Vanderbilt Hustler: October 7th, you are playing at the Springwater. How have your previous experiences in Nashville been' It seems easy for the more unique and intimate song writers to get lost amongst the pedestrian ones.
Tom Brosseau: My first trip away from North Dakota was to Nashville, Tennessee. I always say I was there for more then three months, but I don’t think I was there for more then three weeks. I tried out at the bluebird caf'©, and the first time I was introduced to the songwriters in the round, where everybody up on stage plays a song, promoting a certain sense of participation to respect one another, and everybody plays the songs there going to sing. From my experience, I think I learned a lot from those few weeks in Nashville.
VH: Your working on a new album, with Gregory Page and John Doe (lead singer of X). How will this differ from your previous efforts'
Tom: Gregory Page and I have worked on a few recordings together. One we recorded live at a venue here in Los Angeles called the Largo. It was a lot of fun getting back together with Gregory because it had been a while since we worked together. John Doe I have been a friend with for a few years, and I have always wanted to work with him. He’s been around music for quite a long time, and I’ve got a lot of respect for him, so it was good to have him on board.
VH: When can we expect to see it in stores'
Tom: In January at some time.
VH: Your music is now on itunes and emusic, making your work accessible the world over. How has this changed your experience and approach to your music' Does it allow you to be more independent or do you feel pressured to fit a norm'
Tom: Not at all. I think music has been heading in this direction for quite some time, and I think it is going to continue in this direction. It gives people an opportunity to sample an individual as far as their music is concerned. It is also good because people who are in remote places are able to download online and they can do it instantaneously. People become fans overnight because of it. I’ve been to some pretty interesting places this past year and a half, and I would see a lot of people who have downloaded the music from services or websites. It’s a positive thing.
VH: I ask this because I personally discovered your music from a Seattle radio podcast, then subsequently went to download your music on emusic, liked it, and downloaded some more.
Tom: It is an interesting thing, isn’t it John, how these days on the computer you can here somebody, look them up, google their name, and find out where you can download their music and there will be any number of places to download it from. You mentioned emusic, they have exclusive live shows they have filmed for download, when you come back on it, it is an interesting tail how you got from a to b.
VH: …then you can find other similar artists which ends up snowballing…
Tom: I like that. It promotes a person to be creative with what they like, and they become aware of other musicians similar to them.
VH: What can one expect from your show next week'
Tom: I use many stories in my set, do a few songs a cappella. I’ve been trying to get into more of the story songs. Hopefully I will be able to get peoples attention.
VH: When you look back at your career so far, what creates the greatest sense of pride'
Tom: A fellow here in Los Angeles whose name is Flanigan, I learned a lot from my friends, there was always a piece of information he would give to me, to never forget where you started. He has this story he told me about Bruce Springsteen how that guy no matter how big he is he never forgets where he started in life, so I try to keep that very close to me. Without a doubt it is what I surround myself with.
VH: A lot of your songs harken to your days in North Dakota. For all of us in Tennessee who didn’t realize there was a North Dakota, could you explain what about it evokes the most romantic of lyrics that have the power to actually place us in the scenery'
Tom: There are a lot of people elsewhere to who Dakota is Dakota and where Mt. Rushmore is. I’ll tell you North Dakota is more like southern Canada. It’s not too different then the countryside of Nashville, in some ways it can be pretty ambiguous, its just the mentality there. I’ve been able to travel around quite a bit, and there is a lot of similarities between my hometown of Grand Forks and the country because of the way of life and the people. The people are as nice as can be, and North Dakota is a friendly state. I’m very proud of its culture and land, and its people. I think that basically growing up in a city or state like that you are forced to be outside and enjoy the nature. You take note. That’s something I was probably born with, seeing the beauty in things, and so I have come to see that there is beauty all around.
VH: One of your clauses in your first record contract was to have your car fixed. Are you still driving that car'
Tom: No I’m not Driving that car. It was a GMC jimmy. It was a really, really great car. It was an all white car, the muffler needed to be fixed. The muffler lead to other problems. Minnesota, we are right on the border of Minnesota, and we go into Minnesota quite a bit. They salt the roads there in the winter time, so the bottom rusted out. Nobody knows that so you are the first to get that bit of information. They [the record company] didn’t even know that. They just fixed my car up, they didn’t ask any questions.
Tom Brosseau's Website: tombrosseau.com
Buy tickets for Saturday's Springwater show: http://www.springwatersupperclub.com/
