Tim Easton just released his new album, Porcupine via New West Records. The album is “a myriad of guitar riffs rooted in blues, country, rockabilly and campfire folk set the color for observational lyrics capturing life from the desert to the sea.” It’s been in heavy rotation of late, so we caught up with Tim on tour for a little 5 Questions with Muzzle of Bees action.
Could you lend some information on the recording process of the Porcupine? Where and how was it recorded, anything you did differently this time around?
I made this record in Nashville in October of 2007. Quite a while back now so as you can imagine I have some new material to work into the live sets these days. What we did different than the last few records was that we recorded live in the studio as a band, rather than stacking overdubs onto a solo acoustic track. I also used an “all Ohio” rhythm section in order to get that Midwestern sound I grew up with- which is similar to the sound of a train sliding off the tracks.
Your “Joshua Tree Republic” newsletter brought a big smile to my face. It’s refreshing to see a commitment to where you live. What motivated you to start something like this up?
Thanks. I already am a politically motivated folk singer type so since this Porcupine album is all about turning it up and having a good time, I wanted to do something different to support the current administration’s search for change. I was sitting at the Red Arrow Art Gallery last December when I decided that starting a ‘zine or a local, underground newspaper was going to be my way of contributing to the change. It’s a very hand made thing with the results being scanned and posted at http://www.joshuatreerepublic.com
I am basically thinking very local and encouraging my fellow citizens to participate in making our community a better place to live and work. I borrowed ideas from other small town newspapers and then through in a little bit of desert living to make it apply to what we do from day to day out there in Joshua Tree.
What is on your bookshelf at the moment? Any good reads you’d like to share with our readers?
Funny, I’ve been on the road for five weeks and next to my bed at home I have a wide stack of books that I have promised to read. Some are classics, some are new. I’m a big fan of Alaska related history, fiction and non-fiction these days. It’s tough not to pick up more books while on the road- they are so cheap in the used bookstores across the nation. I have been pretty good on this trip though, and have stuck to two different books, even though it seems magazines are preferable on the road. What I have on the road with me now is
Stagolee Shot Billy by Cecil Brown. A great book about the history of that song. I also just picked up A Deeper Blue: The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt by Robert Earl Hardy, which is a good read about the life of this undeniable influence on all of us ramblers and songwriters. I spend a night hanging out with Townes once, after I was his support act in Columbus, Ohio. I had already learned the Lighting Hopkins finger picking style so we got along just fine. Got fairly drunk, actually. I used to think of it as a great night but now I think of it as kind of sad, since he died so soon after that, and put on a pretty bad show that night. A local asked me if I wanted to end up there and I remember thinking “hell no” although I contributed to the revelry that night. A friend asked him to sign a book for me and he wrote “Tim, take the money and run.”
We’re always looking to uncover new favorite artists, are there any band(s)/record(s) that you could recommend to our readers?
Right now, I’m listening to M. Ward’s Hold Time, which I’m sure your readers are familiar with. Have you checked out Austin’s Grand Champeen or a band from Scotland called Frightened Rabbit.
Also, please check out my friend Evan Phillip’s music, as he has a benefit record coming out soon to help him pay for a medical situation.
The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?
I love it. The only drawback is that there is a lot more mediocre stuff out there to weed through, but who am I to judge or complain?
The future of music and art will be excellent. Young kids will have amazing recording and editing tools right in front of them, all they need is an imagination. Those with creative drives that can’t be stopped will do just fine. Those that grumble and complain about money will be fucked either way, and those who make art because they have to will do just that and all will be as it should be. Look at all the crap Hollywood foists on us and we still lap it up like idiots: reality TV…blockbuster movies with zero meaning…re-doing old stories that sold before…
I’m not sure what the recording industry is so upset about, it’s just the chickens coming home to roost for all that excessive, greedy, and selfish behavior that happened before. It’s a shame that some folks will lose their jobs, but it’s not their fault, it’s the fault of those greedy folks from before. The best and brightest artists out there today aren’t on the cover of Rolling Stone anymore, they are working along the side lines, making very comfortable livings by communicating with the fans directly.
Buy: Tim Easton – Porcupine
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Myspace: Tim Easton
MP3: Tim Easton – “Broke My Heart”
