Radoslav Lorkovic

What keeps me coming back to Cayamo is the opportunity to discover different musicians. This past year, one of the new musicians I discovered was Ellis Paul. Part of Paul’s band was an incredible piano and accordion player Radoslav Lorkovic. Over the next several days of the cruise, Lorkovic also turned up jamming with several other musicians. I meant to conduct this interview immediately after the cruise, but life events delayed my intentions. I was glad to finally conduct the email interview this week. Be sure to visit Lorkovic’s Facebook page, as he is indeed an impressive photographer (as we discuss) in addition to his musical prowess. This interview includes a new Talking with Tim milestone, a musician quoting NFL legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

Tim O’Shea: You are currently touring with Ellis Paul, what attracted you to working with Ellis?

Radoslav Lorkovic: Ellis has been a great friend through the years.  Music is just a natural part of what is really a great ‘hang’  Being on stage is little different than having a drink at three AM in some ridiculous club laughing.  The music, however, is quite serious and precise. It is presented without out the baggage of seriousness.  He also plays everything in C sharp–for me the most difficult piano key.  It’s a massive exercise in a way.

I had known Ellis for some time before he approached me about playing music.  It was a scene from a movie.  I was at some swanky brunch with my friend Jimmy Lafave. We were in Connecticut.  Music highbrows were helping themselves to brie and mimosas. Ellis and his longtime manager Ralph Jaccodine were there.  Ellis lurked shyly in the corner.  Ralph approached me slowly.  Quietly — yet assertively– he stated “Ellis would like you to play with him.”  I replied to Ralph “Tell Ellis I’m interested.”

O’Shea: I first became aware of your work after seeing you perform at Cayamo earlier this year. As amazing an experience it was to see you (and the other artists perform), I am curious if you can talk about how enjoyable it was for you?

Lorkovic: Cayamo was for me –and I imagine all the other musicians on board a true milestone.  The obvious grandeur of the experience provides one with that “I have finally arrived” feeling.  Being on the Caribbean in the lap of luxury — AND being at the music festival you always hoped to be a part of.  Yet again — the company, Ellis. Don Con and Ralph, notched it up considerably further.

O’Shea: Some musicians are reluctant to play live, while others relish the opportunity to perform live (I would put you in the latter category). What is it about jamming and playing live that so clearly appeals to you?

Lorkovic: Quoting Vince Lombardi –”Playing live isn’t everything, it’s the ONLY thing.”  Making great records is obviously significant –The Beatles proved that.  For me playing alone or having one person in the room is like night and day.  It is a 180 degree turn.  Instincts kick in that were completely dormant.  I also compare it to being a pilot.  You aren’t taken seriously untill you have thousands of hours under your belt.

Jamming to me cuts to the essence of those instincts.  Being onstage in front of thousands and being trusted to play a song you have never heard is precisely what I thrive on.  It is thrill of being suspended in air and instantaneously deciphering how to land on your feet.

O’Shea: After being classically trained, what was it about R&B that attracted you to exploring it?

Lorkovic: That blues scale my buddy played for me in the tenth grade was all it took.  A switch had been pulled in the railyard –I never looked back, until much later, when I revisited classical music from the eyes of a blues and rock ‘n’ roll player.

O’Shea: You have released five solo CDs to date, any plans to release a sixth CD in the near term?

Lorkovic: I’m still in the process of ‘releasing’ what actually is my sixth cd –Wastelands and Casinos,  I finished it a year ago.  It was a treat to record it with my dear friends in Austin at the amazing Cedar Creek Studios.

O’Shea: You recently joined Twitter and have been on Facebook for quite awhile. Have social media tools enabled you to market yourself more effectively?

Lorkovic: I’m actually quite amazed by Facebook. It is par for the course for promoting your shows or recordings –a logical extension of Myspace.  Facebook gave me –quite accidentally — a means of being recognised for a passion of mine comparable to music –photography.  I have quietly devoted comparable energy to photography as to music –it is just recently — thanks to Facebook –that that cat is out of the bag.  The opportunity to get instantaneous feedback on images — both from people I know and trust — and complete strangers is astonishing to me.

O’Shea: Creatively what’s on the horizon for you in the rest of 2011 and 2012?

Lorkovic: Another huge passion of mine is skiing — I did good last year — maybe fifty days — mostly at Mammoth Mountain –I hope to match that — then its festival season —buckle your seatbelts…

Amanda & Scott Anderson

This interview with the musical father and daughter team of Scott & Amanda Anderson is the first of many to originate from Cayamo 2011. Scott was part of Keith Sewell’s band–and after the band’s first night playing on the ship I was fortunate enough to meet both musicians. Unfortunately, while I got to see Scott perform multiple times, I was never around for any of Amanda’s appearances in jam sessions and when she played elsewhere on the boat. As detailed at the website: “After years of playing together, Amanda and her dad Scott Anderson began performing together in 2008. Amanda handles most of the lead vocals and supplies sweet fiddle lines. Swampgrass master Scott Anderson adds harmony and lead vocals as well as guitar and banjo. Their repertoire includes Americana and bluegrass songs from Nickel Creek, Andrea Zonn, Alison Krauss, The Dixie Chicks, and many others. Their dazzling fiddle and banjo duets are favorites at every show. Amanda and Scott also perform together in The Scott Anderson Band and occasionally with The Bluegrass Parlor Band.” Scott recently released his solo album (which features Amanda on many of the cuts), Tales from the Swamp. We also discuss their 2009 album, Another Day. My thanks to Scott and Amanda for taking so much time to answer my questions.

Tim O’Shea: First question, for both of you, what was Cayamo 2011 like for you, as performers and audience members? And Scott, how did you come to be part of Keith Sewell‘s band for Cayamo?

Scott Anderson: We had a blast on Cayamo! The whole thing is really well done, from the artists selected, the way the shows are scheduled and set up, the way they treat the artists, and of course the boat and the trip itself. And the great thing for me was that even when I wasn’t playing a show, there was something fun to do with some many great acts putting on shows all the time. It was also a thrill for me to get to meet and talk with Colin Hay. I’ve been a big fan of his from his days with Men at Work all the way up to all of his great solo stuff that he’s doing now. It’s always good when you meet someone like that and he turns out to be a good guy.

Amanda Anderson: The whole trip was wonderful. I had a great time just hopping from show to show, there was always something new to listen to. I also had a chance to talk to and hear some of the musicians that I’ve been a fan of for years, which was such a treat. And you sure can’t beat those beaches!

Scott: For sure. We also got to jam nightly with The Steep Canyon Rangers, Sean Watkins, Luke Bulla, and Jerry Roe from WPA and a lot of other great musicians. Our only problem was figuring out how to get enough sleep.

I had actually played only one show with Keith before, a couple of years ago when my friend Cory Walker was planned to play banjo with him couldn’t make the show. We did that show at a festival near Panama City and it went very well. Keith especially liked the vocal blend that we had together. Keith and his wife Wendy sound great together so all I had to do was not goof that up! I love singing with them because they sound so good together. And I already had Keith’s great CD Love is a Journey and knew most of the stuff so it went pretty smoothly.

Keith called me a few months in advance of the cruise and said “Hey, what are you doing this week in February? It’s not firm yet but I might have a gig for you.” And I said, sure, I’d love to do it – thinking it was just a festival or some concerts maybe. A month or two later after he’d solidified the deal he called me back and told me it was Cayamo. Now that was a pleasant surprise!

So I did some woodshedding on his new CD which I hadn’t heard at that point and then we rehearsed on the boat together for the first time. Keith had played with me before, he’d played with Sebastian Steinberg (who plays bass) when they were with the Dixie Chicks, and with Andy Leftwich, who is a fantastic mandolin and fiddle player from Ricky Skaggs’ band, on a lot of Keith’s own shows. But the first time we played together and the first time we played any of the new CD was on the boat the day before our first show. I think it came together pretty well though.

Tim: How has the collaborative process evolved for you two, particularly considering that Amanda had been playing fiddle for 19 months when you recorded 2009′s Another Day? Did you find the two of you wanted to do more ambitious cuts on the Tales from the Swamp new release?

Scott: Amanda had been coming up to sing a few songs with my band for a while before she started on fiddle. And then she played fiddle with me for the first time on a show when she’d been playing only 4 months. We’d play the few songs she knew at the time, and then she’d just sing on some. But she and I worked pretty hard at developing a repertoire and she came along pretty fast. I find that she develops more opinions as she gets older too, so she gets more of a say in what we do now.

Amanda: Since it’s mainly just the two of us, it’s usually pretty easy to work out what kinds of songs we want to do. We work up material that we both like, so it’s based more on our music as a pair. When I first started out I had a lot of instruction from my fiddle teacher, Tommy Slaughter, and Dad, but as I’ve gotten older we’ve both worked together to choose what we want to do.

Tales from the Swamp

Tim: Scott, while Amanda contributes to many cuts (and takes lead vocals), what was the thinking behind this new release being under your name solely?

Scott: Well, this was a project that I actually planned and started recording before we did Another Day – it was that long ago. I played some shows with Adam Steffey and Clay Hess and few years ago when they took a little Florida tour. We had some free time before a show one day, and I thought “I can’t waste this chance.” So I called my old friend David McMillan and his studio was open so we went over and recorded “Be Proud of the Gray in Your Hair” pretty quickly that day. That was the beginning of Tales from the Swamp.

Then Amanda and I started playing a lot of shows and we realized we needed something to sell to all the folks who were asking for something. So I put Tales on hold and we started working on Another Day.

Tim: Can you talk about how the album cover came about? I love the comic book vibe to it.

Scott: Well, I had written the song “Joe Meets the Skunk Ape” based on a true encounter with the Ape that a friend of mine had years ago. I had come up with the title which made sense to me on a couple of levels, and I’ve been a fan of all monsters since I was a kid, and also remembered a lot of old comic book covers and old movie posters. So all of those things merged into that cover idea. I told my graphic designer, Beth Thomas, about it and she got interested and excited and did a great job with it like I knew she would. She also did the jacket for Another Day. She’s amazing! Beth is also the wife of my old friend Jason Thomas. He plays with Claire Lynch now and played some great fiddle on Tales for me.

Tim: Another question for you both, can you pick out which were your favorite cuts to record?

Amanda: I would probably say Drivin’, Singin’, and Cryin’. That was my first time recording a song that I wrote, so it was really fascinating to watch it grow. It started out as a poem I wrote on the inside cover of a book I was reading for English class and ended up as a fully-fledged song with some awesome musicians contributing to it. It’s just sort of unbelievable to see the way these things unfold, and it was a huge learning experience for me.

Scott: For, me I could pick a few. On Sorry Song Number Forty-Seven, I wrote it for Amanda to sing, and I had a very specific arrangement and ideas in place ahead of time. So I got to really produce that one with direction of some great players: Sam Bush, Jim Hurst, Barry Bales, and Aubrey Haynie. And then Amanda did a great job of singing it. It was a lot of fun hearing them bring my ideas to life.

And with the complete opposite approach, we cut Minor Swing with those same great players on a last-minute decision when we had a little extra time at the end of the session. I tossed out a few ideas until everyone said “Yeah, we could do that one.” Then we did it without a lot of thought or preparation. Those kind are always my favorite ones to listen back to – the ones that just happen.

Tim: How hard was it to pick out which cuts to include in Tales from the Swamp, or was it not hard at all?

Scott: Well, I had written a few that I knew I wanted to record. And then Amanda wrote the lyrics for “Drivin’, Singin’, Cryin” and I knew that would fit and should be included too. “Be Proud of the Gray in Your Hair” is one that I’ve done for a long time and it’s my mom’s favorite song, so I wanted to do that one. Most of the selections were pretty easy. I wish I’d come up with at least one gospel song, but I didn’t have one ready.

Tim: Scott, were you hesitant to run “Something Will Change” by your children when you first wrote it?

Scott: Well, yes I was. And I still am honestly. I hate that song. I don’t think it’s a bad song but it’s too personal for me. I love my kids but they’re growing up and things are different when that happens. I don’t see them as much as when they were small. I have to get used to letting them do things on their own, and to not even knowing where they are sometimes. It’s tough. I really don’t like to listen to that one, but I wrote it really quickly late one night and thought I should include it.

Tim: Amanda, what was your reaction after hearing it?

Amanda: To be honest, I didn’t realize at first what it meant. It just kind of hit me one day and I understood what it was talking about. It’s just something that happens, I never felt like it was completely just about my brother or I. Even if that’s what it’s based on, it represents something that I think happens in every family at some point. The kids start growing up and the parents have to accept that the status quo is a little different.

Tim: OK, clearly you two have a great sense of humor, so I have to know (from your first album) what was the inspiration for Tengo Tres Gatos. I know by reading this write-up it stemmed partially from “some headphone interference from a Spanish language station”. If nothing else, I need to know where Amanda came up with the guttural sound that the song ends with.

Amanda: The whole song was an accumulation of funny things that had happened during the time we were recording. “Senor Cadaver,” for example, came from playing the game Clue, and trying to read the Spanish instructions. The sound on the end was me making fun of how it sounds when one of us accidentally breathed really loudly into the microphone.

Scott: Yeah, while we were in the studio doing “Another Day” we had several instances where we got some kind of phantom Cuban music coming over our headphones. One of those inspired the rhythmic hook for the tune. Every time we’d turn off the recorder we’d play a little bit of it. After a little while, I figured we should just do something with it. So we threw together some silly bad Spanish phrases and there it was.

Tim: Scott, back to the new album, you’ve been playing professionally for more than two decades, but I wonder if there was any hesitancy on your part to tackle a classic Johnny Cash song like Folsom Prison Blues?

Scott: Well, it’s always a little chancy to do a song that’s so well known. You need to do it pretty well and with a little different slant I think or it will flop completely. I had always loved the song and we’d do it in jam sessions with my friend George Wells. I had never heard a bluegrass version of it though I know it must have been done. So I got Clay Hess, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Byron House to play on it and it was en fuego! Just like I planned for it to be. Those guys have such energy!

Then of course, before I release it I find out that Dierks Bentley has recorded it with The Grascals and it’s on sale at Cracker Barrel. He also recorded and released Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) with the Punch Brothers and released on his latest CD, also before I knew that he was recording it. I think he’s out to get me!

Tim: Does Boogie on Broadway mark the first time your son, Tyler has appeared on one of your albums? How much fun was that 18 second gem?

Scott: Yes. That one was actually recorded a long time ago. Tyler and Amanda were both taking piano lessons – he was about 9 or 10 years old I think. I had just gotten a new Roland 1680 digital recorder so we were messing with that. That was one of the tunes in his piano book, so we put down what I think is the definitive version. We were laughing ourselves almost to death!

Tim: A lot of musicians pitch in on both of your 2009 and 2011 releases, can the two of you talk about what kind of collaborative lessons you took away from playing with these folks?

Scott: I always try to get some of my friends who are great musicians and I also try to get some folks whose playing I just love and think will best fit a particular tune. And often they turn into friends too which is really cool. They are all folks who are real pros, so I really appreciate how they approach songs they’ve often never heard before. They can take direction and play an idea I have in my head or I can just get of the way and let them play what they feel and it will sound great. And I can ask their opinion of what to do if I’m on the fence about something and they’ll have an idea that works well. They are all really just fantastic musicians, and good people too.

Amanda: The biggest thing I took from being with these guys in the studio was just to play the music the way you feel and have fun with it. Music never seems to turn out the same when you put too much planning into it because it loses its spontaneity and energy. So when the all these musicians came in, they were pretty much ready to start recording immediately, they didn’t run over the songs too many times. That way it captures the music in its most natural form, and they could play off of each other in the studio.

Tim: Amanda, how hard is it juggle your musical pursuits, while still being successful enough academically to be a National Merit Scholar?

Amanda: Well, it is sort of a conflict sometimes. School has a tendency to take up a lot of time, but it’s really just a matter of prioritizing. I’m pretty organized, I keep lists of what I need to do and try to set schedules. But I’ve also learned that sometimes it’s better to just sacrifice school in order to do something that I want to do, because looking back I know I’ll regret the things I didn’t do more than the things I did, (missing a week of school for Cayamo, for example). I make sure I keep up with school to the best of my ability, but try not to miss out on opportunities that I want to take. Music is a lot more fun than school, anyway!

Another Day

Tim: Another question for Amanda, did you grow up hearing the Beatles or was “I Will” a relatively new song to you when you first learned it for 2009′s Another Day?

Amanda: I listen to the Beatles some, but the first time I ever heard that song was on Tony Furtado’s “Within Reach,” with Alison Krauss singing. When I first started singing with my Dad, around fifth grade, that was one of the first songs I learned. Then I sort of forgot about it for a while. About five years later or so, we ended up playing that song in a show with the Bluegrass Parlor Band that happened to be right before we recorded Another Day. So, we decided to cut that one too.

Tim: What are some of the biggest musical lessons you’ve learned from working with your dad (and Scott, chime in with any lessons you’ve learned from her)?

Amanda: I’ve always been a little bit introverted, and sometimes I’m not that great at jumping on new opportunities and meeting up with musicians and all of the networking kinds of things. Dad on the other hand, is great at that. So he’s taught me to be more open and just take more chances, and it’s led to some really fun gigs and jams and friends that I never would have had if I hadn’t been more outgoing. Also, he’s always pushing me to improve and try new things. He’s always asking if there’s a new song I want to do, so it will stay fresh and we won’t get stuck just doing the same things over and over.

Scott: Well, I wasn’t always that way. Amanda and I really have similar personalities so I had to overcome my introversion, and I still have to work at that part of it.

As for the music, I have a tendency to overthink things sometimes maybe and worry about it. I think Amanda likes to just sing it the way she feels it and she doesn’t overanalyze it. I probably need to do that a lot of times.

Tim: Amanda, do you plan to study music in college, or are you opting for other academic pursuits. Scott, will you and Amanda still try to perform together while she’s in college, or will that be too logistically challenging?

Amanda: I do plan on keeping up with music. I’m sure it will be a little more difficult in college, (I don’t know how my roommate will feel about fiddle, haha) but I plan on sticking with it. I’ve been performing for a few years now and it’s not something that I want to give up. However, I don’t think I’m going to make a career out of it. I guess I want something a little more stable, so I’m planning on going into something in the medical or dental field. That way, I can still have music on the side as well as something more reliable for an income.

Scott: Well I’m still waiting for her to tell me where she’s going to school. That will certainly affect any of the smaller local gigs I might try to plan for. But, yes, we do intend to keep playing together. I guess where we do that most often is the only question.

Tim: Creatively, what’s on the horizon for you two? Amanda, now that your dad has had a solo release, do you have any interest in a solo release of your own?

Amanda: Currently, I think we’re just taking things easy for now. We released Another Day two years ago, Dad just finished Tales From the Swamp, and I’m getting ready to finish up high school and start college, so a new project hasn’t really been a possibility so far. I’d love to make a solo album at some point, but I don’t think it’s going to happen in the immediate future. We’re just going to keep playing shows and see where it takes us.

Scott: I’d like for us to record a project of all original material at some point. That means we need to get busy writing more songs.

Tim: Anything the two of you would like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Scott: My first solo release was”Rivers” back in 2001. I had some good players and good songs (at least I think so) on that one too, including Jim Hurst. That at least partially led to me playing in his band for about 3 years which was great music and great fun. Jim is still a very good friend too. And Missy Raines played in that band with us for a while too.

“Rivers” was actually mostly planned in my head for a very long time before I actually did it – at least a lot of the song selection was. Then I finally set a date, made some calls to get people together, and did it. It was an amazing week of recording too. I’ll never forget having to teach John Cowan how to sing a song I wrote that he sang on the CD. That’s maybe the most intimidating thing I’ve ever tried to do. Not because of anything John did – he was easygoing and great about it. It’s just that he’s probably the most amazing singer I’ve ever been near.

Tim: You want to do an album of all original material. Can you both give me a glimpse into your collaborative songwriting process?

Scott: So far we’ve written only a few together. On Tengo Tres Gatos, it was the music first and then we both started adding the silliest lyrics we could think of. On Drivin’, Singin’, Cryin’, Amanda had the lyrics written and then I helped with the music. I think we changed just a word or two of the lyrics so they’d fit the cadence of the music, but not much. I’d like to work on some more, and write some lyrics together.

Amanda: When I wrote Drivin’, Singin’, and Cryin’ I had an idea of how I wanted it to sound and then Dad helped me with the chords, because he’s certainly a much better guitar player than I am. We really haven’t written many together, but I think that’s probably how it will happen a lot, one of us has lyrics or music and then we work together to add in what’s missing.

Tim: Scott, considering that your first solo album was released in 2001, can you recall what your expectations were 10 years ago for your musical career? And could you have ever fathomed back in 2001 that you would be collaborating with your daughter now?

Scott: Well, I expected to have to quit my day job, travel the world to play shows on a routine basis, and become wildly successful, rich, and famous. And that’s exactly what has happened! (laughter) Well, some of it, but on a much smaller scale than I envisioned. I have gotten to meet, become friends with, play, and record with a lot of my musical heroes. And I have gotten to do some travelling, internationally even, in order to play music. And for all of that I am very thankful.

I have come to realize over these past 10 years in particular how incredibly difficult it is to make a good living as a professional musician. I know many absolutely fantastic musicians who are not getting as rich doing this as I think they deserve to, because they’re so talented and they work at it so hard. Really they’re not getting rich at all, but getting by like everyone else. They’re always having to work to tie down the next gig to keep some money coming in. I wish it wasn’t so complicated.

You know, I always hoped that my kids would play and that I’d be playing with them. I kept a lot of different instruments around the house so they’d be available in case someone showed and interest, and I’d try to encourage that without pushing. Amanda played some other instruments before she started fiddle. And it’s a little bit funny that one time she told me, “Why didn’t you make me start sooner!” But I was afraid to push and run the risk of making her hate it. But her singing got so good so fast too – that has been a pleasant surprise for me. I knew she could learn to sing but I think she really has a gift for it.

Tim: During one of the Keith Sewell shows, I notice that your wife (Scott) and mom (Amanda) was videotaping Scott’s performance. How important has her support been throughout your respective musical pursuits?

Scott: Of course, Mary has been along with me for the whole ride, and has been encouraging and helpful. She knew I played, but probably didn’t know how important it was to me until after we got married. She was the one who has diagnosed me on a few occasions with “low music syndrome.” That’s where I just get down and don’t feel right during those times when I’m not getting to play enough music. It really happens, so I try to stave it off.

And she’s been supportive when it’s time to buy a new instrument, record a CD, sell those CDs, or go away for another weekend to play. And of course she helped a lot when Amanda was smaller at gigs and things. She’s also gotten the occasional plum gig trip out of it like the Cayamo Music Cruise and an Ireland/Northern Ireland tour with The Jim Hurst Band where she went with us and handled all of the merchandise for us. And she’s my best friend.

Amanda: My mom has been such a huge help the whole time. She’s always there to encourage or give advice or, when I was younger, come pick me up when it was 2 am and Dad was still jamming and I had school the next day (haha). She always lets me choose my own path and make my own decisions about whether I want to sacrifice school for music, or music for school, or anything else, really. She’s always told me that I can do whatever I want to do in life and she’ll still be there to support me. She’s really great about staying grounded and not letting things get to her too much, and neither Dad or I could have ever done all of this without her.

Part of the appeal to Cayamo is understandably some of the big names. But when all is said and done, my favorite shows (of the major acts) involved Buddy Miller or Patty Griffin, neither of whom were on the ship until the final three days or so. But in those days, I was astounded how many shows the two of them did (plus Songwriters in the Round).

The main part of Cayamo that keeps me coming back, however, are the artists that I discover. Here’s my list of new discoveries for 2011.

• Scott Miller
• Ellis Paul
• Keith Sewell
• Scott and Amanda Anderson
• Sebastian Steinberg
• Andy Leftwich
• Dar Williams
• The Mastersons

One person not on that list is Chuck Cannon, because I discovered Cannon last year–but I was so glad to see him back on Cayamo 2011. With any luck he and Shawn Mullins will get a chance to do their songwriting session again (last done in 2010)  in 2012.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to sit next to a great husband and wife, who knew their music and were also great conversationalists. The husband, Bill Lambert, was kind enough to share some of the pictures he took and gave me permission to run some of them (from the many he posted on his Flickr account). My thanks to Bill.

(From left to right) Scott Anderson, Wendy Buckner Sewell, Keith Sewell, Andy Leftwich and Sebastian Steinberg

Scott Miller

Patty Griffin

Buddy Miller

Edie Carey

I have wanted to interview urban folk/pop singer/songwriter Edie Carey since seeing her in concert at Cayamo this past February. She’s got a new album set for release by late October 2010, called Bring The Sea. In preparation for its release (and thanks to Carey for her time [as well as Concerts in Your Home founder Fran Snyder for putting me in contact with Carey]) we discussed her music in this brief email interview.

Tim O’Shea: When a singer/songwriter goes to a country like Tanzania for two weeks on vacation as you recently did, do you typically get inspired to write a song or two. Or when you take a vacation do you decide to give your songwriting part of your brain a break as well?

Edie Carey: I definitely relished the opportunity to get on a plane without my guitar in tow for once. I love my job, but it can make me a bit single-minded sometimes. It’s good to remember the things that I loved to do before I ever started doing this….camping, exploring other countries, learning about history, architecture, science….It was a great mental break after finishing the new album.

O’Shea: You’ve got a new album set to release this fall, is all the studio work done or are you still in that stage of the process? Of the myriad musician friends you have, care to mention some that will be appearing on the release?

Carey: It’s being mastered right now, and we’ve just started on the artwork. It’s called “Bring The Sea” and it will be released in late October. Some guest artists are Shawn Mullins, Glen Phillips from Toad the Wed Sprocket, Julie Wolf (Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls), Sarah Sample (Editor’s note: I interviewed Sample in March), Eyvind Kang (Bill Frisell, Laura Veirs). They were incredible!

O’Shea: Who did you get to produce this new album and what motivated you to tap them for the project?

Carey: I worked with Tacoma,Washington-based producer Evan Brubaker. He produced my album When I Was Made and I was anxious to work with him again. I have known him for years, and I think he is an equally brilliant songwriter and producer…I trust him completely.

O’Shea: How hard was it to decide how many and which cuts to put on the upcoming release?

Carey: It wasn’t that hard, actually. I wrote the songs with certain central themes in mind, and so they kind fell together. It was pretty clear right away which songs didn’t fit.

O’Shea: Back in early May you sought help for the upcoming “On and On” music video, when you were “seeking funny, poignant, sweet photos & videos of MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS”. What kind of response have you gotten so far–and how much fun is it to do these kind of creative projects connected to your music?

Carey: I think we’ve gotten some wonderful submissions, although most of them have been going directly to my video director, so it will fall to her to decide which ones suit the piece best. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. It’s such a cool way to connect even more with the great folks who have been so supportive of my music.

O’Shea: How has your new marriage impacted your songwriting (or sources of inspiration for songwriting–if at all)?

Carey: I think being happy in love forces me to look outside myself for things to write about. It pushes me to find other things to write about than a broken heart….I am inspired to write songs more like short stories, and to try on other people’s lives in each song…even if I am singing from the first person, I am often singing from another’s point of view.

O’Shea: As a creative force, you are part of the growing majority of musicians that work without a net–without a record company. With your last album and this next one, you directly know a great deal of how much support and interest there is in the project by asking fans to pre-order the release. And in this still struggling economy, how gratifying is it to see the level of support you’re able to garner from your fans–in a time when it’s harder to part with one’s cash?

Carey: It still amazes me that it’s possible to make records this way. This is my 3rd time doing it, and while I did raise less than last time, I was still wowed by folks’ generosity, even when everyone is truly feeling the pinch. Perhaps music and art feel even more important to us in a time when it feels a bit like the color is drained from life…it’s an escape we all still seem to need, I guess. I know I do

O’Shea: What is it about house concerts that you enjoy the most–the people you meet/perform for, the places it allows you to go (you’ve got a house concert in England later this year) or some unmeasurable metric of happiness (or all of the above? )?

Carey: I just love the connection with people. I love being able to deliver my songs without distractions, without a drunk guy at the bar or crappy sound, or an abyss of darkness between me and the audience. I wrote these songs in order that they might resonate with others, too – and to be able to see that actually happen up close is so incredibly cool! I also love playing without a mike – being able to move freely, and let the guitar and my voice sound like what they are supposed to actually sound like.

O’Shea: While looking at your Facebook page, I noticed that the late T Bone Wolk had played in your band at some point. What did you most appreciate about Wolk’s musicianship?

Carey: He was such a wonderful soul. So warm and open and excited about music – and the fact that he was willing to come play on my second record up in the middle of nowheresville, Maine just blew me away. He was such a passionate musician…He meant every note he played.

O’Shea: I’m sure you’re flattered by the comparisons to Shawn Colvin, but are you looking forward to the day someone says of a new artist “_______ is this generation’s Edie Carey” –or do you wish critics would not have to say “Artist A is just like Artist Z”.

Carey: Ha! That would be pretty cool, but I’m not counting the days until that happens I am totally flattered by comparisons, and I just think that’s a necessary part of folks being able to give a point of reference when describing someone’s music. I really don’t mind it at all.

O’Shea: Do you have any recent or upcoming guest appearances on anyone else’s album? (feel free to skip this if it distracts the focus from your upcoming album)

Carey: I co-wrote a song that will be on Shawn Mullins’ new album. It’s called Can’t Remember Summer,  and I just love the song. It’s so haunting. I wanted to record it on my new record, but it just didn’t fit. I haven’t heard his version yet, but I am sure it’s stunning. I didn’t sing on it, but it’s wonderful to have a co-write on there!

O’Shea: You (and by logical extension, your music) do an incredible job cultivating (and keeping) your fanbase. How frustrating is it when you and your fanbase work hard for a victory (like the Ourstage/Lilith push) only to have the rug pulled out from under you?

Carey: I feel very lucky to have wonderful fans, and I truly feel like that is more important than any one contest. I was disappointed to not win, but what can you do? I let myself have a moment of disappointment, and then I remember how many things that haven’t worked out over the years have always somehow turned into something even better. Katie Todd (who is playing) is such a great artist, and this year it’s her turn, and it’s so well-deserved! My time will come when it does.

Sixthman

If I was not already blessed with a great full-time job and a spectacular boss, I imagine Sixthman founder Andy Levine would be my ideal kind of boss. In 2001, Levine established the Atlanta-based self-described “affinity travel company … that creates unique experiences by bringing together like-minded people in exclusive, interactive and intimate environments … Sixthman currently delivers experiences aboard cruise ships for more than 30,000 fans of artists such as John Mayer, Barenaked Ladies, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jillian Michaels, and Sister Hazel”. I first became aware of Sixthman in 2009, when my wife and I signed on for Cayamo 2010, the journey of song, which I blogged about here, here and here. Coming out of the cruise, with some invaluable assistance from Sixthman’s Becki Carr, I was able to question Levine about Sixthman. My thanks also to Levine for his time and thoughts.  And lest you need convincing how much I like Sixthman and Cayamo in particular, my wife and I have already committed to our cabin for Cayamo Cruise 2011.

Tim O’Shea: Cayamo 2010 was a different experience for you, in one way, as you were on vacation with your family, rather than running the event. How odd and/or refreshing did that feel to experience in that way?

Andy Levine: It was an extremely vulnerable yet liberating moment, because I was scared that I was not needed anymore. Then I was also really proud to see everyone step up and do such a great job–not that they don’t always step up. But for me, the best part was that I got to be a guest and I got to feel a little bit about what I think our guests feel–which is that: “When it’s working, it’s working. It’s right.” I got to experience that and it was awesome.

O’Shea: Back in June 2009 the company launched Sixthman TV, how effectively has that branding/marketing effort performed?

Levine: Sixthman TV was launched because we have a mission here to do that we call character development, which is to showcase the different personalities and strengths of the people in this company–so that they (viewers) see that it (the company) is a community in itself. We never thought in a million years once we started putting that on Facebook how many comments we would get from people who really look forward to them every Friday and enjoy watching the shenanigans–knowing how hard we work. So it’s really way outperformed our expectations.

O’Shea: Customer service is clearly a major focus of Sixthman, with staff monitoring the message boards for feedback, plus the post-cruise surveys. How else do you try to gather customer reaction data, to improve upon the experience or avoid mistakes in the future?

Levine: That’s a good question. We have informal advisory boards that we reach out to when we have something that comes up between cruises–that we’re not sure about and that we did not ask in the surveys (or we didn’t get clear information in the survey). We’ll either reach out to a small group of people via email or on the phone.

We do focus groups on some of our cruises; we call them retreats. These are where if we have a few extra cabins, we’ll invite 20 or 30 people from an upcoming cruise to come sail and participate in a two-hour focus group. We’re just constantly looking for ways to do that–to get feedback. Ideally we like to get the feedback before it’s too late and we’ve already made the mistake.

O’Shea: As a company, Sixthman seems as focused on making its employees as happy as they make the customers. How satisfying was it in 2008 when the Atlanta Business Chronicle named the company as one of Atlanta’s Best Places to Work?

Levine: It was very satisfying, because we’re just this little company and I’ve always seen companies like the Container Store and other companies up there being a great place to work. I’ve always felt we were a great place to work, but it’s just good to be included in a group of companies that have been doing it for awhile. Hopefully we’ll continue to pursue that.

O’Shea: Over the years, in terms of trends–what have you found to be the biggest logistical challenges to Sixthman’s mission?

Levine: The biggest challenge to our mission has been trying to explain how powerful the like-mindedness factor is onboard a cruise–trying to explain that to someone without them seeing it. So it’s really just been doing whatever we can to get people to see it for themselves because we just have not been able to document it or capture it or explain it [in a way that is] close to what it is–which we believe is lightning in a bottle.

O’Shea: What factors are considered when you go about setting the date for a cruise?

Levine: At that point, we’re going to look out there and see what audience are we attracting and that we are marketing to: Is the weekend important or can they sail during the week? Once we have that, we’ll get a sense of what kind of ship they may prefer: does it have lots of balconies or not; or [is the ship] big or small? Then we’ll work with all the cruise lines to see what sailings they have that fit that program and see what the rates are. So it’s usually a cross-section of key inputs to make that decision.

O’Shea: Can you single out a cruise that you thought was going to be a major success that instead underperformed? What kinds of lessons learned can you take away from such experiences?

Levine: This is interesting. I can’t say the name of the cruise because that won’t help anybody. But I can tell you we have learned from a cruise or two that we thought were going to perform better and usually the takeaway [lesson] is one of two things: either we missed the mark in the demographic of the audience that we were going after or we missed the mark in the level of passion between that audience and the artists performing in the festival. So we are working really hard to put as many objective measures in place so that we can ask ourselves the really tough questions before we turn it on, build websites and put deposits down, etc.

O’Shea: How did the cruise with VH1 come about?

Levine: VH1 was a sponsor on our 2008 Mayercraft Carrier with John Mayer and they really liked what they saw–they liked the experience. At the time they were talking about potential new outlets and new ventures for them to get into, bringing their viewers together for an offline experience–a vacation experience had become a priority for them. So they reached out and asked if we would consider working with them to bring something to life. So we’re in the process of doing that for VH1 and looking at some of the other networks to do things for. It’s really exciting.

O’Shea: Will you be announcing any other new cruises for 2010, or is Sixthman’s plate already fully loaded?

Levine: Internally we have already announced a cruise that has not been released to the public yet. So there is a cruise we are announcing, but it’s only because it’s pretty much done, it’s all set up–it’s been in the works for awhile. [Blog note: since this interview was done a few months ago, the cruise was released to the public--it is the Jillian Michaels Ultimate Wellness Cruise]  Sixthman’s plate will be full with nine cruises in 2010.

O’Shea: Is there any aspect of Sixthman you’d like to discuss that I did not ask your about?

Levine: People always ask how do you sum up the experience? Our biggest challenge (I was saying earlier) is getting people to convey what the experience is. A few years ago we had a guest who, in our mind, said it best–it was not only just her experience–but it was something we’ve since pushed ourselves to strive toward with every guest. That she started keeping a journal the first couple of days of the cruise, but then she stopped because she realized no one was going to believe her when she got back and told everyone. So that’s something we keep fresh in our minds and it’s something we are always trying to make everyone have that experience.

Tori Sparks

The way I discovered Tori Sparks‘ music was a fortunate fluke. One late night/early morning on the Cayamo cruise, after most of the music had ended for the evening–I went looking for where any jam sessions might have been happening. And that’s when I discovered Sparks performing an impromptu show in the ship’s library. I so enjoyed her witty storytelling and performance skills, I decided to get an email interview with her. We got to discuss last year’s release, as detailed here: “Tori’s third album, The Scorpion in the Story, was co-produced with indie rock veteran David Henry (R.E.M., Ben Folds, Josh Rouse, Widespread Panic, Cowboy Junkies) , and features players such as Steve Bowman (Counting Crows), Will Kimbrough (Rodney Crowell), Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Mindy Smith, Allison Krauss), Fats Kaplin (Mark Knopfler, Kevin Welch), and Barry Walsh (Gretchen Peters) … The Scorpion in the Story is a tale in thirteen chapters, a tour diary in the form of a concept album . Each song was written about one of the many colorful individuals Tori met while touring across the U.S. last year. The album includes a French version of the song ‘Merry Go-Round,’ (‘Le Manege’), and was released on Glass Mountain Records in June 2009.” As evidenced by some of our discourse, in addition to her musical talents, she’s also quite effective in terms of marketing. My thanks to Sparks for her time.

Tim O’Shea: How did the duet with Shawn Mullins on Letter to a Wretch #2 come  about–what is it about Mullins’ voice (and how it interacts/plays off/compliments yours) that motivated you to want to duet with him?

Tori Sparks: I contacted Shawn and asked him if he’d be willing to sing on the song, and was very happy when he said yes. He’s a very gracious guy, and extremely supportive of independent music too – he worked on his own for about ten years before ever signing a record deal, so he knows what it’s like to have to be out there working for it. I’ve always loved the range and the timbre of his voice, and of course his songs as well. Both always ring true to my ears. He sings and writes from the heart.

O’Shea: In January you launched a ToriMobile application for mobile phones, how much has that new application helped to gain greater exposure for your music?

Sparks: It’s been helpful because it’s one more way to drive people to visit the website. Mobile sites are still a relatively new way to present content to users – they’ve only started really springing up within the past year or two – but as more and more people are turning to their iPhones or other devices rather than to their laptops or desktops, it’s become a really utilitarian method of music delivery. And, the LA Times technology blog wrote a little blurb on ToriMobile, which was exciting.

O’Shea: Last year saw the release of Scorpion in the Story, which contains 13 songs representing 13 folks you met while on tour across the country in the United States? Have you heard from any of the folks you wrote about since the release of the project?

Sparks: I never told the people I met that I was writing or was going to write about them. I don’t know if people  recognize their stories in the songs or not. Also, my own life did change and color the stories a little, of course. Even a so-called true story is only a distilled account from the writers’ perspective. However, I have had a few people email me, very certain that one of the songs was about them, and they’ve gotten it wrong each time! So funny.

O’Shea: Is there any chance, given that you also tour internationally, you might consider doing an international variation on Scorpion in the Story–or do you want to go in a completely different direction for your next release?

Sparks: I just started a radio campaign for Scorpion in Europe. I think the next release will be something different, and will include the song I did was with Shawn. I’m recording now, and still trying to decide if this next project will be an EP or a full-length album.

O’Shea: How goes your campaign to be a performing artist on next year’s Cayamo?

Sparks: Hopefully it’s going well! Whether or not I end up playing will really be determined by the Sixthman crew’s reaction to the open mic semi-audition I did on the ship – even though I was very seasick! – as well as by audience demand. I did a little impromptu concert in the library of the cruise ship, and some of the people who were there have been kind enough to put in a good word or lobby on my behalf, as have a couple of the Cayamo alumni performers. We’ll see! Fingers crossed. I’d love to be a part of it, if possible. The audiences on that trip are amazing.

O’Shea: You recently tweeted that “CDBaby founder and DIY guru Derek Sivers for featuring my video in his SXSWpanel/presentation last week”. Can you give me some more details about this prime exposure–did you know Sivers was going to use your video–or did you find out after the fact?

Sparks: Derek sent out an email asking for video submissions to utilize in his panel, and I sent mine along – he selected it as one to use in his presentation. We’ve run into each other a couple of times at music conferences, and I like him as well as his approach to his business.

O’Shea: Paste magazine has often been a supporter of your career, did it feel good to return the favor last year when you donated the song Leaving Side of Love in the Campaign to Save Paste?

Sparks: Yes, of course, though I wish there was more that I could have done to help. I’m really glad they pulled through, they’re one of the only print music magazines that does things properly anymore. Viva Paste.

O’Shea: Not every musician has training in theater (your initial major in college)–how has that experience served to boost your stage presence and approach to performance?

Sparks: It’s helped more than I can explain. I’ve always been involved in some kind of performance, since I was very little, so being in front of people was never a problem. Also, experience with makeup, costumes, sound and lighting design didn’t hurt either. The difficult part that came with the performance aspect of playing music was just that the on-stage “rules” for an actor or a member of a symphony are totally different than the rules for a folk or rock or blues singer. And of course, I was singing my own material, not speaking someone else’s words.

O’Shea: The music industry is in the midst of a major consolidation and general redefining of its core infrastructure, partially due to technology and partially due to the economy (among other factors). Given your DIY approach to music, do you consider yourself more strongly positioned than musicians who are still working with traditional record companies and such?

Sparks: It depends on the musicians – I think that U2 is doing way better than I am! OK, seriously, I think that there is a very real advantage to building your career from the ground up. That way, if and when a viable label, manager, or other business partner comes along, you (the artist) will have a handle on your aspect of the industry, as well as theirs. There is no way to maintain a logical or equitable business relationship if you don’t understand the job or the role of the other party or parties, and it’s much easier to get taken advantage of. So, being DIY enables an artists to learn the business for him/herself, and to hopefully build up enough of a career as to have leverage if and when he or she chooses to enter into a deal. Some artists who are with traditional labels are doing great, but many are losing their shirts, which is how it’s always been in the music business. Labels, on the whole, do not exist to help musicians or to disseminate new music. They are marketing machines that exist to turn a profit, period. Music and an artists’ image are their products, and that’s all. That’s perfectly alright, but that’s not necessarily the kind of company I want to work with. Sometimes I give guest lectures at colleges and schools in the about this same kind of thing – DIY in the music industry. It’s interesting how much the business models have changed in even the past five years.

O’Shea: What can your tell me about the ZIPBOX Media Digital Store and your role as its official spokesperson?

Sparks: The people who started ZIPBOX Media asked me to be their spokesperson, and I agreed because I like supporting independent companies that are trying to do things differently. They are trying to do for digital sales what CDBaby did for physical album sales in the nineties. I’m happy to be working with them.

O’Shea: What’s ahead on the creative horizon for you?

Sparks: I’ve finally started doing visual art again, which I’d let fall by the wayside in the past few years. That’s just for fun, though. One more outlet so I don’t go crazy on the road. Recently I’ve been in the studio with some of the guys who played on my last record (Fats Kaplin, Will Kimrbough, Viktor Krauss, Steve Bowman, David Henry), which has been fun as always. More recording, more writing, more album art design, maybe more videos. Definitely more shows! I’ll be touring in the States and overseas this year. I had a hip-hop group from Atlanta ask me to do some collaboration, so who knows what this coming year might bring. I’m learning Spanish, too. Trilinguality, here I come.

O’Shea: Is there anything you’d like to discuss that I may have neglected to ask you about?

Sparks: The duet with Shawn Mullins mentioned above was just released on the Sin City Sampler (Vol. 13), so it would be nice if your readers looked out for that. The new album or EP will be released by the end of 2010. Also, all the upcoming tour dates are and will continue to be posted on the website, MySpace, Facebook, all over the place, so I hope to see some of you on the road! Thanks Tim.

Given how much of a Shawn Colvin fan that I am, I’m shocked I’ve not run across Carey before. I’ve never heard anyone sound so much like Colvin–and as you can guess that’s a compliment, not an insult. She has her own distinctive songwriting style, however, and I look forward to seeing her perform live next week.

Well the Cayamo 2010 cruise is going to feature an amazing collection of musicians, including Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, Buddy Miller (with wife and fellow musician Julie Miller), John Hiatt, Darrell Scott, Shawn Mullins, Vienna Teng and Katie Herzig, as well as  Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen (solo), Allison Moorer, Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers and Rachael Yamagata.

I had not heard of Buddy Miller until recently, when I saw Miller play with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin on PBS’ Soundstage. Soon after that, a friend heard I was going on the cruise and he insisted I made sure to go see the Buddy and Julie Miller play together. They’ve been knocking around music circles for a number of years–since the early 1990s at the very least. Buddy Miller is also known as a producer. Be sure to go the musicians’ website as you can get a good listen to their music there, as well as an idea of all the people they have worked with over the years.