Jonathan Byrd interview:<\/p>\n
Jonathan Byrd writes and performs songs that sound as if they could have been written 50, 100, or 200 years ago, as many years in the future, or yesterday. His songs, like the all the best ones, are timeless. A captivating performer, he often tours solo, supporting himself with his deft flatpicking and soulful vocals. When he can, he brings his part-time band, The Pickup Cowboys, with him. Comprised of violinist Omar Ruiz-Lopez, cellist Paul Ford, and guitarist\/mandolinist\/saw-player Johnny Wakon, The Pickup Cowboys know exactly how to accompany Byrd and his rootsy, soul-driven music. In April of this year, Jonathan visited Ashland VA\u2019s Ashland Coffee & Tea with The Pickup Cowboys, and proceeded to give one of the best performances we\u2019ve seen at the venue. We joined them in the green room before the show for a brief interview:<\/p>\n
Brian: Tell us how and when you started playing music.<\/p>\n
Byrd: I don\u2019t know. I can tell you when I started playing guitar\u2026 I was like, eight years old. I didn\u2019t really get serious until 13 or 14. But I always played something. My mom was a pianist, so there was always a piano in the house. My brother had a guitar\u2026 I was always singing, so\u2026 I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Jeff: So\u2026 it was always there?<\/p>\n
Byrd: Yeah. I mean, I can kind of tell you when I started playing certain kinds of music, or maybe when I started writing songs, that kind of thing.<\/p>\n
Omar Ruiz-Lopez: When you got serious\u2026<\/p>\n
Byrd: When I picked up the guitar, I got really obsessed with music. And then, when I was about 28, I got serious about trying to create a business around it.<\/p>\n
Jeff: So you\u2019ve always been a businessman, a corporate man?<\/p>\n
Brian: [laughs]<\/p>\n
Byrd: Honestly, I just did whatever I could do\u2026 Like, generation X calls it a \u201cMcJob\u201d, whatever that job is that has almost no responsibility, so that I could go play gigs whenever I wanted to\u2026 I could call in late. I worked in a carwash\u2026 I worked at Pizza Hut\u2026 I delivered pizzas for a couple years.<\/p>\n
Jeff: I\u2019ve heard that you play violin, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever actually seen or heard you play it.<\/p>\n
Byrd: No, there\u2019s a reason for that! There\u2019s a reason why I\u2019ve hired a violin player. I\u2019m a violin owner<\/i>! I have one, but I just haven\u2019t had any time to really focus on that.<\/p>\n
Omar: You should hear the guys on his first two albums, \u201cWildflowers\u201d and \u201cThe Sea and The Sky\u201d.<\/p>\n
Byrd: And \u201cThe Waitress\u201d. Jason Cade\u2026 Bill Hicks is on \u201cWildflowers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jeff: Bill Hicks, I\u2019ve heard of him.<\/p>\n
Omar: Not that<\/i> Bill Hicks\u2026<\/p>\n
Byrd: Yeah, there\u2019s a comedian Bill Hicks. He (the violinist) is a member of The Red Clay Ramblers\u2026 real old-time fiddle player.<\/p>\n
Brian: What do you think is the biggest mistake musicians commonly make?<\/p>\n
Byrd: I think maybe the biggest mistake that I\u2019ve made in my own life playing music, is to not include whoever\u2019s listening, as a writer and a player and a performer. Like, there\u2019s nights when you play, and all you\u2019re getting paid is three beers, and you\u2019re about three beers into it, and you\u2019re not really connected to them (the audience). Or even just playing so much that there\u2019s no space in the music for them to go into.<\/p>\n
Brian: To insert their thoughts into, really.<\/p>\n
Byrd: Yeah. Everybody needs space, and they need to be invited in.<\/p>\n
Jeff: Is there anything that you do to get yourself in the mood to write a song?<\/p>\n
Byrd: I get up really early in the morning and make a cup of coffee. That\u2019s kind of how I do it now, because I have a three year old, and if I don\u2019t get up an hour and a half before he does, it\u2019s really hard to get my day started right. My day tends to run however I begin it. So if I don\u2019t get up and do something creative, before everybody else gets up, then it\u2019s very hard to get into a creative mode later on. The other way that I create is after rehearsal\u2026 I take these guys (referring to the band) out, and I\u2019m really good and warmed up, and I\u2019ll go downstairs and make sure everything\u2019s cool and everybody\u2019s gone to bed\u2026 Then I go back upstairs, and I\u2019ll work on songs. Sometimes \u2018til two or three in the morning, and I pay the price the next day, but\u2026 I\u2019ve been playing with them for like, three hours, and I\u2019m in this really musical place.<\/p>\n
One time I wrote a song by picking words at random from a big dictionary that somebody had given me\u2026 Generally I find within twenty or thirty minutes of just doing something, to write, or to generate some creative output, I get into the mood. It\u2019s like showing up to any job. Nobody feels like making pizzas today, but you know\u2026 you show up and you get in the swing of it and people that you like are working there\u2026 Then before you know it, you\u2019re in the middle of the day, and you\u2019re having fun slinging pizzas! It\u2019s kind of the same way with writing\u2026 Just to show up with something to do, even if you don\u2019t like it, just keep working on it, and eventually you\u2019ll find that you\u2019re having fun creating something.<\/p>\n
Brian: What\u2019s the strangest thing that\u2019s ever happened to you onstage?<\/p>\n
Byrd: The strange-est<\/i>?<\/p>\n
Jeff: Well, strange would work. If nothing strange-est<\/i> has happened\u2026<\/p>\n
(long pause)<\/p>\n
Brian: You don\u2019t care to divulge that information?<\/p>\n
Paul Ford: He\u2019s pretty in control onstage. (chuckles)<\/p>\n
Byrd: You know, we used to play this place\u2026 I kind of loved it. It was called Dick’s Clam & Cow, it was in Virginia Beach, and they sort of encouraged chaos there\u2026 the waitresses would come by and throw napkins at you\u2026<\/p>\n
Jeff: Trying to make you angry?<\/p>\n
Byrd: Yeah. All the tables in the place were heavy, oak picnic tables. You could get on the table and dance, it wouldn\u2019t hurt anything, so they sort of encouraged that kind of stuff\u2026 There were some pretty wild shows at that place.<\/p>\n
Paul: I saw a guy pull an orb out, and do this thing… It was when U2 was just breaking, and he was trying to cop this thing\u2026 Bono had this thing with the mic and the flag, and he had props. It was cool; it was new. So, we\u2019re playing this gig, and there\u2019s this band; they were okay\u2026 and then this dude pulls this orb out. It was like terrible theatre, like they wanted to be Queen, or they wanted to have this moment\u2026 and people were just throwing shit, and screaming, \u201cyou suck\u201d! They went from being, like, getting over, to \u201cyour career is over\u201d! In the middle of this gig!<\/p>\n
Byrd: Oh, that\u2019s terrible\u2026<\/p>\n
Paul: And the guy, he played through it all. It (the prop) was like some mini bowling ball thing.<\/p>\n
Johnny Wakon: \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be eighteen feet, not eighteen inches!\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul: Exactly. I love that they went for it, but it killed them. That was, like, \u201986-\u201987\u2026 How old are you guys?<\/p>\n
Jeff: That was about ten years before we were born.<\/p>\n
Johnny: Oh, wow.<\/p>\n
(a knocking is heard)…<\/p>\n
Paul: My brother\u2019s here! (laughing)<\/p>\n
Jeff: Looks like you better get out there!<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jonathan Byrd interview: Jonathan Byrd writes and performs songs that sound as if they could have been written 50, 100, or 200 years ago, as many years in the future, or yesterday. His songs, like the all the best ones, … Continue reading