Photo credit: Vivian Wang
Tell us about your tour vehicle.
Believe it or not, I don’t own a vehicle. I live in New York City, which is one of the world’s most impractical places to own a car, and I would still need to rent a vehicle in so many tour situations (last year alone I spent three full months on the road in Europe) that I’ve found it more cost effective to rent exclusively. You can always find cheap deals if you’re willing to dig around and get creative, and I can tailor each rental vehicle to the tour’s needs. Bringing the band? Get a van! Touring solo? Sedans all the way! Plus, I never have to change tires or oil or deal with maintenance, and if there’s a breakdown along the way, the rental company will just replace it for me. Sometimes it’s a pain being car-less, but overall, it’s worked really well for my bottom line.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
This is one I’m still wrestling with. I try to eat locally whenever possible and support independent cafes and diners and restaurants rather than big chains. Even if I’m not being super healthy with that burger and fries, at least I’m contributing to a small business and the local economy.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Whenever I hand someone my guitar, the first thing they mention is how old the strings are. What can I say? I like old strings. New ones feel to bright and springy. I love that worn-in, slightly dead sound that comes from a few weeks of oil and grime collecting. That said, the good folks at Martin Guitar were kind enough to hook me up with a year’s worth of strings, which for me is more like four year’s worth of strings, so I don’t spend much of anything on them these days.
Where do you rehearse?
My rehearsal space is generally just my apartment, which is a fifth floor walkup in Brooklyn. I write there, I practice there, and I record most of my demos there. It’s a pretty standard New York apartment – hot in the summer, somehow even hotter in the winter – but I can look out my window and see a million other apartments that light up at night. Everybody in this city has a story to tell, so it’s a welcome source of inspiration when you’re struggling with writer’s block.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I think the first song I ever really finished writing and recording was called “Everytime,” and it opened with the couplet: “I don’t mind that you’re leaving / Just that I ain’t leaving too.” I haven’t thought about those old songs in forever, and it’s kind of fun to go back and have these documents of who you were and what was on your mind at all these different points in your life.
Describe your first gig.
I think the first real gig I ever played was at a bar called Niagara in New York City. I was in college, and Jesse Malin, who’s one of my all-time favorite songwriters, was a co-owner. He very generously offered me a set there, and subsequently invited me to open shows for him in the US and UK, so I owe him a huge debt of gratitude, both for inspiring me to want to write my own songs and for encouraging and supporting me in my earliest days.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
The only day job I’ve ever had was working as a publicist at a music PR firm called Shore Fire Media. I spent about four years there working on campaigns for artists like Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Grizzly Bear, and Bill Callahan before I signed a record deal and left to do my own music full time. I learned so much about the business and worked with so many wonderful people there. It was a really nice full-circle feeling when they came onboard to do press for my two studio albums.
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?
Streaming has obviously been the biggest change. A lot of folks (myself included) don’t even have a way to play CDs anymore, which is kind of sad, but I’m sure people felt the same way when CDs took over from cassettes and cassettes took over from vinyl. Change is inevitable, and I’m not sure what to expect in the future, though I suspect we may find ourselves moving to something more subscription based. Rather than buying an album every 18 months from your favorite artist, maybe you’ll subscribe to them for a yearly fee and get a steady stream of music as it’s ready. There are services out there like Patreon that do something similar for independent artists, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see major label stars start to move in that direction. I could imagine millions of people subscribing to Bruce Springsteen or Beyonce, and I could see Columbia Records offering bundles of artist subscriptions together as a way to package their emerging artists with the more established names. I realize I may have gotten off track with that answer, but I like thinking about those sorts of things.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
When I was younger, I imagined that a musician gets one big break in their life that launches everything. The reality of it is that your career is marked by countless little micro-breaks (and of course, the accompanying micro-setbacks). Things don’t move linearly, and it’s a constant grind to keep chasing down opportunities and make the most of them. Some days feel like big leaps forward, other days feel like stumbles backward, but if you can learn to find satisfaction in the creative expression and the human connection and the work of moving towards your goals, then you can find something to be grateful for at the end of every day.