A Conversation with Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion – HuffPost 4.19.11
Mike Ragogna: What’s the story behind your new album Bright Examples?
Sarah Lee Guthrie: Really, Bright Examples was born thru a friendship with Andy Cabic. Johnny went a few times to see Vetiver play in New York and invited everyone back to a little place here in our neck of the woods called The Dreamaway Lodge. We got the idea to ask Andy to produce the record after listening to their album Thing of the Past, which is an incredibly great sounding record. So, naturally we asked the engineer from that album, Thom Monohan, and Andy Cabic to collaborate with us to make Bright Examples. We sent them about 50 songs and demos, and they chose the ones they thought would be great, and we went in to Dreamland in Woodstock, NY, and made the album in about 12 days! We then went out to L.A. and met up with Gary Louris and Mark Olsen (of the Jayhawks) who sang on it, which was a dream! It was a very dreamy experience all around.
MR: Who are some of your greatest musical influences?
SLG: Thats a tough one to narrow down. But I think what you might hear when you listen to Johnny and I is some June Carter and Johnny Cash, Everely Brothers, Gram Parsons and Emmylou, Hoyt Axton, Beach Boys, Jayhawks, The Byrds, CSNY, and lots of obscure records and people nobody’s ever heard before.
Johnny Irion: Dvorak, Beatles, Nillson, Ink Spots, low rider music, Hank Williams.
MR: How would you classify your music?
SLG: This album is a little more dreamy psychedelic than our last, but it’s still folk and rock and pop and old alt-country and a little indie too. I can’t think of a name that says all that, can you?
JI: Cosmic Country.
MR: Nice. What’s your take on today’s “folk” scene?
SLG: I dig it. There are more young people coming out now to the shows and it’s nice to see that college age kids are coming around to wanting real music again. I even love the whole “Freak Folk” thing. I love to see folk music pushing the edges. That’s what its all about.
JI: It’s growing…
MR: Sarah Lee and Johnny, what is your creative process for composing? And how about for recording Bright Examples?
SLG: Johnny writes most of the songs and kinda kicks me a little to write my own songs. But mostly, I love his songwriting and I love to be in the house to hear them form and be a part of them. Every once in a while, I have an idea, and it becomes a song and I might feel good enough to play it out loud to someone. But I love singing harmony and performing and that is my art form. Recording for us is always a whirlwind fast with no time to think. Thinking is not productive for us when recording. We go by instinct. Kinda like sex.
JI: Weed, whites, wines.
MR: Ah, a Lowell George reference, sweet. What is the dynamic of being married and making music together like?
SLG: Kinda like sex. (laughs) But really, they are very similar is some ways. It’s a give and take–its insane. I don’t know anyone who could put up with this kind of lifestyle and still be married with two young girls. It’s a rocky road, but the music and the songs are our saving grace, the part that pulls us through in the hard times.
JI: We love to sing together. That’s what makes it all worth it.
MR: Sarah Lee, being the daughter of Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie, how would you say both cultural figures influenced your creativity?
SLG: Both Woody and Arlo are very much a part of me. When it comes to songwriting and singing and performing, I can’t help but be myself, that’s what creativity is. The influence that they have had on me is subconscious. It is just in me, in my blood, in my heart, in my voice, in my bones. It is who I am. So, naturally, it is there. With that said, I’d also like to believe that my creativity adds something to the legacy. I am doing this because I love to, because Johnny loves to, and because we love to do it together. I’m not sure I could stand up to the legacy without Johnny’s songwriting and musicianship. In that way, we set ourselves a apart from a throwback folk band and that is what keeps us moving forward and creating new songs and ideas for today’s culture.
MR: Johnny, being the nephew of author Thomas Steinbeck and grand-nephew of John Steinbeck, how has that influenced your creativity?
JI: What the human spirit can do in this country…you live here and be pretty overwhelmed not knowing that you can make a difference. Woody and John, they solicit justice. The more you know about them, the more you know what you can actually achieve as an American with social unjust bounds, know more about where the line in the sand is, as far as a moral compass. The more you learn about this, you might get involved.
MR: What’s got your eye in the news lately?
SLG: I am very concerned about food. I am a part of the movement for Slow Food USA. I think nutrition is the most important thing a person can focus on. GMOs are taking over and Monsanto is going to be the cause of starvation. We rely too heavily on supermarkets for our food when really we could grow it in our back yards! Or trade with our neighbors. I know, to some people, that seems so far away, but it’s really important that we stop poisoning our bodies and stop relying on big pharma to cure the symptoms that could be avoided simply with nutrition. They are making too much money on our bad habits…makes me crazy.
JI: Japan, Libya, any local news that’s not in the news.
MR: Do you have any advice for new artists?
SLG: Its not a race, it’s a marathon.
JI: Don’t sweat the little stuff.
MR: What does the future hold for Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion?
SLG: I wish I knew….music and farming…records and touring…videos and lunch…
JI: Lots of albums…solo, together, apart…side projects with friends…a nanny?