47 f
“Jack pulled out a copy of Trout Steel and then, from that, all that Village Thing stuff by Dave Evans and Ian A Anderson opened up to me too. Back then it was pre- internet so you had to come across this stuff in record stores and it was like finding gold! I became a real record fanatic and luckily I lived in a city that had great record stores with very cool owners.”
“The album came about when the
RVNG label did a series of collaborative pro- jects where they asked artists who in their wildest dreams would they want to make an album with, so when they asked me I said ‘Mike Cooper’. They contacted him and sent him some of my music and I told him about myself. We decided that we should make the record in Lisbon, which was great because I had friends there and knew a stu- dio, so we were able to spend a week play- ing together. I’d love to do more as I feel that was still only really touching the sur- face of what we could do.”
More regular collaborators are the Appalachian old-time heroes of drone-folk, the Black Twig Pickers. In 2015 they com- bined forces for the Seasonal Hire album.
“That was really just the culmination of me and the Black Twigs getting together socially and jamming on some songs. They’re so inspiring too – there’s a really interesting work ethic with those guys. They’re serious about what they do and they’re not caught up in any bullshit. They can really play and they really connect with their audiences. Mike Gangloff is an incredible musician and an inspiring figure to all of us.”
There’s a discernible Anglo-Celtic undercurrent in much of Gunn’s work that manifests in the acoustic, DADGAD guitar
parts of otherwise all-American rock songs on Time Off, Way Out Weather and Eyes On The Lines.
“I got into The Smiths as a kid and I love the playing of Richard Thompson, Nic Jones, Bert Jansch and Davy Graham. I soaked all that up because I was really interested in Fahey, but also really interested in singing, so when I discovered Bert Jansch and Davy Graham using more jazz voicings within a folk tradition I was like: ‘wow!’ Mike Coop- er, Michael Chapman and Bridget St John told me all their stories about Les Cousins which seems like such an interesting time and place. Bridget lives in New York and I see her quite a bit.”
between an artist and a producer who real- ly respect and trust in each others talents.
T
“I’m so proud of that record! Michael’s such a hard worker… that shit is not easy, especially for someone of his age. He flew to New York and it was a hard couple of weeks but we realised that we had a great batch of songs that were sounding incredi- ble and his voice is still sounding good. Michael was really generous with the songs in letting us do our own take on them. You can hear in his voice that he’s older, but that’s such a real part of the album. I think Michael picked the songs very carefully and the sequence of the record really works. I’m really happy for him – it’s exciting!”
When I ask Steve how the European band tour is going and what his forthcom- ing plans are, talk turns, inevitably, to ‘the
he just-released Michael Chap- man album features Steve on guitar and drums and Nathan Bowles on banjo. It sounds like the fruits of an ideal symbiosis
event’. “We played in Rotterdam the night of the election and we were all really anx- ious, but sort of jokingly anxious – not really thinking that this would actually happen. We thought it was impossible. Then this slow, shocking realisation that Trump was getting elected started settling in and we were just a mess. It’s so shocking, but it’s been building up for a while, so it was kind of crushing. The one thing I was feeling was such disappointment that people just aren’t aware of what’s happening around the world, and all the racism and sexism that’s really affecting people’s lives in a really big way. There’s such a large part of our popula- tion who just aren’t consciously aware of other people’s problems.”
“I’ve lived in a city pretty much all of
my life and it’s a different existence – there are separate realities within the United States. The fact that this election slipped through the cracks is a huge deal. People are slowly realising that organising and rep- resenting, making your voice heard, being out on the streets and being close to your community are really important things.”
“After this, I’m doing a solo tour with Lee Ranaldo and Meg Baird. We’re going to pack up a minivan with acoustic guitars and hit the road around the States. Lee is extremely political as well, and I’ve spoken to Meg about this election, so we’re having a concert on inauguration day in DC. We’re all fired up!”
Steve Gunn’s Eyes On The Lines is on Matador Records.
Michael Chapman’s 50 is out now on Paradise Of Bachelors.
stevegunn.com F
Photo: Nathan Salsburg
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