Showing posts with label Kathleen Edwards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathleen Edwards. Show all posts

Apr 16, 2021

Back Around: A Conversation With Zach Schmidt



By Kevin Broughton


You don’t know Zach Schmidt. 


“Who in the world is this guy, and why have I never heard of him?” was my initial reaction after a run through his second full-length album, Raise A Banner, out today. The explanation? Well, it’s complicated. 


Through no fault of his own, Raise A Banner sat on a shelf for more than a year. Despite the delay – perhaps in a silver-lining moment – the album’s themes are now more apropos than ever: fighting through hardship, finding truth in a world of lies, enduring personal loss. Produced by 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden (on a mini hot streak behind the glass himself) and backed by Vaden’s bandmates, it’s a record whose overdue time has come. 


The thoughtful and humble Schmidt has been waiting for this moment; he’s made a record without a weak cut on it, and it’s borderline criminal that he remains unsigned. Smart money says that’s about to change.


Nah. You don’t know Zach Schmidt.*  But a whole lot of folks are fixin’ to. 


It was a real pleasure to catch up with Schmidt and discuss fence-building, finding inspiration in lawnmower boys, and the secret to finding the best harmony vocalist.


Let’s do a little level-setting. This record – and you, for that matter – seemingly came out of nowhere. You’re from Pittsburgh, and you self-released albums in 2013 and 2016. Beyond that, could you fill in some biographical details, personal and professional? 


I’d be glad to. So yeah, the EP I put out in 2013, I released that right before I moved to Nashville. I was living in Pittsburgh, working at a sh*tty job and playing music every night. I was extremely emotionally exhausted. I grew up in Pittsburgh. I love the town and love to go back, but it wasn’t the right place for me; things in my life just weren’t in a great spot. 


So I moved to Nashville at the end of 2013, and throughout that time I was putting tours together and doing my own solo thing…driving around the country. A couple of years later, we put out my The Day We Lost The War album. I didn’t know anything about releasing a record, so I just put it out there to see what would happen. And with this one, I’m trying hard to get some press and radio; seeing if people will dig it. 


There’s a real heartland feel to the whole album, and several of the ballads – like “Go My Way” and “I Can’t Dance” – give off a Steve Earle vibe. Who are your songwriting influences? 


Steve Earle is a huge influence of mine. I love all those Texas songwriters: Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, James McMurtry. All those guys are huge to me. When I was writing this record I took a deep dive into John Hiatt’s catalog. I had never listened to John Hiatt before; I don’t know why, but he was one of those guys who had always eluded me. My wife’s family loved the record Walk On. After that one, I just dug really deeply into all his stuff, trying to soak all that up while I was writing. 



Kathleen Edwards, I’m a huge fan of hers. Lucinda Williams. Just too many people to really put my finger on one. All those folks have had a deep impact on me. I’m really glad to hear the Steve Earle comparison, though. I’ve loved his songwriting as long as I can remember.  


You’ve said that the album was “written from a place of uncertainty.” It was in the can and ready for release last year, only to be derailed by the pandemic, which certainly rings of uncertainty. A pretty good example of life imitating art, huh? 


Yeah, it really does. And in fact, we had the record done a year before the pandemic and tried to put it out. But we had two failed record deals that fell through for one reason or another, and a couple other labels that basically wanted to own me and everything I did for the rest of my life. And it just wasn’t worth it. 


And really, we wanted the record deal for the money, because it’s hard to put out an album as an independent musician and get people to hear it. We wanted a little bit of support behind us, and it just wasn’t working. I kept waiting, hoping that something was going to sort itself out, but at the same time getting ready for a self-release at the end of 2019. And then…here’s 2020, coming in hot. 


We were all set to go to South By [Southwest] in March, and that was the first thing on my calendar that got canceled. 


What a kick in the nuts. 


Yeah. 


I’m gonna skip ahead a little here, because I had a two-part question, the first sounded rhetorical, but wasn’t: “How in the world are you not on a label…”


Ha!


 “…and how did you come to the attention of Sadler Vaden?” You can take the second part, since you’ve covered the first. 


I’ve known Sadler for a little while through friends around town. Nashville’s a small town, so you run into everybody one way or another. And I met Sadler through my buddy Aaron Lee Tasjan; I met him right after I moved to town. A couple of years later – I think it was on my wife’s birthday – we were out and I was talking to my buddy Paul, who manages the band Shovels And Rope. I was basically talking his ear off, complaining how hard it is to get a record made – this huge, daunting task. 


It was the first time that I really wanted to work with a producer specifically. You know, I wanted to take these songs out of my head and get them into the ears of somebody who cares about them. Paul told me that Sadler had started producing and wanted to work on more and more stuff, so he passed my number along to him. A few days later I got a call from him at 8:00 in the morning. They (Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit) were in Australia, and I think he was sitting by the pool or something.


He said, “Send me the songs you’re working on. I’ll take a listen and see if we can figure something out.” I think I sent him 18 songs.  A couple days later, he called me back and said he’d booked the studio for two weeks, we’d meet for a couple days beforehand and then just go do it. 


Wow.


Yeah, after complaining about it for so long, it all fell together really quickly. 


For the last year, I’ve asked every artist I’ve interviewed, “How have you made things work, or ends meet, during the pandemic?” Indulge me, and maybe you’re the last one I have to ask.


Yeah, that would be nice, right? 


When the pandemic first hit in March, my wife and I took off for Pennsylvania and stayed in a cabin for two months. We packed for two weeks, hoping for the best – everyone was hoping it wasn’t gonna last for long. We quickly realized that was not going to be the case and came back to Nashville.


I started building fences with a friend, another guitar player in town. He and I had both done construction over the years, so we just put ourselves out on Facebook: “We’re gonna build some fences. Who needs one?” Word spread, and we started doing that. I also worked at a warehouse for a denim brand here in town. Between those two things I was able to totally shift my life from anything music-related, to having more jobs than I cared to.  


A guy (or gal, in Morgan Wade’s case) could do worse than having The 400 Unit as a studio band. How much confidence did that give you, recording with such a top-flight lineup?


(Pauses) Well, when we first got into the studio and started to work on the first track, I got out my guitar and we were sitting in the control room. I laid it down for the guys, and the first song we recorded, we took the very first take from it. So that alone speaks to their level of professionalism and how great they are together as a band – and individually. And honestly, there couldn’t be nicer guys out there. It was an honor to work with those guys; they really are the best around, in so many ways. 


I didn’t know them beforehand and they didn’t know me so at first, we were trying to figure each other out. But after that first take, everything felt great. And we had to do everything pretty quickly, because [drummer] Chad [Gamble] lives in Alabama. He was coming up every day to play drums, so we only had him for a few days. We had to work efficiently, and those guys knew how to do it. 


What was the studio dynamic like, in terms of the arranging?


Sadler and I put a lot of that together beforehand. A lot of the songs I wrote just on the acoustic guitar, and he didn’t change too much other than on a couple of songs. I would go in, play them for all the guys, and Sadler would tell everybody what to do. And because they’ve played together for so long and he knows all their styles, he was able to communicate what he wanted quickly. And so we’d just go in and give it a shot and see what happened. 


I’m a sucker for great harmony vocals. Tell us a little about Jackie Berkley. 


Jackie Berkley is my wife. 


So that’s the connection! 


Ha, yeah. We were married last October, but we’ve been together seven years. We met at this amazing little bar in town called Santa’s Pub, on a Sunday night where I’d been playing with a country band. Sunday nights before the pandemic, we were Santa’s Ice Cold Pickers, doing good old country music from 7:00 to 9:00. 


We’ve been together ever since. She’s been a singer all her life. She’s a great singer and performer. And cheap labor, you know? 


(Laughing) Yeah!


She has a choice, but she chooses to grace me with her talent every day. 


The title cut has a swampy feel that reminds me a little of Brent Cobb. What’s the story of that song? 


That song…long story short:


The first house I lived in here in Nashville, we had a next-door neighbor with two sons, and we used to pay them to cut our grass. Super nice kids, and one day when they were finishing up, I asked them, “So what did you buy with the money?” And they said they had given the money to their dad, “for his medicine.” 


And he was a nice enough guy, but he didn’t take super good care of those kids. He typically was just drinking all day long. So that’s a very unfortunate story, but those kids are what inspired that song: Just feeling kinda hopeless for those kids and their future. And wanting to do the best you can for them, as a relative stranger; not being able to help in a significant way. And the dad played it off as “not the Christian thing to do,” judging him for the way he lives his life. I wasn’t trying to judge, I was trying to look out for the kids; I didn’t think it was right to take their money from them, no matter how he ended up using it.  


One other cut I have to ask you about: “Concrete Dreams,” with its strong Mark Knopfler groove. What’s up with it?

Honestly, it just kind of came naturally to the song. I have always played that song in a very percussive way with the acoustic guitar. When we recorded it, Sadler went with the Strat and it just kind of had that feel to it.


After the fits and starts you’ve experienced in getting this album released, have you allowed yourself to set expectations about what will happen next? What’s your best-case scenario?


Best-case scenario? I would love to get back out on the road and play some shows. I expect…I guess the best way to put it is, I hold great expectations over myself, I know what I’m capable of, and I know what I want to do. But I think as far as the record goes, I’m trying to curb any expectations so as to avoid disappointment, and just be grateful for the fact that this record is coming out. It’s not just going to sit on a shelf somewhere; people are gonna be able to hear it. 


And you know, with anything like this, it’s hard to do that, especially now that people are starting to get back out there. Stuff’s still getting canceled. But I really just want to play music for people, whatever that may look like in the future. 


So y’all haven’t mapped out a tour just yet? 


No. I have two shows right now, one in July and one in August. That’s the only thing on the books as of now. Our booking agent was the first person laid off when the pandemic hit. Seems like once South By was canceled, all the booking agents got laid off, so we don’t have anybody in that corner for us right now. Hopefully that’s one of the things we’ll be able to line up. I’d love to be able to hop on somebody else’s tour and open some shows; I think that would be the best thing for me right now. 


I’m hoping it all comes back soon. I’ve got my two shots and I’m ready to go. 


What else would you like people to know about Raise A Banner? 


(Long pause) I think I would like people to know, as the person who wrote the record, that I really put everything I had into these tunes. I’m really proud of the record we made, and I hope that people will just give it a chance. I think that’s all I can really add. 


I think you’re about to be ridin’ a rocket ship. This thing is top-flight.


Well, thanks, Kevin. And you know what? I keep telling people this, too: The silver lining of having this record take so long to get out is that I’m ready to go back in the studio any time. I don’t think it will be five years before we put another album out. 


-----------


No, it surely won’t. Don’t bet against this guy. 


Meantime, buy this thing at at Apple Music, Amazon or wherever you purchase fine music. 


*Integrity compels me to admit that I cannot claim credit for the clever opening line of this piece. I found it on a tee shirt in Zach’s store, where you can also buy the album on vinyl, or download it for a mere ten bucks. 






Dec 8, 2017

10 Artists Who Better Release New Music in 2018 or Else

1. Chris Knight
Well yeah. Chris tours like crazy, but there have been no new tunes from his camp since 2012's Little Victories
5 years is way too long a meantime to wait for songs from one of the best modern troubadours on the planet. 
The writer of favorites like "Down the River" and "Enough Rope" has found his writing pen a little low on ink in recent years, according to statements to Juli Thanki a year or so ago
Here's hoping the muse has been a little more giving recently. 


2. Lucero
Since trimming the horn section from their road show, the alt-country favorites have gone quiet… at least on the recorded music front. They're still touring, though a bit less than their road warrior days. I heard they were in the studio early last year, but whatever they cut is still in the can. Hopefully, with their 20th year in existence
 coming in 2018, they'll grace us with another classic. It looks like their tour dates pick up a 
good deal in February, so maybe that's a good sign.


3. Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen, whose debut album Failer, is one of my favorite alt-country albums ever, last released a full album with 2012's Voyageur. In the years since, she's taken a sabbatical from music to run a cupcake shop or something or other, but she's played some shows this year. Anyway, I'm not sure what's up, but I want her back. She's a witty, passionate writer with an unmistakable voice. She's also adept at music with a purpose - songs with political and social messages that tear at the seams of injustice without yelling at anybody. Perfect for 2018, huh?


4. Dirty River Boys
Just about the time I discovered these guys for myself, they ceased putting music out there for me to hear. What gives? Their sound bizarrely combines Americana, punk, red dirt, and skate rock and somehow works perfectly. 2014's self-titled record is the last we heard from them. C'mon back fellas. 


5. Adam Faucett
Adam landed in our top 5 with his last release, Blind Water Finds Blind Water. The keening Arkansas songwriter has toured, but there hasn't been a peep from the studio since 2014. The dark songs and that clear, haunting croon with the even more haunting falsetto are needed right now in my ears. I'll throw in on a Kickstarter.


6. Kelsey Waldon
Yeah, it was just 2016 when Kelsey last graced us with her songs, but what can I say? I'm greedy. Oh, and she should keep her name out there. There's a growing swell of awesome female country artists and songwriters and I just know the success of folks like Kelsey, Caroline Spence, Lillie Mae and others is inspiring a whole new generation of women to take up the guitar and tell us their stories. The more the merrier.


7. The Gaslight Anthem
Nothing since 2014's Get Hurt. Lead singer Brian Fallon has been doing the solo thing and it's fine and all, but I want the band back together, pumping out sad Springsteen-esque rock for my listening enjoyment in 2018.


8. Jack White
He's a busy man, running a record label, producing stuff, pulling recording stunts, and playing with other artists, but it's time man. Lazaretto in 2014 was the last release of a 'proper' Jack White album. If 2018 is Jack-White-album-free, he'll be sorry… when I complain a bunch about it online.


9. Ghost
I don't know why I love this ridiculous costumed occult bunch so much, but I do. It hasn't been all that long since they put out new music, but now that I'm hooked, I need it with swiftness. Though categorized as metal, their 70s style rock is more akin to Queen (in theatricality, not sound) than Slayer. It's absurd, tuneful, surprisingly accessible given the subject matter, and highly addictive. They almost broke through (as much as a rock act can nowadays) to the mainstream with their hit "Square Hammer" last year, so it's time to strike while the iron is hot.


10. High on Fire
Give me my sludge metal now! I just read that they are writing a new album right now, so perhaps I should give this slot to another artist, but no. Hurry up with it, guys. I need my fix of down-tuned guitars and strangely melodic screaming right away.

Honorable Mentions: Northcote, Pistol Annies, Run the Jewels, 
Baroness, Julie Roberts, Danny Brown, Car Seat Headrest.

Cody Jinks is in the studio now, so don't say he's missing from this list...





*or else nothing

May 25, 2012

10 Best Songs of 2012 So Far

















Arliss Nancy - 40's (I can't find anywhere for you to listen to this yet, but trust me... it's about drinking 40's by the shore... it's awesome)

Mar 7, 2012

Favorite Songs of 2012 So Far

Some of these haven't been released just yet, but Lucero, Delta Spirit and Shooter Jennings all come out next Tuesday. Paul Thorn's new album of cover songs, What the Hell is Goin' On?, is due for release May 8th.

These are in no particular order of preference, though my early fave is "Dance in the Darkness."

Click to read...

Feb 17, 2012

(Way Too Early) Best Albums of 2012 So Far






















3. Shooter Jennings - Family Man (3/13/12 release: cool pre-order packages at this link)

4. Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

5. Kellie Pickler - 100 Proof

6. Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes


8. Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now?


10. Heartless Bastards - Arrow

Jan 20, 2012

YouTube Gems: Kathleen Edwards

From her 4th studio album Voyageur, which was released this week, here is Kathleen Edwards with "Change the Sheets."

Jul 9, 2010

YouTube Gems: Kathleen Edwards

Love this girl (artistically). I hope you do too. Either way, check this out!

Aug 16, 2008





Based on what you've seen here, you probably think I hate all music, but that's not true. I live, breathe and love music. I even dig many of the artists I make fun of (not you, R Kelly). Anyway, as another non-humor aside, here are my top 30 albums of '08 to this point. Feel free to chime in with your faves.

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
3. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
4. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
5. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song
6. Sun Kil Moon - April
7. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
8. Fleet Foxes
9. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
10. The SteelDrivers
11. Mudcrutch
12. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way
13. Vampire Weekend
14. Aaron Watson - Angels and Outlaws
15. Damien Jurado - Caught In The Trees
16. The Black Crowes - Warpaint
17. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
18. Paul Thorn - A Long Way From Tupelo
19. Candlebox - Into the Sun
20. Old 97s - Blame It On Gravity
21. Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Turbo Ocho
22. Langhorne Slim - s/t
23. The Black Keys - Attack and Release
24. Nada Surf - Lucky
25. Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin'
26. Chris Mills - Living In The Aftermath
27. Trent Willmon - Broken In
28. R.E.M. - Accelerate
29. George Strait - Troubadour
30. Alan Jackson - Good Time

And I just got Chris Knight's "Heart of Stone" in the mail so it'll certainly be on this list soon.

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