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WEHM All Access - Sag Harbor American Music Festival - Colin Cutler · WEHM All Access

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's W E H M All Access, the Stadic Harbor American Music Festival, and kicking things off on Thursday, September 24th at 6 o'clock.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Colin Cutler will be at the St.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: David AME Zion Church, which has an amazing history of its own.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Colin kicking off the festival and uh joining us right now.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Colin, how are you?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing all right.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just uh here in Greensboro, North Carolina, and looking forward to coming up to uh Sack Harbor very shortly.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Very good.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been up here before?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh not to Long Island or Sack Harbor.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've been to uh Brooklyn and Boston, so sort of like you know either side of it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's near that I've been.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: You've been around us, and now you're you're coming coming right to us uh to kick things off.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is uh a lot of fun.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you initially from?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Down in Greensboro?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was an Air Force brat.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my dad's from North Carolina, mom's from Pennsylvania.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up all over the south and Midwest mostly.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, moved down here for grad school back in 2014.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh was overseas for about four years, starting in 2016.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Then when the pandemic hit, I said, you know, I think it's home.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Moved on back.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So when did you uh start getting involved in in music?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because you have an interesting story where we basically you were in the army.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but before that, when did you start kind of starting to realize you had some talent?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I mean music has kind of always been a part of my life, uh, you know, growing up in church and all that.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then picked up piano, I think, when I was seven or eight, then trumpet from 916.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say with with trumpet, like I was technically good.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like I could, you know, hit all the high notes and stuff, but I wouldn't really say that I really understood music and how it works and how it works as a you know sort of uh collaborative language until I picked up guitar.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then really in my 20s, when I sort of fell into the folk and old time world, really just like learned better how to listen, how to play off each other, and things like that.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that was also about the time that I picked up banjo in my early 20s too.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, so I would say that's when I've really started to learn a lot more about just kind of how music works and um that particular idiom uh worked well also for the songs I was trying to write, and also they're just some great songs themselves.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know that this was something you wanted to do?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or what I guess what led you to the army and then what led you to the kind of you you mentioned you traded in your rifle for a banjo.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: How did that whole thing come together?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um again, military family.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all three of my brothers went military too.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: I did um as well.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was just the first one to get out.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I was in the National Guard, so that was part-time, was in that while I was also in grad school.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was in grad school, is also when I really filmed the folk music world and also started writing.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So all these things were sort of coming in, you know, happening in parallel.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I was also the one who uh talked the chaplain into letting me take my banjo over over uh to the desert in his morale uh kit.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, again, like all these things were sort of developing together, and eventually, for a lot of reasons, I got out of the military.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the lesser reasons, but one of the reasons just being, you know, uh that was the one thing that was kind of pulling away from the artistic life.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad glad you came back, and now you're kicking things off at the historic uh church in St.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Harbor.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is uh actually a lot of a lot of fun to have you here.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and I'm curious what uh what has kind of started your songwriting process?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: When did you start uh start to do your own music?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh probably about uh 14 years ago.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was about 23 and just I'd always been a writer and always been a musician, hadn't really put them together um too much, and then just a lot of things were changing my life.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: I was starting to reevaluate a lot of things that I'd grown up with and was also reading Flannery O'Connor, uh Georgia writer from the 40s and 60s, who's also inspired a lot of uh a lot of other songwriters too, and just kind of her way of weaving an image um and her focus on human stories that also sort of allow bigger ideas to you know sort of percolate through those human experiences, um, really was an inspiration to me in like how I started writing.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I found that the Americana and folk sort of idiom fit that very well.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, that and that was part of your your record to Harbor.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious what drew you to her world so strongly.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh what kind of spoke to you?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a few different angles on that.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: One, um, so Azter is Pentecostal, um, which had a very, you know, it's very fairly uh strict section of uh Christianity, um, and in a lot of ways, but also in kind of its view of what the purpose of art was.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And O'Connor's uh essays kind of opened me up to another um Christian approach to art.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, she was a devout Catholic her whole life, and that to me was a much sort of wider field that was still for me at the time kind of safe, if that makes sense.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that sort of at the more philosophical edge of things, like, oh, these are actually different ways of approaching art.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as far as her stories, as I was reading them, I was like, oh, I know a lot of these characters, you know, um, from family, from folks I've worked with, from myself at times too.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, just kind of the characters that she was writing um were familiar, but strange enough to you know sort of keep my interest.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And the uh her philosophy of art as well was again familiar enough at the time in my early 20s to feel safe, but also strange enough to give me other areas to explore.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I read that you developed a lot of that at a national endowment for the humanities institute.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I'm just curious, what was about that what was it about that environment that I guess unlocked that portion of creativity for you?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I had written a lot of the songs prior to uh prior to that institute.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um that was kind of the institute was kind of during the final uh stages of putting the album together.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of it was even recorded by them.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think yeah, I think what the Institute was helpful in was sort of rethinking kind of her situation within the broader American social and academic context and thinking about okay, what are some things that we need to talk about in more listening room uh sessions, you know, that you know, with O'Connor and with her presentation of her characters that some audiences aren't necessarily comfortable um taking on, or some are very comfortable taking on in completely the wrong way, which are things I've run into.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so for me, it was very helpful in sort of situating, yeah, what are some different ways that I need to approach O'Connor with different audiences?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And what threads should I pull out for the audiences to see as helpful?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And also how do I address some of her unhealthy aspects too?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: What is it like for you playing abroad too, and and using, and especially something that's so heavily influenced by by this area and the area I grew up in?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: What's that like to bring that to another country and what's their reaction to it compared to America?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I have not toured internationally uh since I uh put Tarwater out.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um I lived in England for a year and a half.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: I released the Stranger in the Promise Land album over there, and it was interesting.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like there is a good and healthy folk in Americana scene over there in some respects, and there are a few artists who I feel like kind of get the idiom.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: But then there's also some elements of it kind of go with the nostalgic kind of southern rock side of of Americana, um, which I didn't love as much.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then some others who like might agree with me in terms of you know politics and social issues and all that.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't feel like it had the emotional immediacy um for them.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: So like I I wrote a song about gun violence in America, it's not on an album yet.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the response was, oh, that's horrible.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what what a gutting song.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, of course it's like that in America, right?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that was interesting.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like they liked the song, they got what I was getting at, but there wasn't that emotional immediacy.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's part of the reason.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of reasons, but that was part of the reason that I moved back, just realizing, okay, a lot of things that I have to say need to be said here.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it was interesting.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: It was neat to sort of be able to bring that idiom over, but it didn't always quite land in the ways that I hoped that it would.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: It always landed, but not yet.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually an interesting perspective to get that different uh feedback, so to so to speak.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you have a you have a band called the Hot Pepper Jam.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious, uh, how do you because you do a lot of solo stuff playing with the band?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: How does it work as far as uh different projects and and I guess what's the differences creatively between playing solo and with the band for you?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so the band, um, I'm working on putting together an acoustic project, but the band is largely an electric circuit country rock band, right?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so with that, that leans more towards the songwriter stuff, um, the Americana side, whereas I don't get to do as much of the traditional folk and acoustic um and banjo-based stuff.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um the bassist, yeah, the bassist in my band is also an old-time bassist and guitar player.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we often do duo stuff together, uh, Lou Fertado, um, who won't be uh coming with me up to Sag Harbor.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so I kind of every other album is an electric songwriter album, then every other one is a more traditional acoustic album with some trad tunes on it and also with some bi-originals.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm actually working on another one that should be out sometime in the spring.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll that'll be great.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: So you're performing, you're opening things up at the uh St.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: David uh Amy Zion Church, which is this amazing historic uh 19th century church, Eastville Avenue in Sack Harbor, part of the Underground Railroad.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: What is that, knowing the history, what does that mean for you as you come to perform there?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's it's really special.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, when I was first offered this, I did not realize um you know all the history behind uh that particular uh church.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it's fascinating.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Greetsboro was also one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, particularly Guilford College uh at the west end of town.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's also special because in my next album I'm sort of starting to deal with kind of some more current events um and social issues, you know, that have changed face over time, but have you know some of them haven't really necessarily changed?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think it's it's gonna be really special to be a part of that.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your work is uh a lot of storytelling as much as music.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see yourself as a writer first, a musician?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: How does it blend together?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Writer first, definitely.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I like to say I'm I'm a halfway decent musician, but primarily a writer.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that's cool.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you said you're working on a new record.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know when you're gonna start recording that, or is it is it written?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: That is written and recorded.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um we just need, yeah, we're in the mixing and mastering stage right now, um, hoping to get it out by next spring.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's gonna be an interesting one.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: There are only there's one original and then one that is mostly original, but very based on a Vlad Willie Johnson blues tune as well.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the chorus is straight from Black Willie Johnson.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um then there'll be a couple traditional tunes that I'm doing in slightly different ways, and then also some regional covers, um, but like folks from the North Carolina and Virginia scene who aren't necessarily well known outside of those states.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think kind of what I'm doing with that is sort of tying together these different threads of what it means to be folk music, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so like both reaching to the roots, but also looking at the communities that we have now that are forming our new uh you know, our new folk world.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: How do you approach the uh kind of the scentless and and your performance in Sang Harbor?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh how do you like design that how do you know what songs to play, or have you thought about it?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'd imagine you have.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: I've thought about it a little bit.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: It'll probably get finalized on the way up there.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's with all of my uh with all of my sets, I do think about kind of what the space is, what the event is.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and the cool thing about sort of having those poll patches to pull from as well as uh you know my own things I've covered plenty of subjects and my own writing too, is that I've sort of got that leeway to shape kind of push that audience to that space.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I do think that there will be some some songs for Tarwater um you know at the performance.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I do think that especially probably the second half of the performance is going to be focusing on some of the more um uh social justice issues that I'm dealing with with this new album, too.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, looking forward to hearing the new record and also seeing you at St.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: David's uh Amy Zion Church to kick off the Saeak Harbor Music Festival uh this year that is happening on Thursday, the twenty fourth at six o'clock.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Colin Cutler, thank you uh for your time.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Nice to get to know you a bit, and uh we look forward to seeing you open up the festival.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, Harry.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks a lot for having me on, and I'm honored to be there and look forward to it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Colin.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great day, and thanks for your time.