UCN Interview – The Roys: “The bluegrass format is going nowhere but up!”

12 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on UCN Interview – The Roys: “The bluegrass format is going nowhere but up!”

When I met up with The Roys last year, for an interview on songwriting, they were making some very exciting plans. At CRS 2012, we had a chance to catch up and talk about the results of their hard work.

UCN:There is so much to talk about with you guys. You’ve done so much since last time I even saw you, let alone interviewed you! So, Australia! First impressions?
Lee Roy: It was amazing. Amazing! I knew the people there were very into their music and knew what they liked and didn’t like, but what we were really impressed with was the level of talent in Australia. Not that I didn’t think they were talented, but we’ve seen a lot of artists there that could really compete with today’s mainstream artists; just really phenomenal artists.
Elaine Roy: It was wonderful. You have an idea of what Australia is going to be like and for me the landscape was way prettier than I thought. We drove from Sydney to Tamworth and it was just mountains and greenery and pastures, I mean, absolutely beautiful! Playing the Tamworth festival was amazing. The crowd was so receptive. I mean, you don’t know, we’re brand new to Australia. So you’re hoping they like your music and that they like you. We sold a whole bunch of albums and they wanted their pictures taken with us. It was so heartwarming and they want us to come back. And we want to go back! *smiles*

UCN: Did you pick up any Aussie slang?
ER: No, but I do love G’day mate! I love that! I’d go ‘why am I saying “good morning”, it should be G’day!” *laughs*

UCN: So nothing about chooks or a tuck shop? *smiles*
LR: No, nothing like that, and I think we would have looked pretty foolish trying to talk like them. *smiles*

UCN: What did you take away from that trip as artists?
LR: For me, it was validation that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing as far as the type of music and the songs we’re writing and performing. The one thing I really liked about Australian fans, is that they don’t take stock in how many records you’ve sold or if you’re on a major label or a small one, or if you’re on the radio or not. They just really love to see you play the music, and they love to know how you wrote the song, why you wrote the song. It’s almost like a full-band version of a writers’ night, so it’s really cool!

UCN: And you also went back to Canada?
ER: Yes, we did. We went to Regina in Saskatchewan. We played a casino there with Janie Fricke. We’ve been touring with her and it’s been really cool. We get to open the set and then we get to back her up and get to sing with her that night. So, it’s been really, really fun, the reception has been amazing, again, and it gives us a chance to play in venues that we otherwise would not be able to get into.

UCN: And she’s got some really great fans too.
ER: She does!
LR: She does, and she’s a sweetheart.

UCN: Does going to Canada still feel like going home?
LR: It does! Even though it was more centrally located in the country than where we grew up, the people were just so warm. It’s kind of like if you say “We were raised in Canada”, they don’t care what part of Canada. It’s just like “Hey, welcome home!” *smiles* It doesn’t matter that we were raised 1250 miles the other way, they’re just really appreciative.

UCN: Then moving on to yet another continent: Europe. You’re going to have a pretty big feature on European country radio.
ER: Yes!

UCN: So, when we talked last year, did you think that we were going to have a conversation with three continents in it? *smiles*
ER: No, never. *laughs*
LR: I was lucky to have three conversations! *smiles*
ER: Europe is the next place we want to go to. We’ve had a lot of support there radio-wise and video-wise, so, you were asking if we’d learned something new going to Australia. For me: the power of music. You know when they say it’s the universal language? It really, really is, and you don’t realize that until you go to another country where you think no one knows who you are, and yet, we’re singing ‘Coal Mining Man’, and a lady in the front row is singing the words to us. I’m thinking ‘How does she know that song here in Australia?’ But they’re playing our video. To get to tour these countries and to see the power of music is really energizing for me. And it really brought home the point that whatever it is we want to write about, is what we write about.
LR: Yes, that it’s real.

UCN: You’ve given me this great segue into my next question: Music Voyager. What was the experience like for you to get to represent the music of East Tennessee?
ER: It’s not something that’s on your radar but then the opportunity comes along and you think ‘Sure, we’ll do it.’ It was really fun; it was a great interview. We went to Ernest Tubbs’ record shop and got to sit in Ernest Tubbs’ bus. It was about going back to the people who paved the road for us as artists, who really opened the doors. Then I was reading the press release on that show and how many millions of people will see this and I’m like ‘Is this really our life?’ I am just so humbled that we get to spread our music and our message. It was just a really cool thing!

UCN: The idea behind Music Voyager is the show the power of music. What would you like people to understand, maybe from that episode about East Tennessee, about bluegrass? What does bluegrass bring to the table of world music?
LR: Well, the big stigma with bluegrass is that it’s hillbilly and backwoods. Until you actually sit down and listen to bluegrass… I just caught a show on PBS that was something like ‘Me and My Banjo,’ and I caught about half of it. It was kind of like the start of bluegrass, and it’s amazing how bluegrass has affected all genres of music. It really is one of the longest living formats in music.There were other artists in that show, like Mick Jagger was saying that he remembers listening to Bill Monroe and Robert Johnson and the old bluegrass players. My biggest thing about us, when people come to see us, is that they are entertained and that they like what we do, obviously. But what I really hope, and I won’t take credit for this because it was Steve Martin who said it, is that when they leave they seek out more bluegrass artists. The music is so alive and well, and it is so rich in heritage, and it’s brought into today’s technology. It is such a pure and amazing art form. We play places where you would not expect bluegrass. We got to open for Lady Antebellum last year and we had so many people come up and say ‘Oh my gosh, it was so amazing to hear acoustic music on a stage of that size in front of this many people!’ And Dave from Lady A came up and said “I love your set, I love the songs, I love your music.” I think that it’s a format that if you just kind of listen…and I mean, don’t listen to one song and go ‘oh, I don’t like it,’ but listen to several and listen to the message that’s in bluegrass music, it’ll touch you more than you’d expect. It’s just an amazing art form!

UCN: That’s sort of true for country music as well. I recently heard a song at a writers night that was something like ‘She had a facebook affair’, and it was just hitting all the cliches. If somebody wrote a parody of a country song, that could have been it, but he meant it. I was listening to it and I thought it would be so easy to just dismiss the whole genre if this is the song you hear, rather than making the effort to go find the good songs.
LR: A buddy of mine once said that really good music is really good music, it doesn’t matter what genre; really bad music is really bad music, it doesn’t matter what genre. And you’ll have both in every genre. You just have to find the songs that affect you and touch you. I think the one thing with bluegrass, I think it really reaches down into the heart and soul of the hard-working men and women of the mountains, and of America really. All genres can really be traced back to that stripped-down sound. Another thing that episode was showing was Dr Ralph Stanley and what he’s done for bluegrass music and Earl Scruggs. And Scruggs, in his time, was shunned by a lot of bluegrassers because he was really pushing the envelope on the banjo. But then you see Bela Fleck say, ‘If Earl hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be playing banjo today.’ That’s Bela Fleck who’s then playing on stage with Paul McCartney because he did push the envelope. It’s amazing how it really reached over and touched a lot of genres.

UCN: I might be wrong about this, and correct me if I am, but bluegrass seems to be a genre that only in the last few years has grown in confidence a little.
LR: Yes, I think that’s true.

UCN: I’ve had this conversation with the guys from The Infamous Stringdusters…
LR: Great guys.
ER: Yes, they are!

UCN: Yes, I love what they do, and The Punch Brothers as well. They were saying, you know, they were changing things, and they were plugging in, and everyone was like ‘No! That’s not bluegrass,’ and they’re like ‘Yes, we are bluegrass!’
LR: I think if you make everybody stay in this little circle, the format won’t grow. That’s true of any format; it would end up getting choked out. And think that’s why you see so many people go ‘I’m gonna go over here because it fits me more, yet I’d rather be doing this.’ And I think that for us, we’re not trying to push the envelope, or not trying to pay homage to our forefathers in bluegrass. And we’re not saying,’ let’s keep one foot in country and one in bluegrass, in case it goes either way…’ We’re doing the music we love and it just happens to cross those two genres. You know, Doyle Lawson came to us and said he really loved what we were doing for bluegrass, that same reaching out that Alison Krauss and Steve Martin and a lot of other people are doing. They’re people who really love acoustic music but also push the limits a little. And then you see guys like The Punch Brothers cover Maroon 5 songs right before covering a Bill Monroe song. I think that’s amazing and I think the format is going nowhere but up.

UCN: Your plans for 2012?
ER: Touring. We’re also working on a new project, and we have a TV show that we’ve signed on for, for 13 episodes. We’ll be taping that shortly so we’re very excited about that!
LR: A lot of touring and, of course, writing and recording more music. We’re just doing what we love which is to create and be artists and make music.

UCN: And make lots and lots of new friends!
LR: *laughs* That’s right!

UCN: Thank you!
ER: And thank you!

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

Latest posts by Liv Carter (see all)