Photo credit: Mikael Jorgensen
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We just rent, or even more common, borrow/renting from friends. (Thank you, Johnny Irion.) Our most brutal breakdown I was just reminded of at a Wilco gig in Utah – Autumn Defense trying to make it to a show in Provo, got a flat tire a mile from a gig we were already late to, due to winter weather…The guys from the club drove and met us as we changed a tire in 20 degree temps, arrived a to a packed club, set up and played the best show of the tour.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Sadly, cheap and healthy don’t go together very much… I’ve learned that instead of bad food, I’ll just eat nuts and actually be hungry until I can get some decent food. But the availability of good food is so much easier than say, the 90’s.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I try never to break strings on acoustics during Autumn Defense shows, so I change them, but not too often that I have the ‘’new string’ sound. We are lucky in that we’ve had a string deal with Wilco for years so I rarely pay for them.
Where do you rehearse?
We don’t have a dedicated rehearsal space. I believe most of the band has dedicated studio rooms at their houses, but we don’t have a rehearsal space that we rent or use consistently.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
‘The kudzu climbs the power lines, I hear music all around.’
Describe your first gig.
We rented out Covington Court Club and our band and 2 others played. (sophomore year in high school) It was a big success.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
The last one I had is running a hospitality venture, an old boys camp in Maine. I enjoyed working in a restaurant very much- the teamwork in a kitchen team was similar to a band onstage.
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?
I’m lucky to be in a long running act as my primary band- Wilco. I have no idea what the landscape of music will be in 10 years, I’m hoping that non-AI bands will be held to a higher regard.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
That music is so important to people that it has thrived, even as the industry itself has collapsed multiple times.