Hi Steve, welcome to VENTS! How have you been? Hello VENTS! We ' ve been doing exceptionally well thank you!
Can you talk to us more about your latest single " My Oh My "? It ' s a very strong song, in my humble opinion. Starts out in a low and whispered register, really drawing the listener in, and then pays off with a powerful chorus, a nice dynamic. The second verse stays " up " and is sung an octave higher, almost sounding like a different song, and the drums change midway as well, keeping each new section differnt sounding. The track is very simple on the one hand, with a lot of it done by me, but then has performances from some of the best studio players in the business, Eric Heywood( Jayhawks, Ray Lamontagne, Calexico) on pedal steel, and Daryl Johnson( Neville Brothers, Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris) on bass and vocals, and additional vocals by Amilia K Spicer and Heather Donavon. This song just moves people, no matter what the setting, stripped down or with a full band, and I think we nailed the recording.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song? Great question. And kind of funny, because there are two tracks on the EP inspired by actual events, Say A Prayer For New York City by 9 / 11, and Lying On the Bottom by the I-35 bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in August of 2007. But even if My Oh My was inspired by a specific thing, it is more in the realm of a " universal " theme, which is something I prefer to do in my writing... that is I don ' t usually go " topical ", rather my preference is for broader and vaguer subjects that can be interpreted by the listener, or even adapted by the listener ' s own particular experiences. I find this is a good way to keep material relevant and " timeless ". But sure, it ' s a love story of sorts, an attempt to describe what one feels when they find a true soul-mate, and then some of the complexities of those types of relationships when they run their course, as they sometimes do, leaving bitter with sweet. It ' s not an easy theme and you have to get " poetic " and hope the listener is able to fill in the blanks somewhat. It ' s a risk / reward kind of song, but so far the reaction to it has been wholly positive, so I think, I hope anyway, that I succeeded.
Any plans to release a video for the single? Absolutely. I ' m searching for the right collaboration to try to realize this concept in an amazing video. Please steer any great videographers my way!
The single comes off your new EP The Tripping Years- what ' s the story behind the title? I like to pull titles from within my lyrics, but not use the song titles themselves. This approach keeps my albums feeling " holistic ", and highlights some of my lyrics " in the abstract ". " The tripping years " comes from my song Hello, Hello, about reconnecting with lost love after the ravages of time. It makes total sense if you know that, but in the abstract it also makes for a compelling title that hopefully leaves the audience wondering what it all means... again, I like to give the listener the opportunity to interact metaphorically with what they ' re hearing, so ideally this title will mean different things to different people.
How was the recording and writing process? I wrote it from the title down, in other words I had the title first. I was working with Amilia K Spicer on her great album " Wow and Flutter " at the time, and a lot of her sensibility percolated into the song. She ' s such a great writer, and that challenged me to write on a high level, particularly in the verses. The recording sort of evolved organically and I kept breaking rules, like singing in different octaves, and putting both pedal steel and slide guitar on the same track, with the goal to have the song start simple and build with huge dynamics.
You have some special guests on the record- did you handpick them or how did they get involved? I ' ve been blessed that my music has always struck a chord with great players, many of whom subsequently become dear friends. And living in Los Angeles, the city with the best studio music scene in the world, one really does have the pick of players. But I ' ve always found players who really love contributing to my music. Richie( Hayward of Little Feat) and Daryl( Johnson from The Neville Brothers) were both idols of mine, the absolute top of my wish list, in my opinion the very best at what they do, and once we met and started playing together it was sympatico. Stan Behrens( who plays with War) was the same way. And then in some cases those players referred, or introduced me, to other players. Running a studio has also brought me opportunities too, because I get exposed to great players in ways other than a cold phone call.
How would you say you have grown and matured after six records? Well I ' ve certainly matured in the engineering department; I started as a pure artist with no clue how to capture great sounds. Steve McKinstry was my mentor on the first 3 records, and I just kind of abosorbed knowledge working with first attempt to record myself, and it shows, a great album of best production. By Sons of Guns I was well on my way to now you can hear that fully developed.
But my song writing and playing and overall arrangement c I ' ve always been drawn to " mature " music, the kind of sound to develop. There is no short cut to authenticity; you can ' crossroads and sell your soul and sound authentic at 22 ye live the music and then, almost magically, if you have the patie
How have Townes van Zandt, Little Feat and Ry Cooder influe Let ' s start with Little Feat, Lowell George specifically. With L aspire to be, a great songwriter AND a great guitar player, lea hard time convincing me he wasn ' t the best all time. Beyond band as a whole created, a New Orleans groove emanati Angeles, an Americana gumbo jam band with awesome Grateful Dead is really the best at this, but Little Feat was s and definitely better in the singing department.
Now let ' s consider Ry. I studied Ry for more than 30 years and I won ' t give up that secret easily, but Ry is the most inn hands down. It ' s deceptive, because he can kind of sound lik try to play like him, you will quickly become frustrated. So f could go deep inside your guitar playing and come out soun something for which I am forever grateful. And like the Dead, American music, constantly finding hidden gems and interp more interpreter than writer. I guess I ' ve strived to write like no small feat.
Now let ' s circle back to Townes, who I discovered later in life, With Townes you are definitely talking about a writer, a true po and a serviceable and authentic sounding twang to his voice write poetically, and this is the next frontier for me, the thing define me. There ' s not a lot of people doing it well, except father was a poet after all, and Steve Earle, who is the rea him and covered him extensively.
Do you tend to take a different approach when you are collab than when you are writing your own original material? Not really. I ' m pretty good at gleaning ideas from others, and usually I ' m the one putting it all together. But I ' m a pretty goo back and let other people run with ideas, and am usually r when they they get stuck. I ' m really very optimistic in genera in writing by myself, a sometimes lonely experience that c working with others, where you might witness demons, an them!
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics? Two places. In American music I find the inspiration to write m may sound simple or trite, but the American experiment, continues to be why American music is so great. The com current vernacular, are endless. Secondly I find it in wor capacity to turn cliche phrases on their heads, find irony, and the abstract ". I almost always start with a strong title concep American music, and then go back to the words and comb o unturned.
Any plans to hit the road? None immediate, but can ' t wait to travel. Bringing my music t is the ultimate goal, but it ' s a lot of work and it has to be rig now I ' m concentrating on getting this record out through int etc., and of course continuing to work on the next record, b always writing the next thing. When the time is right, we will be
What else is happening next in Steve McCormick ' s world? I ' m super excited to be working on my next record, a duo pro called Maplewood, slated for release in 201 8!