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9 Questions to Newport: Gregory Alan Isakov

A lot of “folk/roots” artists dwell in the city, dress like farmers, sing about ploughs…strange, right? I am not sure that Gregory dresses like a farmer from 1890, or all his songs are about living on the farm, but if they were it would be warranted. When I got a hold of him he apologized by saying “Sorry man, I was running a tractor and I lost track of time…it was so loud I didn’t hear my phone.” Quite frankly, after listening to his music, this guy can write about whatever the hell he wants I am sure to eat it up.

A beautiful songwriter, with a keen sense of the world around him. His voice is breathtaking, his arrangements are great. Just an all around fantastic musician and performer. I got to catch up with Gregory for about 20 minutes to talk about Newport and life. I wish  I could have been out in Colorado in the sun and talked for about another 6 hours. He seems like  genuine and kind fella, a hard worker and dedicated to his craft.

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1)      For the fine folks who may not be as familiar with your work, how would you sum up your sound in a short phrase?

GAI: I don’ t know really, there are so many different types of genres and sounds that are intermingling these days. Lately whenever someone asks “what kind of music does you band play or what kind of music do you write?”,  I always just say “I make songs!” I don’t know, I just feel like I have kind of stopped doing that whole “genre” thing after a while.

2)      What projects are you currently working on or have you recently released?

GAI: My last record was called ‘The Weatherman’, and I put that out almost a year ago, so we have been touring on that now and last fall we had a chance to play a show with the Colorado Symphony and we worked on all of those arrangements for almost a year and we are going to be putting out a live record of that. It’s be really fun and a totally different experience for me. It has been really awesome.

3)      Newport Folk is celebrated for its collaborations, community and bringing folks together for a weekend where they may not see each other otherwise. How do you feel about that preservation of unity and family sentiment in the folk music community?  How does it play into your own music and where you come from? Is there a “scene” or community that you feel especially attached to?

GAI: Oh yeah! All of my closest friends are in bands, and we all share band members. Half my band plays with Nathaniel Rateliff and we are really close friends. There’s always really great music going on in Denver with a ton of really great bands. They are all really close. I think it’s one of the most thriving music communities I have found, in the country at least.  (mentioned Boston) Yeah! Boston is like that as well. I know a bunch of guys I have played with from there. You know Zachariah Hickman? I have been able to play with him for a while on tour with Josh Ritter. There are just some great musicians in Boston.  (mentioned our Locals Covering Locals recording project) Oh man, that’s rad! (funded by Harvard Square’s Club Passim). I love Passim, that place could really be the ‘community center’ for music.

 

5780160196_e23bbe4bb5_z4)      Favoritemoment on stage from your career?  Amazing experience playing to a solid out crowd, just something that clicked?

GAI: I have been lucky and found a bunch of those in the past 5 years. I am always really surprised that I even get to do this at all. It is truly amazing to me. Even playing a tiny show in the south or when we are at a big theatre. I have the same kind of sense of reverence. It’s just unbelievable that people come out and spend their money and drive just to hear my songs. It blows my mind. There hasn’t been just one moment that makes me say “THIS is why I do this”. There are good nights and bad nights, but the good nights…when the audience feels like they kind of lose themselves in the moment. When the crowd is just still. That’s when I feel like I’ve won.

5)      If you could collaborate with someone at the Newport Folk Festival, who would it be?

GAI: Oh yeah. I think I am doing a little collaboration (at one of the after party shows). I can’t remember if I will be there in time. They wrote me and I said that sounds great! I am sure something like that will happen even if we aren’t able to do that. Sometimes I only know my schedule the day before. I run a farm out here in Colorado so when I am home, I am kind of out of the “road mind”.

6)      1 record that shaped you when you first started playing and 1 record or artists that you are now/are listening to now that you think folks really need to hear about?

GAI: A particular record that inspired me to write? Oh man, so many. I grew up on Simon and Garfunkel, old Nick Drake and old folk music. But also, Michael Jackson, I was like his biggest fan (laughs).  And I was just obsessed with music when I was little. There have been monumental records over the years that changed me as an artist. Like Beck “Sea Change”, I use that as a reference record for a lot of recordings. And, uh, a lot of Old Time music, Jazz, and a lot of heavy indie rock too.

There’s a lot of those too (locals). Most of my friends play music. That’s what I listen to the most. Johan Wagner, Ron Scott, Reid Fail, my good friend Nathaniel Rateliff, Blue Book. A lot of local Denver bands are just amazing. There’s just so many. It’s crazy how much good music is out there, some of my favorite songwriters are my best friends. That’s a good feeling.

7)      So, why is creating music important to you? Why do you hit the stage night after night, pull out the old song notebook every day, or whatever else you do to let loose your creativity?

GAI: I think, for me, I don’t think I would do it unless I felt like I had to. There is just something in me that says “I have to do this. Because, it’s kind of a pain in the ass (laughs). Traveling around and everything. I guess I just have never found anything that feeds me like music. It just kind of fills my soul and it satisfies me in a way. It’s hard to describe in words. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel the urgency to be creative. You know, it’s almost food or medicine or something. I have a hard time with it, I don’t want to be famous. and there’s a lot of things “around” it that are kind of weird. So I guess I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel like I needed to do it.

8)      Aside from music, do you have any other pastimes? What would you want people to know about you aside from your musical endeavors?

GAI: I love working on my van and learning about cars and parts. Gardening, obviously. I went to school for horticulture so it’s a big passion of mine. Gardening is a big one for sure. I like just making stuff and working with my hands. Don’t even care what it is sometimes. That creative part of me tends to just be so big, that whether I’m on a banjo or a guitar or using a saw, I can get something out of it.

9)      Anything else you want to plug or we should know?

GAI: We are doing another show later this summer, July 17, at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony again. That will be cool…that’s pluggable right? (laughs). We are doing it with our friends, Divachka, this other Colorado band. They will be with the symphony as well.

Gregory Alan Isakov is a hell of a guy. A really nice gent and one heck of a songwriter. Make sure you catch him Sunday at the Fort.

Check our Gregory online at: http://gregoryalanisakov.com/

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