Tag: lucero

MIXTAPE: Lucero’s Ben Nichols & Rick Steff Celebrate the Spaces In Between

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

(Editor’s Note: Ben Nichols and Rick Steff, two members of Lucero, recently released a special acoustic album, Lucero Unplugged, reimagining songs from across the band’s 25-year catalog. To celebrate its release on January 24, we asked the pair to curate a Mixtape for BGS.)

Rick and I each chose five songs for this playlist focusing on the spaces in between the notes. We feel these songs illustrate that sometimes it’s the notes that are chosen not to be played that add weight and impact. It’s the spaces in between the notes that bring life to the notes that are there. Rick’s picks naturally focus on piano players and my own choices lean more towards acoustic guitars. It’s easy to tell who suggested which songs. But I love the list we ended up with. Thanks for letting us participate in this and thanks for listening. – Ben Nichols

With all these choices it’s the notes not played, the spaces between, the breaths between the sounds. When making Lucero Unplugged these players and records informed a lot of the choices and approaches I took with regards to dynamics and voicings, and mainly just trying to be a solid accompanist for Ben and to the song. – Rick Steff

“Dayton Ohio 1903” – Randy Newman

Randy Newman is the king of piano voicing. Where he places his notes is always perfect. He’s also an amazing accompanist and I always think of him whenever I record piano. This often overlooked song shows all of that as well as being a portal to another time. – RS

“Florida” – Thomas Dollbaum

One of my favorite (mainly) acoustic records. A friend turned me on to Thomas’ album, Wellswood, and I liked it so much I asked Thomas to come to The Whitewater Tavern in my hometown of Little Rock and play my 50th birthday party with me. In the song “Florida” we hear a story that’s rough around the edges sung in a voice that’s vulnerable, but builds with the music and then pulls the rug out from under you, punching you in the gut. He’s so good he makes me jealous. – BN

 “Waterlow” – Mott the Hoople

Ian Hunter. No band was more influential to me than Mott the Hoople and their early records have amazing keyboard parts. “Waterlow” reminds me of Lucero songs compositionally. Beautiful song and lovely piano arpeggio that follows the vocal. – RS

“Goin’ Down South”  – R.L. Burnside

The haunting drone of this early R.L. Burnside recording captured my imagination the first time I heard it. In between the driving acoustic guitar licks and the churning vocals you can hear the Mississippi Hill Country nights. You can see the Mississippi River and feel its meandering presence as it makes its way south relentlessly, through the middle of the country. – BN

“I Keep a Close Watch” – John Cale

John Cale. Again, all about accompanying. This performance has always been a favorite of mine from the ex-Velvet Underground solo catalog. John’s piano work in the Velvets has also influenced and showed up on Lucero records for sure. – RS

“Good Woman” – Cat Power

The Lucero song “When You Decided to Leave,” featured on the new Lucero Unplugged album Rick and I just released, was written after I heard this Cat Power song. The lyrics about leaving something you love, being a “good” or “bad” woman or man, and the conflict and heartbreak bound up in that hit me hard. The instrumentation and performances accentuate that ache and desire. A desire for someone (maybe ourselves) to be a way they cannot be. – BN

“A Salty Dog” – Procol Harum

Gary Brooker was an amazing pianist and this song features something I’ve tried to achieve on various recordings throughout the years, the piano vignette. A small section removed from everything else that resets the song in a unique way. Like a structured solo, sort of. This is to me one of the most moving songs of the sixties and often still brings me a tear. Same band as “Whiter Shade of Pale,” by the way. – RS

“Bruised Ribs” – Joey Kneiser

I’d been a fan of Joey Kneiser’s band, Glossary, for years and when he released this acoustic solo album I fell in love with it. The straightforward presentation with delicate and thoughtful accompaniment lets the power of his simply perfect lyrics shine through. It doesn’t get much better than this. This album definitely influenced me to write some solo acoustic songs myself. – BN

“Ruby’s Arms” – Tom Waits

It’s difficult to choose one Tom Waits song to show his piano style, having spent decades with his music. His barroom piano voicings and dramatic tempo rises and falls – “Ruby’s Arms” showcases those beautifully and heartbreakingly. – RS

“Living on the Moon” – Adam Faucett

Adam is from Little Rock, Arkansas (like me), and this song is one of my favorites. Again, it goes back to the spaces in between the notes– the choices he made about the sounds we hear. We hear everything we need and nothing we don’t for the ultimate emotional impact. There is a preciseness to the recordings of all the songs on this list that I haven’t been able to capture much in my career. But I love it. And I’m still learning and hopefully there is a little of that on this new Lucero Unplugged album. – BN

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the artist.

Robert Earl Keen Explores Americana in New Podcast

Posted on by Editor

Years before the term Americana entered the musical lexicon, Robert Earl Keen was out on the road that goes on forever, playing his unmistakable blend of folk, country, and Texas roots music. With decades of insight to provide, he’s launched Americana Podcast: The 51st State, where he sits down with some like-minded artists for warm conversation. His first two guests are Jamestown Revival (listen) and Lucero (listen).

“Is there a substitute for close-up, in-the-same-room communication?” Keen remarks. “I’ve spent my entire career on the interviewee side of the microphone. We are trying to replicate the environment that in my experience I’ve felt the most comfortable. I’m sure as we move through this podcast journey that we’ll make exceptions or compromises, but for now we want to be up close and face to face with the artists. It’s more real.”

Keen answered some questions by email for BGS.

BGS: What prompted the idea for you to launch a podcast?

REK: As a touring band it’s easy to spend all your time working the road. One can become isolated from the current music culture. Consequently, I keep my eyes and ears open for things that keep me connected.  My producer, Clara Rose, suggested a podcast. We decided Americana was our best route. She secured the name, and started making calls to artists. It’s been an accurate way to keep in touch with the current music culture. We are standing on the precipice of an artistic revolution overlooking the most creative group of artists in the last hundred years. I didn’t know this before our podcast. I’m sure some will argue to the contrary, but because of this podcast, I’m able to contribute to the discussion.

What is it about this community of songwriters and musicians that appeals to you?

I love the warts-and-all quality of Americana. I lived in Austin, Texas, in the ’80s and it was home to the richest artistic and chaotic neutral environments anywhere. Of course, there were world-class songwriters and guitar players (Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan), and there were legendary folk heroes (Kenneth Threadgill and The Grey Ghost) but there were unclassifiable things as well. The Uranium Savages, Spamarama, the O’Henry Pun-off, Eeyore’s Birthday Party, Max for Mayor, and an untold amount of crazy music venues. One night I went into what might be considered the first craft beer emporium in the Southwest, Maggie Mae’s, and there was a guy on stage playing pots and pans from his kitchen. Maybe Americana doesn’t encompass a pots and pans player, but I love the kitchen-sink quality of Americana.

Is there a common thread among your guests for far?

Most all the artists were either guitar players or in a guitar sound-driven band. The thread that is most apparent to me is these are all seasoned and passionate musicians. They are all committed for the long haul. Not in for the money or fame, but like me, play music because the idea of any other kind of life doesn’t appeal.

What has surprised you the most as this podcast project has come to fruition?

The interest and positive reinforcement are overwhelming. When I told family I wanted to play music for a living, except for my mom, they were less than encouraging. Even she tried to talk me into going to piano-tuning school to have something as a backup. When I told my friends in the music industry that I wanted to jump from an independent label to a major label, they asked, “Why?” When I tell people that we’re doing a podcast, they send me confetti texts before they even ask what kind of podcast. I don’t know what the difference is but it’s a big difference.

What do you hope the fans will take away from the first two episodes of Americana Podcast?

I hope they hear in the first three minutes of this podcast that we’re dedicated to the highest quality of production values and we are adamantly committed to shining a ten thousand candle power light on the beauty and magic of Americana music. Anything less means we should up our game.

Top photo (L-R): Jonathan Clay of Jamestown Revival, Robert Earl Keen, Zach Chance of Jamestown Revival
Middle photo: Lucero’s Brian Venable and Ben Nichols with Robert Earl Keen
Photos used with permission.

Lucero Carries ‘Among the Ghosts’ Around the World

Posted on by Editor

Lucero marked their 20th year as a band in 2018 with a block party in their native Memphis as well as a satisfying new album, Among the Ghosts. Before the year’s up, the band’s schedule is carrying them to the United Kingdom for six shows. (Also, Australia beckons in 2019.) International touring has sometimes proven tricky to pull off, says the band’s frontman Ben Nichols.

“We feel bad actually about not giving enough of our attention to Europe. We’ve been so busy in the States I’m afraid we’ve been a bit neglectful of Europe in the past,” he admits. “The U.K. has always been nice to us but we just haven’t been able to get over there as much as we would like. And we’ve played shows on the continent even less. Part of that has been simple logistics, time, and money; but also maybe a little naiveté on our part… we never thought anyone over there would be interested in our little band from Memphis. Hopefully all that is changing.”

Just before heading overseas, Nichols answered a few questions by email.

As you prepare to begin an overseas tour, do you change anything from your U.S dates, such as your set list, your merch, or the gear that you bring?

We used a set list for the first time on the recent Among the Ghosts U.S. tour. In the past we tended to make it up as we went along. On this tour though I wanted to be sure I could fit all the new songs in every night and I wanted to pick old songs that complemented them, so we made a set list and it worked out well. We will probably play something very similar on the U.K. run. As far as gear goes we will be renting a backline of drums and amps so that we don’t have to fly with the heavy stuff. But of course we will bring our own guitars. As far as merchandise goes I’m not sure what we’ve got going on. Mainly I just want folks to buy that new album.

As you tour, in the U.S. or abroad, have you ever encountered any cool guitars or gear that you just couldn’t pass up?

I tend to find a guitar and an amp I like and just beat the hell out of them until they won’t play anymore and then I get another one when they finally give out and can’t be repaired anymore. So as long as what I’ve got is holding up, I’m not really in the market for anything new. I know that’s a boring answer but it is the truth. My old Epiphone Sheraton and my Blues Jr are all I need right at the moment.

You recorded this album in your hometown of Memphis at Sam Phillips Recording Service. How would you describe the room, and what was the vibe in the studio when you were recording the album?

It has a very strong 1959 aesthetic! Not much has changed about the building itself since it was opened in 1960. Sam’s office upstairs is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. The place isn’t open to tourists. It was built to be a recording studio. And working there with a producer and engineer like Matt Ross-Spang, you can’t beat it. He is the kind of guy who knows exactly how Sam Phillips intended that place to be used, from the main studio to the reverb chambers to the hallway and the bathroom. Every bit of the place was made with sound in mind. And Matt gets the most out of that. I can hear it on our record.

With its ominous imagery and some excellent guitar licks, the song “Among the Ghosts” is one of the album’s finest moments. What were you hoping to capture in this song?

It was one of the first pieces of music I’d written for the album, but it was the last one to get lyrics. The music really took shape as we cut it on the floor. I didn’t know exactly what we had until Matt played it back to us the next day. It was exactly what I wanted to hear at the moment and it needed the exact right lyrics. At the last minute it fell together. My wife and daughters have made a big impact on me since getting married almost three years ago, and writing about being away from them fit the song perfectly. All of the lyrics on this new record are exactly what I want to be singing every night while I’m on tour.

The end of a year can be a time for reflection. What have been some of the highlights of 2018 for you?

For me it’s been all about watching my two-year-old growing up. She knows what I do and loves to come to shows. Those are special ones when she can be there. Coming back to the U.K. with this record is actually a very big deal for us and I’m very much looking forward to that. We paid for this record ourselves and released it on our own label with distribution help from Thirty Tigers and I take great pride in that. We were on national television in the U.S. for the first time recently and that was a milestone as well. So it’s been a productive year.

What can your fans expect from Lucero in 2019?

We get to go back to Australia early next year and that is exciting. The plan is to play just enough to pay our bills and make plenty of time to spend with our families. And also get back into Sam Phillips and work with Matt some more. I’m so proud of Among the Ghosts I want to keep writing and recording as much as we can.

Photo credit: Dan Ball

From Memphis to Metal: Lucero Covers a Lot of Ground

Posted on by Editor

Lucero is one of those bands that has been around so long, pretty much everyone's been a fan at one point or another. And, if not, the new album might just change that. With its acoustic underpinnings, All a Man Should Do is the country-rock outfit's most mellow offering to date … though it still kicks plenty of ass. For this set, frontman Ben Nichols had a lot to work through, not to mention a record he'd always wanted to make. So the gang packed into Ardent Studios in their hometown of Memphis, TN, and got down to business. That's guitarist Brian Venable's story, anyway … and he's sticking to it.

How's Milwaukee on this fine morning?

Brian Venable: Ahhh, let's just see. It is bright. Scott is not wearing a jacket, so it might not be too cold. And … that's about it. That's all I got. It looks like Milwaukee.

You're going into day three of five shows in a row. Man, if you're being held against your will, clear your throat or sneeze and I'll send some help.

Ha. I do have the sniffles, but it ain't nothing. We had two days off two days ago … three days … I don't know.

See? [Laughs]

But we've had some time off. [Laughs] And we're making up for it. In the old days, we would've left on October 1 and not come home until December 19. Now, it's two more shows and then we're off for a week-and-a-half, and then we do the West Coast. We have to pack them in a little bit knowing that we get to go home and actually be home for a little while.

Well, let's talk about home. Let's talk about Memphis. Obviously, it has a deep, rich musical history, but tell me about the scene that you guys came up in.

Memphis has always … I mean, it's Memphis. You love it. We're self-sabotaging, dirty, amazing people. We've got a chip on our shoulder. Nashville always thinks they're better than us and we always think we're better than Little Rock. It just trickles down.

But we all came out of different … we're punk-rock kids, to some degree. Ben grew up in Little Rock, so I think that's where we might've gotten our work ethic — a “We should do this, but we don't know how to do this, but that's not going to stop us” kind of thing.

There are always bands in Memphis. There's always going to be a local scene, whether you're part of it or not. Some days, I feel real old because I don't go out as much. We'd play shows pretty much by ourselves and then, at some point, you make friends and somebody's like, “Oh, come play a show with us!” Then, all of a sudden, it's Lucynell Crater, Lucero, Bicycle Thief, somebody else … every freaking weekend. Then, slowly but surely, you start opening for the big bands that come through. I think, in our world, the North Mississippi All-Stars were the first ones to make it out and they took us out opening for them way before we were ready … which was awesome. There's just always some sort of music going on and those bands maybe also put out a CD or a 7-inch and then break up six months or a year later and don't ever play again. Some of the best bands you've never seen in your life have been together, broken up, and moved on, and you're just like, “Man! What happened?!”

Just that moment in time.

Well, that's the thing … we're too dumb to quit. But we set ourselves up. “Dare to be great” sounds amazing, but it's more like “Paint ourselves in a corner” with the whole “Don't have real jobs. Move into one place and live together and buy a van you have to pay the note on.” I mean, we have to do this. A lot of people are like, “Nah. I'm going to be a graphic designer.” Or, “I'm going to go back to … whatever.” We don't really have anything to go back to.

Yeah, yeah. To me, the thing that makes Memphis — and the sound that comes out of there — special is somewhere between Sun, Hi, and Stax in a beautiful collision of Southern rock, soul, country, and blues.

Because we're all surrounded by it. I walked past Ardent [Studios] for four years before I knew what it was. It's that kind of stuff. I used to watch Alex Chilton wash dishes at Avalon Café because he didn't have money to pay for his food. I didn't really put it together, at the time. I was 15 or 16. You're surrounded by all of that and you throw in your Grifters, your Goner Records, your Oblivians — which is, basically, blues stripped down to its essence.

It's also hidden. We were able to play shows for almost two years to, literally, nobody — not necessarily no crowds, but no outside influence. Nobody told me not to play over Ben while he sang. Nobody told us about song structure or that we needed bridges. We made our own and that's part of the beauty of Memphis — you get to incubate longer and you can draw on all these crazy things. You can be like, “Man, I just heard this crazy something the other day.” And you can bring it in without anybody saying, “No. We only play country.”

I was a punk-rock kid who got fascinated with Lynyrd Skynyrd and worked my way back to “T Is for Texas.” And you find Jimmie Rodgers. Then you find the Carter Family. You take a curve and that leads you down to … I worked at Last Chance Records and some old dude had to sell his entire bluegrass record collection so I got swamped into that. You just find things and pull from it because there's not a scene, necessarily, that is so musically strict. You want to start a dance band, you start a dance band. But, if you play in a rock 'n' roll band and want to have a dance song, you write a dance song.

So, which of those things — if it's possible to pinpoint any — which of those varied influences would you say are informing this new record. It's definitely different than records past.

It's not necessarily a joke, because Ben has said it in press releases and interviews … it's that record we all wanted to make … for me, it was maybe before I discovered punk rock, when you're like, “Oh, the Smithereens, the Violent Femmes …” And somebody says, “If you like that, you should listen to this.” And there's that small window, for me anyway and a bigger one for Ben, where it was the Stone Roses and the jangly … I like to say we're a paisley shirt and a bolo tie away from being the Smithereens on this record. [Laughs]

[Laughs] You really are.

Cory Branan heard the record before it was out and said, “Man, that record sounds like it was made by a band with nothing to prove.” And I was like, “Is that a bad thing or a good thing?” [Laughs] But, really, it is. At this point, every record we put out is going to be “the big record.” We've been hearing that since the first record. After a while, we just make records we want to make.

Ben had some good life experience that was poured into the lyrics. It's a stronger record, lyrically, than the last few have been, to me. Not that they're bad, but this one definitely had a direction before it had a direction. And we'd done that stripped-down Texas and Tennessee EP and that kind of lit us. You can only get so loud in R&B and loud, solo-y Southern rock before you need to bring it back. I think that's part of it.

When we say “the old sound,” for me it's learning those country bends or learning a new soul-shaped chord structure and being able to actually introduce it. For him, it's being able to play acoustic and have that feel. We're older and, if you step back from it, our whole discography is a very dynamic one. It starts out quiet, crescendo, bring it back … Who knows? It might be quiet for the next two records and then we make a metal record or whatever. [Laughs]

[Laughs] You had a quote I love where you were talking about the different fans you can bring along: “I think our music is always open to so many different people that you can actually discover us as a 14-year-old Against Me! fan, that turns into a 25-year-old Wilco fan, that turns into a 45-year-old Kris Kristofferson fan.” I like it when I see bands aging gracefully, but still rocking …

Man. Will you write that down and send it to my manager — that we're aging gracefully? [Laughs] That's a third-party actual quote.

[Laughs] Will do. It seems, like you were saying, if your sound evolves with your life and maybe mellows a bit in pace with you and your fans, that's just good for job security, right?

I mean, we're the hardest-working, best-kept secret in the music industry, is what I like to think. We're still everybody's favorite band. We are not the popular band. And there's nothing wrong with that. We make a living. We have fun. We get to make the art we want to make. Nobody's telling us to change. But it's definitely something … we can be 80 years old, sitting on stools on stage and still making music.

But it's also hard to sell when you're … this is other people telling us this and it tickles me: “That range is great, but …” They can't put us in a box, going from the 14-year-olds to the 50-year-olds. Are we country? Are we bluegrass? “Oh, they're punk-rock kids.” “Oh, but we're going to put them on this country show.” But that, to me, does mean we'll last longer, because we don't get pigeon-holed, blow up, turn into a one-record wonder, and fizzle away. I like being that edgy, kind of tense, always hungry. We make fun records that we like to make. And we're very lucky that people want to hear them still. But it is an interesting dynamic … until we start getting drunk and fighting each other.

The beauty of that more mellow stuff is that you pick up pansies like me who love good acoustic rock more than the punkier stuff. So, I'm going to agree with Salon — I think this may be your best record yet.

Man, we were terrified to put this record out. We were just like, “Oh, we're about to make everybody mad.” People we thought would truly hate it were like, “It's like the old stuff!” And, we're going to let them say that, but it's nothing like the old stuff. “If you feel that way and you're not talking bad about it …”

When1372 came out with the horns, you'd have thought we were killing babies on stage. They were just like, “What is this shit?! Horns?! Rock 'n' roll doesn't have horns!” What are you talking about? Lynyrd Skynyrd. Listen to the studio records. Alice Cooper. It's ridiculous. Bill Haley & His Comets. We had the same thing when we put Rick [Steff] on the piano, a lot of people were like, “Whoa!” Nobody wants you to mess with their original formula and everybody's original formula comes on a different timeline in our career.

So we put it out and were like, “Alright. Get ready for some amazingly bad reviews.” Then everybody started liking it and it was, “Alright! I like this.”

Well, a lot of people talk these days about streaming and playlists being the thing. That's going to serve you guys really well because you can be on a lot of different playlists, right? So there's an upside here.

Yeah, and that's the thing … we don't argue about the track listing anymore because, in the end, they're going to buy the CD maybe. But most people are going to buy it off iTunes or whatever and they'll pull the four songs they like the most. At this point, it's almost a singles club. You could almost put out a new song every day for 12 days and let people put their own order into it and it would be no different.

Us doing 10 songs … just because you can put 20,000 songs on a CD doesn't mean you should. We like the days when it was five songs on each side, if you're lucky, of a record. That seemed to make more of an impact. It's interesting. We've gone through a couple of crazy shifts in the music industry and seem to have weathered them. We got the rock songs on this one for the people that want the country-rock. We got the acoustic rock. We cover all the borders …

Except the Southern metal that I know you love.

Aw, man! Phew! How'd you know that? [Laughs] That's my dirty secret! It's not a dirty secret … it's glorious! When [Jonathan] Athon from Black Tusk passed away, we were almost … it never came about, but we were going to do a Lucero version of a Black Tusk song, all kind of quiet. And, in the middle of it, I was going to get to holler and scream. And we were going to get as metal as humanly possible, then bring it back down and sneak it in. But, yeah … whew … I wish we could make one.

We've been doing “Noon as Dark as Midnight” because A$AP Rocky sampled it for that one song [“Holy Ghost”], so we've been trying to capitalize on that. But it affords me a five-minute guitar wank/freak out which, at this age, seems excessive. I get to use all 12 notes repeatedly. So that's kind of fun.

You busted me out just then. That's pretty funny.

Well, that's all I have. I won't divulge anything else. I'll keep the rest for next time.

Alright.

Photos courtesy of Lucero