To say that I’m a fan of The Low Anthem would be an understatement. I’ve played Oh My God, Charlie Darwin more than any other album this year. If you’ve ever tuned into our podcast you are certainly familiar with our appreciation of this group. I had some time with Ben Knox Miller en route to this weekend’s Newport Folk Festival. Not attending the festival? You can listen via Milwaukee’s own 89.7 WUWM. The Low Anthem play a one-hour set on Saturday at 2:10pm.
You’re about to play the Newport Folk Festival. Since you’re from Rhode Island have you been to the festival previously as a fan? I heard somewhere you spent last year on the grounds crew and now you’re on the bill.
Yea, a bit heartwarming isn’t it! Last year we were recycling volunteers. Just out there doing our part to help a great festival and to save 6 dumpsters worth of recyclables from going into the landfill. Nasty work. Trash juice everywhere. You could almost call it selfless, but of course, we also had our pockets full of demo CDs. The record hadn’t come out yet. That’s how Paste heard it, and that’s how Jay found the music too. This year we’ll probably do the right thing and volunteer again, even though they give us free tickets both days. We’ll shall see.
Are there any past performances or shows at this year’s festival that you’re excited about?
I love all of it. I think they booked a killer line up.
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is rightfully getting high praise. It’s one of the best records we’ve heard all year. The record has been re-released by Nonesuch this year, making the material a little older than a traditional new release. What are the plans or current progress of upcoming recordings?
Thank you. We are working hard on some new songs and ideas. Right now we’re swept up in an endless tour that’s taking us to all these exciting places. We’re digging that. But we’re really eager to get back to the studio when the madness blows over.
If you were to play an entire set of someone else’s songs, whose would you choose and/or enjoy playing the most?
Sometimes we load our set with traditional and gospel numbers. We dig the oil and vinegar of those gritty prayers next to our arty-er Darwin hymns.
Any word if Tom Waits has heard your take on “Home I’ll Never Be” ?
A friend of a friend who’s friend with the man said that they would play Tom the track. We don’t know if this happened. At the time, we were still self-releasing and were a bit worried he would audit us for royalties.
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?
Well people get the democratizing power of new media. That’s good stuff. No doubt. However, MP3s sound like crap, so there’s that problem. There’s also the over-saturation problem. There’s a lot out there, but a lot of it gets treated like styrofoam dishware. My sense is that people forget about new music after hearing it. They don’t live with it, and internalize it. It’s non-recyclable. I think records reveal themselves to you over long periods of time. A lot of my favorite records are the ones I’ve lived with my whole life. Mainly Dylan and Cohen. Now a days it’s this obsession with the newest latest hippest. Shit is made for the moment and becomes outdated just as quickly as you’d expect. That’s a bit sad.
I’ve also read you’re baseball fans. What team do you cheer for when you call Rhode Island home and do you have any all-time favorite players?
We are big fans of the Pawtucket Pawsox. They’re the triple A affiliate of the Redsox and they play up the street at McCoy Stadium. It’s a $6 ticket, or you can go after the fourth inning and it’s usually free. Hot dogs, beers and hungry kids clawing for the Bigs. What more could you want?
Are you every going to play Wisconsin?
Last time we were in Wisconsin I got nailed with $350 speeding ticket! I’m a bit bruised by that as you can imagine, but time heals all. We’ll give it another shot soon.
Essential: The Low Anthem Daytrotter Session
Buy: The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin
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Myspace: The Low Anthem
MP3: The Low Anthem – “Charlie Darwin”
