How was your approach to the songs as you were getting to record them, and were you cautious about maintaining the integrity of the songs’ original structure?
What we did was, we would listen to the song once or twice in the studio, then we’d turn it off. We’d replay it together and retune it. And then we wouldn’t listen to the original again. So, by the time we’d kind of gone halfway through the production, I felt like we’d made emotional impressions of the song. Almost like an impressionist painter, we captured emotional impressions. We didn’t want to change the structure, we just wanted to sort of capture the emotion.
How did you go about selecting the songs that are included on this record?
I wanted it to be lesser known songs. Every song’s from the '70s and written by a man, so I just explored a lot of the catalogs of male singer-songwriters from the '70s period. I recorded maybe 50 songs, I listened to a few hundred or more. They just landed the way they did, but there were a lot of songs that nearly made it and didn’t make it.
With the songs being from the 1970s, what is it about the music from that time period that resonates with you?
The '70s was the era of the singer-songwriters. There are lots of great writers and great music, and lots of great collaborations with different people playing together. It was just a rich time and rich sounds and smooth vibe, and something that I love very much.
Was there a specific song on this record where it meant a lot to you just being able to record it?
“Flyin’ Shoes.” I think it’s such a beautiful song and it’s got an amazing energy and emotion behind it and solitude. I just found it really beautiful. There’s a lot of gospel in there, even though when Townes van Zandt sings it, it’s very, very country. What I like about the way we’ve done it, is that you don’t necessarily have to be a country fan to enjoy it and listen to the words and what he’s saying.
Was there a track that proved to be a challenge during the recording process?
Article comments
1 - sdsd
yes they are.