Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
I just recently purchased a used 2010 Toyota Sienna with 140,000 miles, which fits five of us an all of our gear! The first tour we took in it was down Cali was to play a few festivals including the Davis Music Festival. As we were driving it down that way, it got more and more difficult to start…so we roll up to the load in spot for our set in Davis, after which I was going to go park the car while we played. Well…she wouldn’t start. It was Sunday at 5pm. Sheer panic took over. WHAT THE HELL WERE WE GOING TO DO!? Somehow I got ahold of a mobile mechanic that was willing to come down and help us out. He managed to diagnose that we needed to replace the starter and managed to get the job done before our set ended. I am convinced he was a guardian angel.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Bandmates all have different health needs and values around food. While not strictly a vegetarian, I stay away from meat and fowl unless I know its name and that it was treated humanely throughout its time on earth. Pretty much everyone piles out of the van at every gas station stop to fuel up on snacks, and we try to find local food truck action, we welcome dinner buyouts, and in a pinch, I’ll do the Taco Bell al fresco menu…but also trying to stay away from corporate food chains…
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Honestly, not that many. I just change strings when they start to lose their bright, healthy sound – which when playing hot dusty festivals in the summer can be every few weeks. Going to estimate a flat hunsky on strings per year.
Where do you rehearse?
We rehearse in my basement…so no peculiarities per se…other than trying to keep time with the drier here and there.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Ya know, I can’t really remember…I started writing songs in earnest when I moved out to Oregon to start what I thought was going to be graduate school in rural resource conservation. I moved to a tiny little timber town outside of Eugene, Oregon to start an Americorps Program aligned with the graduate program, and all at the same time Oregon experienced an unprecedented amount of rainfall, so much so that I found myself trapped in this little town (Blue River, Oregon – most of which burned down from wildfires are few years ago…) by landslides on either side of the highway, AND my dear friend died very unexpectedly. Playing my guitar was the only thing that soothed me at that time, and the first song I wrote was about losing him. Honestly it was a TERRIBLE song…BUT the time I spent writing music to provide an outlet for my grief actually moved me into one of the most creative and productive creative spells of my life… from which an early version of the song “Deep River Hollow” sprung, which while it’s been in the repertoire for lo these many years, has never made it onto a proper studio album with the sort of production it deserved. It’s still a delight to sing… “You place your hands upon my hips, and turn me while the record skips…”
Describe your first gig.
After I finished writing the song for my friend who had passed away, I felt compelled, as part of my healing process, to perform it at a local open mic. Which I did, and shockingly, the reception was so good, I returned to that open mic as I was experiencing a wellspring of creativity. It just so happened that a fellow who was opening a coffee shop nearby attended one of these and asked me if I’d like to play at his coffeeshop on a monthly basis, and so it was!
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
My past non-music day job is my current non-music day job as well as my favorite. I am a senior grant writer of a health and housing non-profit that serves low-income individuals with serious behavioral health concerns… This work keeps me grounded in reality and it feels good to contribute to our society in this way.
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?
Well…unfortunately, we have yet to experience a windfall – thanks in part to COVID and also to changes in the music economy where streaming and digital space has overtaken the record store, and also because as an all-female indie Americana band we are still scrapping for exposure as “outsiders” in a music business that tends to default to the dudes. Still hoping to reach the tipping point where we can all shake loose our day jobs and spend our lives the Willie way – on the road again, the life I love is making music with my friends, I just can’t wait to get on the road again!
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Savor those golden moments – those ones that tell you – you made this moment and you are meant for it… for example, we had the opportunity to open for the one and only Willie Nelson at the Britt Festival in Oregon last year – and if ever there as a musical adventure that validated all the blood, sweat and tears, it was that show. So the point, is to enjoy the process, the ride as it were, rather than always striving for some end. Moving through life as a musician is a reward in and of itself – travelling, connecting with others, hopefully spreading the joy we feel when playing to those we are playing for…