The Americana Roots Review podcast show features full length tracks from some of the best new music on the Americana Music scene. This show is hosted by Ray Randall.
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Oct
18
2005
Category : Features
An Interview with Wade Bowen by Susan M. Hatch After arriving home at 5:00 am from a gig in Stephenville, Texas, the night before, an exhausted Wade Bowen was kind enough to pick up the phone and visit with a total stranger. Despite his irritated throat, lack of sleep, and unfamiliarity with Americana Roots, he was more than happy to talk music with me. He presented himself as a very serious artist and, if there’s one thing I can vouch for having just met the Texas singer/songwriter, it’s that he is indeed a serious force to be reckoned with. Having grown up in Waco, Texas, Wade decided to follow his dream that was encouraged through a close relationship with a music-enthralled mother and a poetic father. "I always sang a lot and I kind of wrote poetry more than I did songs, but there wasn’t a moment in my life when I didn’t have music around me… I started learning to play guitar around 17, I guess, or 18. I waited quite a bit to actually teach myself some stuff." Because he didn’t know much about the music biz, he would simply do what he loved and play for friends or at local parties. In 1998, Wade was in college at Texas Tech and decided to start a band with his friend, fellow student, and soon-to-be electric guitarist/harmony vocalist, Matt Miller. The duo formed Wade Bowen & West 84 along with Shane Neal on base guitar and Evin Philbrick on drums. Their first record was Just For Fun. Then in 2002, they released Try Not to Listen and, in 2003, released their only live album, The Blue Light Live. The Blue Light Live, which was recorded in one night, "was very rushed and it was [done with] very little money and little time… [it] was done that way on purpose because we wanted to get something that we could do very cheap… When it came down to it, I really wanted to do it that way to keep it as raw and honest as possible. We just did one night and just played for about two and a half hours and made a record out of that. A lot of people do three or four different shows and take the best of the best… Every night is different and every crowd is different, too… Some nights somebody hits a wrong note (heh heh). Sometimes you just sing better or sometimes you just play better… With the Blue Light record we just did one night mainly out of money and mainly out of just trying to keep it as honest as possible." Since their earlier recording days, they have had some turnover with Casey Twist replacing Shane Neal about a year and half ago, and Matt Powell, independent guitarist, joining the band. Matt Powell is a well-known Texas singer/songwriter who has released four records of his own. Matt generally sings a song or two during live performances, and the band has Matt’s pre-West 84 CDs for sale at their shows. "It’s a pretty cool relationship." He will likely spend another year or so with Wade and the band, depending upon the success of their next record. But nothing is written in stone. "We’re just having fun with it." Wade and the band have an upcoming release in January of 2006, for which they have already finished recording. They have been talking to various record labels, but haven’t committed to anything yet. They’re prepared to release the record independently if they don’t find a good fit. Having not released an album in three years, Wade considers his earlier work something to be proud of, yet something less representative of where he is today. "As a writer, your favorite song is always the last one you wrote." And that’s exactly how he feels about this latest record. Over the past 5 years, Wade and the band have been touring throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, performing between 200 and 250 gigs per year. More recently, they’ve also been touring in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee. They will likely be touring the right coast (that’s ‘back east’ to some of you) following the release of their next record this January. They are also planning a tour in March or April with Randy Rogers, who is one of Wade’s best friends. Wade loves performing live and insists that the type of show they put on (from mellow and relaxing to a full-on rock show) is dependent largely upon what kind of crowd they have. They’re different from state to state and venue to venue. Wade explained that small crowds in obscure towns (i.e., ones without a solid fan base) are not necessarily a bad thing because people in small crowds are often much more attentive than folks in a large crowd. "It’s not always great to have a ton of people at your shows." Most of the time, live performing is a blast (I can only imagine – one time Wade and his cohorts played 30 shows in 35 days and "it was the furthest thing from work I’ve ever done in my entire life! We made more money and we had more fun!") but, as any live performing artist will admit, there are those nights when it’s not all that us groupies envision. "Susan Gibson told me one time that those are the nights when you really call it a job and you have to work. And the other nights when the crowd is there and they’re fun, it’s not a job then; it’s easy." Wade is excited to incorporate the new songs and a fresh sound into the shows, and provide a renewed intensity to geographically challenged listeners that are lacking the opportunity to see him live. "We’re about to revamp and get ready for this new record and the tour… I [want to] define myself as a very serious writer and as a very deep writer. I don’t think I’ve really done that to this point. I think over the past two or three years without having released a record, I’ve tried to do that in my live shows and in my acoustic shows, and I think people that come out to the shows understand that. But I want to really define it to the people that don’t come to a lot of shows." After explaining the new turn that his writing has taken, Wade shared some of his writing experience and preferences with me. He believes that a songwriter who writes from the heart doesn’t have a set pattern, like always starting with a feeling, a phrase, a tune, or an idea. His inspiration comes in all of those forms and many more. Over the years, mutual friends had told Wade and fellow Waco resident, Texas Tech student, and Texas singer/songwriter, Pat Green, that the two of them should get together and write some tunes. "It’s pretty rare for people to get together… for the first time and actually come out with a song… one that’s good enough to make a record and then become a single, too. He’s referring to Don’t Break My Heart Again recorded on Pat’s Lucky Ones album that was released in 2004. "You throw ideas back and forth to each other before you get started to kind of see what direction you want to take." Wade would like to write some more songs with Pat and, although he "used to not like [writing with others]," he now prefers it. "The majority of the time, having somebody else involved really does bring another aspect of the song to the table and it usually ends up being a really good thing… I did a lot of co-writing with this new record… I thought I would try a lot of it and see what happened, and I think we got some pretty cool songs out of it." The new record is "more in depth… I wouldn’t say these are all story songs, but I treated it as that… it’s not a concept record but … the characters in the record, they’re lost and they’re kind of searching for the answers in their lives, which is what I’ve pretty much been doing the past three years… That’s where a lot of the writing comes from, people that are heartbroken or devastated because of things
that have happened in their lives, and trying to figure a way out of them… You know, it’s not all depressing or anything but this record comes heavily influenced from Bruce Springsteen, Patty Griffin; it has a little Mellencamp influence, as well, just the deeper stuff… You’re going to have to sit down and actually listen to it… It’s not a happy record by any means." For Wade, this record is real, heartfelt, and honest. "I hope that I come by most of the stuff in my life pretty honestly. I really try hard to do that. There’s not a whole lot of flash and glamour with me or my writing or my music. It’s just pretty much straight forward and honest and, hopefully, enough people will identify with that." After all, he is very appreciative of his devoted fans. "We love what we do but we’re nothing without people that come and listen to us." Thanks, Wade, for the gracious interview. Congratulations on your new son, Bruce, and the upcoming release of your 4th record!! Visit Wade Bowen’s website Be sure to check out Susan’s interviews with Reckless Kelly as well as Micky & The Motorcars here on AmericanaRoots.com.
Jun
08
2005
Category : Features
I was excited to receive a phone call from Gary Braun, all-around badass and unofficial front man for the band (that’s my title for him and one I’m sure he’s not at all comfortable with), for a short interview. We would have had more time but he got "stuck in traffic." Just teasing, Gary. Our conversation was filled with laughter and we had so much good material that the write-up had to be cut way down (I kept in the bit about the secret code between the Braun boys.). I’ve provided a few LOLs to help you along (think sitcom audience being instructed to laugh by the flashing "laugh now" sign!). Enjoy!"And we’re off…{mosimage}Gary and his younger brother, Micky Braun, grew up in Idaho, playing in a family band lead by their father, Muzzie Braun, and accompanied by their older brothers, Cody and Willy (both of Reckless Kelly). After high school, lead singer and guitarist, Micky, drummer, Travis Hardy, and Micky-taught bassist, Mark McCoy, moved to Arizona and played casually for a short time, until deciding to move back to Idaho where Gary was working at a local ranch. Gary then joined the band as a guitarist (harmonica player, harmony vocalist, mandolin player… see, badass), and they landed their first gig as Micky & The Motorcars (MMC to their biggest fans!) at a Salmon, Idaho, wedding in early 2001. That fall, Ken Smith joined the band as lead guitarist and, in January 2002, the band moved to Austin, Texas. Their first record, Which Way From Here, was released in 2002 after relocating to Austin. "We had the songs pretty much that we knew we wanted to record, and we just didn’t really get it together until we got down here." Their second, and most recent record, Ain’t in it for the Money, was released in 2004. Between records, some of the original Motorcars decided to head on down the road; Travis was replaced by Shane Vannerson and Ken was replaced by Joseph Deeb. Before Joseph joined MMC, he used to be a solo artist, and around the time he joined the band, he finished cutting his first record. Because Ken was looking to get back to his family in Idaho but didn’t want to leave the rest of the band hanging, it was perfect when Joseph came along. "We met Joseph [in Austin] when we were doing these Monday night jams with Reckless Kelly down at a club called Momo’s… We were all getting together and it just was kind of a free-for-all. A lot of musicians have Mondays off down here so it kind of got to be a pretty good jam. Joseph was coming in every week and jamming with us… As soon as Joseph showed up we snagged him… It worked out good."{mospagebreak}Because I hadn’t previously understood that Joseph’s solo record was pre-MMC, I had been worried that he was thinking about leaving the band. Thankfully, my concern was for not and Gary confirmed that the current band members have a great fit, which is pretty obvious if you’re fortunate enough to see them live. "I think we’ve got a good chemistry going on stage. We’re pretty open with each other so we can get along and tell each other where to go, too, and still be friends the next day." Both of MMC’s records feature a track written by the legendary Pinto Bennett. "The thing with Pinto is, he’s a good friend of ours for one, but he’s got a million great songs… He’s got so many great tunes and nobody else is gonna do them so it’s like, I hate to see them just go away, you know?" So what inspired the guys to use Pinto’s Ain’t in it for the Money as the title track on their second record? It wasn’t that they were opposed to the money; it was just that they didn’t have any yet… "I guess it was probably just where were at in our lives down here, you know? We were broke but we were having a good time!" he laughed. Another great song they covered on their second release was July, You’re a Woman. This song gets a lot of fan press and I wondered what prompted them to include it. "That’s a John Stewart song that my Dad used to play in his band…. And then another friend of ours did it; kind of a bluegrass band did it. So… Micky actually kind of came up with the version on that. We always liked the tune and it went over real good live. So that’s kind of how we pick tunes, too." Knowing that positive public opinion was an indicator of potential sales, I wanted to know how often they played Million Miles, one of my favorite songs on the record, live before they decided to record it. "We really didn’t even start playing it a whole lot live until after we recorded it. That’s a song Willy wrote probably ten years ago [insert untold story here]… I asked Willy ‘Hey, you guys ever gonna do that tune?’ and he said ‘No…’ I guess it’s kind of like the Pinto Bennett theory. It’s a good song; somebody might as well do it." So there’s a million great songs out there, both by MMC members and outsiders. When do we get our next fix? With their first release in 02’, and their second release in 04’, it seems only reasonable that they would follow suit and release their third record some time in 06’, right? "Yeah, I would hope so by then. We haven’t set any times yet; we’re still working on tunes. We’ve got a lot of it written, I think. Were working some of it into the show, but we don’t want to play all of them in the show before it comes out. It’s really just a matter of us having the time to get in the studio and cut the record… It’s been a good year."So what songs have the lucky folks been hearing live (since I’ve only seen them perform four times L) that might show up on the next record? "I would say for sure Winter of 72′ which is a Kip Attaway song, a cover song that the crowd has just been asking us to record. We’ve been doing that one for three years now and people are starting to want it on the record. So we’ll probably do that. And then, let’s see… the one I’m singing, Lost and Found, right now is pretty new; we’ve only been doing that for a couple months. And I think that will probably go on the record if everybody still likes it." If everybody still likes it?! I couldn’t believe that the crowd would dig a song for a while and then lose interest… How is that? "It’s hard to say… We’ve done that in the past with a couple of tunes. We play them for a while and then you just … end up replacing them with something else. Other than that I really don’t know; we’re just going to have to wait and see."{mospagebreak}Now that we had a list of potential songs out of the way, I could get to my real question about the number 19. Being a woman, I have taken my fair share of responsibility for reading into things. My conversation with Gary was no different when we discussed the hotel room number on the cover to their second record. I noted that the room number, 19, was the same number that was circled on the cover of one of Reckless Kelly’s records, The Day, and knew that it was probably part of a secret code between the four brothers. "No, it’s not. You guys… [LOL] That’s hilarious." And here I thought I had been so clever to make the connection… Ah well, we laughed and quickly moved on to the next subject. Incidentally, Gary, we all know you’re lying…With the writing for their third record underway, I wanted to talk a little bit about how the songs and credits are divvied up. "[Micky] was the main songwriter on Which Way From Here, and then Joseph wrote quite a bit on the last record… We all write. It just kind of depends. When we pick our tunes fo
r the record we do what we think is best for the band, you know, not really caring who wrote it as long as everybody’s comfortable with it. "{mosimage}When songs are written collectively by two of the four brothers (say, Willy and Micky, as in Holdin’ On, Long Gone or Nobody’s Girl), I figured there was some protocol for deciding which band would take ownership of the song (i.e., record it and play it live). Although Gary didn’t think he was the best person to ask about the arrangement, he gave me the sense that generally the co-written songs are up for grabs by whichever band needs a new number. "Micky and Willy have written quite a bit together… Willy kind of just did Nobody’s Girl and we kind of just did Holdin’ On, Long Gone. We play Nobody’s Girl, too, when we’re not playing with them. A lot of times both bands will do the song, we just both don’t record it… There’s no real laws there, I guess."On their latest record, Cody and Willy were brought in to help with harmony vocals and drums/percussion. "Yeah… our drummer, Travis, had just quit and moved back to Idaho… We actually didn’t have Shane yet, I think, when we recorded with Willy. Willy was filling in gigs with us and stuff and we were really actually cutting a demo when we first went in and did three tunes. So Cody and Willy were around and they were kind of helping us with that and then the tunes ended up going on the record because they came out as good as we thought we could do them. We just went ahead and threw them on instead of re-recording them…"After all this talk about Reckless Kelly, writing songs together, and recording together, I wanted to know from Gary how it feels to be labeled as the ‘little brothers’ and compared to Reckless Kelly. I wanted to know if the MMC guys are inspired by them or if they’re tired of being the sequel set of Brauns. "I’m a little brother and I’m a big brother so I kind of know both sides of it, you know? We don’t really give a shit; we’re bothers. People can compare us all they want but as far as I’m concerned we grew up playing together and singing together and we’re gonna sound a little bit alike. We all just play what we like and love and it turns out how it turns out… People can take it or leave it…"{mospagebreak}In the same vein, MMC has been touring a lot with Reckless Kelly and I think it’s fantastic that the four boys got to play together as youngsters and now get to play together as adults. "Yeah, we play with them as much as we can because we have fun on the road together, we can share gear, it works out real good for both bands. In a lot of towns that we haven’t played that they’ve played, it gives us an opportunity to get in front of some new audiences. Then when we’re on our own in a couple weeks or months we can go back and play those towns by ourselves. Really, it’s helped us more than it’s hurt us. Actually, I don’t think it’s hurt us at all. It’s been really actually pretty good."{mosimage}Recently, on a New Year’s tour with Reckless Kelly, Gary jumped in and rode the crowd at a Boise show ("We had a pretty wild night… it was fun"). He has a steady presence on the band’s website (www.mickyandthemotorcars.com) message board, and he obviously takes interviews – i.e., front man. With the role of front man generally defaulting to the lead singer, I wondered if this was a role that Gary sees himself playing, or if it’s a role he’s comfortable with or prefers. "No, not really. I do the message board thing and the internet thing because the other guys are taking care of other business… I kind of do a lot of the little stuff, like I go to the post office [LOL]; they sign the contracts… We’re all pretty involved. We all just have our own little chores that we take care of… The message board stuff… somebody I just think should do it and communicate with those people that are on it, so I do." I bet everyone reading this article appreciates Gary’s availability on the website. Some would even argue that there’s a telepathic connection between him and his biggest fans…Speaking of the website and fans, I asked Gary about a recent post from an unsatisfied concert attendee. His response on the website was very diplomatic and I asked him to elaborate on how it feels playing to a rough crowd. "We play over 200 shows a year and you’re gonna have few nights when you’re more tired or don’t give as much as you should…We try to put on the best show we can every night with what we’ve got and if the crowd’s really not feeding back to you it’s hard to get into it some nights. And that guy could have caught us on a night when the crowd wasn’t giving us anything… We try to have a good time and do our job. If you walk out and they’re all lined up at the front ready to roll, you’re gonna get a better show that night; that’s just the way it is… If the crowds into it, the band will get into it. It’s a two way street… Sometimes… you get some guy calling you on it and it’s like ‘Well, where were you? You weren’t doing your job as a fan!’" he chided.{mospagebreak}Because fans are such an integral part of the performance, how does the band feel about taking on-the-spot requests? They’re fine coming up with their own selections, but it sounds like we can request if we promise not to be too heartbroken or disgruntled if the band cannot (or does not) oblige. "It’s cool if they’re requesting your tunes [LOL!]. If you know the song and it fits into your set, you’re happy to take a request and do it. If… people are requesting… a genre of music that you don’t play, and they just keep after you, it’s a little overbearing." I know this sort of drunken behavior shouldn’t surprise me, but being a fan of MMC, a non-cover band, I couldn’t see it happening. Who would make outlandish requests to a band that has such great original music (with a few choice covers)? Gary set me straight. "You’ll occasionally get that guy that wants to hear some Skynyrd." Hey, guy, for future reference, please do us all a favor and attend a different gig. The rest of us came to see MMC! I thought it would be fun to ask Gary one of the same wrap-up questions I asked his older brother, Willy, when interviewing Reckless Kelly, and compare their answers. What would he be doing with his time if he wasn’t making music? Like Willy, he said "I’d probably go back up to Idaho and build houses. I’d probably get out of the city if I wasn’t doing this; be in the mountains." I let him know that Willy gave me the same answer and he said "Well I guess that’s because we’re not really good at anything [LOL]… I don’t know why you’d want to go build houses when you can play guitar." Mountains, Gary. Only for the mountains. And last but not even remotely resembling least, I concluded by asking Gary a random question about one of their songs. I have wanted to know for a while why Wasted Time is written as Cha Cha Cha on their setlists. Who would have guessed that the only thing I could come up with was, in fact, the real reason? "[We call it Cha Cha Cha] because it ends with [insert vocal imitation of the guitar ending to the song here – I don't know how to spell that!]." Then he went on to sing through his laugh "Cha Cha Cha, Cha Cha Cha, Cha Cha Cha" and clarify "It’s actually a triple Cha Cha Cha." I told him that it all made sense and he remarked "Right. It’s brilliant."Visit Micky and the Motorcars website at http://www.mickyandthemotorcars.com/Purchase the latest CD f
rom MMC entitled "Ain’t In It For The Money"Thanks to Gary for the wonderful interview and insight, and great success to all of you with your current tour and next release!
Apr
26
2005
Category : Features
{mosimage}
Most of us know the story – Brothers and fellow band members Cody and
Willy Braun grew up in Idaho and, along with their two younger
brothers, Gary and Micky (both of Micky and The Motorcars), played in a
family band lead by their father, Muzzie Braun, as Muzzie Braun &
The Boys. They released a few records and traveled the country
performing at fairs and festivals, and on such popular stages as that
of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
The older boys started a band in high school and later moved to Oregon
where they met a drummer that became the third (and last ‘original’)
band member, Jay Nazz (Jazz). The three then adopted Casey
Pollock on guitar and Chris Schelske on bass and started Reckless Kelly
- named after a fearless Australian outlaw and bankrobber that met his
fate with a round of gunfire in 1880.
In 1997, the band relocated to Austin, Texas, and recorded their first
record, Millican, with its famed "hick rock" sound. In 2000, they
put out their only live record, Live at Stubb’s, and, after replacing
Casey Pollock with guitarist David Abeyta, put out their third record,
The Day. By 2003, the line-up had been revised a second time with
Jimmy McFeeley (Jam) replacing Chris Schelske on bass. The fourth
Reckless Kelly record, Under the Table and Above the Sun, was released,
this time under the Sugarhill label. The band has been touring
relentlessly since the release of the fourth record, performing live
across the United States and in Europe, and even at the two most recent
presidential inaugurations.
So what are these hick rockers doing nowadays?
{mosimage}
On February 8, 2005, Reckless Kelly released their fifth record (number
two under the Sugarhill label), Wicked Twisted Road. The title
track, which was written about four years ago, has sat on the shelf,
appearing only intermittently to a few lucky fans… until now. The
much-anticipated release has been a huge success thus far, with a video
for its first single, Stick Around, soon to appear on CMT, and Wretched
Again being used as theme music for CMT’s Wide Open Country.
For their release party on February 18, the band performed at Austin’s
own Antones. When the guys bumped into John Popper,
singer/songwriter for Blues Traveler, the night before the release
party at a local lounge, he gladly agreed to join them on stage for a
few songs. Now, not only was the record receiving rave reviews,
but the record release party was, too!
{mospagebreak title="Page 2"}
The new record is filled with admittedly strong songs with complex
lyrical content (such as Wicked Twisted Road, Stick Around, and Baby’s
Gotta Whole Lot More) that make you think in order to get the whole
story, providing more of an inspiration to deep thought than a
bottom-line lesson in the hardships of love. When asked what song
on the record was the weakest, Willy expressed some mixed feelings over
the lyrics to Wretched Again, which was rewritten multiple times.
"I kept trying to make it smarter… Every time I did that it
seemed to take away from the tune in kind of an anti-stones kind of
way. The simpler, almost more stock / generic lyrics were working
a lot better than anything too complex. … I really like the way
it rocks but then some times I think it could have been a little
stronger lyrically if we had worked on it a little longer."
Two of my favorite songs on the record are Sixgun and Wicked Twisted
Road Reprise. With the fated bankrobber getaway story reminiscent of
the band’s namesake (Sixgun) and a song that provides whatever it is
the listener is looking for (Wicked Twisted Road Reprise), I wondered
why it was decided to give these two powerful songs what I considered
to be an anti-climactic fade-away ending. Willy said that for
Wicked Twisted Road Reprise, the fade-away lets you ride "off into the
sunset," giving the listener the sense that it’s not really over.
If folks like to listen to the record twice in a row, it provides a
"constant looping feel" like the record doesn’t end. With Sixgun,
they knew they "wanted to have a long extended jam" on the end of
it. Willy thought, "We’ll rock it out until it falls apart and
then fade away where we feel like it loses momentum." That leaves
them open to a pretty intense jam at their discretion during live
performances.
{mosimage}
Because Sixgun is "still really fresh" and leaves a lot of room to
explore, it is Willy’s favorite song to perform right now.
"Sixgun is a lot of fun" he smiled (alright, I couldn’t see him but I
could hear it in his voice). They’ve been opening their live
performances with it and, as long as the crowd is into it (what?!) and
the venue allows it, they’ll do a several-hour-long set, kicking the
excitement off with an eight- or 10-minute jam at the end of Sixgun.
Although the rock shows are a lot of fun, many songs on Wicked Twisted
Road lend themselves to an acoustic performance, and the band has been
doing some of those in the smaller rooms. "[It is] tougher to
fill a big room with an acoustic show, plus we like to rock out [when
we have a big stage]." Some of the songs on this record are not
classic Reckless Kelly rock or acoustic stylings. This record
shows some of their style variation, as do their live performances.
With all the rockin’ shows, intimate acoustic sets, and variation in
classic Reckless Kelly style, why not broaden the skill set of those
that may otherwise have been pigeon-holed? David has recently
been singing the Texas Tornado song, Guacamole. Willy says they
might leave this one in the show for a while and, although David has
written a few tunes with Willy, we’ll have to wait and see "how
adventurous he gets" in his role as a singer…
The latest and greatest is that the guys just finished filming the
video for Stick Around, the new record’s first single. Filming
took place in a Georgetown prison and some scenes were a knock-off from
the classic western movie, Cool Hand Luke. The video has an
overall "prison escape vibe" and should begin rotation on CMT in the
next week or two. Willy recalls that during the making of the
video he had to run through a muddy creek five or six times to get the
ideal shot. They also had to act like they were digging on a
chain gang for about three or four hours in the hot sun. When it
came time for the scene with the chick, they shot it twice and "the
whole thing was over in five minutes. I was like damn, ya
know? I spent five or six hours running though a muddy creek,
four or five hours on the road digging in the hot sun, and five minutes
with the girl. Next time we’re going to work on the schedule a
little bit."
Speaking of schedule, the guys are swamped with live shows, public
appearances, radio spots, interviews, filming, traveling, etc.
They are maximizing their time and doing everything that they can
possibly fit it. So we’re all wondering what’s next, and if we
can expect to see more publicity (e.g., in the form of videos) and less
live shows. "No, not so far… Rock touring is our bread and
butter and I don’t see the end of that any time soon." He
explained that, although it might be nice to be able to schedule a
little more time off, he is just happy to be working because not a lot
of people have the opportunity to work as much as they do.
They’re busier than they’ve ever been and the future will likely hold
more of the same with some additional highlights, such as performances
with Dwight Yoakam in Las Vegas this July. Their tour schedule
and booking agent can be accessed through their website:
http://www.recklesskelly.com. From their site you can also get the
hottest news on the band, buy merchandise, check out the Club Millican
message board, and enjoy rktv, the latest in independent short skits.
{mospagebreak title="Page 3"}
For those of you that are new to Reckless Kelly, Willy suggests
starting on the ground floor and buying Millican. That’s where it
all began, and what a beginning it was. Millican is still one of
my favorite records. Once you have your fill of it (not likely),
you can collect the other four (just buy them all at once!).
There is a secret phrase on Wicked Twisted Road, a secret word on Under
the Table and Above the Sun, a secret song on Live at Stubb’s, and a
bonus track on Millican. I assumed that the secret phraseology
was part of their plan for world domination so when I asked Willy if
there was a secret something on The Day that I was missing, his reply
surprised me. "I don’t think so; nothing that we intended to put
on there anyway. The secret word on Under the Table is totally
just off the mic and none of us knew it was going to be there… We
didn’t notice until somebody pointed it out on the website." For
all you Red Sox fans out there, you’ll be happy to hear the secret
phrase (recorded backwards) on the new record was "Reverse the
Curse." Willy is happy to have contributed to the breaking of
such a long-standing oppression.
{mosimage}
… which brings me to a political question. As previously
mentioned, Reckless Kelly performed this year at the inaugural
celebration for President Bush (they also performed in the same
capacity after the last presidential election). Although David
was sporting a pro-Kerry button last fall, and most of the band members
seem to err on the side of liberalism (versus conservatism), Willy is
"not too politically-inclined on the stage. When people come to
see us play I’d rather they just be able to come watch a rock and roll
show and not have to worry about any political bullshit. We’ll
play for anyone who wants us to play. We’d have played for Kerry,
too, if he’d [won the election and] asked us."
And last but not least – Although Willy doesn’t know about "settling
down," he hopes that if all goes well he will "definitely end up back
in Idaho one of these days." In fact, if he weren’t blessed with
the amazing talent and skills that keep him gainfully employed in the
music industry, he would probably live in Idaho and "fall back on"
building log homes. "I like to build stuff." If music
wasn’t his main, time-consuming passion and he didn’t need to support
himself, he would undoubtedly be spending his days skiing and
golfing. As wonderful as the aforementioned livelihood and
hobbies sound, I think we are all thankful that the members of Reckless
Kelly have the talent and drive to pursue their passion, following it
wherever it takes them in contrast to leading a nine-to-five
lifestyle. We should all be so reckless!
Thanks to Willy for the honest interview, and thanks to David, Cody, Willy, Jimmy, and Jay for letting the fans name that van!!
Purchase Wicked Twisted Road
Visit http://www.RecklessKelly.com