I did some work with Jon Delange of Tinderbox Music and he mentioned interacting with Dan Wilson like it was an everyday occurrence.
As a songwriter, his recipe mixes melody with brooding raw wordplay and I’m just awestruck. Finally, I tend to channel a lot of Dan Wilson’s vibe regarding song creation. He has written songs with Taylor Swift and many others. Jack Antonoff of the band Bleachers is another songwriter that I just find myself mesmerized by. KT Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter that emulates that same lyrical presence in her own writing. There are so many songwriters that I admire. This is an easy question and a difficult question. Your songs have such clever wordplay – I particularly love “Going Sane.” Who are some songwriters you admire? I want every song I write to have a distinct sound so that when people listen they feel that same way. I strive for that effect with my own music. There is not one song from Travis that I do not enjoy. that entire song just checked every box on my list for what I appreciate. The banjo, the acoustic, the bass, the drums. I was 16 the first time I heard the song “Sing” by Travis. Secondly, the musicianship of the entire band is incredible. The words almost feel as if someone just bled their heart and soul out and arranged it into a story or an explanation of feelings. They aren’t too frilly or difficult to process. The lyrics aren’t romanticized or overly wordy. Lyrically speaking, the songwriting is like a poem written by a normal person. My love of Fran Healy, and the band Travis as a whole, is twofold. Is that what draws you in and what you strive for in your songs? You are a big fan of Fran Healy and the band Travis. I’m suddenly a little kid - wide-eyed and wondrous. Now, when I put on some of that classic rock, it is like a time machine. When DJs lost control of their playlists, the game lost its luster.
My dad would flick his cigarette ash out the window and say “Fleetwood Mac is next” and he was almost always correct. For instance, Golden Earring would be on. I remember riding with my dad in Forest Lake and he would predict which song came on following a different song. I’m stoked but I wish my folks were alive to see it. The ceremony is at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville and it’s one of those bittersweet things. I was nominated this year for a Josie Music Award. My father passed away in 2006 and I constantly wonder if he’s keeping tabs on my music career. I also have several eight-tracks and a few reel-to-reels. He would receive duplicates from the station and bring them home to play on the ol’ turntable. Do you still have albums that he’d bring home? Do you still feel connected to them? Your father was a DJ for a radio station. After 30 years of doing it my way - I’m so used to watching right-handed players that I mentally flip everything instantly. I’d love to pick their brain and see how they process playing. If anyone knows of anyone who plays like me, let me know. Off the top of my head, I’m not certain of anyone who flips a right-handed guitar upside down without restringing. There are so many lefties that I encounter who either play left-handed guitars or flip the right-handed guitar and restring it left-handed. Do you know of other guitar players who play that way?
I cared about learning “Sweet Home Alabama” to impress a boy at my school. They told me that someday I’d realize how unique of a style it was. There were three men in my life at that young age who encouraged me to play the way I felt most comfortable. One day, I realized I had grown enough to move it up into the more accepted position. I learned the blues that way, and a couple other simple chord progressions. That is how I played for the first few years. I was still too small to play it properly, so I laid it on my lap. After that, I inevitably procured a larger acoustic guitar. Despite both of my parental units being musical, neither explained to me that I was holding it incorrectly. I have been playing the guitar since Santa brought me a $25 JCPenney guitar when I was 5. When did you first start playing a right-handed guitar upside down and left-handed?