Photo credit: Laura Partain
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
My tour vehicle is a 15-passenger Chevy Express named “Van Haulin’ II.” It has a SiriusXM subscription, four new tires, and a number of quirks that I’ve grown to love. If you want to talk about breakdowns, though, we should talk about the car’s predecessor: Van Haulin’ (2013 – 2019; RIP). Van Haulin’s entire brake system failed in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, right after I’d gotten off the interstate and crested a steep hill. We were supposed to be grabbing a quick lunch while heading to the Outlaw Country Cruise in New Orleans. Instead, we picked up speed and barrelled down into the city below without any chance of slowing down, like Sandra Bullock in “Speed,” except nowhere near as pretty. I had to weave between pedestrians and motorists. I drove through three red lights. I’m pretty sure everyone in the van was screaming. Somehow, I didn’t hit anything and was able to steer us into a big parking lot, where we drove around in circles until we finally ran out of momentum. The whole thing freaked us out and Van Haulin’ had to GO. So far, Van Haulin’ II hasn’t tried to kill us.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Ok, I love touring and I love good food. I’ve got a lot of advice to offer here:
– Grocery stores are the new restaurants. Hit up the hot bar for lunch, then grab something that doesn’t need to be refrigerated for the next day’s breakfast. Bananas will start to turn brown if you leave them in a hot van, but oranges and apples can stand the heat.
– Unless you’re in New Haven, don’t buy pizza. You’re on tour! Pizza will appear in front of you multiple times a week, donated by a kind club owner or a supportive fan or maybe your drummer’s parents. Don’t buy it yourself.
– If you’re the opening act… and the headliner says you can eat their catering… do it! Let the headliners go first, but get there early enough to make sure the good stuff is still available. The best catering I’ve ever had was on the Willie Nelson tour. They had a juice machine and a bunch of fresh produce. Second best was Blackberry Smoke. Those bearded boys like a lot of salmon.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I’m not a string breaker. I could swing an axe into my Les Paul and the strings still wouldn’t break. Two times a year, I’ll take my guitars into the shop and pay for a setup. That might be overkill, but we don’t travel with a guitar tech, so preventative maintenance is the way to go.
Where do you rehearse?
It’s a narrow, railroad-style space with an upright piano and two cats. It’s also my living room. We put the drums by the front door, bass against the fireplace, and guitar amps in the hallway leading to the kitchen. It’s cramped, but it works. I bet the fire marshall wouldn’t approve, though.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I think I was 12 years old. I was a big fan of “My So-Called Life” and didn’t understand how songwriting worked, so I took the song that Jared Leto sings during the show — a song he wrote about his car — and changed the lyrics to suit whichever schoolyard crush I was dealing with. I played it for my brother and he was like, “Umm, that’s the song from ‘My So-Called Life,’ right?” Busted. I can’t remember the lyrics and trust me, that’s a good thing.
Describe your first gig.
A fraternity house at the University of Virginia, opening for Pat McGee Band. We played two original songs and a bunch of covers. We were paid in beer, which seemed like actual currency to a bunch of 19 year olds who still lived in university housing.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I moved to Manhattan after college to take an internship at Spin Magazine. The gig was unpaid, so I also landed a part-time job at a non-profit office that overlooked Ground Zero, working as a grant writer. I’d walk into the office at 8 am, fueled by four short hours of sleep and smelling like weed, but no one seemed to mind. That was a good day job.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
My poor accountant. I have two full-time careers, both related to music: a 50 hours-per-week career as a music journalist (writing articles for magazines, bios for artists, and press releases for PR companies) and an equally busy career as a performer (solo work, sideman work, session work, etc). I’ve learned to embrace the chaos of it all. I can’t imagine what the next 5-10 years will look like. I predict more chaos.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Prioritize playing music with people you love. You can hire the best musicians in the world, but if you don’t get along, audiences can hear it. Find your friends in the music industry and find a way to work together.