4 minute read
EARLY DOORS
Alabama-bred singer-songwriter Early James dropped his debut album Singing For My Supper to great acclaim in early-2020 - just in time for touring plans around the record to be pretty much scuppered by the pandemic - so instead he teamed up again with that album’s producer Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys fame) and started work on what would become the follow-up, the presciently-titled Strange Time To Be Alive. By Steve Bell
CIS U M NE WS
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James’ music is a unique and at times ominous amalgam of different styles - an intriguing gumbo of blues, jazz, folk, soul and country - with the singer, despite his relatively young age, conjuring up noir imagery and spectres of the American South in a voice as weathered as time itself. “My favourite musicians are all people who are constantly changing, like Miles Davis or Ween or The Beatles I guess are an easy example,” he reflects on his inimitable style. “Daniel Romano is a great example too - you think you have him figured out and then he throws you a curveball. “You don’t always have to like every record - there are a lot of Ween records where I’m like, ‘I’m glad y’all did this boys, but I’m not sure y’all had to’ - but I love all kinds of music, and I can’t help but be influenced by it so it comes out in one way or another I reckon. “But I don’t feel risky, it’s just a gut feeling towards what sounds good or what doesn’t. And I guess when you’re working with a band like the one at Easy Eye [Sound studios in Nashville] that Dan hired, they have such a broad paint palette that it doesn’t feel like taking a risk when you’re around those folks because they’re so confident. ‘So you want to take it there? Yeah, we can take it there if y’all want to’.” James admits that it’s been surreal working with Auerbach on his first two albums given that in his youth he was a huge fan of The Black Keys. “I was big into him in high school so it was a bit strange to meet him, so’s the fact that I can text him a photo of a steak I cooked - because he’s an avid cook,” he smiles. “We rarely talk shop or anything about guitars, it’s mostly just pictures of food we cooked. He’s like my own personal Instagram. “He was someone whose songs I was learning when I first picked up guitar, and I remember the first time hearing words I wrote come out of his mouth - he said, ‘What if you do it like this?” and took his guitar and played something I’d come up with - I was like, ‘That’s fucked! That’s weird!’ It feels like it wasn’t supposed to happen, then you pinch yourself and try to wake up. It’s been a blast working with him.”
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On every release that Auerbach oversees at Easy Eye Sound he prefers working with his same trusted Nashville session players, sometimes to the chagrin of the sidemen of the artists involved. “I think that really creates contention sometimes because if a band works it ass off, to not be included on a record does hurt some feelings,” James tells. “I understand why Dan does it - it’s a very curated sound - but this time Dan let me use Adrian Marmolejo [upright bass] who I’ve played with for the past six or seven years, so it felt like I had a little bit of my band, and it was nice to have that. “But when you build that rapport for over a decade - he always uses the same guys - so they can read each other’s minds. There’s very rarely more than three takes on a song just because they’re that good. We recorded almost 20 songs in three days, so I think it greatly helps - it might hurt a few folks’ feelings but it’s certainly an expedient way to put out records.” It seems incredible given the assured sound of the Strange Time To Be Alive that it was all put down so quickly. “It was almost traumatic when it was over - both times - because you just get so sad, and go, ‘Fuck, I should have put that song on there’ or ‘Why did I sing that that way?’,” James laughs. “I’ve heard about bands breaking up making records because it’s such a long-winded process and nobody can agree on what should or should not go on the record. “It almost seems like a magic trick the way it’s worked with Dan, just because you’re in and you’re out - ‘Oh wow, that was 18 songs!’ I’m curious as to when I finally get the chance to take say a month to make a record, if it will sound better - it will probably just sound different. “That’s just Dan’s way of doing it, and I think he got that idea from a lot of places but specifically FAME Studios at Muscle Shoals did that - they did everything live and they did everything quick - and that music all turned out pretty good”.
