Five Records with… Doug Moreland
I got to speak with Doug Moreland the other day about his musical influences and heroes. Moreland, a singer/songwriter/fiddle player releases his newest Barnstormer tomorrow at his Cattlelacs Calf Fry in Austin, which also features Corb Lund, Ryan Bingham, and Eleven Hundred Springs. Five Records is an occasional feature of artists talking about the music that inspires them. Read more of these posts here.
“I used to dream of being a fiddle player in a country act out of Nashville. The problem was, every time I got hired, I ended up hating the music I was playing. Then I saw Jack Ingram play at a little hole in the wall in Alpine, TX called Railroad Blues and thought — ‘I need to be writing my own songs!’. On the drive back to Austin, I wrote 4 songs, so I figured Austin would be a pretty good place to settle down. The record I got was Livin’ or Dyin’, which Steve Earle produced. I always thought Jack ought to do another record with him, considering the way this one turned out.”
“Most people think of Jimmy Buffett now as a sort of brand, this island party music that he has made his own. Very few people remember that back in the 70’s he was making country music in the Caribbean on his own record label, which was a lot harder to start back then. I admire guys who do things their own way — Jimmy is a great songwriter, and has been able to do it all himself. ‘Pencil Thin Mustache’ was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar, and I still love this era of his music. Plus, I grew up in Fort Davis, Texas and had never been to the beach, but this made me feel like I lived there.”
Purely coincidence that Doug’s first two records have Livin’ and Dyin’ in the title. — Ed.
“We cut my newest record live, with just 4 guys. I love the feel of this record and wanted to capture something like that. I got my car a year ago, and this CD was the first one I put in the changer. It’s still there.”
“I heard the song “Never Had Nobody Like You” on KGSR the other day and it grabbed me immediately. M. Ward has such a cool sound — I wish I had written a song like this. Hardly anything catches me on the radio anymore, but the cool production leapt out at me.”
“I’ve been friends with Ryan for a long time and I’m just as proud as I can be about how far he has come. His latest record is put together so well — Marc Ford’s unconventional approach to recording suits Ryan’s music nicely. I went out and played 7 shows with him recently and we played all rock and punk clubs. They eat him up there and they all seem to like my country and western swing as well. He also benefits from being represented well — they don’t try to dress him up or make him look like someone he is not.”
Posted: September 25th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
