working man’s son album & 24 KENMORe ROAD single
What inspired the album?
The album is a packaging of singles I have recorded over the last 16 months. The songs cover four themes - love and loss, the things that happen to us in our childhood that keep us from growing and self-actualizing if undressed, the dignity of work, and the punishing voices in our heads that tell us we’re not enough. It’s easy to see how each can bleed into the other. So, I’d say what ties these songs together is that they are each deeply introspective. Some of that introspection is direct, some is accomplished by characters in the songs.
What was the recording experience like?
I recorded the acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonica, and some of the percussion and synthesizers at my own studio, so I had plenty of time to experiment.
What has this album taught you?
The value of experimentation in order to arrive at a confident simplicity. If you don’t try things, you’ll always wonder, “what of we had used a lap, steel, banjo, etc.” But it’s often not until you do use them that you realize that the song is rejecting them. Especially the kinds of story songs I write. It ironically v=can get too musical, or it transmogrifies from a story to a song, and they are two different things. I’d say I write stories, with a little melody.
What is the main theme? What story are you conveying to listeners?
As always, it’s the heartbreaking beauty of the human condition - the inner battles we fight with ourselves that the world doesn’t know about, even though everyone else is struggling with a battle unknown to us too - so, a construction worker who never felt he was enough because he sacrificed career dreams for his family, the school bus driver who lost her husband just as they were about to retire, the trash man who sees robotic arms taking away his livelihood and is scared to death of that.
How do you feel that you’ve grown as an artist since your last release?
“I’m becoming more comfortable with the fact that I’m a story-teller. I do Norman Rockwell with three chords.
Album moods?
Contemplative, poignant, tender
Album genre?
Contemporary folk.
What inspired the song 24 Kenmore Road?
The two-family house that my parents bought in Malden, Massachusetts - their first home - in order to raise their four children, and the people and feelings that animated that moment in time in my life.
Is there a significance behind the song title?
It’s as literal as it gets - my childhood dress. Sometimes something literal has more immediate poetry to it than any metaphor you could possible imagine, because everyone can relate. Everyone remembers the address of the house they grew up in. What is one key point that makes this song unique? Its deep appreciation for the innocence and beauty of neighborhood community that existed in 1960s America.
Do you have an interesting story about the songwriting or recording process?
Pretty much everything is a first take, even though there are some warts. And I wanted to keep it that way. It’s very hard not to get self-conscious on your second, third, fourth takes, and then you lose the intimacy.
What were the certain stylistic/production choices you made and why?
I wanted to keep this ultra simple. Is a precursor to the next album I want to make.
Do you have a favourite lyric from this track?
“Earl’s Atlantic Auto Zone, Spadafora’s Funeral Home, brakes and wakers, high stakes, you’re here and then you’re gone.
How does this song make you, personally, feel?
Nostalgic, old. grateful, so grateful
Song moods?
Reminiscent, tender, pretty.
Song genre?
Contemporary folk.