Photo credit Larry Niehues
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
My van currently is a 2013 Chevy Express 3500, 15 passenger with about 240k miles on it (150k of which are mine). Got it in Spring of 2021 when we started touring again. It’s actually broken down in East Nashville right now. I went to Fanny’s House of Music last night, and when I got out the starter had shit the bed. Which is fine because the A/C is blowing hot air right now anyway.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Lots of places to get a salad or a veggie burger these days. Used to be a lot harder, but I’ve been a vegetarian for years at this point. Sometimes you eat pizza 5 days in a row, sometimes the venue food is really good, it’s never all that consistent but it’s been a lot harder in the past.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I might break one string a year. I sweat a lot during the show sometimes and the corrosion on the strings makes them stiff, I’ll usually have to change them long before they’re in danger of breaking.
Where do you rehearse?
It’s just my house in Nashville or J. Tom’s house in Lexington, KY. Craziest thing that has ever happened at either of those places is the power going out.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Oh that’s looong lost to time (I would have been 14, and I am 40 now), but I guarantee there isn’t a line in the first 50 or so I wrote (and performed, even) that I would even be remotely comfortable revisiting.
Describe your first gig.
I was 15, and had written at least 6 songs which I had been interested in performing for people. My friends who were in and played with some local punk bands would put on shows at the local community halls in West Virginia for like-minded kids, and they invited me to do a New Years show. Would have been New Years Eve 2002 I think. I think 4 of my friends sat through it, bless em.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
The last one I had consistently was working on a bottling line at a distillery for a while, but when covid happened I stayed home. By then I had recorded “Depreciated” but it hadn’t been picked up by a label. Luckily by the time quarantine was over I had gained some infrastructure to play music full time, at least for the time being. I don’t take it for granted.
My favorite jobs were always in kitchens. Was always back of house, dishwasher or line cook, barback… Good camaraderie, place to write songs, and a great place to locate drugs or other musicians.
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?
Music is able to pay for itself now, which was always my main goal. I’m not getting rich, but the fact that I’m finally able to afford a band and gasoline and it’s not crashing on floors every night is huge. Just being able to let it take care of itself for a while gives me the space and time to build a little life and to pursue further creative projects.
That said, I have no illusions that it could all disappear tomorrow. One big medical expense would bankrupt us. That’s how most folks live in this country, though. Any occupation can betray your expectations at any moment, which is why I decided to do this in the first place.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
That one day I’d be able to just let robots do it for me. It would’ve saved me many years of learning guitar and songwriting. I could have spent that time enjoying and being fulfilled by something else!