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Cautious Clay

Cautious Clay at Governors Ball 2019

Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

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Cautious Clay On "Cold War," Billie Eilish & More meet-cautious-clay-%E2%80%9Ccold-war%E2%80%9D-hero-talks-billie-eilish-record-labels-more

Meet Cautious Clay: The “Cold War” Hero Talks Billie Eilish, Record Labels & More

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The up-and-coming artist/producer talks about his debut EP 'Blood Type,' keeping things natural and what he's looking for in a record label (if anything)
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jun 1, 2019 - 2:00 pm

The sparse and soulful sound of Cautious Clay is sure to grab you. Whether you discovered him through his imaginative remix of Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” (done well before she was a chart-topping star) or his infectious and reflective breakout hit, “Cold War,” the Cleveland-bred, Brooklyn-based independent artist/producer creates memorable work. We tracked him down backstage at Governors Ball in New York City to hear about his festival homecoming, what went into his debut Blood Type EP, what he’s looking for in a record label (if anything), and more.

Cautious Clay On How "Cold War" Came To Him

If you could start by telling us a little about your Gov Ball? How'd your set go? What's your impressions of this festival?

Aw man, it's been really cool. I live here in Crown Heights; Brooklyn, New York, so it feels kind of like, it's been a really great experience so far. We didn't really have to go very far with the band, so. Yeah, it was cool, man. Yeah, saw a lot of familiar faces and just been kicking it, you know?

Can you tell me what you feel like you accomplished creatively with Blood Type, your 1st EP? I know you've been working on this for a while.

Yeah, man. I feel like I just was able to talk about a lot of the first kind of inclinations that came to mind as a person, but then also as musician. And also as a very early songwriter. It's the first project I'd ever written, so I felt very freeform and was able to kind of experiment, but also kind of like take from some of the music that inspired me growing up, and then also the music I was hearing, that was new. So I just kind of felt like it was a perfect combination of those things and on top of that, just my own style.

Do you care to name any of those influences? Maybe growing up, pick a couple, and a couple of newer ones?

Yeah, man. OutKast is a huge one for me. I was really into Moby, some older stuff. Newer influences; I really, really like, I mean obviously, Frank Ocean is really cool. F**k. I'm really into this guy named Glen Campbell. 

The Glen Campbell?

Yeah, really interesting arrangements, just really, really cool stuff.

"Cold War," I think, was the first time a lot of people heard your music. Can tell us what you remember about writing and recording, and putting that song together?

Yeah, so "Cold War" felt really, it just felt like probably one of the easiest songs I ever wrote. I just kind of came out, and then I didn't really know the significance of it, I guess. When I made it, I just kind of made it and was like, this sounds really cool but, I didn't know that it would be anything better or worse than "Blood Type" or anything else I wrote on that project. Man, I guess it was a lot of stuff that I was thinking about at the time. I had just been in a long relationship with someone, and was able to put that on paper and kind of just let people take with what they thought, you know but, yeah.

Yeah, a good song kind of leaves room in itself for a listener.

Interpretation, yeah.

Your remix of Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes," I think, was really the first thing from you that caught a lot of people's attention.

Definitely, man. Billie is great. We started talking very early on, so yeah.

Her debut album is out now. You've been there since the very beginning, now she's got this No. 1 LP. What are your impressions?

Man, it's really f***ing amazing. I've seen her come from kind of being even a smaller artist than me, at one point, becoming what she is now. And so, I'm just really proud of her. And we still sort of keep in touch, so it's cool to see that she's kind of like, elevated to the position that she's in.

Has your Ocean Eyes remix gotten a lot more attention?

Yeah man, it's really funny. It had a resurgence actually, which is just like funny, because I'm just like, okay. But it's cool. No, it was fun and she's great. We've kept in touch and I'm also a good friend of her brother's, so it's been nothing but love.

As an artist that has chosen to not sign with a label, what is it you're looking for, to support your music? What do you think an artist that has the vision you have needs today?

I think it's just having a solid team that is able to execute your vision, and that is not an easy thing to do and find. I think it definitely starts with a couple of people, and those couple of people knowing how to grow something that you have a vision for. It's really like, there's never like a one way street in terms of how that goes down and how different artists grow, so. I can only say it from experience, that I've kind of grown from being just very much on my own; writing, producing, doing all of this on my own, and then finding someone as a manager—my current manager—who I could trust, and felt like he understood my vision.

It's really been a whirlwind, not signing and continuing this journey. And it's not something I'm opposed to, it's just has to make the most sense, you know?



View this post on Instagram


gov ball 2019

A post shared by Cautious Clay (@cautiousxclay) on Jun 1, 2019 at 8:37am PDT

What's the rest of the year look like for you?

We're going to Europe tomorrow. We're going to Bergen, Norway, and then hitting up a couple of other spots in Europe, for two weeks. And then we have a full headline tour of the U.S. and Europe as well, at the end of the year. Then we're going to probably put out a project, like a full album, probably top of next year.

Jessie Reyez Gets Real, Connects The Dots Between Crying & Songwriting

GRAMMYs

Jessie Reyez

Photo: Nate Hertweck/Recording Academy

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Jessie Reyez On "Imported," Crying & Songwriting jessie-reyez-gets-real-connects-dots-between-crying-songwriting

Jessie Reyez Gets Real, Connects The Dots Between Crying & Songwriting

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The magnetic young singer/songwriter breaks down her hit "Imported," teases her debut album and reveals the best co-writing secret you'll ever hear
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
May 31, 2019 - 8:17 pm

Backstage at Governors Ball, a random fan stops dead in his tracks and, with eyes open wide in shock, struggles to find the words to tell Jessie Reyez he just saw her set, she is incredible and he really felt what she was doing. It's true. And in person, she connects just as honestly and directly as in her music, thanking the new fan just as sincerely as she sings.

We spent a few minutes with Reyez to hear about her latest version of "Imported" featuring 6lack, the ingenious ways she approaches co-writing sessions and what she's got up her sleeve for her full-length debut album.

People are loving "Imported" right now, especially the new version with 6lack. What do you love about that song? Why do you think it's connected with your fans?

I don't know why, to be honest. I don't know why it's connected. I'm happy it's connected. I'd like to think that it's because it's real life. The song is based on real life. I was going through it and I was trying to get over somebody. And it's just funny, too, because I'm also speaking to myself in the song at a point saying, "Be careful because sometimes it's not always the best way to get over somebody, trying to be physical with someone else when your heart isn't ready." Maybe it's because the song caters to both perspectives as well. I'd like to think [it does].

For sure, a great song often has many angles. How did you get connected with 6lack for that collaboration?

Me and 6lack used to actually see each other all the time at festivals. We would just always cross paths and we were friends prior too, and then it just made sense. So our team reached out to him and then made it happen.

What else are you working on right now?

I'm working on my debut album right now. I'm damn near done. I'm just doing the final touches.

Jessie Reyez On The Stress Of Making An Album

Anything you can talk about? I know it's all under wraps until it's not, but how do you feel about this project being your first full-length?

Stressed. I feel stressed about it. But I heard someone talking about it like childbirth, like when you're giving birth and you're like, "This f***ing hurts, this is awful. This sucks." And then you see the child and you're like, "I love you." So I think I'm right before the "I love you" [laughs].

I'm curious what you're listening to right now? sometimes people just disappear into their own thing when their making an album.

I tend to go backwards more than I go forward in music, so I listen to a lot of Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson and Amy Winehouse, and Bob Marley, Tanya Stephens, and Celia Cruz and Carlos Vives. The cool thing about music is you'll never in your life be able to hear every song, whether you're going forward or backward or now. There's just so much, and it's beautiful, so I'm exploring back.

Absolutely, and art is forever, so what you're making now will be around long after we're gone.

Amen. That's the plan, man. Legendary sh*t. Timeless sh*t.

Switching gears, the importance of mental health is something that you've opened up about. What is it that you do to make sure you stay healthy mentally?

I meditate. Yoga. Oh my god, if it wasn't for hot yoga, I think I'd be a totally different person. Well, not totally different, I would just be more of my bad side, I guess. You know? Everybody's got their yin and yang, so I feel like meditating helps my brain just take a second to be like, "Relax. It's fine. It's not the end of the world if something goes wrong, and just be more chill." So I meditate and I sit in the grass, and I take off my shoes, and I recharge, and it's lit.

Mental health is so important
Everything is clouded without it
It’s like driving a fast car with the windshield painted black

— Jessie Reyez (@Jessiereyez) May 25, 2019

You're a songwriter first, which I love - what's your songwriting process like, especially now that you're a successful artist as well?

Just vibe. It's just kinda vibe. If it's me and my guitar. I just play the guitar and whatever comes out, whatever I'm feeling. And then if it's me and the producer, it's just vibe. It's not really changed, I guess, because it's something that I still do. So for example, if I get pulled into a session and they want me to write for another artist, I'll ask the artist when the last time they cried is. So that I make sure that I'm taking a piece of their truth, so that when they sing their song it's authentic to them. You know? But for myself, it's kind of easy to think of the last time I hurt because it's usually floating right on top of my heart, so I could just grab it and go.

That's beautiful. What's the rest of the year look like for you?

A lot of work. Honestly, I've been in the studio for the last four months. That's so funny. I've been in the studio forever and I just can't wait to drop this music, man. I'm anxious to get this child the fuck out of me.

Rising Rapper Tyla Yaweh On Performing At Gov Ball, Going From Being Homeless To Touring With Post Malone & More

Louis The Child at Gov Ball 2019

Louis The Child at Gov Ball 2019

Photo: Nate Hertweck/Recording Academy

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Louis The Child Talk New Sounds, Debut LP & More louis-child-talk-exploring-new-sounds-each-song-debut-album-remixing-death-cab-cutie

Louis The Child Talk Exploring New Sounds On Each Song, Debut Album & Remixing Death Cab For Cutie

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"We're always trying to move our boundaries a little bit with each song, and each song to be a different mixture of genres in its own unique way," Freddy Kennett, half of the upbeat electronic duo, told the Recording Academy
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 5, 2019 - 4:12 pm

Chicago-based dance music duo Louis The Child was one of only a few acts able to play on Sunday at the recent Governors Ball, in between torrential down pours taking over the final day of the fest. Despite the change of plans - and the shortened set length - Freddy Kennett and Robby Hauldren were calm and friendly just before their set, more than ready to hit the stage after how much time they've been spending in the studio lately. That's right, Louis The Child are working on an album, and it'd debatable who is more excited about it, the duo or their fans. 

Before they got the crowd dancing during their high energy Gov Ball set, the Recording Academy caught up with the pair to learn more about their return to the N.Y.C. fest and what they've got brewing on their upcoming debut LP. They also talked about recently throwing down during DJ sets at the brand-new state-of-art KAOS club in Las Vegas, setting the bar high with fun merch offerings, and more.

Louis The Child On New Sounds, Debut LP & KAOS

Have you two been busy working on music lately?

Freddy Kennett: Like every single day for the first time in three years because we've been traveling so much.

Robby Hauldren: We're still in the studio when we're home all the time, but-

Kennett: Well, yeah, but for the first time in like three years, we've had actually a good amount of time in one place to just be working on music. Like, this Gov Ball we had a month and some change before this, where we just working on music and didn't have to travel. That's so nice.

Hauldren: Yes it is.

Kennett: We love touring and playing music for people, but we also love making the music and that's important too.

It's gotta be kind of like culture shock to get out of the studio and back out in the wild with all these people.

Kennett: Get a little tan maybe.

Hauldren: I forgot what it's like to be around people.

What do you guys think about Governors Ball? Was it your first time?

Kennett: We love Governors Ball. This is our second time being here.

Hauldren: I think the last time we played here was like three years ago and I remember we had like a 12:45 p.m. time slot or something. I remember showing up and being like, all right, well prepare for nobody to be there. And then like we got up on stage and the tent's like half full. By the end of the set it was packed and I was like okay, Gov Ball doesn't mess around.

It's cool to be back now and be playing like a nighttime slot and you know, have all this other music that we've put out since then. And you know the festival itself even looks different since the last time we've been here. So I'm happy to be back.

Kennett: It's a beautiful field. I love it.

Hauldren: Beautiful field, great grass.

Kennett: Great grass.

Speaking of new music, the Death Cab for Cutie remix you did recently is really cool. Can you tell us how that came together?

Kennett: We sent them an email asking them if we could remix it. Well actually, I asked Matt, one of our managers to go and send them that message because we love that song. And I just heard it and I was like we need to be doing some more indie remixes this year. I mean, we need to put out some more of that because we love that. Like doing that and just that vibe. So it was really fun to make it and it took probably like a month to finish up. But then like we got a little mix done and then it's out now and we're stoked about it.

Hauldren: We're playing it tonight.

Kennett: Yep, playing it tonight.

What can you tell us about the new album? How does it feel and sound to you so far?

Hauldren: It's still in a pretty early stages. Only a couple of songs are done and we still are creating a lot of music along the way. It's cool to be making more stuff as we're trying to finish it, because we can kind of fill in all these gaps and we have a much better idea of like the concept of it and the idea of the album going into writing stuff.

Kennett: We do have the full concept of what we want it to be about pretty locked in. And we won't share that just yet. But it's really cool because we've been wanting to make an album but we haven't had a full concept that we're like this is the debut Louis The Child concept album. So now to have that and to kind of know what we want to be saying, know how we're feeling, it's really cool to be able to put that into music.

Kaos!!! Madness!! pic.twitter.com/htslRhglKW

— louis (@LouisTheChild) June 1, 2019

Can't wait. I heard you guys are doing a Vegas residency. Can you tell me a little about it?

Hauldren: We are.

Hauldren: We actually, we just had our first show of the residency two nights ago.

Kennett: At KAOS.

Hauldren: It was really fun. The club itself is insane, like crazy production and everything.

Kennett: Crazy sound system, great visuals.

Hauldren: It's fun to play out there because every show out there is like two hours sets and between the two of us, we kind of go into it just being like, "All right let's start here and we'll see what happens."

So it's fun. It's an opportunity to play a lot of stuff that we don't get to play in our normal shows and show people a little bit more of like what our music taste is and stuff. I'm enjoying it so far.

Kennett: It's fun. It's definitely a different mixing style than being at other places. And it's fun to dip into that for a minute.

One of the things that strikes me about you guys is I think you're kind of pushing back against genre.

Kennett: Totally.

Do you think we're in a genre-less place or at least for Louis the Child, are you guys in a genre-less world?

Kennett: I think every song we try to do something new and branch out. Like we'll hear something really cool from 20 years ago and that inspires us to do something new that sounds kind of new for us. But yeah, we're always just trying to like move our boundaries a little bit with each song and each song to be a different kind of mixture of genres in its own unique way.

Hauldren: I feel like the modern day music listener like has access to so much music and everyone just listens to everything. So it's a time where artists can really feel like they can do whatever because they know that everyone's kind of down with hearing everything.

Kennett: And at the end of the day it's really about the rhythms and melodies. If the rhythms and melodies make you feel something or not, or if they make you feel the way that it was intended. So, aside from the music.

Merch spring cleaning sale! 40% off on select items

Head over to - https://t.co/ZkLs4i3eNI pic.twitter.com/0hBlaBGzdB

— louis (@LouisTheChild) May 30, 2019

That's going to make for a great first album. So, your merch is really rad. How important is the visual look for the band?

Hauldren: The merch is definitely very important to us and I think we're even trying to level up even more on the merch. I mean it's cool. I feel like a lot of artists merchandise these days is not just like the straight logo on a shirt, like basic stuff. It's almost like a fashion line now, you know, with your merch. So it's cool that people are down with that and it's cool to explore that like avenue of our creativity with clothing.

Kennett: We're still just at the beginning of that too, diving into the merch world because we definitely have way more ideas than we've been able to execute just yet. Because everything just takes time, getting to a place where you can, you know, do what you want to do.

Meet Cautious Clay: The “Cold War” Hero Talks Billie Eilish, Record Labels & More

GRAMMYs

Molly Tuttle

Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

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Bluegrass Heroine Molly Tuttle On Her Debut LP molly-tuttle-when-youre-ready-her-modern-nashville-bluegrass-classic-newport-folk-2019

Molly Tuttle On 'When You're Ready,' Her Modern Nashville Bluegrass Classic | Newport Folk 2019

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Hot off four nominations for this year's International Bluegrass Music Awards, Tuttle took time to talk with the Recording Academy at Newport Folk Fest about her groundbreaking debut album & more
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jul 27, 2019 - 5:47 pm

Bluegrass master Molly Tuttle continues to accumulate accolades. Last year she was named Guitar Player of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards, the first female ever to receive the honor, and just this week she received four nominations for this year's IBMAs, including Female Vocalist, Guitar Player and Song of the Year, all before clearing her first quarter-century. But what's striking about Tuttle, beyond her staggering talents, is her authenticity as an artist and a human being.

Molly Tuttle On Newport, "Million Miles," More

Born into a bluegrass family band in Northern California, Tuttle relocated to Nashville not long ago, where she'd write all the songs for her debut LP, When You're Ready. The album blossoms from her deep bluegrass roots and blooms into a sound all her own, with sweet dashes of pop, weeping streaks of Americana and the simple sincererity of country.

Backstage at this year's Newport Folk Festival, we caught up with Tuttle to talk about When You're Ready, working with GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer Ryan Hewitt, what it means to be a strong female role model and much more.

Let's start with Newport Folk Festival. It's your second time here. What do you think makes this festival special?

This festival is so historically incredible. I grew up listening to folk and bluegrass, and so many of my heroes have played on the stages here and have had really historic musical moments. I remember seeing footage of Bob Dylan going electric here for the first time and Pete Seeger, of course, playing here and Joan Baez, and also bluegrass people like Ralph Stanley. So I think the legacy of this festival, it's always been pushing the boundaries and it's always been really inclusive to tons of different styles, which is why I think the audiences here are so incredible, because they get exposed to so many different styles of music. And it just feels like a really welcoming and really special event.

Is there anybody on the bill that you're excited to see?

Today I'm really excited to see Kacey Musgraves. And I just watched part of I'm With Her earlier, they're always incredible. I think Maggie Rogers is playing this weekend; I've never seen her before, so I'm really stoked for her. I haven't downloaded the app yet, I need to do that and really plan out my schedule.

More: Backstage At Newpork Folk Festival's 60th Anniversary

Let's talk about When You're Ready. It's officially your debut album, but as your career and life have been centered around music, and I'm curious how you feel about it now that it's out. Also, what do you think you accomplished with this project?

I think I've just taken my music a step further in the direction of really having it feel genuine to who I am, including all my different influences. I grew up playing bluegrass, but I've always listened to so many different styles of music, and with this record I really just wanted to follow my muse wherever it took me with songwriting and then build the album around the songs. To not try to stay in one particular style of music or keep with one kind of instrumentation, but really just follow what the songs wanted and what I thought would be best. I think I achieved that. I think it's a lot different than all the music I've made in the past, and it's been fun playing the songs on the road with a totally different band, it feels really reenergizing to me.

What was it like working with Ryan Hewitt on the album? He's new to Nashville, and he's done all sorts of rock projects.

It was amazing working with Ryan, we instantly connected. We met at one of my shows in Nashville and talked for only a couple of minutes, and he was telling me about all these bands he'd produced, engineered and mixed. He'd worked with [GRAMMY-winning super-producer] Rick Rubin a lot, with Blink-182 and Red Hot Chili Peppers, also the Avett Brothers. And it felt like he was just naming all these bands that I listened to at different ages of my life, and I was totally fangirling about all of it, like, that's amazing. But beyond that, when we kept talking further, we really just connected about different things we loved about music and about our favorite bands and favorite records. It really flowed well with and we work together really well.

Is there a song on the album, maybe "Million Miles," that you want to talk a bit about how you wrote it?

"Million Miles" is the first track on the record, and that one came about through my friend Steve Poltz, who's a great singer/songwriter and lives in Nashville as well. We were writing together a bunch one summer, the other song we wrote on the album together was "Don't Let Go."

One day we had finished writing a couple of songs, and I had known Steve had written a bunch of incredible songs with Jewel back in the '90s; they wrote "You Were Meant For Me" and a bunch of other really incredible songs that ended up on her records. So we'd finished up the writing session for the day, and he said, "Hey, I just remembered the song that I started writing with Jewel over 20 years ago, and we never finished it." They had a verse and a chorus, and he played that for me, and I recorded it on my phone and he was like, "Maybe you would want to take this and finish it."

So I did. A couple months later I sat down, and the song was kind of haunting me because I instantly really loved the song, and I was a little intimidated to try to write another verse. But I sat down and finished the song and sent it back to him, and he said he really liked it, and I knew I really wanted to record it on the album. I had to get Jewel's permission somehow, but I didn't really know how to get in touch with her, so I asked Steve if he could send my version of the song to her.

He did, and I didn't hear back. She wasn't really responding back to the song. I found out later she had been on a meditation retreat for the whole time we were trying to get in touch with her, so she wasn't checking her phone. Steve actually just decided to tell me it was okay with her, which I found out a year later. He had never heard back, but then months later, she eventually heard it and really liked it. Luckily, it was totally fine with me recording it and we got to play it. The three of us played it at a festival earlier this summer at Telluride Bluegrass Festival. That was really cool and really special.

Talk about a full circle moment.

Yeah, it was cool.

I want to ask you about the IBMAs. First of all, congratulations on the nominations.

Thank you.

And last year you became the first female to win Guitar Player Of The Year. We talk about gender issues a lot within the music industry. I'm curious how it feels for you to have that distinction as the first female guitar player to win that award.

Yeah, it felt really, really important to me. That was probably one of the biggest things that has happened to me in, I guess, my musical life or career. It felt really special to win that award because I've been a part of the bluegrass community and have grown up in that world. So to feel the whole community lifting me up in that way was really special, and it was just really meaningful to me to be a woman playing lead guitar. Sometimes it doesn't really dawn on me that there aren't a lot of other women playing lead guitar. It's always just felt really natural to me to play guitar. It's something that's really important to me to hopefully get more girls playing guitar. I studied guitar in college and I was always the only female in my classes.

I think it's kind of a combo of women who play guitar historically haven't really been recognized in the way that men have, their legacies have kind of been erased in a way. But I also think that there are fewer women playing guitar because we're not encouraging it as much as we encourage boys to pick up a guitar, maybe. I really hope that changes in the coming years and hopefully, if a girl sees me or sees other women playing guitar and being recognized, that'll encourage them to pick up a guitar too.

Thank you so much @intlbluegrass for nominating me for Female Vocalist, Guitar Player, and Song of the Year (Take the Journey), and Collaborative Recording of the Year with Roland White, @hiltnerj, @jonweisberger and @patmcavinue!! see y’all in Raleigh!! pic.twitter.com/EyjURmxsOI

— Molly Tuttle (@molly_tuttle) July 25, 2019

Back to the album; the songs were all written in Nashville, right? What about that city do you think added a specific touch of spice to this record?

Yeah, I think Nashville is just so full of songwriters, and it was fun in the first few years that I lived there. I just would reach out to anyone I knew, really, who I loved their songs or I knew they wrote a bunch of songs, and it was fun getting to meet so many new people through writing songs together. I think I wrote in ways that I wouldn't naturally have written on my own. And it was cool to see how other people worked with songwriting.

Nashville is such a collaborative city. The music community is just so intertwined, and everyone's kind of working with each other and supporting each other, which I felt right away when I moved there, that was really cool. I think this album kind of represents that because I had a lot of friends that I wrote with for it and I brought in a lot of friends living in Nashville to play on it. So yeah, the city definitely influenced the record a lot.

This is an optional question, but I was really touched by your article on No Depression, especially about your history with alopecia.

Oh, thank you. Yeah.

I just really want to point people to that interview, and I would love to know how it felt for you to share that story?

It felt really great. I loved writing about my journey with alopecia and playing at the conference that I went to. It was a conference for all people with alopecia, which is an autoimmune hair loss disease, and it's just something that's been a really big part of my whole life. But I haven't always been open about it with others and with the public and my fans. So it feels really freeing and great to be at a point where I can just share openly with people about it. And it feels like I've let the world see this other part of myself that I used to keep hidden, that I would only share with people I knew really well. But now it feels cool to get to share that with everyone.

That's great. I'm sure it'll inspire a lot of people to be themselves.

Yeah, I hope so.

I want to ask you about a big issue in music and entertainment; mental health. A lot of artists are under a lot of pressure, which can be difficult to cope with. I'm curious what you do to stay grounded and what your processes is for staying mentally healthy.

That's a good question. I think that's something I'm still learning, because it is challenging when you're traveling and you have all the pressure. I felt it a lot with having my first record come out, I was putting all this pressure on myself. But then, as you develop a team of people, you're feeling outside pressure as well. I found that seeing a therapist regularly when I'm off the road is really helpful, and there's a few different groups. There's MusiCares, which helps musicians afford mental health services, and there's other groups that do similar things. I've done meditation, which always helps me stay grounded on the road, if I can make myself get in the routine of doing it, which isn't always easy. Those two things have been big for me.

Do you have any dream co-write collaborators out there? Are there any artists that you'd really like to get in a room with?

Oh, yeah, there's a lot. I grew up just obsessed with Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, so both of them are huge songwriting inspirations to me. So they would be probably my biggest dream collab.

I've been working on the crosspicking that he does recently.

I love his playing. That really influenced me as well.

What is next for you? You've got the debut that you're touring on, what else are you looking at down the road?

We have some festivals, we're doing Pilgrimage Festival later this Summer. We're doing a little run in Colorado and we have a couple of festivals and tours in the works for this Fall. Going to IBMA, of course, for the award show, and then I'm playing there [in Raleigh] that weekend. We'll be doing the AmericanaFest, which happens in Nashville every year. it's gonna be a busy Fall full of tours and festivals and different events, but it'll be a lot of fun.

Charley Crockett's Walk Through 'The Valley': "That's What Artists Do" | Newport Folk 2019​

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Charley Crockett

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A Walk Through 'The Valley' With Charley Crockett charley-crocketts-walk-through-valley-thats-what-artists-do-newport-folk-2019

Charley Crockett's Walk Through 'The Valley': "That's What Artists Do" | Newport Folk 2019

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"I think everybody in life has to walk through the valley, and a lot of times, we got to do it by ourself. That's part of the struggle and the beauty of being a human being," the country troubador told us at Newport Folk Fest
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jul 27, 2019 - 3:00 pm

Some voices are unmistakable. True modern troubadour Charley Crockett has one such voice, and he knows how to use it. Street-trained and road-worn, Crockett's musical journey has bounced him around the globe, from his homeland of Texas, to New Orleans, Barcelona, Paris and more. At every stop in his journey, he's sharpened his skills as a singer of storytelling songs. But his latest twist in the road might also be his most cathartic.

Charley Crockett On His Walk Through 'The Valley'

On Sept. 20, he will release The Valley, his fourth album in three years, which he recorded in the weeks leading up to what would be a life-saving heart surgery. Sung by a man who's made a global voyage with the uncertainty of his own return, these songs read as the next chapter of his chronicles. According to Crocket, channelling his life experiences, no matter how dire, comes with the territory.

"It's what artists do," he says, when asked the complicated question of how such intense uncertainty shaped the songs and performances of his new album.

Just after Crockett's first-ever performance at Newport Folk Festival, we sat down with the sharp-dressed man to hear about his forthcoming project, the journey it took to make it and how singing songs on subways and in train stations taught him everything he knows about making music.

This is your Newport Folk debut - what makes this festival special to you?

Oh, it has to be the heritage. It has to be the history, my man, it really does. And I've been looking out over this harbor since we got here this morning, it's just a real special place. So I'm thinking about some of those greats like Lightnin' Hopkins and a lot of the Bob Dylan and the folk artists, and the just the roots music artists that transformed America through this festival and that decade and that era, that lives with me. That's what I know about the festival… and I was shocked to get invited. So thanks to whoever made that happen.

Yesterday, you announced your new album The Valley is coming out on Sept. 20. What can your fans that have been following your career expect from this album?

I think everybody in life has to walk through the valley, and a lot of times, we got to do it by ourself. That's part of the struggle and the beauty of being a human being. And I've recently just been through some things in my life, and lots of people are going through stuff, but I had some life-saving heart surgeries that ultimately, to be honest with you, it just kind of transformed the way I see my life and the wold around me. Well, I recorded these songs about a week before those operations, just really uncertain about where I was going. If I was going to stay here, go up to the house, or just the quality of life. So, I made those recordings and I urged the people around me to put it out.

Hey, you can pre-order my upcoming album “The Valley” now: https://t.co/T5OVussdu6
Pre-save on @Spotify and hear “Borrowed Time” and “The Valley” today: https://t.co/wZXq5pm77H pic.twitter.com/pSDZIRKKmt

— Charley Crockett (@CharleyCrockett) July 26, 2019

How do you think that intense uncertainty manifested musically for you on this album?

That's what artists do, and it's our responsibility to reflect our times. That's what artists are here for, I think, or whatever you want to call it. So, that's all I'm doing. I'm just painting pictures of the life that I'm seeing, and I have learned from my journey to pull from tradition to find myself. But I am a man of my times, so I have to project this time too. That's all I can do, is reflect living now. And a lot of the spirituals that I've learned over the years playing in the street and traveling like I have, refer to life as the valley. A lot of the Carter Family stuff that I've really gotten into. Just that spirituality, it's a universal thing when you talk about something like the valley, or that mountain to climb. And we don't want the mountain to disappear, we want the strength to climb it.

Wow, that's an incredible answer. You've lived and played music all over the world. What's your approach to playing to a festival crowd where you've got some people who know you very well and are singing along, and you've got some people hearing you for the very first time?

I suspect most of them are hearing me for the first time, and it's why somebody like me, I might have a lot of anticipation coming to this place. I learned how to do this in public, like actually. A lot of people might be afraid to get out in public and play on a street corner or in a subway platform or inside a subway car. I have traveled around the world and just counting on people to lend you a hand, and when you come at music from that direction, people aren't asking you to be there. So, when people interact with you, that's a very real exchange that I can feel and see and understand.

I guess the short way to answer that question for you is, I've spent my whole life learning to stand behind my guitar, and the reality is half of what we do is the people listening. Literally, half of it. I'm only doing half of it because that's the whole thing. It wouldn't be an art if there wasn't somebody listening to it. And once somebody hears it, it honestly belongs to them as much as it does to you. If it means something to somebody, I'm lucky enough to have that going on.

"It wouldn't be an art if there wasn't somebody listening to it. And once somebody hears it, it honestly belongs to them as much as it does to you. If it means something to somebody, I'm lucky enough to have that going on."

What was the selection process like for your 2018 covers album, Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza? Are these songs you've been playing your whole life?

Yeah. To be honest with you, what it is mostly is songs I've known for years, and that's why I play so much stuff that comes from anywhere from gospel to country to blues to soul music or traditional jazz or whatever you want to call it. It's mostly songs that I've just been picking up over the years that I just always thought were so good, and look, I write a lot of songs. I write a whole lot of songs, but I just don't think I'm worth anything if I'm not learning the great songs from before me, for myself personally.

And a lot of the giants, the people that I see as maybe my mentors or heroes were anybody from even a Dolly Parton or a Etta James or Hank Williams or somebody like that, Willie Nelson, these people are amazing songwriters. But if you look at their catalog, half the stuff they ever recorded they didn't write, and there is something to be said for when a great artist knows when a song is so great it has to be sung. Because sometimes the song is best sung by somebody that didn't write it, and sometimes the only person that can sing it well is the writer.

You know of some kind that I can see that's growing, I just figure that each time I put out a record, it's doing better than the last one, and that's a real blessing. So I'm going to do what I've been doing, which is I live on the highway and I play really hard. I been doing that ever since my mama got me a guitar at a pawn shop, going toward the valley nonstop. I'm going to Europe in a few days. I got to get home to my lady for a few days and tell her I love her, and then I bet before we know it again it'll be Newport next year.

We look forward to seeing you there and good luck on everything.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate y'all taking the time to speak with me and I'll be twice as good next time.

Backstage At Newpork Folk Festival's 60th Anniversary

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