Sharing A Six Pack with Jesse Lafser

As I've mentioned more than once, the annual Couch By Couchwest festival has opened my eyes to many fantastic performers the last few years. (As a reminder, CXCW happens live each March. Unlike other festivals that end after a days, however, CXCW remains available for listening year-round.)

One such artist I've met and grown to enjoy is Jesse Lafser (web | Twitter). Her sophomore record, Raised On The Plains, was released earlier this week on April 28th.

Jesse is an unabashed Dylan / folk song fan and mentions frequently his influence on her songwriting style. Yet she brings her own individuality, insights, musical twists to traditional folk and grace to her approach in writing and performing her songs.

The few times I've seen perform Jesse perform - on CXCW and in Nashville - I've experienced her with a guitar and a microphone. For Plains, she surrounded herself with a full band adding a rich and complementary yet deferential sound to her own guitar and vocals work.

The album's hopping opener, Jack Hat Blues, was her submission to Couch By Couchwest 2015.

Jesse and I recently shared a virtual Six Pack ... of Questions.

TMC: So right from the jump, the world wants to know. How many hats DO you have?

JL: A fair question. Currently, I've got about 5 hats. I get really into one at a time and wear it until it doesn't feel like me anymore and then I switch it up. Recently, I've been on a quest for the perfect black hat...they are surprisingly hard to come by. Hoping I'll find one on the road out west this May!

TMC: You worked with Will Kimbrough on the new album. Were there a couple of "a-ha!" moments - from either of you - as the two of you spent time working through songs, the recording process, etc.?

JL: Will and I agreed before the session that we wouldn't rehearse the songs he played on ahead of time. We tracked them live in the same room which gave the tracks a great energy. 

I think sometimes the most inspired sounds come when you feel slightly unsure, like you're dancing on the edge of a cliff, not sure if you'll fall or not. He never falls though. I trust him. He's one of the greatest players of all time, and it was an honor to have him on the album. 

Darling, It's A Waste of Time is a swinging, tap-your-toe, yet blusey song - one with which you cannot suppress a smile as you listen to it.


The fourth track from the album, The Chores Song, is one of my three favorites from the release. The song also happens to have been Jesse's submission to CXCW in 2014. On the album, the uptempo song is enriched by a prominent fiddling riff and some wonderful harmony vocals from Lindsay Hayes. It also features Jesse's gifted guitar picking.

I don't want you to do the chores

I don't need you to sweep the floors

If you wanted a maid, you made a huge mistake

We could steal away to Barcelona

I'll be Jack, and you'll be Ramona

We could find a place down by the sea

Spend all day at the cafe down the street

Well, I  never minded working hard
Never minded doing my time
Do the dishes, work in the yard
Pay the bills, write a rhythm and a rhyme

TMC: You aren't FROM Nashville - yet you've BECOME part of Nashville's ever growing variety of music. After relocating here a few years ago, what has been the best or maybe easiest thing about living here? And the most challenging aspects? (That's actually 2 questions, but let's pretend it's just happy hour.)

JL: The hot chicken. Also East Nashville itself - I'm not sure I could still live in Nashville if it weren't for this neighborhood - it's amazing how rivers have always forged two very different parts of town with completely different energies. I feel lucky to be able to walk a few blocks and see Todd Snider and other great songwriters like Don Schlitz (he wrote "The Gambler") for happy hour at The 5 Spot. It's really incredible how collaborating with other artists can happen so naturally here. All you have to do is take a few steps out your front door. 

That's not to say living here doesn't come without challenges - there are many of those too. For one thing, there are no mountains. I am the best version of myself when I can see nature all around me in an obvious way - that's what inspires me most. 

I also think that because this town is so saturated with incredible talent. There is this survival mentality and maybe even a sense of fear of being left behind. It can become this 'every man for himself' kind of place where everyone is begging for scraps from the table. It's not easy, but I am learning if you can get past this perspective and try to continue to cultivate a supportive community of artists, it's a much more enjoyable experience. I am also very competitive so this is a good reminder for myself on a daily basis. 

TMC: I understand many of the songs on the new record are based on your travels a year or ago through the southwestern states of the US. (By the way, I dig the subtle accordion on Gone Gone Gone.) Did the songs come to you in those moments - or did you reflect back on those experiences to compose them somewhere down the line?

JL: Thank you! The songs pretty much came out in a flood once I returned home. Whenever I go out on the road, I try to explore and take in as much as I can - it's amazing what you can find in a town if you go on long walks. I end up collecting these sensory experiences and observations of the characters and the cultures I come across. This always finds a way to the page.

TMC: How about songwriting in general. What is your pattern - if you have one - for writing songs? I'm curious if you dedicate time during the week to write, if you frequently write them in a single setting or two, or if you tend to log lyrics or stanzas over time with some of them eventually finding their way together to build a song.

JL: This is a very insightful question because everyone really is different in these three main ways. My best songs are the ones that come out of thin air, I guess you could say from the big creative wellspring, or the muse. This is a strange thing, but my very best songs come two at a time, back to back, in one sitting. This is rare though. And some songs come to me bits at a time and require more work. Either way, I always try to come back and edit them after the 'honey moon' phase has passed. 

Mountain Air is another of my genuinely favorite songs from the album. As recorded, it's thoroughly enjoyable. But heard live, it takes on a different perspective. I've listened to it - outdoors - in East Nashville - sitting with my eyes closed -  a bit of rhythmic head nod - a slight smile on my face - and a cold one on the table untouched as the song unfolds..

TMC: When I've seen you perform, I've sat quietly, listened intently, uttered the occasional "umh" when a particular lyric resonated, and then clapped when you were done with a song. You aren't really a performer who brings out the moshing, screeching or Flick-the-Bic fan bases. How do you measure, interpret, evaluate, or whatever you want to call it your connection with your audience during a show? And do you find you get different responses or engagement depending on what part of the country you tour?

JL: I think I feel a connection with my audience when they are actively listening - pretty much what you just said, you're the perfect audience member! It does depend a little on the song though. I think for the more rollicking blues songs it's nice to look out and see people moving and feeling the music. I have noticed I do really well out west, and I'm not really sure why. If I figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know!

As the album nears its end, my third fave Virginia Morning continues to hold the listener's ear. The title and visualizations don't exactly evoke the U.S. west. Yet I'm glad it was included. The richness of the backing instruments is again featured as is Lafser's spot-on pitch in varying vocal ranges. Plus,one can never have enough mountain - or train - songs.

I took the train from Virginia

With a head full of rain

And I saw my reflection

In that Blue Ridge Mountain range

You are waiting on me, I am waiting for you

Wheels are flying, steel driving, feeling free

As I'm closing the distance between you and me

Raised on the Plains can be purchased at all the normal spots - iTunes, Amazon, Grimey's in Nashville, and perhaps even your local record store - especially upon request.

TMC

Life's Perceptual Fraction

We have a management program at work based on conceptual models grouped into a series of themes. One of the models is called the Perceptual Fraction which posits the way an item is viewed depends on its relationship to other items. For example:

• Fork over $1,000 for a car stereo? No way. But include a $1,000 audio package as part of a new car purchase? Sure, OK. I'll finance it! 
• Pay eight bucks for a bottle of beer at the local grocery or liquor store? Hell no! But go to dinner and add a local microbrew high gravity stout to your tab? Hey, it's cool supporting the local brewers!
• Year 1 raise is 8 percent. Year 2 is only 4 percent. Uh oh. But what if average year 2 raise for everyone was 2 percent?

From a management perspective, the model says a manager should (1) understand if a change will even be noticed and (2) put the change in the right context when it will be noticed.

I recently notched a half-century and am not ashamed to say so. I am, however, reluctant to say I fully comprehend what it means. Am I half-way there, two-thirds of the way along, or living on borrowed time?

I know I react differently to things at 50 than I did at 18 ... or 25 ... or 40. Maybe my denominator has just grown larger so that my 'perceptual fraction' isn't as affected relatively as it once was. Impulsive reactions years ago seem to be replaced by more intentional, deliberate actions today. Well, some of the impulsiveness remains - just not as much.

Generally speaking, I'm not a big birthday guy. Every year, I just view the day as one day more than yesterday. But I'd be lying if I denied that this one has made me think a bit more than I did at 30 or 40.

Over the last few years, I've blogged about all sorts of stuff. Music, faith, travel, parenting, racing, beer, idiocy of others, home improvement - just to name a few subjects. I imbibe in all of the above and am average at best in most of them.

Several years ago, Tommy Womack wrote and recorded Going Nowhere (and was included by co-writer Jason Ringenberg on The Scorchers' Clear Impetuous Morning). The refrain is:

I'm going nowhere, just going nowhere
I can't see tomorrow, but I'm leaving here today
I'm going nowhere, but at least I know the way

Those few lines still make me laugh - but they also resonate with me perhaps more now than at any point of my life. I'm confused about many things, and I stumble about working on all of them these days. Yet I figure I'm still trying to keep life in a forward gear vs. reverse.

I've honestly tried to be a good pop. Perfect? Shooooot, there's no such thing as a perfect parent. But so far, so good in all material respects - without trying to be too prideful about it or overly optimistic about where things go from here. Regarding my son, I've blogged about such things as:

• Creative uses for duct tape
• Getting a cell phone
• Cutting the grass
• Getting his driver's license

Yet, its really hard to think how quickly time flew from this...

... to this 15 years later later ...


And now the boy ... err, young man will hit 20 this year. Twenty!

My daughter is killing it academically and has convinced me to shut my pie hole when she sets her mind about committing to something.

• Middle school: "You haven't taken tap or ballet, and we're not sure you'll make the dance team squad." "I'll practice." Boom, she makes it.
• Middle school: "You haven't gone to any sort of cheer or tumbling camp. You sure you want to try out for cheerleading?" "I'll watch YouTube." Boom, she makes it.
• Band: "You want to march with with the high schoolers as an eighth grader? It's awfully hot at band camp." "I can do it." Boom: done.
• High school: "You want to march in drum line?" "Yep." "Done, I have full confidence you can handle it."

A few other perspectives of late - things that ever entered my mind a quarter-century ago:

• My knees are shot, I'm overweight, and my doc now lectures me about my blood pressure. On the up side, I still have a full head of hair with only a smattering a gray around my temples. Take that, you younger, graying, balding dudes I see jogging regularly.
• Newspapers - I concede that like many I've bailed on the paper version - yet I regularly reference old ones through Google News Archive and my local library. Yet how will the news of today be archived for future researchers to study - from an availability perspective and without retrospective editing.
• A nervous I do and I will suddenly became half my life with a ring on my finger. Dang.
• Twitter has become a dark place. I'm grateful for the accounts I follow and that follow me. I've avoided being directly engaged with the ugliness and hostility that seems to permeate it but I see many others hit with it. It'll eventually strangle Twitter.
• I grew up listening to my parents' LPs. Some I liked - many I didn't. But I  remember the albums, and a lot of their preferences influenced the music I now enjoy. They also knew (and didn't like) my preferences of KISS, Boston, Rush, Frampton, Aerosmith, AC/DC, etc. As an adult and parent now, technology has altered the paradigm for my kids and me. I listen to most of my music on computer speakers, in the car, or through ear buds - away from others. My kids do the same. Result? Neither side knows much about what the other is listening to. Upside: They'll create their own interests. Downside: They'll have no memories of what their old man listened to in their childhood.
• I realize how naive - maybe even just plain dumb - I was as a teen. Over time, I became open-minded - then skeptical - then cynical. The last few years, I "peaked" at cynical and reverted back to a blend of skepticism and open-mindedness. I just hope I don't become a naive, vulnerable dope again in my later years, and I earnestly pray I never become a bitter curmudgeon.

All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
 of a miracle too good to be true
All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary
to everything in life you thought you knew
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
'cause sometimes the target is you

TMC

Screen Door Porch - Modern Settler

New York. LA. Chicago. Austin. Nashville. Seattle. Jackson Hole. Wait. What? WYOMING???

Screen Door Porch (web | Twitter) will release their third album - Modern Settler on February 10th.

Seadar Rose and Aaron Davis front the band musically, lyrically and vocally. Though now based in Wyoming, the duo have southern roots in North Carolina and Kentucky. That background seems to have influenced the song's musical arrangements - though most of the lyrics are heavily rooted in the great expanse of the western states. For Modern Settler, the band's grooving rhythm sound is rounded out with Tom Davidson on bass and Andy Peterson on drums.

The album is a fun listen from beginning to end. A few of the ten tracks are straight-forward musically with thought-provoking, poetic lyrics. Others have a very full, rich sound resulting from complex yet enjoyable musical arrangements including slide guitar, an organ, horns, interesting percussion additions, and solid-yet-jazzlike drumming.

Collectively, the sound and vocals remind me a bit of Donna The Buffalo ... and The Reivers from the late 1980s ... and Natalie Merchant from 10,000 Maniacs.

The album's opener Wild Ways grabs you from the jump. While easy to simply enjoy its wonderful music fullness, additional absorption of the lyrics causes you to stop and think "whoa, now this is pretty dark."

Shouldn't be the one to guide you outta the fray

Absurd enough there’s a middle man leading the way 

Your parents withdrew when it all hit hit the fan

A stage dive met with nowhere else to land

The Canyon was the first song written by Rose and Davis for the album.The groove to it is immediately addictive along with the organ, guitar riffs and drumming. But the musical aspects are trumped in my opinion by Rose's sultry vocals. Rose and Davis were inspired to write the song by the magnificence of  a canyon noted from atop Dead Indian Pass on the Wyoming-Montana border.

Credit: BillCaid.com

1937 starts the second half of the album and opens with a slide guitar riff and a hint of a cool, eerie and evil echo. Davis was led to write the song based on some of the early American settlers in Wyoming who were granted a bit of land and 600 bucks cash as US railroads began to cross the expanding nation. (As an aside, be sure to read the late Stephen Ambrose's great book Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869.)

Rose returns to lead vocals on her song Little Bit More. The track is arguably one of the richest ones musically with horns, keys, slide guitar, and a solid rhythm on toms but no snare.

The band seems to have had a genuinely fun time recording Wish I Was a Teton. You can't help but smile as you listen to it.

Wish I was a Teton, maybe the middle 

Or I could be Buck and still be tough

Standing tall through hard times and all

But as it stands I’m just a little hill

Starved for attention because I never get mentioned

I’d even settle to be called a butte

The album closes with She Speaks Through Me. Though its lyrics are sparse, the song seems to be arranged as somewhat of an encore. Davis opens with a Roy Orbison'ish vibrato, and Rose soon joins him with wonderful harmony vocals. Many of the instruments present in various songs make a return appearance on She Speaks. Also, Peterson's drumming is more straight-forward rock rather some of the more subdued fills present in earlier songs.

TMC

Craig Market and Thomm Jutz - The complexities of simplicity

Six months ago, I'd never heard of Thomm Jutz (web). Shamefully perhaps - but the truth.

Though he has been around Nashville with really no effort to hide, I didn't find Jutz until learning he co-produced Mac Wiseman's latest collection of songs with Peter Cooper.

In December, I saw Jutz' tremendous work as the lead organizer and song writer for The 1861 Project whose latest album was a collection of songs written about The Battle of Franklin during the Civil War.

Credit: Ken Gray Images

Within the last month, I learned Jutz teamed with Nashville-based songwriter Craig Market to record Nowhere to Hide, scheduled for release on January 29.

The album is a cool recording - two guys with guitars singing songs without being overly produced. No bass. No drums. No keys. No horns. Simplicity seems to be the theme. They wrote the songs over a period of three years. When it came time to record them, they proceeded without a crunch to hurry through the effort. They recorded one song per day until they were done.

The album's timing release in the winter is appropriate. The album cover is dark and a bit cold - as is the lyrical content of several of the songs. The guitar work between the two is exceptional, but the lyrics require a deliberate listen. The Civil War, World War II, the funeral of a West Virginia miner, transparency as a musician and songwriter, etc. - not exactly themes one generally streams poolside through their iPhone and Bluetooth speakers.

Market's vocal range and style remind me a bit of Randy Travis and James Taylor (tuned down an octave). Though the two collaborated on the songwriting, Market sings lead vocals on 10 of the 12 tracks. Jutz' singing is featured on one song, and the two sing as a true duet on WV Miner, about the passing of one of those who work underneath the mountain.


In the middle of some tough songs thematically is one of simplicity - That's Enough. A house. A companion. A stove with some firewood. Safety, security. No need to invest wasted efforts chasing ghosts in search of something grander. What more does one need truthly? Well, some beer and a trusty dog, but maybe that's just me...


The album's final two songs reveal a bit more of the two as individual artists and well...as individuals - Nowhere To Hide and You Take Me As I Am. Preceding them, however, is the song of the twelve that perhaps stills me the most: Thunder. Jutz sang it on the second volume of The 1861 Project. On Nowhere To Hide, Market's deeper and darker voice is featured.

I'll be the first to admit my ignorance of the details of the Civil War. I've got the big picture - the North defeated the South, and I can rattle off the names of many of the battlefields. Gaining a deeper knowledge about the details - particularly the personal and gruesome details - of the battles, the young soldiers, the townsfolk, the horrifying injuries and head-shaking medical care, etc. has not been front and center for me. One of the themes Jutz explored with 1861 is the role of Irish immigrants. Many fled for the US in hopes of finding a better life. Instead, many found themselves smack dab in the middle of it's war between the states. Some served, some fought - some for the North, some for the South. Many lived, many died - and were buried in shallow, dirt graves. And some - immigrants or US lifers - were faced with having to dig those graves.

Plowing furrows in the Irish soil

Now I'm digging shallow graves for Irish boys

My soul is weary, and my back is sore

Today alone I buried twenty-four

Two feet deep and lined up in a row

Fishermen and farmers I suppose

Will anyone remember through the years?

The flowers once again are blooming here

A contemplative album to be sure - one whose guitar work will be easily absorbed but whose lyrics will require intentional listening.

TMC

Nashville Unlimited 2014

Nashville Unlimited Christmas is a tradition that has evolved over the last 15 years and one I've latched onto over the last six or seven of them.

Dave Pomeroy is a long-time, in-high-demand, Nashville session bass player. If you've listened to country music recorded in Nashville over the last 30 years or so, there is a good chance you heard Pomeroy's work on the recording. He also toured for years as a member of Don Williams' band.

While looking for a charity in 1993 to donate money generated by his Christmas concerts and recordings, Pomeroy became aware of Room In The Inn. Two decades later, he openly states his life has been changed for the better and has developed a much greater awareness of the moral and social issues addressed by Room In The Inn. I can state unequivocally I feel the same way - though the slap to my head came about 5 years after it did for Dave.

Each December since 2000, Pomeroy has hosted the “Nashville Unlimited Christmas” concert at Christ Church Cathedral. The production comes across as professional yet informal - though I'm sure the behind-the-scenes logistics may drive one to pull out their hair. Pomeroy calls in an amazing and diverse array of musicians and singers to volunteer a few minutes for a great cause and incredible evening of music. Though many think of Music City as just a country town, Nashville Unlimited has proven to all that the scene is far richer than that. Country is played certainly - but jazz, R&B, big band, rockabilly, instrumentals, a capella songs, etc. are often heard the same evening.

The show isn't heavily promoted, and no tickets are sold. Folks are welcome into the church, and donations are collected. The only reserved, VIP seats are in the first few rows of pews. In those pews sit many of the individuals helped by Room In The Inn's support programs.

Through this simple approach, Pomeroy's efforts have raised in excess of $250,000 to help Room In The Inn and their outreach efforts to the homeless and marginalized of Nashville.

After missing the 2013 concert, I was pleased to attend again this year on December 9th. Pomeroy opened the show with only his bass and vocals. He opened with the traditional O Little Town Of Bethlehem followed his original and fun I Wish It Could Always Be Christmas.


Lorianna Matera (Facebook)was then introduced to sing Willie Nelson's Pretty Paper.

I wasn't familiar with the next performer, songwriter Alan Rhody (web). He performed two of his own songs - White Water and Christmas to Christmas. I learned the latter has been recorded by Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith - ehh, not really two of my faves though hopefully the periodic royalty check is good for Rhody. The song was also recorded, however, by Tanya Tucker. OK, now we may be getting somewhere.


Danny Flowers (Facebook), who wrote the classic Tulsa Time and toured with Pomeroy and Don Williams, then played two songs that were just stunningly powerful - All I Want Is Jesus and I Am Free Of That Today.

Pete Huttlinger (web | Twitter), former guitar player in John Denver's band, then played his original First Light - a guitar instrumental with brushes-on-a-snare accompaniment. He followed it up with an instrumental version of the traditional Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

Pomeroy then brought out Doug Seegers (Twitter)- an artist whose story I knew a bit about but whose music I'd not yet heard. The short story is that Long Island native Seegers found himself as a busking Nashville street musician. He was noticed by a Swedish media team visiting Nashville, was video'd performing one of his songs, captured a fan base in Sweden which led to a Swedish recording contract and is now a touring performer in the US and abroad.


His story was picked up by several media outlets including Peter Cooper from The Tennessean and Rolling Stone. His Swedish album has now been released in the US on Rounder Records. With part of the audience currently living a life that has more in common with Seegers' past than my past, present or future (hopefully), his songs really hit home.

Seegers opened his trio of songs with his sad but Christmas-influenced song, Daddy's Still Around.


He then played Down To The River, the same song he first played for his new friends from Sweden. The closer for the set was a new, yet-to-be released song titled Walking On The Edge Of The World written about a close friend who committed suicide.


Soul singer Charles "Wigg" Walker (web | Twitter) then took us to church. He absolutely stunned the crowd with his version of O Holy Night. and closed with a grooving version of I'll Be Home For Christmas.

Country icon Brenda Lee then took the stage as the show headed for its conclusion. She started with the classic Jingle Bell Rock.  She then asked for volunteer singers - and ended up with about a dozen of them on stage - to help her with Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. She closed with two of her big hits from decades ago - I'm Sorry and Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree.

The closer was Nashville Mandolin Ensemble - the one group I look forward to hearing more than any other each year. The music of the multi-member mandolin "orchestra" is not what one may think it might sound like. NME isn't bluegrass. It's truly orchestral music with songs ranging from The Beatles to Bach to mandolin renditions of other world music.

While they generally play the same set of songs at each annual concert, I can close my eyes and enjoy them as if I'm hearing each for the first time. The list of bad Christmas albums by many performers is a mile or more long. But the one by NME is not in that list. Gifts is excellent - yet sadly and ironically is out of print. I often encourage folks to seek it out on ebay or the like.

Pomeroy and NME then asked the crowd to join them in singing Silent Night to close the 2-1/2 hour show.

For the last couple of years, I've kept a badge at the top right of this blog for Room In The Inn. The graphic includes a simple link to their website, and I hope a few folks have been intrigued enough to follow the link. If you live in the middle Tennessee area and are reading this post, I encourage you to visit the site, learn about what RITI does, and consider making a donation at the Support link.

If you live outside of Nashville, I'm sure they'd RITI would appreciate your support. But perhaps consider finding a similar organization where you live and give to that group. A gift as simple and calendar-relevant as $20.14 would definitely be appreciated - especially as the temperatures continue to drop over the next few winter months.

TMC

Ken Wenzel - Beneath Potomac Skies

I frequently become myopic by allowing myself to focus on new music created in East Nashville because (1) it's often great and (2) much of it is available for live listening nearby.

Yet, I believe I do a pretty good job of pulling up and keeping my eyes on the horizon for new music from all over the place. In 2014, one place from which I've gleaned a good bit of new music is our nation's capital: Washington DC.

Ken Wenzel (web | Twitter) is part of that contingent and recently released his first, full-length album ...Beneath Potomac Skies. 

Like many Federal government processes in DC, Wenzel has had a bit of convoluted trek to end up in the District as his current home.

He grew up a Midwestern kid from Illinois playing saxophone from middle through high school. He then went to Las Vegas to major in jazz studies. The next decade took him all over the place as a hired-gun sax player. After being typecast a bit, he broke his own mold so to speak. He took up guitar, expanded his professional music offerings and relo'd to the beltway.

As someone who wanted to break from the stereotype of what a saxophonist is expected to sound like, he accomplished that goal with a lot of diversity in his compositions on the album. A few songs have a pop feel. Others with fiddle and pedal steel guitar fit nicely within the Americana genre. Another one or two could just as easily been recorded on 16th Avenue in Nashville rather than in a DC 'burb. Across the 12 tracks, the album is an impressive debut - a debut by someone who has been performing professionally for about 15 years!


A few highlights from the album include...

Red Letter Days - Wenzel recaps what it's like to attempt a relationship reconciliation after months away playing gigs and tending bar - in this case aboard a cruise ship.

To watch you turn and walk away

It's like watching sunlight fade away

We'll be together one day

After all this ends

We can live the red letter days again

(Let's See) What Happens on the Highway - Road Trip! As recorded, this song has almost a contemporary country feel to it with a nice blend of fiddle, bass, drums and guitar.

Fire it up and drop the top

Point in west and never stop

The whole wide world is waiting girl

Let's see it our way 

No more pressure, no more work

Forget the boss man, he's a jerk

We'll leave all that stuff behind us in the driveway

There's magic in the backwoods and the byways

Let's see what happens on the highway

The Wisdom of Flowers - Perhaps my favorite track of the album. The previous song, Caving In, is a quick-paced one with contrasting references to a picture-perfect sunlit day, some morning regrets of the night before, and an acceptance of the 'new norm' as a DC resident. As it ends, The Wisdom of Flowers then begins with a completely different sound and dark vibe. Wenzel's newer-found guitar picking skills opens the track followed soon by the haunting sounds of pedal steel guitar and rhythmic brushes on a snare.

There's no need to argue now

There's no need to talk about our faults

And there's no need to talk about the vines outside my window choking off

Choking off the daylight

Like I'm slowly choking on my own resolve

Come Read My Heart - This uptempo song opens with some great dobro and banjo work. Wenzel's lyrics are based on the book Ten Sisters: A True Story. The book (and the song) tells the remarkable story of 10 sisters separated as kids in 1942 but who found one another decades later.


The album closes with a song titled Unbroken. Appropriately, Wenzel returns to his roots with an extended saxophone solo - though within a musical arrangement likely different than he played with others over a 10-year span. But that's just a generalization on my part - didn't mean to stereotype anyone there.

TMC

Sharing a Six Pack with Charlie Harrison

I continue to be amazed by the professional talent I glean from Couch By Couchwest each March. During that 8-day span:

• I slack, 
• I eat tacos.
• I celebrate French Toast Friday. 
• I drink beer.
• I tweet.

Meanwhile, most of the folks who provide music videos for CXCW have fun with it and use it as a legit platform (as they should) to intro folks to their music.

Charlie Harrison (web | Twitter) fits in that category. He has performed as a band member and as a solo artist. His latest venture is with a new band named Charlie And The Regrets. The band has just released its debut four-song EP titled New Night (iTunes).

Harrison and his bandmates packed their debut with a couple of upbeat cuts - one rowdy and one with a bit of biting commentary about The Man - and a couple of genuine, country ballads. The band's "sound" is best experienced live in a small Texas bar. Capturing that sound is a tough recording challenge. The band recorded the four cuts in a room above Harrison's garage on a Sunday afternoon. When the session was completed, all seemed to be satisfied with a result that is comparable to what one might hear in their live show.

I had the opportunity to share a six pack ... of questions ... with Harrison that went a little something like this.

TMC: Country music - especially out of Nashville - seems to be constantly fluid with many flavors-of-the-month acts having a polarizing effect. Hat acts, bro country, gals bordering on pop, etc. Folks either truly love these folks or have a passionate dislike for them. Yet, Texas-style country has seemed very consistent over the years. I'm not sure if you agree with that generalization. But if so, what influences your songwriting and performing - particularly when you and the band intend to sell music and perform outside of Texas and even the US?

CH: When I turn on the radio, I wonder if anyone will remember any of what they will be playing in 15 years. This used to bother me, but I have gotten a little more zen about it. It's not music that does anything for me, but if it makes someone else feel something then great. I’m glad they have it.

That said, I think that you are right about the consistency in Texas music tastes. A lot of that comes from Texas culture which says “I don’t really give a damn about what people are doing in places that aren't Texas”. So we still have radio stations that play Texas music, and people hold onto the really great heritage we have here. One benefit of being a little self-obsessed is that we keep our musical legacy as part of our identity and won’t swap it out for the hottest new thing. People here still speak of Guy and Townes with reverence.

As far as the band, we do have big plans. And while it can be discouraging to try to figure out how we might fit in with what is popular today, I am inspired by bands/artists such as Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Hayes Carll, Ray LaMontagne, etc. who are continuing to make the quality of music we aspire to and play to large audiences across the country and around the world without much attention from radio, etc.

Lastly, I think tastes ebb and flow. People loved Waylon Jennings and the other outlaws because they were doing something different from mainstream artists of their day. Today Willie, Waylon and the boys are still relevant whereas some of more fluid acts of their time are not. At some point, I think people will begin to gravitate back to rawer country music when they have had their fill of the other stuff.

Just in case, I am working on a song about going to the lake in my truck with a rap breakdown.

TMC: All four songs on the EP have a 'full' band sound. This makes sense with the EP being a Charlie And The Regrets release. What are some things you've learned about going from an individual performer to a member of a band?

CH: When I was playing as an individual performer, I wrote the songs and put together the arrangements. When we put together band shows, I would book musicians and tell them the parts I wanted them to play.

I got some experience working collaboratively with a band I played with in Virginia (Charlie and The Contraband), but that project came to an end right about when we were finding our footing.

As we put together The Regrets, all of a sudden there were multiple ideas about how we play and what we should do. It was hard and great.

On Start a Company we spent hours arguing about two little breaks in the solo section that most listeners probably won’t pick up on. At the time it was frustrating, but it is awesome to be a part of something that Gregg [Daildeda, drums], Mitch [Burman, bass] and Willy feel passionately enough about to fight for.

The other cool thing that has happened is that as we continue writing, the other guys are bringing in more musical ideas that would not have occurred to me. So what I might have written as a three-chord song gets taken somewhere else new and cool.

The video for the band's first single Baytown was recorded by Harrison's brother at Houston's The Rose Garden, a 60 year-old beer joint near his house.

TMC: On Baytown, I sense hints of John Anderson and Hayes Carll. And if I heard Start A Company on a Todd Snider record, I might make the mistake of thinking he'd written it. Are those fair comparisons? Who are some singers and artists who influence your songwriting?

CH: I didn’t mean to be so transparent, but you nailed them. My buddy Taylor (Western Youth) introduced me to Near Truths and Hotel Rooms when we were playing bars together in Austin, and I have loved Todd Snider ever since. I sort of stalk him. I grabbed Elvis (his road manager) at a show in Virginia and gave him a demo. Then to make sure, I figured out Todd’s address in Nashville and sent one to his house. I don’t know what I thought he would do with them, but for some reason I felt compelled to have him listen to my songs.

Hayes Carll got a similar treatment at a show in Washington, DC. He was very nice about it, but even if he hadn't been I would still be a big fan. Trouble In Mind is on the turntable right now.

Hayes and Todd really inspire me with the way they have connected with fairly broad audiences while singing about whatever was on their minds including everything from love to war and being Mike Tyson's Main Man.

I listen to those guys all the time so I suppose it makes sense that they bleed through to what I write.

I am also influenced by the usual suspects of Texas music: Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, etc. Max Stalling and Bruce Robison’s last few records play a lot in my house.

TMC: You told me New Night, the EP's title track, is the band's favorite. What is it about the song that has put it at the head of the pack for the four of you (other than the high probability you'll have some nice tight jeans slow dancing in front of you)?

CH: New Night was one of those songs that seemed to be birthed more than written. It came together quickly and felt right. It's pretty simple musically and lyrically, but nothing feels forced or artificial to us. As we were putting it together, I was imagining one of my heroes singing it on a record in the 70’s, and I like to think it would fit in then. It is a crowd favorite now.

Also, we recorded all of New Night live with the exception of Willy’s vocal, which we would have recorded live if I had more than eight channels in the home studio (I am working on that). I really like the vibe that we captured and the fact that what you hear is honest to what we do.

TMC: Willy T, the band's lap steel guitarist, is an amazing talent with a unique sound - particularly on Start A Company. Did you work with him on his arrangements to closely match the song's lyrics and pace? I'm curious if y'all just turned him loose during the recording sessions with rough recordings in his headphones.

CH: Willy T is great. He plays with a few bands in the area (The Broken Spokes, Sean Reefer and others), and I am glad he decided to be part of this. We have been playing a lot together over the last year so we had ideas about what we would track. We tracked New Night and Ease Away live, but we did go back and spend a lot time on the lap steel part on Start a Company.

The idea was to get some interaction between the vocals and the lap steel, and I hope we did that. We spent more time over at his house recording this part than we did tracking anything else (so I am glad you noticed it). Going forward we want to continue to bring out Willy so that the lap steel is more part of the frame of the song.

TMC: I'm sure you'll be out supporting the EP in various joints, and you've got solo material to add to a set list as well. But what else would folks expect to hear when they seek out a Charlie and the Regrets show?

CH: We play Regrets material (including tracks that we didn’t cut for the EP) as well as few of the solo tunes with a bit of a different flavor. I think that we sort of walk a country/rock line with a few of the tunes, a la Drive By Truckers etc. Recently we have been fortunate to be joined by a great guitarist Blake Thames on some shows which allows us to expand on what we had been doing in our own songs.

We are having fun with some long road house gigs where we are playing for 3 hours. So we have added a few covers into the library including stuff like “Feel Alright” (Steve Earle) and our version of “Gotta Get Drunk”. For the most part, we try to stay away from the stuff everyone has heard a million times. At the end of the day though, I know a reference point can be helpful to somebody in the audience.

TMC: Wait! How 'bout one more for the road! Have y'all played behind chicken wire yet? Or is that a complete Texas urban ... err, rural legend?

CH: So far I have played at venues with the following: mechanical bulls (many), club owners pimping out of the club office (offered the band a discount), club owners dealing out of the club (no discount offered), real rodeo arena, and a semi-truck cab as a sound booth - but no chicken wire yet. I hear there is a place outside of Austin where the chicken wire is still up, but I think the roughnecks and cowboys raising hell in the 70’s and 80’s have kids and a 401(k) now.

One of Willy’s other bands has a big biker following, and they play private parties for motorcycle enthusiast social organizations. He has told me about some crazy stuff at those parties, but they mainly happen off some back road somewhere which is probably best for everybody.

Don't get me wrong, we still have rowdy audiences. A guy tried to fight me for not playing a Keith Whitley song, But I am guessing that the really crazy stuff is in today’s boom towns up in North Dakota or somewhere. 

TMC