01.01.08 Americana-UK STEPHEN SIMMONS | Something In Between Though he might bear a vague resemblance to Jay Farrar (it could be the eyes) or a young Steve Earle (heard in his soft yet distinctive southern twang), Stephen Simmons doesn’t look like a man who has actually lived the part of his own songs. You’d expect this Tennessee-native art major-turned-songwriter, who sounds and writes like a man of constant sorrow, to look at least a little worn, a little red-eyed and hungover from a lifetime of searching for answers between the bars, churches and open roads. In this exclusive interview, Americana UK talks to the rising star of Nashville’s americana-scene about Jesus, Nashville and ‘Something In Between’, his stunning third album which features guest appearances from, among other, Gram Parsons’s sideman, the lapsteel-legend Al Perkins. I’ve spoken to a lot of different artists over the years, and you sort of get the impression that they’re all in it for one of three reasons - the money, the opportunity to tell the world what's on their mind or because it's the only thing they know how to do. Which of these should we file you under? Well, for starters, I think it's going to be a long time, if ever, before I’m even going to make close to what I did just working a normal job for a living back years ago. Being a folky troubadour does not have good benefits. I can do other things well enough I suppose. Well enough to make a living. But making a living isn't exactly living either is it? This is the only thing I'm truly passionate about. If you'd have asked me as a teenager what I wanted to do, I would've said "drawing and writing comics". Maybe in 15 years, I'll be focused on writing short stories. I think because I am so interested in History and Literature, it's likely I would've eventually gone back to school and become a professor of some sort. That would still let me get up in front of a captive audience and run my mouth from time to time. But for the time being, writing songs, recording albums, and touring is my main form of expression. So I guess telling the world what's on my mind is the closest camp I would fall in. Your previous album was called ‘Drink Ring Jesus’, and with songs like ‘Forgive Me Father’, ‘The Devil’s Work Is Never Done’ and ‘Baptism’, there’s a lot of spirituality in your songs. How big a part does faith play in your music? Hmmm....faith. Well, it might be well documented at this point, but I was brought up in a very strict Church of Christ in a small southern Tennessee town. My beliefs I like to think have evolved as I've grown older. But I'm a very spiritual person by nature. I do believe in the spirit...in magic...in miracles...in an afterlife, and so on. And that's all pretty much attributed to faith. My own confidence in the church and religion...well, that's another matter. But I've always been someone who prays. But I'm turned off and offended by hipocritical, judgemental types. As I recall that's why Jesus made Paul head of the church. Because he had the least faith. But you know, it takes faith to be an artist as well. It takes alot of faith to think that your artistic vision is important enough that people will want to hear it. Faith that you should be following your bliss. Faith that you shouldn't worry about what society thinks you should be doing. I don't think you can underestimate how Faith affects every aspect of your life. Yet your new album, “Something In Between”, seem to focus more on romantic issues? “Something In Between” was meant to be a statement about emotional relationships. Scratches and scars if you will. And like most songwriters, the first song I ever wrote I'm sure was about a girl. Matter of fact, probably the first 50 or so probably were. I like albums to make sense, to tell a story. This is a different story than my previous work. "All The Time I've Got" deals with the same subject that has been the cornerstone of Americana for ages - solitude, the vastness of America, the road and the long drives at night. Has being a singer, traveling from city to city in a cold van made you a man in complete peace with yourself? Yeah, in so many ways that song was the obvious one to end with. The older I get the more and more that song rings true. I don't know if I'm at total peace with myself. But certainly more than I was as a younger man. This is who I am. And it's a good feeling to take a deep breath and say...."I'm OK". I feel like I grew up as a weird awkward over-analytical kid, never feeling like I felt in. I embrace the solitude and the long drives, it's part of who I am and the cloth I'm cut from. "All The Time I've Got" is more a sweet good night kiss to my lifestyle. Al Perkins! Tell us about working with Al Perkins. This guy has played with Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman & Stephen Stills and now you. How much in awe does one feel with him behind the pedal steel? Al Perkins is....well, Al Perkins. I was so happy he was able to a part of the project. To me, he and David Briggs who plays piano, b-3, organ, wurly, rhodes etc. really made that record sound so special musically. Having a younger rhythm section and various other accompanyment to go against the history and experience of those two just gave it a special mix I thought. Those guys really are living, breathing legends, so they just make a 2007 record so grounded in rock and country's roots. You're based in Nashville. With people like Matthew Ryan, Thad Cockrell and Griffin House living there, has Nashville become the place to go for the rising stars of americana? And do you feel that musicians like you get treated with the respect you deserve? I love Nashville. I think having such a vast creative music community is part of what makes it so nice to live here for me. I feel like I'm always around my kind of folks. I don't know if it's the place to be for Americana folks, but it sure seems that way more and more. But we aren't the money makers the hat-acts are, so I don't think the business community will ever embrace us the same way. That's a game you gotta be willing to play if that's what you want in a career. It's not my bag of tea, but I know many folks trying to go down that road, and I don't fault them for it if that's what they love to do. And to be fair - even though mainstream country has been pretty well documented about it's 'posers' and 'pretenders', I'll be the first to admit, there are alot of Americana acts out there who aren't that authentic either. Which is unfortunate. Are you taking a stab at the state of country music in “Cryin' Elvis" from your previous album? It does after all mourn the loss of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. It deals with the decline of country music and the decline of all our heroes in general. From Jesus to Elvis to Hank and Johnny to our beloved comic book heroes like Captain Marvel and Captain America and the first real American literary heroe, Natty Bumpo. Maybe America's decline too a little. Things don't sound as good as they used to and that era's over. I'm reminded of a John Steinbeck line from "East of Eden"; "Oh, but strawberries will never taste so good again and the thighs of women have lost their clutch." Final question: Who should we keep our eyes on on the rising Nashville scene? I always tell people to check out my friend Mack Starks. He's one of my favorite singer/songwriters here in Nashville. He used to be in the band Farmer Not So John. Rod Picott and Kevin Gorden are a few other friends I always try to help spread the word about. There are many others I'll remember as soon as I hit the 'send' button I'm sure. – Interview by Soren McGuire 10.19.07 Americana-UK STEPHEN SIMMONS | Something In Between (Rounder Europe 2007) Solid Set from Tennessee Songwriter Listening to Stephen Simmons' third CD is a bit like doing a who's who of classic singer/songwriter influences - Rodney Crowell immediately springs to mind on the big chords and throbbing bass of the opening "Don't Mind Me", the shifting minor chord progressions and rippling piano figures of "Long Road' are pure Bruce Hornsby with some Darrell Scott overtones, and elsewhere the ghosts of Jackson Browne, Steve Earle and a host of other worthies are ever present.All of this in no way suggests,however, that plagiarism is rife here,as Simmons' tunes retain enough of their own identity to make this a mostly solid collection of performances, held together by an excellent production job from Richard McLaurin.There are a couple of obvious aims at the "big hat" country market, and "Blues on a Sunny Day" in particular has all the hallmarks of a Nashville hit if taken up by the "right" people, or maybe even for Simmons himself, although some reworking and a much more bland production might be required. On the minus side, some of the lyrical content shows a tendency towards sloppines ("you're a lot like a jacket I put on to stay warm"), and a few songs, most notably "Cloudy in LA" exhibit some potentially terminal MOR tendencies which, if given too much rein, could send a well above average writer and performer down a less stimulating, albeit probably more commercially rewarding road. – John Hinshelwood 09.28.06 Americana-UK STEPHEN SIMMONS | Drink Ring Jesus Sit on any rocky outcrop in winter, stare out to sea into the prevailing wind, be stoic, be unmoved by the tangy freezing salt spray, be King Canute, do this and express it through folk music - you’ve just discovered Stephen Simmons. It is the sort of folk music that is unchanging, an acoustic guitar and something to say: think of Steve Earle. For Simmons it is the attempt to reconcile a strict Christian upbringing with the contemporary world, so we get fire and brimstone, spirituality and stylistic purity. Some of the songs come across with the cold-heartedness of a true believer and as they unfold at much the same pace throughout, if you don’t share the fascination with the religious iconography then it is difficult to get through - it seems humourless - there is no joy except that of salvation, the biggest lie. I know I don’t want to be saved and I hope that it isn’t just this that makes me think that this is competent but stilted and one for the converted only. – David Cowling