Album review – Thurston Moore “Demolished Thoughts” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

Album review – Thurston Moore “Demolished Thoughts” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

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“Putting the pieces together,” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

“Putting the pieces together,” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

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“Going out in style,” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

“Going out in style,” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 25 April 28, 2011

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Stephen Kellogg interview part two

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (Photo credit: Megan Baker)

Now for the second and final part of my interview with former Northampton, Mass. resident and musician Stephen Kellogg (see picture, middle):

Underground: What are some bands and artists you are into right now?

Kellogg: Well, here’s the deal. This is going to be as unpopular an answer as when I usually tell people who my influences are and I have to cite some of the ‘80s metal hair bands, who definitely did have an impact on who I became as an artist and who I am becoming. I took the redeye back last night, and I got so stopped in my tracks by two super-different albums. One, I was listening to the new Taylor Swift album and I was loving it. There, I’ve said it. That was awesome. And then also on the total flipside of things, I’m in a real Everly Brothers phase, so I’m loving that too.

I like songs that go for your heart, you know, and that make you feel things. I guess that’s what everybody likes, but the stuff that really blows me away is pretty sentimental and really straight forward. The Everly Brothers and Taylor Swift both did that to me in their own way. I don’t get too worried about the production because there I’ve heard so many bands that seem to be ‘cool’ or whatever, but I just don’t know what the hell they’re saying or singing about. It just doesn’t move me that stuff. It’s really easy if you’re not a mainstreamer type person to write off someone like Taylor Swift and say, ‘That’s mass-manufactured crap or something,’ but when I hear her sing it goes right to the core of what I remember about growing up and I see what my young daughters are facing in their futures. I feel like I learn from it, and the same thing when I hear ‘Bye, Bye Love,’ ‘Hello Loneliness,’ all these things the Everly Brothers just said so plainly. I get excited by that stuff. I’m like, ‘They’re trying to communicate with me. They want me to understand what they’re singing about.’ That moves me. I feel that’s the artist sort of reaching out to the listener. So it’s a strange answer, but that’s what I got for you.

Speaking about artists who reach out to their listeners, you have a big barbecue coming up where you are connecting with your fans by having your brand of field days. Can you maybe explain more what that event is about?

Yeah, that I’m so excited about. I’m not the greatest marketing guy, so I haven’t quite figured out how to get the message of just how fun this is going to be out, but we figured since basically I’m doing this solo tour and we’re doing very sporadic, intermittent dates where we are going over to Europe to do some shows for the troops in June or maybe doing a one-off in Virginia Beach, but basically the band won’t until the new record comes out, which is going to be in September, won’t have played together in like 10 months or something. So, we wanted to do something over the summer for the core people who are going to be like, ‘C’mon guys, you’re going to make us wait 10 months to see you.’ We thought well le’s do multiple shows, so if people want to travel they can but instead of just doing multiple shows let’s do this family vibe, where we’re going to have this field day with all these events – the three-legged race, a water balloon toss, the egg on the spoon and all that stuff. We have a park in Conn. and we’re going to do an acoustic show the first night and an electric show the second night. During the day we’re going to get the grills going and have a field day. I mean, man, if Ryan Adams ever had a field day I would buy a ticket in an instant. Although, maybe because it’s Ryan Adams I wouldn’t want to do that (laughs), maybe I would just go to the concerts.

Find out more about the first-ever SK6ERS’ Field Days by watching this video here:

Is anyone in the band really competitive or enough so that you envision fights breaking out during the three-legged race?

Actually, Boots our drummer is really competitive but we’ll have to give him a stern talking to so he’ll let people win.

Nice. Going into more band business, I understand you just got the results back about another type of competition Reverb’s 100^th Green Tour contest. Are you disappointed at all that you guys didn’t win?

Of course, it’s always nice to win anytime that you’re doing something. But whoever’s tour gets green is a good thing. We knew that going in. There’s no loser in that world, and Carbon Leaf (winners of the contest) happen to be a band we’re actually very good friends with. It’s good for them. We still do what we can on that front anyway. We’ve been trying to reduce some of the wastefulness, but the other thing is that honestly at our level tours aren’t quite as detrimental to the environment as the bigger tours that Reverb works on. When they work on a Jack Johnson tour, there’s pretty massive waste and cutting back on that can make a huge impact. So this was a neat opportunity, and we were glad to be in the running and be nominated. We’re super-appreciative of everybody that went out and voted, but we’re also just happy that somebody is going to get a chance to do it and that Reverb is setting up those sorts of initiatives.

That’s true. The contest seemed like one of those events where it was really all about the message and no one really loses because everyone is helping spread the word.

Exactly. What we ended up doing too was everybody who voted for us, their name goes on a mailing list like it or not they’re going to be getting these updates from a really great organization, and they can always unsubscribe and all the rest, but I imagine that’s part of the goal too. I think when all was said and done, that between the five bands there was something like 13,000 votes. So, that’s great. That’s totally cool.

Stephen Kellogg live at the Iron Horse (Photo credit: Beau Bensch)

What might audiences expect from the opening show of your tour on April 20?

They should expect to be entertained and hopefully moved. I like to go for their heartstrings, or their heart and their gut you know? To me, if everybody leaves having had a laugh and at least one reflective moment then that is my goal as a songwriter, when I’m out there doing the stuff.

I have some little moments, some things I want to try out, that I have absolutely no idea if anyone has ever tried them before. So, who knows? But it’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be great. It’ll be fun. How could it not be? I feel like I’m going to have fun, so hopefully everybody else will too.

What might people not expect? What are some of those surprises you’ve been working on?

If I told you, then they wouldn’t be a surprise. But really, I’m just not sure how they would translate to print. Like, ‘Oh, I’m going to tell this joke.’ People are going to be like, ‘Great, let me buy a ticket to that.’ *Laughs*

What about some final words of wisdom? What would you like to say to anyone out there who is aspiring musician or perhaps an artist?

Oh man. I do love that question. There are a lot of things you always wish you had known at the beginning of your road that might’ve been helpful. I think it’s really important to find mentors, to go out and find people who do what you want to do and try to help those people along in any way that you can, and in doing so, learn. It’s easy when you’re starting out to feel really competitive and feel really self-centered, and that never totally goes away. But, I think a lot of times if someone e-mails me and asks how to get their thing going, one of the biggest things I tell them to do is go out and see other people and support other people.

For God sakes don’t judge everybody so harshly because what happens is you go out and you see everybody and judge them with your critic’s lens, and then you end up judging yourself in the same way. When things don’t go perfectly on stage, you end up feeling self-conscious about it. And, maybe it’s not this way for everybody, but probably one of the most destructive things for me was just getting involved in those conversations where, ‘You hear so-and-so got that tour?’ ‘Well, I heard that they got it this way, or he was singing really flat,’ and it’s just a destructive way to be because then when you sing flat all you’re thinking is that everybody in the room knows I’m singing flat right now. In my experience, that’s just not how most people are. Most people go out and they give you the benefit of the doubt. But as artists, I think you go out and you’re a little more critical of things and ultimately I think that doesn’t help. Trying to help other people climb up that ladder is a really helpful thing, and getting clear sights on what you want to do, and then just working your ass off. Those are the things that have done me right.

As a flipside to the question above, what are some words or warning? I think you might’ve covered some already.

Don’t be too judgmental because you wouldn’t want to be judged so harshly. And, this applies maybe to half of the artists out there, but I think you have to make sure you take care of the art. Don’t get so obsessed with your career, your ambition and everything that you stop taking care of the art. For a number of years, I would’ve said that I was a better businessman than I was a songwriter or something because I got a taste of it and I wanted to do this for a living, and I sometimes wish I’d spent a more hours working on songs, singing and playing guitar because you can lose sight of it.

Now on the flipside, you have artists who are just focused on the art and they never think about, it’s almost a four-letter word, to market it. Everybody knows some of those people in the town, who are just so talented. That talent can definitely find a way. If you’re a person like that, you need to have a manager, an agent, or somebody who can make sure your stuff is getting championed if you’re trying to. I’m speaking strictly about building a career in music here. If you’re just trying to make art for art’s sake, then God bless you and go ahead and do it. You just have to know. You don’t want to spend all your time on the Internet. Spend some time with your guitars, pianos, at shows. At such an age, where you can sit there obsessed over if anybody has responded to me tweets or Facebooks [sic] and all that crap. Still, no matter what happens with technology that will never be the way to be a great musician.

For more information on Stephen Kellogg or to see future tour dates please visit www.stephenkellogg.com.

Stephen Kellogg interview part one

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (Photo credit: Megan Baker)

As promised, here is part one of my recent interview with roots rocker Stephen Kellogg (see picture, middle) as he checked in with the Northeast Underground on the eve of his first-ever solo headlining tour.

Underground: So, what have you been up to lately? I know the last time you were in town we caught up via e-mail, but I understand you recently got back from playing down at SXSW.

Kellogg: Yep, I did that. And I took the redeye in last night from LA actually.

We are about 70 percent of the way done with a new Sixers record. So, that’s been a lot of what I have been doing actually. We did some of that in Conn. and we’ve been doing a lot of it in Calif., just making those trips. And we had a super-dramatic beginning to that because the night before we started the record, the whole band and the producer got hit by a snowplow. The guy was drunk, and he just crossed over the lines and smashed right into them. So, we were starting the record the next day, the drummer had two broken ribs, and we were in the ER all night. The fact that no one was seriously injured though was like we said, ‘The fates have shined upon us. We better make a worthy record.’

That’s pretty miraculous that everyone turned out mostly okay.

They did, they did. The car was smashed to smithereens, but everyone was okay.

That’s been the big thing. We did a little bit of playing, but mostly just lots of recording and a few gigs and things like that along the way.

Speaking of recording, I happened to check your Twitter feed recently and noticed that it mentioned how you and Goose had been recording while a little “intoxicated,” or what have you.

*Laughs* Yeah, tweeting and drinking you know. I feel like with Twitter it’s like there’s this tendency to want to be like Chuck Klosterman or Nick Hornby about everything, all your witty observations throughout the day. But, I try to use it for two purposes. One is if something inspires me throughout the day, and I feel like would say it to a friend you know? Like, ‘Hey this really inspired me.’ I try to use Twitter that way, so I’ll end up putting up a lot of quotes and things like that from people that I stumble upon. The other thing I think is just like, what would I think is cool if the bands I listened to wrote about what’s going on a little bit. And that [drunk tweeting] was just one of those incidences where we were having a ball, we had a couple bottles of wine, and we’re actually just working on some singing for the new Nield’s record. So that’s what we were working on that night, and somebody got a computer in front of me and next thing you know we had tweeted. I got like four texts the next day, including one from my wife, that were like ‘How we feeling this morning little drunken tweeter?’

That sounds awesome. I can understand how there may be side-effects to the power of social media. I have only recently been dabbling in Twitter myself, but I still don’t use it as much as I could or should for that matter. I haven’t really gotten into it that much.

Yeah. For the longest time I have been a sort of old school guy and I don’t like computers much and stuff. But, at some point you know I’ve opted to be in an industry where part of your goal is to make this art and then you want to serve it out to the world. You don’t want it to languish in obscurity necessarily. You’re an entertainer. So, I try not to be too curmudgeonly about modern technology.

Following up on you being an entertainer, what are some of the challenges you are seeing now as part of launching a solo tour instead of playing with a full group?

Well, the Iron Horse show will be the first one. I did a couple of warm-up dates in L.A. last month, and I did one little thing up in Maine in February. But I’ve never done a headline solo tour, so I can only really guess what the challenges will be. I have played plenty of shows by myself, but I’ve never really had the situation where I got to go out and play as the headliner. It was usually more here’s a taste of things. So, I don’t know what the challenges are. I know that it’s been really fun to create something that’s based on much different dynamics.

In the Sixers, there’s all kind of neat tools that you have. You have a couple of multi-instrumentalists, you’ve got the several voices and the different beats, so a lot of the dynamics are just kind of built in to what you can do with a band. I definitely have been going out to see more solo shows and figuring what makes a good solo show. And it’s been really fun to conceive of putting on something that’s as entertaining but just in a different way. I imagine it may take me a few shows to figure out that dynamic a little bit, but it’s something I have really enjoyed doing. I feel good going in.

It’s kind of like building a house. I think my blueprint plan for this one is really good and I’m excited to do it and share it, but I’m sure when we get in there and realize the doors bump into each other with the plan we have or whatever, there will be a couple of those moments. I really don’t have a lot of experience with it, but I guess that’s the super longwinded way of telling you that that’s the challenge. It’s just not something I have done a lot, and anytime you haven’t done things a lot you just never quite know how it’s going to go.

How did the decision come about to do the solo tour in the first place? Did you just have some downtime between tours?

Yeah. We did put out a live record last year, but we were basically still supporting our last studio record, which came out in September of 2009. So we’ve done a few tours on that, and with the new record coming out in the fall we’re probably going to go out and tour again in the fall. It’s kind of in the blood to go out and play and be around people. I do love putting on a show. So, I wanted to do something but it didn’t really make sense to do a forced trip around the country with the band. That was the practical reason, and the artistic reason is, honestly, as we go my material has always sort of been divided between straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll and more lyric-based sort of folk stuff. And, I would notice that in the listening rooms I had just such a great time playing ballads. It was just so much fun when we would be in an environment where that was a great feeling, and I would love to do more of that in the Sixers’ show but sometimes it just doesn’t feel totally right for the environment. It wasn’t like I said, ‘Hey, you guys, I’m sick of you. Good luck. I’ll see you later’ you know? It was more like, ‘Hey this might make sense,’ to go for more certain fans who enjoy that side of what we do more and to get a chance to really hear the songs at their core. That sounded like a fun thing to do artistically too. Some crazy part of me just loves challenges, and loves like ‘What’s the new thing that will be terrifying to do’ you know? And also there’s just going and playing a full set by yourself and making sure everybody feels good about the money they spent on their ticket.

Would you say the solo show is a little more ballad based, or is there some more upbeat stuff in there as well?

It’s definitely the same thing, I mean, I’m me. I’m playing plenty of the same material, but I think it is I don’t play a lot of instruments. I just play guitar, so I think as such, one of the things I’ve seen in a lot of solo shows that I’ve really enjoyed is that everything’s a little more intimate.

It’s not ballads in the sense that I would certainly ever want to put together a snooze-fest of ‘Here’s another depressing love song,’ or something like that. But some of the material that is more introspective, I’m definitely going to be doing a bit more of that stuff because that stuff doesn’t always get the chance to come out in the rock ‘n’ roll setting, and when it does come out it can be tough to take it in when you’re in a big rock room and you can’t always hear the words quite as well. With almost no exceptions, every room we’re doing on this tour around the country is a great listening type room like the Iron Horse, where people go and you can hear the words and all that.

What are some of the differences you would say there are between playing at the Iron Horse and at the Calvin Theatre, where you have also had shows?

The Calvin is a neat experience because the gestures of a grander show are just, well, grander. I think when you’re in the Iron Horse there is just something about being able to see that the guy in the front row is eating his nachos and there you are singing saying, ‘Well, I wrote this when my grandfather passed away.’ When you share that kind of intimacy, it can make for some really fun, funny, and poignant moments because you can really see when people are feeling the music. At the Calvin or any large beautiful venue, I mean don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it, but you are sort of limited by what you see in the first couple of rows and you don’t see really beyond that at all. While at a place like the Iron Horse and most of the other venues we are doing on this tour, you can really feel every part of the room.

What can you share about your tour mate Tift Merritt?

She seems totally awesome. I’ve dug her music for a really long time and we’ve e-mailed, but I’ll be meeting her for the first time next week in person. I’ll know her a lot better a month from now, but I think she’s a tremendous singer and songwriter and everything I hear, read, and see about her leads me to believe we’ll get on just great. I’m excited and really looking forward to getting to hear her sing every night.

Have you discussed doing any collaboration since it will be just the two of you on tour?

Yes, we have. We have a bunch of tunes kicking around and hopefully since the Iron Horse is the first night we’ll see. I don’t know if we’ll have something up on its feet by then, but I think definitely we’re planning on singing some stuff together. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to miss that.

In that same spirit of collaboration, I understand during your time at SXSW you spent some time with some other artists as part of a project to aid the victims impacted by the recent tragedy in Japan. What was that experience like?

Well I read this thing some years ago, I’m not sure if it was Dave Matthews’ manager, but someone was questioning Dave’s credibility as an artist and his manager said something like, ‘All the credibility he needs is in his bank account right now,’ which I actually thought was awesome. I totally got that that wasn’t just like bragging about money, but it was like look he’s connecting to people. I just kind of think of that because I know we were just a really small piece of that [SXSW Livestream for Japan], we went in and played a song because we happen to be friends with the guys in Hanson and they had called us up and said, ‘Hey, can you come down and be part of this,’ and, of course, we were thrilled to be a part of it. But, the great thing is I think that that event raised $125,000 or something. So in terms of how things went, I’d say that’s great, that someone can conceive of an idea and a day later, well a long day, especially for those guys who were kind of overseeing the whole thing, but you got $125,000 that wouldn’t have existed going to people that really need it. So, in that sense I think it was a success. You can always do more, and it certainly would’ve been easy to do a lot less.

Did you get a chance to watch any of the other performers during their sessions?

I did. I think Anna Nalick was down there while we were there. It was a neat scene, minus everybody being mega-famous it was almost like a ‘We Are the World’ scene. Boots [Sixers drummer] was excited because the guy from Blind Melon, obviously Shannon Hoon is not alive, but whoever the next most well-known guy in Blind Melon is was there, going in after us, and Boots is a big Blind Melon fan, who got to chat with him for a minute and was excited. It’s still one of the very neatest things about this job, just some of the people that you get to meet, whose work you admire a lot. Just being around people who you think are cool and getting to have conversations or ask questions, I think that’s one of my favorite parts of this job.

Check back tomorrow for part two of the interview and for more information on Stephen Kellogg or to see future tour dates please visit www.stephenkellogg.com.

Album review – Eprhyme “Dopestylevsky” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 24 April 21, 2011

Album review – Eprhyme “Dopestylevsky” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 24 April 21, 2011

*Please note that the album cover image attached to this story is incorrect. The picture featured is for the Beady Eye album “Different Gear, Still Speeding.” To see the album cover for “Dopestylevsky” and learn more about Eprhyme please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/eprhyme*

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Stephen Kellogg launches solo tour with Pioneer Valley show

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (Photo credit Megan Baker)

Former Western Massachusetts native Stephen Kellogg (of roots rockers Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers fame, see photo at right)) launches his first-ever solo headlining tour tonight at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass. Don’t miss it!

Also, check back soon for an exclusive interview with Kellogg and a review of his performance.

Stephen Kellogg with Tift Merritt, April 20, 7 p.m., $22-25, Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, www.iheg.com/iron_horse.

For more information on Stephen Kellogg or Tift Merritt and to see future tour dates please visit www.stephenkellogg.com as well as www.tiftmerritt.com.

Concert review: Sharon Van Etten at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (Photo credit: Annie Burns)

After an enjoyable sun-filled day in Western Massachusetts, the air outside the Iron Horse Music Hall Friday night felt crisp. However, the chill felt by those huddling outside on the sidewalk wasn’t just the fault of the change in temperature. Amidst talk of politics, schoolwork and even the benefits of mint-flavored toothpicks, there was a palpable sense of excitement shared by the lucky concert-goers who anxiously awaited the venue’s second show of the evening – singer/ songwriter Sharon Van Etten with opener Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (see photo at right).

Taking the stage at almost a quarter after 10, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (aka Aly Spaltro or “Aly from Maine”) didn’t disappoint the crowd who had hurried in from the cold. By opening her set with the half-acapella and half-electric number “Up in the Rafters/ Bird Balloons,” she quickly silenced the chatter from the bar through just the sheer power of her voice, which at times appeared to resemble the throaty rasp of the late Janis Joplin.

Though playing solo, Spaltro ably held the room fixated with her ace guitar playing and unassuming stage demeanor. While many of the tracks during her too brief set featured the heavy use of bass string orientated melodies, the true highlight came during the finale “Crane Your Neck,” where a series of bluesy guitar squeals came together with a hair-raising long note to thrill the audience into grateful applause. A fine start to be sure, but one whose reception would only grow as the headliner of the night took her turn in the spotlight.

Popularly known as a musician whose songs deal with emotional heartbreak and sour relationships, Sharon Van Etten took the stage to cheers from the adoring crowd at shortly after 11. Performing for the first time in the Paradise City as a trio with her backing band Doug Keith (bass) and Ben Ward (drums), Van Etten opened her set with a soft finger-picked ballad before quickly seeking to bridge the gap between herself and the audience. “Feel free to come closer,” she said. “I feel like there’s a void out there.”

Taking her words to heart, the floor of the Iron Horse soon filled with excited fans who were rewarded with a rocking take of the song “Peace Signs.” Indeed, much of the material Van Etten chose to perform was of the up-tempo variety with her and her band covering most of the tracks from their recent release “Epic” as well as some new tunes.

“That song wasn’t about a real tornado,” she said after one such number.

“It was a metaphor,” shouted a fan in response.

“Ding, ding, ding. You get the prize,” Van Etten joked. “I don’t know what it will be, but I do have a real nickel in my pocket…not a bag though. Ha, college joke.”

Sharon Van Etten and band (Photo credit: Chantal Anderson)

Unexpectedly, such moments of audience interaction provided frequent bouts of laughter between songs. Whether discussing the existence of casinos in Mississippi, her embarrassing dance moves or even how her own breath smelled, Van Etten’s unique charm shined brightly and made her show seem more like a casual gathering of friends than a full-fledged concert.

Elsewhere, the addition of additional musicians on stage helped bring many numbers some new-found depth and even punch. Far from being a complete rock act, Van Etten and company did manage to have the crowd at their feet swaying back and forth during most songs and the joyous reception at times appeared to surprise them. For example, after strumming only a handful of chords for the standout track “One Day,” Van Etten was greeted with raucous cheers that made her do a double take.

“You guys actually know this song?” she said with a grin poking out from beneath her Karen O inspired haircut.

While only performing a set that came in at just a shade over an hour, Van Etten saved perhaps her most enchanting moment for the evening’s conclusion. Trading her guitar for an accordion, she led her group through the haunting slow waltz of “Love More.” There was no encore. There didn’t need to be. She had worked her magic to perfection, but then again, who would have expected anything less?

For more information on Sharon Van Etten and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, or to see future tour dates please visit www.sharonvanetten.com and www.ladylambthebeekeeper.com.

Also, don’t forget that today is Record Store Day. To check out possible sales and events near you please visit www.recordstoreday.com.

 

Album review – Beady Eye “Different Gear, Still Speeding” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 23 April 14, 2011

Album review – Beady Eye “Different Gear, Still Speeding” – Springfield Student Vol. 125 No. 23 April 14, 2011

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Sharon Van Etten brings ‘epic’ sound to Paradise City

Sharon Van Etten (Photo credit: Allison Kaye)

The world of indie music has always been a second home of sorts to confessional singer/ songwriter types. Artists like Bon Iver, Cat Power, and Liz Phair all got their start on the indie scene. And, the simple do-it-yourself atmosphere has encouraged countless others to join their ranks. One such newcomer is Sharon Van Etten.

On her sophomore record and first widely distributed release, “epic,” the Brooklyn-based Van Etten mixes folky strums alongside lovelorn lyrics and even brings a full band in on the act for her album’s majestic-sounding latter half. Equipped with a voice recently described in a Valley Advocate review as something that “bleeds European, like a thick ichor of mead flowing from the pierced heart of an injured goddess,” Van Etten maintains the perfect mood throughout. Whether on the bitter acoustic opener “A Crime” or the country-tinged gem “One Day,” she shifts flawlessly from spurned lover to avenging spirit and back again with ease.

The Underground recently got the chance to catch up with Van Etten via e-mail before her appearance at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass. on Friday, and asked about her thoughts on deciding to become a professional musician, how her time in the south influenced her songwriting, and what it was like to go on tour with indie rockers the National.

Underground: First off, what led to your decision to become a professional musician?

Van Etten: I knew it was the only thing I was good at and enjoyed doing.

How much of an impact do you think your time spent in Tennessee has had on your approach to music? Some critics have noted a subtle Southern sound in your work.

The biggest impact is in the immediacy of the songs. I wrote so much in a small time and I was held back for so long while I lived in Tenn. It only helped the urgency of my content, I think. That, and of course a lot of music I was exposed to was pretty influential – from indie music to hardcore music to country music, which I didn’t really grow up listening to.

What was your first impression of playing live in New York?

Nerve-wracking. People hanging out, playing pool, talking loud, not caring about what I was doing at all.

What went through your mind at the time?

“Why am I doing this?”

Sharon Van Etten (Photo credit: Dustin Condren)

What do you make of the city’s influence on your career?

Surrounding myself with people that are supportive and productive and “get” the struggle is what helped me.

How would you describe your songwriting process?

Stream of conscious.

How would you characterize the influence other artists have had on your music?

Major.

Who are some of your favorite bands/ artists at the moment?

Little Scream, Wye Oak, Callers, Megafaun, Pontiak, Small Black, Ty Segall, James Blake, Lady Lamb the Bee Keeper

What might audiences expect from your show at the Iron Horse Music Hall on April 15?

Full band.

What might they not expect?

Quiet.

What do you think of the songs on your record “Home Recordings” now?

I still believe in them. They will always be a big part of me.

What did you make of the material on “Home Recordings” while you were completing the album?

They [the songs] are very confessional.

How do you feel about playing solo as opposed to with a band?

Both are cathartic in different ways.

What are some of the differences between the two experiences?

They are very similar, surprisingly. I just rock out more with a band.

What was the recording process for your album “epic” like? Some of the songs feature studio chatter and other informal sounds or “flubs.”

Very natural. Just me and a bunch of friends re-realizing songs.

How would you characterize the decision to leave such moments on the final release?

I wanted it to be real as possible and set a time and space

What was like going on tour with the National?

Great. They treated us so well. They are all such gentleman. Really took us under their wing and went above and beyond to take care of us. Their fans are so awesome too. Nothing got thrown at us.

Sharon Van Etten (Photo credit: Kristianna Smith)

What led to multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner landing the job of producer for your latest record?

My friend Brad Cook (of Megafaun) showed me a video of him covering my song “Love More” with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and I was just starting to set dates to record a new album, so I wrote them “on a whim” to see what their schedules were like. Turned out they were busy, but Aaron offered up his space for the next time I wanted to work on some new songs. He kept to his word. It’s been heaven ever since! He’s an absolute genius. I have a lot to learn from him.

How has the experience of working with Dessner been going?

He pushes me outside my comfort zone a bit, which is what I need. I don’t want to keep doing the same thing, and I don’t want to surround myself with people that keep agreeing with what I am writing. He has an amazing ear for the counterintuitive and outside the box kind of production that doesn’t come as second nature to me.

How would you describe your former job as a sommelier (aka a wine steward)?

I never became one. I was on my way to be one, but I was afraid I was becoming too much of a snob and wanted to enjoy the wine more.

Do you still maintain a decent knowledge of wine?

I enjoy wine often.

What do think of the comparisons some critics have made between you and other noted female singer/ songwriters like Cat Power and Liz Phair?

I grew up listening to Liz Phair. “Whip-Smart” and “Exile in Guyville” I still love very much. Cat Power I didn’t listen to until the last year or so. I can’t believe I missed out on her when I could’ve seen her at a more intimate space. Thank god her recordings convey that really well. She’s a rare bird.

What are some of your plans for the future?

Finishing my record this summer.

Finally, what advice would you give to other aspiring artists and musicians?

Be honest. Listen to your friends. Have a support system and only trust people you trust. Start with what you believe in.

Words of warning?

Avoid “cool” at all costs.

Sharon Van Etten with opener Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, April 15, 10 p.m., $10-13, Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, www.iheg.com/iron_horse.

Also, for more information on Sharon Van Etten and to see future tour dates please visit www.sharonvanetten.com or www.myspace.com/sharonvanetten.