“A straight-up hymn and a soundtrack for a Cormac McCarthy story” — Greg Copeland’s “We The Gathered”
Grew up in Orange County, California. In the ’40s and ’50s L.A. had an emerging Jazz Scene that came to be known as ‘cool jazz.’ How would you say the music of your childhood influenced the artist you became?
The music I actually heard when I was a child was literally a blend of Gene Autry and Korla Pandit. I was too young to understand that they were almost different worlds, so I immediately bought into the concept of music as one big, great, confusing thing. The next stop in my musical education was Jerry Lee Lewis, and after that, class was pretty much out.
L.A. based. Songs that tell complicated stories in the fewest possible words. Along with friends Jackson Browne and Steve Noonan, you wrote Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s first big single, “Buy For Me The Rain.” What was the inspiration for the song?
That song began as a poem, and Steve Noonan did the music. We were both just out of high school, scuffling like mad. My main goal at that time was to travel as much as I possibly could, so everywhere I was, I always felt like I was leaving, and at the same time, I wanted a life-long relationship, which I found to be just about impossible. So, at its root, that song is about all that. I don’t think it was the first song I ever wrote, but it was pretty close.
1982, debut, Revenge Will Come, (produced by Browne). The song, “El Salvador,” took on President Ronald Reagan’s administration and their Vietnam-like policy of support for the right-wing regime in that Central American country. The song was covered by Joan Baez and then again by Peter, Paul and Mary. What makes music such a powerful form of political protest?
You can sing it in the streets. You get three hundred thousand people in front of the White House, all singing the same simple words in support of an undeniably just cause, you can’t NOT listen to that. It’s simply too moving.
Decided to quit the music business, become a paralegal and eventually a full-fledged lawyer, rather than try to survive hand-to-mouth as many singer-songwriters unfortunately do. What are your thoughts on the business side of the music industry?
I don’t know anything about the business side of the music business. It’s just business. But I have a huge appreciation for the people who do the work that’s necessary to get music out into the world. Welcome to the land of metadata. Algorithms. Jeez. It’s enough to make you want to play in a bar.
Started writing again in 2000, inspired from within believing ‘one gets more creative with age.’ Second album, Diana and James, in 2008.
Third, released in 2020, The Tango Bar. What is one thing you wish more people knew about songwriting?
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever said we get more creative with age. I know plenty of old people who have no idea what to do with their time. They’re a lot like teen agers in that way — they have a kind of low-level rage that comes from having no sense of purpose. Art provides that, if you’re willing to deal with what you find out about yourself in the process.
The thing I wish people understood about songwriting is that you don’t have to know anything about music to write a really good song. It’s mostly a question of just truly showing up. You’re as much a receiver as you are a sender. You get what you’re willing to receive.
Recorded in a single session, “We the Gathered,” the new single from your upcoming EP, Empire State, has been called both a straight-up hymn and a soundtrack for a Cormac McCarthy story. The song is about our long journey to heaven. What is your favorite lyric in the song and why?
I like the Maserati spinning in the riverbed. In the context of that song, you’re better off walking.
The songs in Empire State EP will also cover labor, politics, and finding one’s own voice to make it through it all. Produced by Tyler Chester, you are joined by musicians Greg Leisz, Val McCallum, Jay Bellerose, Jennifer Condos and Sara Watkins. “Recording with this band is songwriter’s heaven. Every single one of them has a head for lyrics, so they’re all focused on what’s actually happening in the song, which is incredibly rare all by itself.” What is the most challenging song to perform that you’ve written?
I think that might be “All Those Things,” the last song on Diana and James. Not because the song itself is difficult, but because it came from a really difficult moment in my life, and it’s hard for me to get through it. Too many memories.
Empire State takes place right this minute. There is a sense of urgency and being present that is felt throughout the collection. From the songs that didn’t make the EP, what is your favorite song that you’ve never released?
That’s a tough question. Actually, it’s not a song, it’s a sequence of an instrumental and three songs that are meant to be sung by a woman. It’s her kiss-off to a guy who wasn’t worthy of her. It ends with the lyric, “…and don’t that crow taste good with that cold champagne.” That juss about sums them folks up.
What’s ahead?
Your guess is as good as mine. If all I did was finish the new songs I have right this minute, I’d be busy for the next two years. Tick tock, tick tock.