd yet. Such a rush!!!! — JG

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

A favorite ritual of ours is one we like to call “The Victory Dance.” There’s a Victory Dance at some point after every single High South show. It’s a chance for (usually) just the three of us to gather ourselves, talk about the show and also usually the last chance to bring up business before we really let loose. The Victory Dance is also how we refer to the joint that gets passed around during that meeting. — Kevin Campos

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

Mission statements can be a tricky thing. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the big picture. Obviously, we want to spread as much peace, love and harmony as we can, on as large a scale as possible. But the deeper we get into this thing, it’s starting to become more and more apparent that the best way to spread love is to give it honestly. That requires connection on a personal level in order to be authentic. The beauty of a real expression of love is that it feeds on itself and grows exponentially. The small victories turn into big ones in a hurry. We’re just trying to water the garden plant by plant, so to speak, in hopes that human nature will take it from there. It can be a beautiful, compassionate world if we let it be. — Phoenix Mendoza

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

A part of nature that never leaves our side, especially when we’re home, is our pets. Phoenix has a dog and Jamey has two. I am the proud uncle of Rico, Boo and Lulu, respectively. Our producer and co-writer, Josh Leo, has seven dogs and four cats out on his property in College Grove, Tennessee, where we did a lot of recording for the EP. In fact, at the very end of “Change In The Wind” you can hear a bark from his dog Jack that was at the end of an acoustic guitar track. He was probably asking to be let back in after going outside to relieve himself. Needless to say, we love our pets and have an affinity for all animals. Love, in all its facets and manifestations, is a central part of what High South is about and we feel like there a lot to be learned from the type of love a dog is capable of giving to those it chooses to love. — KC

Photo credit: Jim Shea

BGS 5+5: Chase McBride

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Artist: Chase McBride
Hometown: San Francisco
Latest album: Pink Lemonade
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Montana Slim

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I grew up with James Taylor’s music omnipresent in my life. Whether my family was relaxing at home or taking long road trips through Montana, his voice was always somewhere in the background. I remember my Dad drumming along to “You’ve Got a Friend” on the steering wheel, and singing the high-harmony parts, which is probably where I picked up on vocal harmonizing. Even as my musical tastes have expanded, I still come back to his music, impressed by the purity of his arrangements and lyricism. His album, October Road, is one of my favorites, and amazing because it was a late-career offering. Playing the song “September Grass” brings me right back to my old blue Subaru station wagon, driving down a tree-lined street in autumn, or going to visit my high-school girlfriend. Those formative experiences inform the way I approach storytelling. Nostalgia is a potent ingredient, when used effectively.

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

I went to graduate school for painting, and have been in or around the fine art world for most of my adult life. Though I’m currently a “dormant” painter, my partner Heather Day is a working artist so I vicariously live through her studio practice. One of my favorite painters is the late Philip Guston, I just love the way he talks about his work, and brings life to his images through his explanations. If my well of inspiration runs dry, I like to take the bus down to the San Francisco MOMA and visit his works. I usually come away with a kernel of inspiration to set off exploring through sound.

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

When I was very young, maybe 7 or 8, I remember rummaging through my parent’s CD collection and finding a Beethoven disc. I put it on my Dad’s stereo system, and laid back in his reclining Dad-chair. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” came on, and it gave me a rush of emotion that I hadn’t felt before or since. I played that song on repeat for three days until my Dad made me turn it off. I think I wore the CD out. I couldn’t believe that sound had the ability to elicit such a strong emotional response and I knew that I wanted to try to do that myself. Two decades later I’m still trying.

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

The studio is a sacred space for me. I take studio time very seriously, and do my best to devote my entire attention and focus to the process. For my new album, Pink Lemonade, the studio played a very important role. It was recorded with producer-extraordinaire Andrew Heringer (Milo Greene, Avid Dancer, Madi Diaz) at his Beachwood Canyon home studio, known as Mirror Wall. Andrew has such great energy, and is such a positive person to work with. He’s a yes-man, but he also knows when to guide the creative process or make a suggestion. For this album, after working out the rough bones of a song, we’d take a break in the early afternoon and walk up to the local deli at Beachwood Market for a sandwich. We used those short walks to check-in and clear our ears out. It’s important to step away from the studio every few hours to reset your ears and your creative impulses. Perspective is everything.

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

I’m going to throw a curveball here and divulge the fact that I’m a huge fan of ’90s hip-hop. Souls of Mischief, from across the bay in Oakland, are one of my favorite hip-hop groups. I would love to host a decadent meal for my close friends with fresh nigiri sushi, a bottle of Krug champagne and Souls of Mischief’s song “93 ‘Til Infinity” on repeat.

Photo credit: Nirav Patel

BGS 5+5: Stephen Kellogg

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Artist: Stephen Kellogg
Hometown: Formerly of Northampton, Massachusetts – now in Connecticut
Latest album: Objects in the Mirror
Personal nickname: Skunk

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

I love books. Dickens writes with his heart–very inspiring. Also movies. I like those art forms because my brain never tries to deconstruct what I’m experiencing in quite the same way as it does when I hear a good song. So it can be the emotion without the intellect jumping in there. For years it would bother me because certain music that was widely accepted as great would mean nothing to me, and other stuff I loved would fall under the ‘cheesy’ moniker. Then one day I realized that it was all about the lyrics for me. If the worldview was something that resonated authentically I didn’t care about the production. The same was true in reverse, cool production isn’t really enough for me to dig something. Once I learned that about myself, I was able to apply it to the other art forms. If I feel what’s being said or commented on with piece of art, there’s a good chance I can get inspired by it.

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

I once heard a quote from Tom Petty that was something to the effect of “When the muse comes to visit, if you don’t write it down that’s just ruuuude.” I think of that every time I get an idea in the middle of the night and have to wake up to jot it down in my journal. Lots of ideas come at really inconvenient times when you aren’t looking for them. When my mother-in-law passed away, her song came to me. The problem was, that I was just so sad I didn’t want to deal with it even though I knew I very much had to get it written down. I knew the moment the first line came to me that I would be singing it at her funeral a few days later, but even trying to write the song would bring me to tears. So I’d say “Ingrid’s Song” was the toughest because even though the words and chords came with some fluidity, it was a rough time to pull it out and do what needed doing. I’m glad I did though. She deserved that tribute.

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

I like this question a lot. It strikes me as very important to understand one’s purpose in all this. It can really sustain you when there are bumps in the road. For me, I don’t play music because I love playing guitar or singing. I play because I love the human connection. In recent years I’ve been doing more speaking and writing of other kinds. I have my first full length book out in March 2019 and I feel a similar rush from those experiences too. My mantra that I keep around some of my social media outlets says ‘using words and intention in the hopes of a positive legacy for my family.’ I’d say that’s the mission.

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

It occurs to me that maybe this question is simply one of picking an artist paired with the correct meal (like Sam Cooke with linguine and clams or something). I’m going to answer it though as it first occurred to me, as in who would you like to break bread with and what would you eat? There’s nothing like meeting up with an interesting person in a place where you can actually talk and kick around ideas. I do find that to be one of the great perks of the job. I always remember the anecdote that Dylan recounts of Bono swinging by his house with a case of Guinness. That sounds like a fun evening. As much as I’d love to have dinner with Tom Petty or Taylor Swift, I feel like the most thrilling connection usually occurs when you aren’t too star-struck and I wouldn’t trust myself with either of them. Also important to me in a hang is that folks have a good sense of humor. So I’d lean towards a night of steaks on the grill with Dave Grohl. I like his vibe.

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

Rarely. Probably to a fault, I need to identify with a character if I’m going to sing it. It makes it increasingly hard for me to even perform certain songs from earlier in my career because I don’t identify with the wisdom being expressed or the aims of the character. I have a ballad called “Such a Way” that I wrote when I was in my mid-twenties. I sing about “the woman down the street with a daughter twenty years.” This made lots of sense when I was 24. Now that I’m in my 40s it feels a bit lecherous when I sing that line if I think too much about it. I mean I can get back to the sentiment of young love sure, but I also have a teenage daughter myself now and it just doesn’t feel as true to me to narrate; although I’ll sing it at shows, it’s hard for me to have an emotional experience with that song sometimes. No judgment because how else can Robert Plant sing “Whole Lotta Love” or Foreigner do “Hot Blooded” without feeling ridiculous? For me, though, if I don’t relate it’s kind of like acting instead of music.

 

BGS 5+5: Hush Kids

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Artist: Hush Kids (Jill Andrews + Peter Groenwald)
Hometown: Peter – La Grange, Illinois; Jill – Johnson City, Tennessee
Latest album: Hush Kids
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Peter Butter and Jilly. Peter: P-Train, Pizza Man. Jill: Dill, Jer, Jerry, Poi, Jilly.

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

There are some things that I feel deeply but have a hard time writing about. In this case I’m either protecting myself, or protecting the subject from a song that I don’t think would do the subject justice. I started a lullaby for my daughter before she was born. After many hours on many days of working on this song, it is still unfinished. She is 4.5 years old. She is precious. I wish I could be a little less precious with the damn song so she could actually hear it while she still likes me to sing her to sleep. — Peter

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

Follow the muse wherever it leads — other people’s opinions be damned. — Jill

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

I pace a lot, especially in the studio when writing. It’s the way I can shake things up if I feel stuck. I’ll leave the room and walk around. It often helps me find perspective for a missing line or a necessary change in direction. Until recently, I used smoking for short breaks from the room. Although my walkabouts are probably disruptive to some, they’re healthier for me! — Peter

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

I live on about 17 acres, 10 of which I mow once a week. It takes a lot of time, and can cause anxiety when it’s looming above a full schedule. But, once I actually start the process, there’s nothing to do but think and look around. Sometimes that time helps clear my head, sometimes it makes it busier, but either way it seems necessary and not up to me. Also, there is something powerful and charging about routinely tracing the same path on every walkable foot of our land. The dips and bumps become more familiar and less hazardous. — Peter

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

I once watched Weird Al Yankovic play at a State Fair while eating a turkey leg. Made sense to me then. — Jill

Photo credit: Fairlight Hubbard

BGS 5+5: Granville Automatic

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Artist: Granville Automatic
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Radio Hymns
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): We really thought we were going to call the band The Sound of Yesterday.

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

Vanessa Olivarez: The fun thing about Granville is that most times, we aren’t writing about ourselves. It’s fun to dive into someone else’s human experience and imagine that it’s your own. I think as writers, we get tired of scribing the same love song over and over again in a different way … so sometimes it’s a good brain workout to shift the focus onto another topic. I’ve written from the perspective of mothers, soldiers, pieces of furniture, ghosts, lovers, and the like, and I feel like it gives me a greater appreciation for those stories I’m trying to honor. However, if you knew my life and its ins and outs, you would definitely hear all of the hidden personal feelings and thoughts within those characters. I guess you have to read between the lines!

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

VO: My rituals are sort of non-rituals. More just habitual peculiarities, like my weird motorboat warm ups, and long looping sirens, and going to the car to run (and visualize) my first song, and never eating before I sing. I also drink a ton of room temperature water and gargle it to the tune of whatever to kick-start my vox. I’m actually a very nervous performer, so I tend to get relatively quiet before I jump on stage for fear of working myself up too much. Once I get through the first song, it’s usually all bets off. I often channel the nerves into saying whatever comes into my head at any given moment … which can be either a blast or really horrifying depending on who you ask. Oh. And always lipstick on stage!!

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

VO: I would say the moment I knew I wanted to be a musician was the moment I figured out I could sing. I used to give performances for my Grandma in her living room from the time I was about 2 years old. I’d sing to Rainbow Brite, or blast my favorite record She’s So Unusual, and my Grandma always let me indulge in whatever ridiculous routine I’d put together for her. I’ve always had an affinity for music, the stage, and an audience. I don’t think that kind of thing is something you acquire, but something you’re born with. As a performer, the love you have for making people laugh, or cry, or just feel something never really disappears. That feeling is addictive.

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

Elizabeth Elkins: People who create in other mediums fascinate me. I like hanging around writers, painters, architects, etc. We’re all just trying to tell stories in different ways. Since we often write about history, there are plenty of history books that were the spark for these songs. I often think I’m just a very frustrated novelist.

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

EE: We really hope these songs are a gateway drug for people to remember stories from the past. I’ve always said this band is going to be a slow burn, but, in the end, I know we will have a collection of albums that truly have something to say.

Photo credit: Holly J Haroz

BGS 5+5: The Last Tycoon

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Artist: The Last Tycoon
Hometown: East Atlanta, Georgia
Latest album: Oppenheimer Blues
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Johnny G’s Atomic Rock ‘n Roll Orchestra, Johnny Arkansas, John Gladwin

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One night I was playing in Stockholm, Sweden, at a club in the oldest part of the city called Gamla Stan. The building was about 500 years old and the stage was in a little alcove with a few tunnels. It was winter and snowing heavily.

In the middle of the set an old Swedish guy in an overcoat was hanging around an alcove on the side of the stage. We were playing a blues tune and he jumped on stage and produced a harmonica and started to play a solo. We laughed and rolled along with it as he blew over a few choruses. The song ended, and the crowd erupted in applause and laughter. He said something to me in Swedish I didn’t understand, jumped off the stage and walked out into the cold Stockholm night.

I assumed that he was a friend of one of the other bands, but after the gig we realized neither the bands nor crowd had a clue who the man was. He just walked through the club with a harmonica in the right key, had a moment in the spotlight and left never to be heard from again. It was incredible. Often the best parts of gigs are the parts you don’t plan.

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

As a songwriter, I look for inspiration in all types of art forms – not just music. Anything can spark an idea for a song if you know where to look. The new album, Oppenheimer Blues, started while I was in New Mexico working on a TV pilot for CBS, and films became a constant frame of reference during the writing and recording of the album. I watch a film nearly every day. When I’m writing, sometimes a character can start off in a song and end up in a screenplay I’m writing – or vice versa. There isn’t much difference between the rhythm of a song and the rhythm of a script.

Since this record was born on a New Mexico film set, and this is a 5+5 piece, here are five films that inspired Oppenheimer Blues:

Hiroshima Mon Amour
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Ace in the Hole
Night of the Hunter
Paris, Texas

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

There is craft in songwriting, but craft only gets you so far. Sometimes a song just takes time and you must give it space to grow. If a song doesn’t work, I don’t beat my head against the wall trying to make it. Instead, I try to find an oblique approach to coax it out of the ground.

The song on Oppenheimer Blues that was the trickiest to finish was “Lincoln County Oracle.” The song was inspired by the Oracle at Delphi from Greek history. A young woman would be selected to live in a cave, dance herself into a reverie and decide things of cultural, spiritual and political importance. I thought it would be great to put her into a 21st century trailer park in New Mexico. I had the tune but couldn’t get the verses to work, so I decided to write a screenplay for a short film based around the character. It took a little while but after finishing the script I was able to go back and complete the song.

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

Oppenheimer Blues sprouted out of the New Mexico desert. I spend a lot of time camping and hiking out in the desert. Sitting under the stars on an ocean of dirt is a great place to do some writing. There’s a reason painters like Georgia O’Keeffe have been coming to the New Mexican desert for a century or more – there’s simply no place like it.

I often ran the trails on Sandia Mountain in Albuquerque and in the Jemez Mountains outside of Los Alamos while writing the record. We shot the music videos for the album on the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos, the Galisteo Basin outside Santa Fe and the White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo. Each place has its own unique look. It’s hard to explain to friends from the East Coast how compelling dirt and rocks can be to look at. But if you hang around long enough in the desert, you begin to notice that none of it looks alike and every sunset is more incredible than the last.

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

I don’t mind having characters in my songs. If every song was autobiographical, then we would only have songs about writing songs (which I acknowledge is a popular subgenre in some corners of Nashville). Songs can have elements of yourself as well as characters that give you freedom to explore scenarios you could never in real life.

The opening track on Oppenheimer Blues is a song called “Where Shadows Grow.” It’s written from the perspective of a murderer who is driving across the desert. A friend of mine wanted a title song for a film he was making, so I gladly put on the black hat for that track. Unfortunately, the movie never got finished but I got a great song out of it. And honestly, it’s just more fun playing the bad guy sometimes.

Photo credit: Melanie Rosenthal