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Orville Peck

Photo by Daniel Mendoza / The Recording Academy

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Orville Peck On The Music That Made Him, 'Pony' & The "Visual" Way He Creates

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The Recording Academy catches up with masked country star while On The Road at Austin City Limits 2019
Rachel Brodsky
GRAMMYs
Jan 2, 2020 - 12:00 pm

Masked country performer Orville Peck is an enigma if ever there was one. Never without a handmade fringed mask, the Canadian singer-songwriter broke through last year with his mononym'd debut album, Pony.

The Recording Academy caught up with Peck while On The Road at Austin City Limits 2019, where we talked about his influences, the music he grew up with and more.

Orville Peck Talks Influences, 'Pony'

"My parents exposed me to lots of different types of music," he told us. "Country, obviously, but also glam rock, punk, gospel, soul, world music, you name it."

Peck certainly carries a proto-punk mentality when it comes to his influences; he cites '70s punk pioneer Patti Smith as one of his idols. "Patti Smith had a big impact on me," he says. "When I was like 14 years old, I wanted to be a musician but when I bought Horses—which is funny because my album's name is Pony—it made me feel like I could make music in a different way than I knew how when I was a kid."

Speaking of Pony, which dropped n March of last year via Sub Pop, Peck explains that he "just wanted to make my love letter to a classic country album." 

"[It's] the country that I love," he continues. "It's just my stories of places I've been, people I've known, people I've been with, things I struggle with."

Hear more from Orville Peck in the interview above, including the "visual" way he approaches the creation process and more.

K.Flay Talks Inspiration, Politics & The Argument That Led To Her Making Music

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GRAMMYs On The Road With Trampled By Turtles And Empires

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Backstage at the 2012 Lollapalooza festival
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

The Recording Academy Chicago Chapter played host for GRAMMYs On The Road at Lollapalooza on Aug. 3–5 in Grant Park in Chicago. The Chapter conducted exclusive backstage interviews with artists performing at the festival, including country/bluegrass collective Trampled By Turtles and indie alternative punk rock trio Empires.

Trampled By Turtles vocalist/guitarist Dave Simonett discussed advice for aspiring bluegrass artists, the band's recording process and songwriting, among other topics.

"For bluegrass artists just starting out, my advice would be to not worry about tradition in your music at all," said Simonett. "Take it and try to grow it into your own thing."

Trampled By Turtles was formed in Duluth, Minn., in 2003 as an acoustic side project for Simonett, who had lost most of his music equipment after it was stolen from his car. Left with only an acoustic guitar, Simonett created a new band drawing on folk/bluegrass influences and featuring Erik Berry (mandolin), Dave Carroll (banjo), Tim Saxhaug (bass), and Ryan Young (fiddle). The band released their debut album, Songs From A Ghost Town, in 2004. Blue Sky And The Devil was released in 2005, followed by Trouble in 2007 and Duluth in 2008. Released in 2010, Palomino peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Albums chart. Their most recent album, Stars And Satellites, peaked in the Top 40 on the Billboard 200.

Empires discussed their musical influences, life on tour and the future of punk rock, among other topics.

"We bonded over '90s music, that's why we started a band," said Empires vocalist Sean Van Vleet. "We're obviously music lovers, so we're always looking for something new," added guitarist Tom Conrad.

Formed in Chicago in 2006, Empires features Conrad (formerly of alternative rock band The Academy Is…), producer/guitarist Max Steger and Van Vleet. The band released a self-produced debut album, Howl, in 2008, followed by a seven-song EP, Bang, in 2010. Howl was named one of the top five local albums of 2008 by Metromix Chicago. In 2011 the band made the final four in Rolling Stone magazine's Choose the Cover contest. Their most recent album, Garage Hymns, was released in June.

(GRAMMYs On The Road at Lollapalooza: Interviews and news contributions by Ramon Alvarez-Smikle, Christina Castillo, Max O'Kane, and Emily Ornberg.)

Come back tomorrow for more GRAMMYs On The Road at Lollapalooza coverage.

 

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GRAMMYs On The Road With The Avett Brothers And Old 97's

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GRAMMY.com conducts interviews backstage at Austin City Limits
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Avett Brothers

Old 97's

The Recording Academy Texas Chapter recently played host for GRAMMYs On The Road at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, held Oct. 12–14 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The Chapter conducted exclusive backstage interviews with artists performing at the festival, including folk/rock band the Avett Brothers and country/rock group Old 97's.

The Avett Brothers' Scott and Seth Avett discussed performing for larger crowds versus smaller audiences, their songwriting process and stories from touring, among other topics.

"It's interesting figuring out how to process the energy of so many people and to try to provide for them an energy that matches it without just collapsing," said Seth Avett on performing to larger audiences. "But I think we do that pretty well."

The Avett Brothers were formed in North Carolina by brothers Scott (vocals/banjo) and Seth Avett (vocals/guitar). In 2002 the pair, along with bassist Bob Crawford, released Country Was, followed by A Carolina Jubilee (2003), Mignonette (2004), Four Thieves Gone: The Robinsville Sessions (2006), and the EP The Gleam (2006). The band's 2007 release, Emotionalism, featured the addition of cellist Joe Kwon and garnered placement on the Billboard 200. The album also attracted the attention of GRAMMY-winning producer Rick Rubin, who subsequently signed the band to his American Recordings. The band's major label debut, I And Love And You, was released in 2009 and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200. The band teamed with Rubin again for their latest album, 2012's The Carpenter, which peaked at No. 4, their highest-charting album to date.

Old 97's Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond discussed performing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, memorable career moments and the band's enduring career, among other topics. 

"One of the reasons I really love being a songwriter is I write songs and those songs go out and do the work for me," said Miller. "I do the work of writing it and recording it and then I let the song go out and perpetuate its own mythology."

Formed in 1993 by frontman Miller and bassist Hammond, Old 97's also include guitarist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples. They released their major label debut, Too Far To Care, in 1997, followed by 1999's Fight Songs, which peaked at No. 16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. The band has released additional albums since, including Satellite Rides (2001), Drag It Up (2004), Blame It On Gravity (2008), The Grand Theatre Volume One (2010), and The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 (2011), all of which gained presence on the Billboard 200. In celebration of the album's 15th anniversary, on Oct. 9 Old 97's reissued Too Far To Care as a two-disc set featuring the original album remastered plus session outtakes and demos. 

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GRAMMYs On The Road With Jimmy Herring, Sorne And Wheeler Brothers

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GRAMMY.com conducts interviews backstage at Utopiafest in Texas
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Jimmy Herring

Sorne

Wheeler Brothers

The Recording Academy Texas Chapter recently played host for GRAMMYs On The Road at Utopiafest in the Texas Hill Country community of Utopia. GRAMMY.com conducted exclusive backstage interviews with artists performing at the festival, including guitarist Jimmy Herring, eclectic collective Sorne and country/rock quintet Wheeler Brothers.

Herring discussed the various styles explored on his latest album, Subject To Change Without Notice, artists with whom he has collaborated and career highlights, among other topics.

"We really don't think, 'OK, we're going to play a country tune now, or we're going to play a rock tune or a jazz tune,' because to us music is music," said Herring. "If we wanted to achieve anything with [this] record, it was to get people to not care so much about labels in music."

An alumnus of Berklee College of Music and Musicians Institute, Herring is the lead guitarist of the Southern rock/blues collective Widespread Panic. Adept in styles such as rock, country and jazz, he has collaborated with artists including Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh, drummer Billy Cobham, Allman Brothers Band, and Derek Trucks. As a solo artist, he released Subject To Change Without Notice in August. The album contains seven original compositions and covers of Horace Ott's "Miss Poopie," John McLaughlin's "Hope" and the Beatles' "Within You Without You."

Sorne frontman Morgan Sorne discussed the project's beginnings, performing live and his favorite GRAMMY moment, among other topics.

"In taking what's on record and presenting it to an audience, the biggest thing that I feel is important is to be as sincere as possible," said Sorne. "[I] allow myself to be as vulnerable as I can be as a performer."

Featuring Deano, Kevin Naquin and Sorne, Sorne are an Austin, Texas-based collective blending visual art with poetic lyrics, pulsating drums and visceral chanting. The group's debut album, House Of Stone, was released in 2011 and features 13 tracks written by Sorne, including "Golden Death Chant." Sorne are currently on tour in the United States, with dates scheduled through November.

Wheeler Brothers discussed recording their upcoming album, the Texas music scene and music education, among other topics.

"Whenever we're off the road, we head down to [our] ranch and record," said vocalist/guitarist Nolan Wheeler. "This [new album] will be different from Portraits in the fact that we're recording it from the ground up in the studio."

With a sound fusing traditional folk with blues, country and Southern rock elements, Wheeler Brothers feature three brothers, Nolan, Patrick (drums) and Tyler (bass) Wheeler, A.J. Molyneaux (guitar/vocals), and Danny Matthews (vocals/guitar). Their debut album, 2011's Portraits, was released on GRAMMY winner Ray Benson's Bismeaux Records. Wheeler Brothers won the Best New Band award at the 2011–2012 Austin Music Awards. Fresh from their appearance at the 2012 Austin City Limits Music Festival, the band have U.S. tour dates scheduled through January.

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GRAMMYs On The Road With Punch Brothers And Quiet Company

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GRAMMY.com conducts interviews backstage at Austin City Limits
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Punch Brothers

Quiet Company

The Recording Academy Texas Chapter recently played host for GRAMMYs On The Road at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, held Oct. 12–14 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The Chapter conducted exclusive backstage interviews with artists performing at the festival, including folk/bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers and indie pop/rock group Quiet Company.

Punch Brothers' Chris Eldridge and Paul Kowert discussed the band's instrumentation, the derivation of their name and their songwriting process, among other topics.  

"The instrumentation kind of defines the [band's] sound in a way," said Kowert. "We don't really play bluegrass as we've come to know it, but it's definitely a starting point and common ground for all of us."

Formed by former Nickel Creek member Chris Thile (mandolin), Punch Brothers' lineup features Eldridge (guitar/vocals), Kowert (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and Gabe Witcher (violin). Their debut album, Punch, was released in 2008 and features eight songs, including Thile's four-part "Blind Leading The Blind" suite. Antifogmatic was released in 2010 and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Bluegrass Albums chart, garnering Punch Brothers a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "New Chance Blues." They earned a second nomination that year for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for a cover of U2's "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" featuring Dierks Bentley and Del McCoury. Their latest album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, was released in February and peaked at No. 1 on the Bluegrass Albums chart. On Nov. 13 the band will release a five-song EP Ahoy! featuring the single "Another New World."

Quiet Company discussed performing in their hometown of Austin, Texas, recruiting band members from the Internet and stories from the road, among other topics.

"[The Austin City Limits Music Festival] means a lot to everyone everywhere, but especially in Austin," said frontman Taylor Muse. "For us to be recognized by our home city … is very validating."

Based in Austin, Texas, Quiet Company was formed by Muse and includes Cody Ackors (trombone), Thomas Blank (keys/guitar/vocals), Matt Parmenter (bass/piano/vocals), and Jeff Weathers (drums). Muse has cited influences such as the Beatles, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, and Weezer. Quiet Company released Shine Honesty in 2006, followed by 2009's Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon and a six-song EP, Songs For Staying In, in 2010. In 2011 the band released We Are All Where We Belong, an album featuring 15 tracks written by Muse, including "You, Me & The Boatman." Quiet Company are scheduled to play select dates in the United States through November.