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E31: Fort Frances Interview
210 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, Eric and Chris talk to David McMillin, lead singer and songwriter for the band Fort Frances. David discusses how Counting Crows inspired him musically, as well as the band's experience as veterans of the Outlaw Roadshow and Underwater Sunshine Fests . Perhaps most important, we find out why they are major celebrities in...Lithuania.
Find out more about Fort Frances here:
https://www.fortfrancesmusic.com/
Fort Frances Chicago Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACA8Nc7N9Oo
Fort Frances Summertime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvdATQf6wtw
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Excitement
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome to the Sullivan Street Podcast. I am Eric Vogelsang and here with my co-host Chris Miggs. And Chris, another great guest, another Crows-affiliated music act, Fort Francis. And I know you're excited about David McMillan from Fort Francis. I know you're excited to about it, Chris.
00:00:33
Speaker
Yeah, I'm excited. I've been a fan for like at least, it's over a decade now. I've been a fan of Fort Francis going back to the Outlaw Roadshow days. And so we'll we get into it. But David, welcome. ah Thank you for joining us.
00:00:44
Speaker
Hey, thank you for having me. i really like what you guys do. so I'm honored to be ah to be part of it.
David McMillan's Counting Crows Journey
00:00:49
Speaker
So, david ah David, we usually ask all of our guests um that, you know, how did you first get exposed to the Crows? were We know that you've met them. We we know that you've toured with them.
00:01:02
Speaker
Were you fans before meeting them? And, you know, what did you like and what did you think about meeting them, et cetera? So, so yeah, so I, um, I grew up in Southern Indiana, um just like kind of Indianapolis would have been where I would go to like big shows, um, when I was growing up. So for, for anyone in like the, I guess it'd be the mid to late nineties, they would have called it deer Creek. Now it's called like mortgage.net center or know something something like that. um sad name like Sad names. yeah Yeah. It's essentially just called Capitalist
Early Encounters with Adam Duritz
00:01:38
Speaker
Place. um but um So yeah, so so i
00:01:43
Speaker
um I was a huge Counting Crows fan after August came out, um which I would have been, I guess, nine or 10 years old um then.
00:01:54
Speaker
um But so every summer, you know, I would, I would like, I think the Crows probably toured just about every other summer. I don't know what their sort of cycle was, but. but Growing up, those were like really formative shows for me. um You know, i I was like, I played guitar at that point, but I was clearly like, I knew I wasn't going to be like a guitar, you know, virtuoso.
00:02:17
Speaker
I was a lyrical guy. And so seeing The Counting Crows and seeing Adam, um you know, basically improvise his way through lots of material that I was familiar with from listening at home, but then it took on this whole new life on the stage kind of helped me figure out that like, it was okay. I didn't need to become technically the best guitar player. Like I could also do something like that with with words. um And so I was a huge Crows fan, you know, through yeah through the time finished high school and my senior year of high school, actually, had recorded this, like it was my first my first album, David McMillan, like on a four track in my bedroom at my parents' house.
00:03:02
Speaker
And ah so, yes, I've been a senior senior in high school. So i my best friend and I went to
Influence of Counting Crows on David's Music
00:03:10
Speaker
see the Crows play a show at Miami of Ohio, um which is in like near Cincinnati. um And my buddy was like, you got to bring your CD.
00:03:19
Speaker
Like, you got to bring it with you. um Maybe we'll meet him. And I was like, sure, we won't. But, you know, whatever. I'll bring it. And so I brought it and like he, you know, again, this was him saying we got to do this. Like he made me say like, Hey, the, the bus is going to be in the, in, in the back after the show. Let's, let's all just like, let's just wait.
00:03:39
Speaker
Maybe you'll get to meet him. So, and this is the hard candy tour. her Um, yeah, it's 2002. So, so the hard candy tour. And so there's this throng of people around Adam getting his autograph Um, and then he, you know, he gets to me, I'm this 18 year old, like really no confidence whatsoever, but I'm like, I'm somehow getting ballsy enough to give my favorite songwriter my record.
00:04:03
Speaker
Um, And he just handed it back to me. And at first he just kind of looked at me and I was like, man, he's like not going to accept it. Like, well, this is all right. I guess that's a real way to have your hero die. But it but it was quite the opposite.
00:04:18
Speaker
He was like, hey, man, I'm only going to take this if you'll autograph it for me. And so I signed an autograph for Adam. I'm 18 years old.
00:04:29
Speaker
And, you know, obviously that's like a formative, formative memory um that that sort of lays the foundation for for you to have the confidence to want to bother playing music. Of course, we left and my buddy's like, oh What if he's listening to on the bus? You know, here I am 22 years later. I hope I don't think he listened to it. I don't think he probably would have invited us to to play any of his festivals based on my 18 year old songwriting. But um but so i've I've. Have you ever asked him that he might have had it in somewhere in the in the days that I started writing songs?
00:04:59
Speaker
um So that's that's what's hilarious. He's only heard this story when I told it in the middle of COVID. I played like an underwater sunshine fest, like live stream, and he was on it and I was telling the story.
00:05:10
Speaker
We've never actually talked about it. and We've never talked about But I do hope it's buried in a shoebox um of of his tour memories. um But so anyway, so I, i um yeah, like, I mean, i've i've I've been writing songs now for over two decades and I still...
Favorite Albums and Songwriting Inspiration
00:05:26
Speaker
I still put the Counting Crows songs at the top of sort of how I would kind of gauge, would this song stand up to to that sort of test? Like, would they think it was worth listening to?
00:05:39
Speaker
um And so that's that's still, yeah, I guess that's that's ah kind of an abridged version of my fandom. No, that's that that's fantastic. yeah It also talks about how you met Adam. It ties into some things we've learned from from some of our podcasts, which was that Heart Candy was the college tour, right? So they were playing at Miami, Ohio University in that one. Yeah.
00:05:58
Speaker
And that was actually, it's weird because that was the tour, the only time I tried to meet him after as well. And he was hanging out and talking to college students. I know they were famous for that. I kind of think they might've stopped after that tour, you know which was what, 12,
00:06:12
Speaker
13 years into their career. So, you know, at that point, so, oh, no, that's fantastic. Sorry.
00:06:20
Speaker
They did the minor league baseball stadium tour too, didn't they? yeah yeah Yeah. Also, just as I don't know, you'll to... um But yeah, but that that that tour was... um And again, too, I mean, like, I i think that um obviously August and Everything After is probably sort of the entry point for so many people that you guys talk to.
00:06:41
Speaker
And it was for me too. But now when i when I listen to The Counting Crows, and I'll probably get into this later, but... August isn't the record that I constantly go back to. It's, it's an amazing piece of work, but um I actually have a, I'd say like a deeper sort of relationship with some of the other albums, um you know, so, but yeah, yeah.
00:07:03
Speaker
So I love him Yeah. I mean, you essentially you were talking about like watching him sort of like the, the sort of the improvisation. Do you have any sort of specific memories of like performances of like 1999 deer Creek that like a flash went off or any, any of those that,
00:07:17
Speaker
That's a really good question. I, I, um, and I, and honestly listening to, to your, to your guys episodes, which are so like, they're really fantastic. And you guys know your stuff. And I was like, I don't know my stuff. I used to have, you know, I'd i'd have the, I'd save the ticket stubs.
00:07:34
Speaker
I can't tell you a specific show. i can tell you that the two songs that stand out to me, um are Goodnight Elizabeth, because I remember that song in particular thinking, wow, this came to life in a totally different way. think that's track five on Recovering Satellites. I remember seeing that and thinking, wow, none of this is on the record. he just i don't know if he just came up with it or how, you know again, at that age of my sort of trying to learn about music and trying to write my own songs.
00:08:04
Speaker
um you know, it just came from left field. And then the rain King thunder road medley, which I'm sure I would have seen first at deer Creek.
00:08:16
Speaker
um That one also stood out to me and but I'm ashamed to admit I probably actually didn't know Thunder Road at that point. And so i remember digging back. Do you remember, or is the site AnnaBegins.com, is that still ah around? Like, I think that was the bootleg thing that I use. like when I think if it's still, if it's not still around, because I know I've gone to the archive.org way back machine a couple of times when I've been like researching things being like, I know this information was on that website.
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's not it's not around officially. Supposedly, um Lisa, who created that website, works for them now and some of their website stuff. She did at some point.
00:08:54
Speaker
We're trying to one of our ah white whales is to interview her at some point if we can ever find her. I hope you do. I love that site. I feel like that probably helped me know. Oh, yeah, that's a Springsteen song. Those are the two songs that stuck out to me.
00:09:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, and that, but again, it was at that time too, like two thousand early 2000s, where there you could sort of find that stuff on the internet, but it was sort of very, it was a lot of work. There were like a couple of other sites out there where you could like pull, I'd be like, oh, they've got this one MP3 of one version of Reign King. That's great. I need that, you know? It was that different. And again, to your point, like...
00:09:31
Speaker
Had they done this? That that site was great because it would be like, have they done this before? Was this a thing he did just once? Because sometimes he's done, there's stuff he's done where they've done, where it's like, that happened one time, never again.
00:09:43
Speaker
It's just a thing he made up. And other things like the Thunder Road thing, right? They did that, you know, relatively frequently for a while. Yeah. um But just who knew, right? if Again, we we didn't go into shows. We were like, I don't know if this is common or he just made this up or I have no clue without yeah having that knowledge, you know?
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah. yeah And not only that, but I would like you, i didn't realize it was something until he said Thunder Road. And I didn't know that that was a Bruce, but then when can you listen to it? Right. If you didn't own that album and your friends didn't,
00:10:13
Speaker
i'm I'm like, I kind of want... Yeah, right right now, you could write on the way out of the concert, you could play the Bruce original on YouTube, right? so Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's a good way to those days of work, of having a work to fight like to track down. Oh, yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
You know? like Yeah, those were special. Yeah, it used to be hard. you know Yeah, yeah. different And your relationship to stuff, like there's versions of Goodnight Elizabeth, for example, that I know I listened to a bunch because I only had so many of them, and I found one that I really liked, and I just...
00:10:41
Speaker
I put it on like a loop and now it's like, well, if I hear one, can go hear another one. And you know what i mean? It's that, that our relationship to those performances and those moments, I think is, it's different now because of those things. And it's hard to explain how that might've shaped things. Right. But like,
00:10:57
Speaker
I don't know. The things I got into in that time, I think we're like around the same like im on the same age. Like the things I got into that time, I only had so much of it. And so it was very precious in a way that now, like, again, I could, I listened last summer. It's like, they put up every show on Nugs, right? It's like, you can listen to every time they played round here.
00:11:15
Speaker
Like there's always a new version coming up, you know, it's different. Yeah. so Yeah. Yeah.
Origin of the Band Name 'Fort Francis'
00:11:20
Speaker
So we are going to get into um your associations with the band after meeting them again and playing with them and and being interviewed on the podcast, et cetera. But let's talk a little bit about your journey, your band. Why not for those interested in and hopefully explore a little more about you after listening to the podcast.
00:11:40
Speaker
So Fort Francis is based now in Chicago, had what, three original members and now kind of a floating amount of four to five, depending on on what's going on. And so maybe just, um Chris, you might have a particular quick question, but well, first of all, I actually want to know how you use the how you came up with the name Fort Francis, which I guess is, I looked up as a town in Canada or something like that.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um So Fort Francis, um the the band spun out, like i you know after that after that fateful day of handing off a CD to to Adam, I did have a solo songwriter career for,
00:12:21
Speaker
kind of like through college and right after college. um And I toured with a lot of like I'd open for a ton of different singer songwriters like Shelby Lynn, Josh Ritter, Martin Sexton, kind of the just a bunch of people I looked up to.
00:12:34
Speaker
And ah guys that were in that that played with me, um i would have a band sometimes Aaron Kaiser played drums, Jeff Piper played bass. um we that that Those are the the core founding members of Fort Francis.
00:12:48
Speaker
um The name itself came from in the days of just touring under my own name, the Again, this would have been right after I graduated college, which was 2006.
00:13:00
Speaker
um We were touring the US making very little money and knowing very even even knowing even more, knowing even less.
00:13:12
Speaker
Less money and less knowledge. and And so we had a show in Toronto. um and But but i didn't I didn't know how to navigate the like the red tape of getting like any sort of proper documentation to go make like a few hundred bucks in Canada. So we just thought we'll just lie at the border.
00:13:32
Speaker
and just say, we're just going there for sightseeing. We're a band, but we're not actually playing. and That's a pretty easy, you know, speaking of, this had been 2000, would have taken a lot of work for that guy to figure out that we were actually going to play at the Drake in Toronto. But since it was 2007, it didn't take any
Music Festival Involvement
00:13:48
Speaker
work at all.
00:13:49
Speaker
And he, so we we like got held up at the border in the no man's land between the US and Canada. And the you know the board the border patrol officer tells me, like hey, you know it's ah it's a federal offense to lie to a Canadian border patrol officer. like you know what the punishment is? And I'm like, I don't know. He's like, it could be $100,000. And one hundred bucks you know at the like So, so the whole time I'm freaking out, but we eventually get let back. We, they just turn us around.
00:14:21
Speaker
ah So we, so so we spend the night in port here on Michigan in, in Michigan. Yeah. Port in the U S and, um, And I think it was that night we got really drunk at a bowling alley, but we looked at a map of Canada. Like, are we ever going to get in? Will we ever get to play there? And Fort Francis looked like the most appealing town.
00:14:40
Speaker
um there's it's It's nothing. It's like a fishing town. They have a bass championship. um And so then like maybe two years later, three years later, ah when it was time to like have a band name, um Fort Francis just sort of felt like,
00:14:55
Speaker
The right, the right, the right thing to call. Um, I still have yet to go there. Um, sometimes we get tagged accidentally on like one of the social channels because we might have stolen the town's handle. Um, so like, I think I got, I, the other day I got added as an admin to like a big country show in Fort Francis. Cause I think they thought I was like the city official.
00:15:17
Speaker
Um, But but yeah, so and so now these days, yeah, and so we've we've we have added more members. Sometimes when we play in the Midwest. We play with with a horn section, too. So it's kind of it's an ever evolving lineup.
00:15:32
Speaker
um And the core is is really Aaron. Excuse me, Aaron and me um we kind live here in Chicago still. yeah And and ah correct Chris, correct me if I'm wrong, but um they toured, you said the Outlaw Roadshow. Outlaw Roadshow. Well, no, there wasn't tour. They played the Outlaw, the festival.
00:15:50
Speaker
Oh, the actual show. right how How many times have you guys played the Outlaw Roadshow Underwater Sunshine? and yeah. yeah yeah so So yeah, so we've we've we've never toured with the with Crows. Adam has invited us to play the the Outlaw Roadshow.
00:16:04
Speaker
i think we played once. And then Underwater Sunshine. It might have been twice. it's They kind of run together of when when there was a Switch. I think we've played it five four or five times. um Certainly the one... because would you have been Chris, would you have come to the one in Austin in... in New York.
00:16:25
Speaker
So the first time... two thousand twelve maybe thirteen no the i've been to the ones in new york so like the first time I saw you guys. I'm positive. You guys were like first. I think it was 2013. I have a distinct recollection of this because you guys played the last song. There were two Outlaw Rojas. There's one in New York too. Yeah. So two of those and maybe three of the underwater stints. Yeah. Sorry. Go ahead. Which did you see as? Oh, yeah. 2013. I think you guys were
00:16:53
Speaker
um yeah And I have this distinct recollection because you guys played an acoustic song to end the set and I was like, these guys are great and Aaron was playing maybe like a drum, but just like one sort of single drum and that tiny Bowery Electric Slade, it was like slipping off and I like caught, I was in the front, I like caught the drum.
00:17:12
Speaker
Oh, man. like Thank God. i I think I remember that. That's why. Wow. OK, cool. I really like the Bowery Electric, too. like Yeah, it's such a it's such a great room. And again, that was such a great I think that was the same night where you guys because in that sense, technically, because i think that night the Crows played an acoustic set like you guys went on at like 6 p.m. and they went on at like two in the morning.
00:17:37
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, that's like deep into the night. Like, they but and I remember that because there's I have there's a Facebook. Facebook is the worst. I think we all agree. Facebook's kind of the worst. But it does help me with memories because every year on the date of that, it pops up this thing where I like ah quoted something Adam said sort of off the top, but at like three in the morning during Good Night Elizabeth, just like delirious. Yeah.
00:18:01
Speaker
but Like just like was like one of the, cause it was literally like the middle of the night when they're playing the show. And I'm sure you state it was amazing. it was incredible. man It was incredible. Yeah. Um,
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So the, the, the, um, I do remember too, the, the first outlaw road show we played, it was in Austin. It was like a, around the South by Southwest thing. Cause I remember at that time, um you know, like most, most bands and certainly at that, in that sort of world in 2011, 2012,
00:18:35
Speaker
people still thought that like South by Southwest could like make their career. And I was definitely, i definitely thought that. And I remember the first year we played, this was, has nothing to do with this pre-outlaw roadshow. The first time we ever played at South by Southwest, it was like,
00:18:49
Speaker
it was a humiliating and just brutal experience. We played like six shows for probably a total of like 12 people. um And I remember the, the, there was one thing we were supposed to play in San Antonio after the Austin, they were all like unofficial things and it was, it was brutal. And we, we went to play in San Antonio and all these bands from South by were all waiting too. And the the festival was canceled because the promoter was in jail because like they had failed to get the proper permit. So it was just a disaster. But nonetheless, at that, in that, you know, in that time of my life, i was very persistent and I was like, i we're going to do something better.
00:19:32
Speaker
And I remember the Outlaw Roadshow Ryan Spaulding had sort of issued this open call for like, we're looking for other bands. And again, this is, so I had met Adam in a parking lot like 10 years before.
00:19:47
Speaker
man And I was like, we, like this band, our my our band is worth
Persistence and Recognition in Music
00:19:53
Speaker
doing so. I was just blindly persistent. And I, so I, I submitted and I remember getting the email that was like, Hey,
00:20:02
Speaker
we really think you guys are great. Do you want to play at the, at the outlaw road show? And remember that my only sort of memory of Austin was just this humiliating, just brutal, brutal experience.
00:20:15
Speaker
And then to follow it up with that sort of like, Hey, you're songwriting idol, listen to your stuff and thinks that you should come play at his festival. And it was just such a, like I've, I, there are moments of elation, certainly for any, any band, not just an independent band, but, but that is one that really, really is seared into my memory.
00:20:37
Speaker
And so we flew down. I remember, and i remember we We played fairly early in that night too, but I remember like what a weird thing to look out and be playing my songs. And Adam had his his dreads at the time, and he was standing in the front just bobbing along.
00:20:56
Speaker
And it was it was just one of those moments where you thought to yourself, well, maybe maybe I should keep at this. so the So the email comes from probably someone in his group, right? Yeah, yeah. When did you actually...
00:21:10
Speaker
When did you actually have a conversation with Adam or even just say hi to him? Was it after your set? It would have been after. I don't think I said hi to him before because I was just so nervous.
00:21:21
Speaker
um i don't think i' i would and and And so talked to him afterwards. and And then I realized, like, there's no real need to be nervous. This guy's just really nice and loves and loves being able to put on music that he thinks is worth, is you know, that someone else should listen to, too. Yeah.
00:21:38
Speaker
um so yeah and then So yeah, and then we've... and yeah So Chris, the first one that you caught a drum at was Outlaw Road Show New York, and then the others have been Underwater Sunshine.
00:21:49
Speaker
um and yeah, so they've changed names and and they've changed location and they've changed... But like the thing that is just common across all of them is that just we we all leave with this kind of like really, really overwhelmingly satisfied feeling of thinking like, man, that was...
00:22:07
Speaker
You know, that that that's a good reminder of why you have a band to begin with. It feels like it's a good crowd. You know what i mean? it ah So something about what they've the the sort of thing they've brought that generally people are there because they like music and they're here to hear new bands. And if they haven't heard it before, that does not prejudice them. They just want to hear good music. That's one things i was always i try to go. And I've certainly seen you guys more than once there. I know it at least at Rockwood, at least once, I have a recollection, maybe 20, maybe even post-pandemic.
00:22:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. but um the The Rockwood one, or at least the most recent one we played was the first, like the you know pandemic really took the momentum out of loads of bands. And that one was, we that was the first thing we played after after not playing. um Excuse me, because we we knew it would be something that would, would um I guess, boost our spirits.
00:23:06
Speaker
you I don't know what the most recent is. I was looking up some stuff. Again, I haven't seen them now. I've talked about on the podcast. Next year, time and money permitting, I'm going to try to go for the first time ever. I'm obviously across country now, but but I do want to go once and the timing seems right. and and We talked to James Campion on the podcast who does a lot of the organization now.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah. ah did ah So I did know when researching about today that that you were, and this ties into Underwater Sunshine Fest. i know I don't know if it's the most recent. No, no, you said post-pandemic. But in 2019, I know you played because not only did I see that, but I guess that was also the year that James and Adam interviewed you on their podcast. Yeah.
00:23:45
Speaker
Yes. Or at least featured you. It is episode, for those that want to go back and and listen to that, it's episode 62 of the Underwater Sunshine podcast.
00:23:57
Speaker
I forget what the name of the episode is, but yeah. so Yeah, that was a fun one. Adam like really schooled me on his knowledge of lithuania Lithuanian Olympic basketball.
00:24:09
Speaker
Because are our band has like a weird one-hit wonder status in Lithuania. covered Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff's Summertime, and it's like... goneunt it's like it was a big song in Lithuania. Oh, that was on my list. Believe me, when we weren't going to let you end the podcast about it, I don't know if we want to get into it now, but, Oh, but that's, yeah. But that Adam knew like all this, this, like he, like he was just an encyclopedia of knowledge about like,
00:24:39
Speaker
the um The Lithuanian basketball team had no... Because they had just gotten out of the USSR. And I think Jerry Garcia helped donate to sponsor their their yeah uniforms. Yes. Because they were wearing tie-dyes. Because the dead dead had a charitable foundation. that was They gave to lots and lots of stuff. But that was one of the things.
00:24:56
Speaker
They donated to the Lithuanian Olympic basketball team. And so there were Lithuanians just wearing tie-dyes in the 1992 Olympics. And that's... Of the many fun side Grateful Dead stories there are, that is one of the weirdest, I think.
00:25:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's great. So that I should know this, Chris, and well and and you
Playing at the Garden Session
00:25:14
Speaker
also, Daniel. that So when when he talks about the garden session, that means playing at Adam's house? Is that what that is? When they call because ah so for that episode, I'll just say it now it's called Scouts Honor because they talk about the there's a band called Scout, I guess. And they first talk about that in the episode. Garden Session. Right. And that's one of the bands we discovered playing in the garden. bubble Then it goes. Plus, we play the Garden Session and our interview with Fort Francis. So that's May 19th. Sorry. May 10th, 2019. What was that like playing at Adam's Place?
00:25:44
Speaker
Oh, yeah. and Like, I mean, it is a, it's, it's um on, you would go being, you know, again, knowing my, my respect for the band and him as a songwriter, you'd go with a lot of nerves. It's like the coolest hang anyone's ever had. You know, it's just, he turns his whole, his whole sort of loft space into, you ah into a recording session um and everyone just drinks beer and hangs out.
00:26:14
Speaker
and Chris, that's the musician cool kids club. To be in that group, you've got to be pretty cool. It's a great hang. Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's super, it's super relaxed. um And yeah, Adam has a nice,
00:26:30
Speaker
like a really nice piano in his place too. So, the you know, most of the gear is already there. And everyone just hangs out and watches each other play. It's like the coolest living room show you could have.
00:26:41
Speaker
Yeah. That's awesome. Has he been getting to know more? Has he been sort of influential on like your songwriting post kind of meeting and getting to know him? Has there been sort of an aspect of that where it sort of influenced what you've done in the past after?
00:26:56
Speaker
um ah You know, that's a really good question. i i do think, like I was thinking about this when when when um when you know we reached out about this. Like, I feel like he's always been a pretty big influence. Like well before he, well before i I knew him, you know, right um not just meeting in a parking lot. Like,
00:27:15
Speaker
Like I, um, i have always true, like I've always appreciated the art of specificity in songwriting, mentioning specific places. I mean, your the name of your podcast is, is a great example. Like, you know, he, he really, he is ah so much of his songwriting has been, i guess, um, you would call it the antithesis of what you would think of as pop music is ah appeal to the lowest common denominator. Don't talk about Chris or Eric or Amy or, know, just, just make it so that anyone can, can find something to grab ahold of.
00:27:54
Speaker
um And I, I find that that winds up being kind of generic. um So I, I really like specific places and, and, and people and names and characters. um And that, that's something I've always thought of that I've always associated with his songwriting.
00:28:13
Speaker
So, so I think, um I think, I don't know if it's been more so since since we've um played, you know, different iterations of the festival. I think it's just kind of always been there.
00:28:25
Speaker
um Yeah. Have you said you said August, though, it is not your go to like, what is what is your go to record if that's in terms of like, maybe how it influences you? Yeah, yeah. my My go-to is Recovering the Satellites. um i i am I think that that record, and I we i mentioned it before before we i think we before we hit record, but like,
00:28:49
Speaker
I've always loved that record and I always think of the records that stand out to me are the ones that I bother to download. I use Spotify. I know it's evil for a lot music, but as a listener, I love it. The ones that land on my phone that I actually can listen to while I'm flying, that's the metric that's record that's forever.
00:29:12
Speaker
metric of like that's that's a record that's forever But recovering the satellites has taken on a much deeper meaning to me. um Chris, you mentioned um that this piece I wrote about the birth of my son. So, um so I guess, yeah, um now on this podcast episode, I will talk about life, death and and welcoming a kid into the world. But so when I, my, my son was born in the early December, born way, way earlier than we thought. it was like two months before he was supposed to be, before he was supposed to arrive.
00:29:41
Speaker
And the, my wife's delivery was like a disaster and she wound up in the ICU and she was on a ventilator. So it was like a super lonely, like it's a weird thing to even think about now.
00:29:52
Speaker
um My son's in the NICU and my wife's in the ICU. was just this like awful, awful experience. And so at that time, what I would do is I would be at the hospital all day and then like at like you know, sometimes maybe midnight, maybe two in the morning, whatever, I would drive back to our place, which is only like two miles from hospital.
00:30:12
Speaker
from the hospital But, and then I would come back to shower or something and then like sleep for little bit and then go back. um And just this like weird no man's land. But on that drive, which I did, my wife was off the ventilator for three days, but I kept doing because she was still in the hospital. So every night I would be doing this and I would just listen to the recovering the satellites album.
00:30:32
Speaker
Cause it was like, you know, like one of those, like, I think there's this weird tendency in music and, and in entertainment to think about like what's new is like the best thing. But for me, like,
00:30:43
Speaker
the best thing is always the thing that manages to never feel old, you know? And like recovering the satellites has never felt old. It's always just felt like that, like sort of that blanket, you know, like that security blanket. So I, so I listened to it each, each night driving back.
00:31:00
Speaker
um And it's really funny. i I didn't think about this at all until I, cause also a long December is not my favorite crow song by any stretch. Like I, on that record,
00:31:10
Speaker
Um, I, I, I love the title track. Um, I love, I think it's, it's monkey, right. That mentions Ben folds. There's always such a brilliant, like just call. I've always loved, but the whole record is really, really fantastic.
00:31:23
Speaker
Long December, you know, love that song, but it's just, it's, you know, everybody knows it. hasn't, But I finally let the record keep playing or whatever. And I realized, like, geez, like, what a what a weird thing, you know, smell of hospital in winter. And here I am driving back and forth from a hospital. So I sent out him a note and was just like, hey, man, like,
00:31:45
Speaker
Just want to let you know, you know, this, this is like getting me through probably like the toughest time of my life. And he sent me back this just wonderful note about like how his nephews were both premature babies. And then like they wound up like one, I think is a rugby.
00:32:00
Speaker
It's like a rugby champion in college. It was just the nicest, like, Hey man. glad you like my music, but more importantly, you're going to get through, you know you're going to get through it in life. It was so, it was just, yeah. So, so that record to me, it already was the one that I sort of thought was like that, that's the, that's the album for me that sums up the crows. But then after that, now it's just like, that's my, that's my jam.
00:32:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that album, it's so it's interesting because it's so specific to him. But when we've done rankings of the records, we're not getting to Hard Candy next. But when think about like recovering the satellites a lot, like it's really a record just about feeling disconnected from yourself. And it kind of works on he works on any level if you're feeling that, right? And so that sort of experience, you're feeling very sort of out of body and sort of, I would imagine. I've had similar experiences, so I would...
00:32:51
Speaker
hopefully Hopefully not projecting too much there. but like And so, yeah, I can see how that record would just be like, you know, have you seen me lately? It's like, i yeah, I have no idea where I am or who I am. or but Have you seen, you know, um and and again, happiness it's hence means happening in December and long December is, of course, the perfect when you're, I don't know. yeah You're dealing with difficult stuff. that i don't know. That song is just still perfect after all these years.
00:33:13
Speaker
then the other thing too about like that it's less about like the whole record, but walkaways is the last track, right? Yeah. I was like that, that song also as a songwriter,
00:33:24
Speaker
I always loved because like, you know, obviously Adam can, he can write like a radio hit, like he, he writes hits. Um, but he also like walkaways is like a minute and a minute and 20 seconds. I don't know. And it says it all, it doesn't need to be longer. And that was a, um, I have, I don't know if that's been necessarily something I've thought of when I've written some songs recently, but, um,
00:33:51
Speaker
But I don't really worry that much about like, well, I guess it should be three minutes or I guess there should be a bridge. Like um that song is a really good testament to like, you know, you could just rather than writing a whole book, you could write a really cool chapter, you know, and and like and that'll that'll do the trick, you know?
00:34:10
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that makes sense. Because I mean, listening to your music, right, there is a lot of of things that are sort of, we could say like a sort of a normal ABAB kind of structure, but also plenty where it just kind of doesn't necessarily have that, but it doesn't feel like jarringly so, right? It's not sort of, a it's just, oh, it just happens. This is sort of flows into this and it's kind of, you know, it kind of takes its own path without sort of being ah dramatically different, right? It doesn't feel, it still feels of a piece with everything else, which I guess would be the for walkaways, you know?
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. um so And you guys are doing Hard Candy next? That's your next sort of like- Hard Candy is next. Yeah, which is, it's interesting you're talking about like the pop thing, because I and obviously will get into it in great detail, but like, that's such a weird, like it's a very poppy record. So I think it's it's interesting, because you talked about sort of that, the sort of odd pop of of the Crows, and I think Hard Candy, it's like listening to it again, it's such a, it's a pop record, but it's such a weird pop record.
00:35:08
Speaker
Right? Just the themes of it and the way. And I think that's, in a lot of ways, I think that's kind of what you guys carry into your music is that it's, a lot of the Ford Francis records are are poppy in a certain sense, but they take on interesting themes and they go a lot of places and they're not sort of pop in that very broad sense. It's just using a sonic palette that is you know, Poppy while still addressing these.
00:35:29
Speaker
And even again, Poppy, Poppy in the more, in the very broad use of that word, not like you're trying to write a Taylor Swift song, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I i appreciate that. And yeah. and i mean, and also too, like, mean, I'm very guilty of this. I don't even like, i mean,
00:35:44
Speaker
pop music by definition is awesome because it is popular and it's accessible. So not in any bad, um you know, i like, that's why I like Michael Jackson and and lots of, you know, pop music. But um I guess I just like with the crows, I just think of it as like, they've managed to make really popular, accessible songwriting.
00:36:05
Speaker
Um, even though sometimes it seems like the story might only apply to the songwriter. Is that, mean you know, to like to Adam, it's about a specific person, but obviously that's what people want. They want to feel like they can get inside the song and it's, and it's also for them, you know?
00:36:25
Speaker
um Like, but, um And I think it's, you know, yeah you make a good point. And I think sometimes it's because like, even though, i don't know if he talks about Anna begins in a way, you know, talks about Anna. Well, maybe I didn't date an Anna, but when I think of,
00:36:40
Speaker
the girl that got away because it was a summer fling. I am thinking about someone in particular, not just some generic notion. So I think that's what, that's what he does. That's great as well. That's why people are resonate.
00:36:53
Speaker
Yeah. as Yeah. Yeah. yeah And then you think like, Oh, I wish that that one that got away would have had a better name for songwriting. Maybe I would have written a song too, but it was three syllables or whatever.
00:37:05
Speaker
The almond brothers already wrote a name, one named Jessica, you know, I, yeah, um did um have you ever met the other band members just out of curiosity i've met emmy who's awesome um this continues by the way that every person we've interviewed they're like i'm friends with emmy i love emmy i met emmy um yeah having dinner tonight with emmy so okay yeah um and who else was on the stage at the 2013 one chris because i would have come i would have met them briefly but i but was it
00:37:35
Speaker
I think it would have been Dan and Charlie. Okay. All right, cool. So then briefly, but Amy's the only one ah I've ever, I've ever really had a chat with. Like a longer conversation. Okay. Yeah.
00:37:46
Speaker
ah Cool. Did you have any, ah Chris, did you have any other questions? I know, you know, near the end, I definitely want to talk about some of his, for Francis's music a little bit more. Well, would say we will again. Oh, it's cool. We can totally geek out on this. Like I, it's all good. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:00
Speaker
um I feel like you should tell the Lithuania the lithuania story is incredible. Oh, well, yeah, that definitely worked. Well, because what I was going to talk about, the and he'll get into that, but when... um When I was going to talk about some of his, right, the the songs that are popular on his YouTube channel and things like that, of course, the one that stands out is the one with multi-million listens, which would be a um a yeah cover of Fresh Prince's Summertime.
00:38:27
Speaker
And, right, the the I don't know what you call it, the hipster version of it or the hipster remix? But yeah no, it's great. and it And it got picked up. And I actually relate to this in a couple ways. One of them is that once I basically spent a summer in Poland, and I know it's not Poland, you're talking about Lithuania, but there is, they do have, I think this can happen when you have more of a, um,
00:38:48
Speaker
homogenous culture, I guess. Right. With that, there tends to be something like this becomes popular of the summer and literally the whole country gets into it. Like there's, there's still more of like uniformity there. I guess I want to say because there, you similar background, culture, history.
00:39:02
Speaker
so um yeah So yeah. So that became the summer Anthem of 2012. I think it was right. Yeah.
Lithuanian Tour Success
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah. So, so like, um you know, and again, this is just proof that like, like,
00:39:15
Speaker
people can like try to make things cool or popular. Everything just happens. you know I'm sure there are, I mean, I know there are big campaigns for bigger, but but like for for a band like us, things just happen, like they either happen or they don't happen. And most things don't happen for independent bands. But this was just a really funny one. Like we, um like in the, I guess in sort of the interim between our first record, which is called the Atlas and whatever we were gonna do after that,
00:39:43
Speaker
you know we were constantly just trying to think of like what can we do to but da stay relevant and have a reason to tour. as We were recording covers. We did like ah Simon and Garfunkel and Beck, a bunch of stuff that felt really familiar to us.
00:39:59
Speaker
And then we did this... like stoner low-key indie hip-hop version of Summertime um with a bunch of like triggered beats and a piano. um and yeah We put it out. It didn't really do a whole lot here.
00:40:19
Speaker
We didn't know where Lithuania was. We didn't even really probably have any aspirations to try to tour internationally. We were just trying to have fun. and We started getting a lot of Like signups on our email list and then social media with with these, you know, Eastern European names we couldn't pronounce.
00:40:39
Speaker
And I just thought we were being like spammed or something that it wasn't, you know, like that this was just like some sort of internet troll farm. um But the the big I guess the beginning of this song sort of seeding itself into Lithuanian pop culture was some car blog. And it was SoundCloud, too. that That was how it sort of came to be.
00:41:03
Speaker
we didn't know how to i didn't know how to i thought it was a bigger deal to negotiate putting out a cover on the popular streaming platforms. It isn't, it turns out, but at that time, I didn't know anything.
00:41:13
Speaker
I knew about as much as I did when I got refused admission from the country of Canada. um And so we so they had found this this car blog i found it and used it for their summer party, like summer hang and outside of Vilnius, the capital Lithuania. and then the biggest radio station in Lithuania, which I don't remember what it is, but consider it whatever is the, like, what's the biggest hip hop station in New York?
00:41:41
Speaker
Like, um, 97. So it used to be hot 97. I think it would be the hot 97 of Lithuania made it there. Like summer song. Like that was what like was playing.
00:41:53
Speaker
And so it kind of like blew up like and and blew up. I mean, we got a lot of YouTube um views and then we eventually put it out and now it's, yeah, it's it's far and away.
00:42:06
Speaker
It's funny. It's like a lot of people's entry point into our music is something that sounds absolutely like nothing that else that we have done. um yeah so they're like, this is great. Oh, okay. Now it's sad indie rock with guitars and 12 layers of vocals and big drums.
00:42:22
Speaker
um but but yeah so But we did wind up like in 2015 and and we had you know people had reached out to say, hey, we want to bring you to Lithuania. And I was all for it, but nothing really like nothing seemed to come together. And it was just like, this isn't going to happen.
00:42:39
Speaker
But this guy, Victor, who ran the this festival called Loftus, which is like, ah i think it still happens. Actually, but yeah. It's funny. I have it here. i keep this little, this is it.
00:42:52
Speaker
a um So we, we played it. um We headlined it. um I was really nervous and because I was like, what else are we going to play for the other 45 minutes of this set? Other than summertime.
00:43:05
Speaker
um They liked it. They threw a beer can, someone threw a beer can at me, but otherwise when it got to summertime, it was, it was nuts. I felt like a real star. um And yeah, we did the whole, we did like the the equivalent of Good Morning America Lithuania. It's called Lavas Ritas.
00:43:21
Speaker
I think that's Good Morning. um And so, yes. And now it's funny. I mean, it's still like every summer, it's kind of one of those nostalgic things. It does still, it gets spins. Like we we have this, you can tell in your, particularly in your Apple, like as um as an artist, you can see like,
00:43:39
Speaker
How many spins are getting? How many Shazams are you getting? So if it's playing in the sort of the cultural space, you know, you see it. And that one in the summer, it's just like, we're always in the, like they have charts, like top, top 50 Shazams. And then as the size really summer starts to peak, we're like, oh, cool. We're in the top 20 of the Shazams in Vilnius, Lithuania.
00:44:00
Speaker
So somewhere someone is listening to me sing about um playing basketball and wearing sneakers. Yeah. And that's why I had a laugh because you were wearing in the video, which is kind of, I think, pretty funny, right? oh yeah It's kind of a, you know, as a joke, almost like a hipster take of the video is about, you know, because it's tongue in cheek about, you know, lot of things, but you're wearing Philly gear. and That's why first I'm like, are they from Philadelphia? Because I am. But then I just know that you're just trying to give homage to the Fresh Prince.
00:44:26
Speaker
My wife yesterday, actually, who's foreign herself, she had no idea that he was originally a rapper. She only knew him from acting. you Oh, really? Yeah. Or whatever. Yeah. It's amazing, though, by the way, talking about like that the weirdness of marketing, right, that you are named after a city in Canada that you've never played, but you have played to many thousands of people in Lithuania.
00:44:46
Speaker
you Yeah, the world is just such a weird, yeah you know, there's no rhyme and real reason. yeah to do Someone in Fort Francis was like, we should bring them in at just as a bit. We should we should but have them play at least. I did. to I did trade notes with someone for a while. It sort of fell off. fell It felt like I. Yeah.
00:45:03
Speaker
The Lithuanians, they made it happen. The Canadians, they didn't. um Come on, Canadians. Come on There's still a chance. Yeah. two two Two other just funny notes about that is that like when I looked at the video or watched video and looked at YouTube comments usually crack me up. Of course, there's ridiculous ones as well. But but have you noticed since we're in the 40 and up crowd, have you ever like gone to a song that let's just say it's only three years old? I don't know. Maybe it's from Kendrick Lamar or something. And I'd be like, oh, does anybody remember this from like way back? Because the person making the comment is like 15 and they're thinking back to the the summer of when they were 12 and that's a fifth of their life. And I'm like, did that song just come out? or whatever.
00:45:40
Speaker
so But there's all these comments in um in in in in this summertime about all these, like, who who's here Lithuanian? Summer 2012, who's revisiting those years?
00:45:51
Speaker
um But but one one really funny thing that ah literally I work with Lithuanian Oh, nice. But she's been in the U.S., I want to say close to 20 years, maybe 15.
00:46:04
Speaker
But she did not know the song, but I i sent her the articles yesterday. And she did say that. um So then you wrote an article um in Chicago Magazine, I think it was, about your experience in one of the magazines.
00:46:16
Speaker
And she thought that was really good. Anyway, she liked the article. Maybe I'll i'll link it to the um the podcast. But it's it when you said eight-hour flight to Germany, five-hour labor, and then two-hour connection. ah We arrived in Vilnius and we realized our like status of being popular was indeed real.
00:46:32
Speaker
yeah um And she said she really related to that. She could feel it viscerally. And then she did say she knows. I don't know if knows personally or just knows of the Victor that you were talking about.
00:46:43
Speaker
ah and he's ah knows him like that And it says he was in this band called Scamp. oh yeah they did And they made a big hit called Summertime.
00:46:54
Speaker
Oh, seriously? Which was a cover. And it anyway that was also a cover. So I'll send you the information about it. Yeah, send that to me. So they also did a hip-hop cover, but the original version was, yeah, an older, like from the 30s or something. But I'll send that to you. So there's another summertime connection I thought you might want to know. Tell co-worker, too. Like summertime in the living is easy kind of thing? Yeah, it might be. Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:17
Speaker
It might be. i i'll have I'll look at it ah offline. but And then she she wrote, I guess we just love summertime in Lithuania, which makes sense given they're harsh winters. So I get that. a beautiful country. Super, super cool country.
00:47:29
Speaker
Did you, um Chris, I i was going to mention some of the other songs real quick, if you have any, yeah um just things to check out. Because again, this is someone who I know, I've never seen you live, I've had no experience, just watched some of the videos. There was a song Habits, I think, it is it was it just Habits? Is that the name of the song? Yeah, yeah.
00:47:44
Speaker
that remind again i am not a real music guy i'm a accounting c crews guy that knows some you know i've got through spurts of music But it did remind me of the Dawes a little bit. um Oh, nice. I don't know you know them. who Oh, man. I love that band. They they just lost – Griffin, the drummer, lost his house and in the – Oh, I didn't know that.
00:48:03
Speaker
Okay. That band is fantastic. um da ah We're talking about Dawes, right? Yeah, yeah. yeah And i got – they I was going to say, Adam's actually the one that got me on there. He mentioned him on something and then looked into them.
00:48:18
Speaker
Yeah. they um They're like a band that I constantly go back to too. I saw them in Chicago just like three, two or three months ago. um That band is phenomenal. Yeah. Yeah. And I even felt, don't know, I'm probably pushing it, but Chris, the other band that Adam likes, is it Foreign Fields, right? Because there's Field Report. Field Report and Foreign Fields the other one. Foreign Fields. I almost felt a little Foreign Fields, a little bit in the Habit song. Oh, cool.
00:48:42
Speaker
So then there was ah fits in star ah Fits and Starts, which I thought was Bruce Springsteen E. That's what I put, at least in my opinion. That's funny. Yeah, we we recorded that one with very much the an inspiration was you remember that song Devils in Dust?
00:48:58
Speaker
The Springsteen one that would have been like it wasn't like a big one. I loved that song. It was and I think we that was like a reference we we recorded. So um so I guess we nailed it.
00:49:09
Speaker
We nailed it. OK, so oh, so that is a bruce yeah. See, that's how but that's how I felt listening to that. um You have, I won't say too much, but there's kind of a funny tongue in cheek ah Christmas song on there about embarrassing uncles at Christmas time. So I invite you to to to to see that. that's That's kind of fun. um And then you're talking about COVID. And just to reference something you actually said before, you were, and both of you, as Chris is a big live music guy, talking about you know things haven't completely recovered from COVID, maybe they never will. And
00:49:41
Speaker
And there's really a really neat song that seems to be somewhat a tribute and think about that, right?
Tribute to Live Music Venues
00:49:45
Speaker
It's called These Lights Will Shine Back On, right? Oh, yeah, yeah. Or Shine Again. These Lights Will Shine Again. ah great song. And if you watch the video, it's showing these empty musicals during COVID time that all these bands made it and memories were made.
00:49:59
Speaker
So... I sort of, that I'm really glad you mentioned that. I sort of forgot about that song and forgot about, like, that all those venues um are places that we've played. And I remember at the beginning, or not at the beginning, just like when it was really like, geez, everything's everything's closed.
00:50:16
Speaker
um I just reach out to everyone that I... knew from each of those venues. um That was a fun project, um particularly and weirdly sad time. um Yeah, yeah. It's funny.
00:50:29
Speaker
It's funny that I forgot about a song that I wrote not too long ago. but But by the way, I think you predated him. the the the that Billy Joel's comeback single has a similar name, right? It's like, turn the light back on. Turn the lights back on her turn light's like on. And I think he released after you. So you never know. Yeah.
00:50:48
Speaker
um And then the only other one I really wanted to mention, because it was linked to the, and I actually have some kind of joking, constructive feedback. So you have a single called Chicago, you're based in Chicago. And correct me if i'm wrong, but when you, if you just generically look at it up on YouTube, you get a different kind of quiet, maybe just piano version And it seems to be the one highlighted. But then I found a different one linked through the website, which is also on YouTube, but it's more hidden.
00:51:14
Speaker
And the one on the second one I'm talking about has like a thumbnail of somebody like about the shovel snow or something like that. and it's And it's more going on in it, like more production and more thoughts. Do you know what I'm getting at? I don't know the just piano version. did i Oh, okay. Or maybe a client. you know what? I might have recorded that just a piano version for someone's podcast.
00:51:38
Speaker
Okay. is it lot Is it me playing the piano? I think so. like oh Yeah. one The one with the cover art. That's probably that's me with our dog in the snow. Yes. that No, but that's, that's that's i think I think people are watching the other one instead. I don't know which one's the official single. Well, the other one, if it's just the piano, it's really boring. and we should We should tell you. Yes. And that's what i'm saying. I think people are watching that.
00:52:01
Speaker
And they, right. If they're Googling Chicago um and and and and Fort Francis, they're getting the piano. So take a look to check on that. Because the one with the snow didn't have that many views. And it has all this, like you said, has a lot going on and extra production. oh yeah. i I love that. one That's actually on the new record. that We put out the single, the new, the new record. Oh, it's going to be on because I got to be honest. I think that you got to somehow you talk about trying to get viral or something.
00:52:28
Speaker
and I know that, you know, some might call it like trying to be a trick or something, but you got to get some people in Chicago to play that. I thought it was a great anthem. Oh, thanks. Yeah, i like i am I think it's a great song. I would love people to play. would love anyone to to play anything. Like it's one of, Chris, if you listen, it's one of these songs that if it really, let's's let's just say it was made in the 70s and it was a real single.
00:52:50
Speaker
Like it's a kind of song that people would be like playing later at the bar. Like, oh, it's the Chicago song and we can all sing together. it has that feel to it. I just need it to go. i need people to listen and listen. Is it going to be huge? Is there a Chicago, Peru or something that we're missing here? yeah yeah Yeah. we did We need to look. Listen, if if, yeah, if our career is any indicator, we need to look outside of Chicago, USA and find somewhere else in the, in the, in the world. But I do appreciate that, Eric. And I'll, I'll look into it. um Yeah. I love that song. That is yeah. That's one of my favorite songs on the full album.
00:53:28
Speaker
um And yeah, me playing on piano is not very exciting compared with the rest the production. You sell yourself short. like yeah um No, and I'm a big fan. I love, a I was thinking, as good looking, going back to records this week, a Leo, I think is is probably my favorite.
00:53:44
Speaker
all like favorite of your full length which is a ah beautiful ah record from a again a very it's sort of weird because i think it was released in 2016 right so I feel like yeah the world kind of felt like it was coming apart in this sort of um yeah it's continued to sort of feel like it's coming apart ever since then it's wild you know it's funny I feel like I joke about this I feel like I was like way ahead of the curve on writing about like the world is ending and it really started to feel like it was ending and now I'm trying to write songs that are forgetting about it But yeah, I, yeah, 2016. And then we put out a record in 2019, right before that, that was very much in the world falling apart ah era. And then the world really did fall apart.
00:54:28
Speaker
So, yeah. um Yeah. I, that, that record that you're mentioning, we recorded in Maine um in a farmhouse. was really, was a really fun recording process. yeah oh your This year is yours is really beautiful. And that's, again, thinking about sort of, don't like sad but upbeat moments, right? That, you know, like it's coming from a place that's not... If this year is yours, maybe the last year wasn't... um Maybe this year will be better than this last.
00:54:54
Speaker
This year will be yours. Yeah, yeah. But, ah yeah, no, it's... it's um Yeah, there's and there's so much. if Again, if anyone who's listening hasn't sort of dove into that catalog, um you absolutely should.
00:55:04
Speaker
Just do. No, thank you. And I was looking, that's that that was part of the thing, that you did a cover of a song, Chicago, as well. So maybe that was it. was it yeah, yeah. That's a Susan Stevens. Yeah. Yes. so that yeah So there's a couple of those.
00:55:18
Speaker
And so, when I first, I was like, am I missing something? They sound like a different song, but I didn't realize it was a cover. Yeah, yeah. forgot we did that thing, too. Yeah. So anyway, that yeah, I hope people catch it up on the news. Yeah, somehow you got to get some people in Chicago to be interested or or or play that.
00:55:36
Speaker
And if it makes you – and don't give up because, um I mean, I know it's not the same, but ah ah did you hear the – There's a Billy Joel song, what is it, Vienna, that was never officially a single, but it became the anthem of Vienna. And I think just a year or two ago, he released a video for it.
00:55:55
Speaker
I don't think he sings in it. I think it's just a, but but they but anyway, the point was it never was, but people people adopted it. It is a great song. So I'm hoping to get some traction like that for you, for Chicago.
00:56:06
Speaker
Yeah. No, no, I appreciate Don't give up would be like the motto that most bands operate under.
Counting Crows' Support for New Artists
00:56:16
Speaker
Any other thoughts? I mean, we talked a but bit about your sort of like journey in music. Any other thoughts on the the Crows music or things you want to sort of share?
00:56:22
Speaker
Oh man, I, I, um, I mean, in terms of, in terms of the Counting Crows, I, I just, I think about, you know, I, I think about, so you guys are doing Hard Candy next.
00:56:36
Speaker
Um, and when you, when you guys talk with Chris Porterfield, I think it was episode 17. Um, I really, i love that he talked about the Across the Wire, um, double album, which I think again, also, and he, he said it really well, like that was a great,
00:56:52
Speaker
reminder that you can reinterpret your own songs. You know, I, I feel like just like historically listening to the way that they, the way that they re they, they reinvent things. It it is a reminder that like a song is, is never really done.
00:57:06
Speaker
i mean, it is, it exists in its different moments and different mediums, how it's recorded. But, um but I, yeah, I, I, I am. So I feel like I, you mentioned like, Oh, if you changed his has,
00:57:20
Speaker
has your songwriting changed because of spending more time and being, you know, feeling the, I guess the, the good vibe of getting invited to your, your idols sort of festival. um I, I think it just, it just always, I'm constantly going back and, and, and listening and and learning more lessons. So,
00:57:38
Speaker
um Yeah, i i um I haven't seen them in a long time. I i think the last one was maybe in Ravinia here in Chicago, um which is kind of a weird place where like you only see it.
00:57:49
Speaker
yeah If you guys ever been there, it's I actually heard about it for summer, like like when I was like, oh, 19. It's a weird, it was like my summer job. the If you sit in the pavilion, you are in what feels like a regular music venue, but the vast majority of the crowd is just sitting on a lawn, like kind of doing like drinking wine and eating out of picnic baskets. It is not a rock and roll vibe.
00:58:11
Speaker
So it wasn't my most fun show of seeing them. um So i am I'm sure I'll see them this this summer as I'm assuming they'll tour. um Winslet, did you guys see them this summer? Yeah. I did. I saw them in Central Park last summer. They played Central Park, which is a great um spot to see them play.
00:58:28
Speaker
yeah well Well, now that I'm on this podcast, I feel I have to see them once a year, right? Now now now it's very serious homework. You just got one more. The year before, right? The year before, I saw them twice. Yeah. yeah but Because I also went at one point like a decade without seeing them or something like that. but Now, you know, to be the experts we are now, it's not just it's not just a hobby anymore. Right. It's a it's ah but so also say i I have like a lot of friends in Chicago and they've described or vineyards to me. And one of them like described it was like, it's great. You can go and hang out and drink. And I'm like, this sounds terrible. I'm just going to be being like, I'm just trying to listen to the music. I'll be back. I'm going to walk over here.
00:59:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's yeah not sound like my vibe. Because because i also you could come and sit and drink and hang out and listen to music at my place. um You know, like like I don't I don't need to go to the suburbs to go to to go. You know, yeah, no, it's it's there's nothing wrong. It's a cool classical music venue. It's just not my place to see like my favorite bands.
00:59:24
Speaker
Right. the other thing, too. Something in place like that, you're like, if you're going to take me to see, I don't know, a band that's got one hit that I like or whatever, like, maybe that's fine. But yeah, if I'm going to see Counting Crows, I please and actually, please don't come.
00:59:36
Speaker
but Don't even don't even come with me if you're going to talk to me during the show. Let's let's let's go and enjoy it and really get in the headspace. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Well, fantastic. this this This was a lot of fun. Yeah, guys, um thanks so much for having me. This is ah a real, I mean, I could geek out about anything related to and Crows and music for a long time. So I love what you guys are doing and appreciate having me on.
00:59:59
Speaker
And I'm still going to have the image of you, right? I know of hanging in the apartment. you have to understand there's always like a couple of times. And by the way, it's always like fake, but like a couple of times, maybe even my life, maybe I got invited to like a like a modeling party. Now, of course, I wasn't the star there and I only got snuck in and nothing happened. But i'm like, I made it like I'm in the cool kids group for a second.
01:00:18
Speaker
and That's the feeling I'm getting hanging out at Adam's apartment. with a bunch of other band play, you know what i mean? It's just other band and you're there because of the music and and what you did. And yeah, so that that that that's, yeah, that's a lot of fun.
01:00:32
Speaker
yeah I wanted to leave with a po positive image in our minds. So, yeah. Yeah. Thanks. And as you said, we're kind of documenting some of the influence, right? People, maybe fans of the podcast think about, oh, their music affected me and thought about my you know relationships. But also, Adam in particular, and this is we've said this a lot of times. so I mean, almost like uniquely so about an Emmy, Adam and Emmy together, like in invested and other people, the next generation of music, like either putting a spotlight on them or helping them grow or just like for the love of the music. It wasn't just about them.
01:01:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, really, it, it shows just how much it pays when someone cares, you know, yeah really, really is. I mean, I, I sum it up in that, least for our band, it really,
01:01:23
Speaker
It really, um you know, independent bands are always, they're a bit malnourished on morale. You know, we need like, we need someone to, to to you know, to say that it matters. And um that that really, that makes a difference when someone you look up to.
01:01:38
Speaker
So before we sign off, um as I said, I
New Album Announcement
01:01:42
Speaker
wasn't lying. I love that single, Chicago. It's going to be on an album you're working on. And when is the approximate release date and name of that album?
01:01:49
Speaker
So the record's called We Will Stop Time, and it's going to come out April 18th. Okay, great. Cool. and that's ah great I'm holding myself to that. So now, yes so now right yeah. But um it's it's we sent it off to for for pressing everything. So yeah, so it's um that's the date.
01:02:07
Speaker
All right. Thanks, Chris, for setting up. There will be vinyl. Always good. You go listen on Spotify. As fans, we will buy the vinyl. And then also listen on Spotify to give an extra and you know quarter of a cent every time we listen.
01:02:20
Speaker
you know Thanks, Chris, for setting this up. And thanks ah for joining us on the podcast. Our friends at Fort Francis. And yeah and the people out there listening, we'll catch you next time.
01:02:32
Speaker
Thank you. Almost every day.