I admire Anais Mitchell and Gillian Welch in much the same way– their ability to spin a familiar feeling or old saying in a way that it’s never been put before or to come full circle in the length of a four minute song. They start out with a strong hook from the top (my favorite is probably the opening line in “Hold On”) and take you through a tangle of beautiful imagery and metaphor, the grotesque and serene all in one scene, and then spit you out in an entirely different place, hungry for more but strangely satisfied at the same time. I love to read short stories, and Neko Cases’s songs have all of the elements that I enjoy in my favorite short stories. I’d say that Neko Case is another big influence for me both in terms of her voice as well as her songwriting. I think in terms of vocals, I am drawn to Patsy Cline– her voice is powerful and subtle in the same breath, which is a perfect companion for the dynamics in her vocal range as well there is absolutely no mistaking her sound. I think that plane informs a lot of what I listen for. Blake Mills has been a part of some great albums with that kind of experience. The vocals are wholly connected with the arrangements, every musical & lyrical piece of it is crucial, and everything feels right. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Radiohead, Gram Parsons, Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings, and Ray Charles. However, getting punched in the gut by great lyrics and performances is another favorite pastime. Their craft and imagination continue to affect the way I think about music and writing. In college, I studied instrumental and symphonic works from the past three centuries, and got into 20th century composers like Bártok, Debussy and Stravinsky. We have a lot of influences within those genres, but also have just as many in other kinds of music. After a few years of playing and writing with each other, we arrived at Blue Cactus while refining our songwriting approaches. Throughout the course of touring and playing these songs live with our band, they came to life, and we knew we had found the people who needed to make this record with us: our bass player and co-producer, Alex Bingham (Hiss Golden Messenger) our drummer and creative collaborator, Gabe Anderson (Sleepy Cat Records) and Nashville-based pedal steel player Whit Wright (Joshua Hedley, Elizabeth Cook) who joined us for the eight day session at Bedtown Studios, Bingham’s lakehouse-turned recording studio in Roanoke, VA.Mario: I think anyone who seriously pursues music will hone their own sound, and thankfully, Steph and I work well together. We weren’t in much of a hurry to record these songs as we were to get to know them, to flesh out the simple skeletons we had assembled. The rest came in spurts at home when we were able to make the stillness and find the songs we had been carrying. Between the stillness of cicada song bleeding through the walls of the hundred year old cabin we called home that week in August and the rise and fall of the shape note singers, reverberating over the Blue Ridge in perfect harmony with that magical place. Between late night musings of our mutual nostalgia for video rental stores and hours spent waiting by the radio for our favorite songs to be played, once signs of our youth now-turned relics of the past. Much of this album was written during an intensive week-long artist residency at Wildacres Retreat, in the North Carolina mountains.
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