BuzzSugar

Unpacking Sasquatch: Hanging Out Backstage

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:42:58 -0700

I did a lot of running around backstage at Sasquatch over the long holiday weekend chatting with musicians about touring all summer, hanging out at music festivals, and more. I've rounded up the final bits of conversations I had with Dead Confederate, Newton Faulkner, and Joshua Morrison.

Dead Confederate
These guys requested I interview them in the V.I.P. lounge keg line. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do for the music. There's more than three of them and the line was a bit chaotic, so I couldn't tell you who said what in the following!

Dead Confederate is a provocative name, are you guys making some kind of statement?

Hardy [one of the band members] used to date a girl named Dead Confederate, she kind of dumped him….every song is a memory of Dead Confederate. Nah, it just makes sense with the way we sound, something kinda dark. Got your attention, kinda dark.

How long have you guys been together?
Three weeks. We were on the cover of the Rolling Stone the first week we had the band.

Where did you guys meet?
Denny's.

Their manager: You guys have to answer some questions serious!

What do you guys dance to? Say, alone in your underwear?
James Brown! Queen! Lionel Richie, "All Night Long" that’s our answer! [started singing "All Night Long"].

To see my interview with Joshua Morrison and Newton Lawrence, read more.

Joshua Morrison
I sampled Joshua's music before heading out to Sasquatch and was really interested in chatting with him about his time in Iraq and how that influenced his music.

On your CD your vocals are distorted and hushed. Is that hard to recreate live?
Playing live is new to me. It’s hard to get that experience. The crowd was good, it was different, I haven't played outside in six or seven years.

You're native to the Northwest. Is playing Sasquatch a dream come true?
It is cool, you know, to come out and be at the Gorge is kind of surreal for me. My normal day-to-day life is different. Doesn’t have much to do with music.

Yeah you're in the army and a musician. Do you find in the army these days a lot of soldiers are looking for creative outlets?
Yeah an entire group of people in the army are creative, they play music for sure. It's frustrating for me as a soldier to see them portrayed in the movies, it gives me great joy to see soldiers represented that are interested in all sorts of things - art, poetry. . . they're out there.

Newton Faulkner
I also sampled UK import Newton Faulkner's music before the festival and had a great time chatting him up as well.

You've opened for a lot of great acts. Who's been your favorite?
John Butler, James Morrison, Paulo Nutini, G-Love, too. . . loads of Australian acts as well.

America seems to be catching up with Europe in regard to festivals being the primary way to see live music in the summer.
England really does festivals, there are millions of them as well. Really nice way to spend a weekend, if anything else. Just have to make sure it doesn’t get too expensive. Festivals abroad are my favorite thing in the world. I did one in Australia it was amazingly beautiful.

Your single, "Dream Catch Me," is really getting popular in the UK. Did you know you were writing a hit at the time?
I wasn't sure. . . If you try to write a hit you'll very rarely actually do it. I think you have to write and be honest. That’s all you really can do.

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Sampling Sasquatch: Kathleen Edwards

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:00:19 -0700

I'm gearing up for Sasquatch and just thinking about the Columbia River Gorge in the sunshine and listening to good, live music gets my heart pounding with excitement. This week I've been running down some of the artists and bands I'm looking forward to seeing including The Kooks and Joshua Morrison.

If there is one genre of music that matches my outdoor music festival-loving soul, it's soulful alt-country by female singers of the Lucinda Williams tradition, and Kathleen Edwards is one of the greatest. She hails from Canada, isn't even 30 years old, and yet her songs contain great lyrical wisdom and insight. I love sticking in tracks like "Back to Me" on road trips. Alternatively, songs like "Alicia Ross" are incredibly moving, and remind me that a simple song with powerful lyrics can evoke such strong emotions.

She's oh-so-talented and seems to be always on the brink of mainstream success. Her song "Summerlong" was featured on the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, for example. For now, though, she enjoys a loyal fan following and continues to make great music.

To check out the video for "Back to Me" and let me know what you think of Kathleen Edwards, read more.

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Sampling Sasquatch: Joshua Morrison

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:34:17 -0700

I'm so excited for this weekend! I'm packing my shorts and tent (along with laptop and sunglasses) and heading out to George, WA, for the Sasquatch Music Festival. Woo-hoo! It's not the largest music fest of the year by any stretch, nor is it the most well-known, but that's what I really like about it. It's an intimate experience, and blessedly devoid of young Hollywood. In other words, it's very much "by music lovers, for music lovers." Add to that the gorgeous outdoor setting of Eastern Washington (and I promise to take photos), and I've got one heck of a good time ahead of me.

This week I'm giving you a taste of some of the smaller, lesser-known bands and musicians I plan to check out live this weekend. I'm starting with Joshua Morrison who, like a lot of the artists playing at Sasquatch, is a native of the Northwest (though he currently resides in Kentucky). If you like the slow, stripped-down, and sometimes melancholy sound of bands like Iron & Wine, then you will probably enjoy Joshua's music. I'll admit, I'm a little addicted right now; I think his lyrics are gorgeous and moving. And here's an interesting fact: Joshua joined the military and wrote many of his songs after serving in Iraq.

You can get his entire album titled Home from iTunes here, and I have one of his songs for you to listen after the jump. To take a listen for yourself and tell me about your first impressions, read more.

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