On their single “Roam, Little Gypsy,” she said, “I was the first in my friend group in Nashville to get married and have a baby. I was young and my life previously was totally focused on music and partying with my friends. All of a sudden I’m an army wife in Kansas with a newborn. My friend, Margo Price, wrote a song for me at the time, playfully picking on me for domesticating. So when it was her turn a few years later to make the transition into married life and motherhood, I took the opportunity to write a ‘response song.’ The song is about navigating those new concepts and whether you’ll let others define who you’re ‘supposed to be’ as a mother, wife and adult.”
Regarding the song selection process for their new EP, she said, “My musical influences are pretty broad stylistically and even though I tend to write within the ‘Americana’ genre, that is also a broad term that covers a lot of different styles. From what I had already recorded, I picked the five songs that I felt had the biggest country and/or bluegrass underbellies.”
On their future plans, she said, “I plan to record my next batch of songs for sure. I have a pretty sweet basement set up and great players at my disposal, so there is no reason not to make music regularly. I’d love to take these songs on the road as well and do a good batch of shows close to home this summer or fall.”
She listed Neil Young as her greatest musical influence in life. “Neil Young has always been my number one since day one,” she said. “I was lucky enough to have parents who consistently played music in the house and I was introduced to the wonders of rock ‘n’ roll in utero. The Doors, Stones, Beatles, Bowie, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, The Who and lots of Motown- Supremes, Smokey, and Stevie were stand outs for me. I would say my songwriter influences definitely included The Grateful Dead, The Band, Dylan, Gillian Welch, Fleetwood Mac and although it may not sound like it from this EP, I’ve had my obsessions with ELO, Heart, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Of course I love old country and bluegrass, mainly because my mom is a claw-hammer banjo player and all their bluegrass pickin’ friends would hang out at our house.”
Digital transformation of the music business
On the impact of technology on the music business, she said, “Remember that most people are going to be listening to this on computer speakers’ gets said a lot, which is kind of tragic. I really resent having to take anything in consideration when writing music. I don’t want any outside influences to dictate what I write or how I arrange a song- least of all the delivery method, but sadly it is what it is. We resist it, but musicians are having to change the way they record, mix and master to accommodate it.”
She continued, “We’ve gained loads of conveniences but lost some of the humanity of music. Touring with my other band, The Lonely Wild, we’d see people using tracks a lot. I’ve always been really resistant of that. Sometimes it’s necessary and I totally get it if one part of one song is tricky live or would mean dragging around a bunch more equipment – especially when you’re touring in a tiny van. I got really upset though when I’d see an artist essentially singing along with their music. What’s the freaking point? It’s supposed to be a live show. I could stay at home and listen to your track. Luckily it doesn’t seem to be as prevalent a practice in Americana music.”
“I’m not trying to be a dinosaur,” Williams admitted. “Computers can be a great tool for enhancing your music. There has to be a line somewhere though were it stops being music that you created and starts being something a computer did. It’s unfortunate that the majority of people do not seem to care whether you actually play your instrument or record analog or any of the other things we agonize over and dedicate our lives to perfecting. You can use samples for about anything and make it sound good enough and, of course, there aren’t the same limitations involved that you have with a human player. Sometimes I wonder if any of us will be performing in 10 years or if we will all be replaced by DJs.”
On her use of technology in her daily routine as a musician, she said, “I used to have to scramble for a piece of paper and pen while I’d be driving, now I’ll just dictate it into my phone. I still write a lot in my journals because being on the phone or computer can be distracting if notifications are popping up, but at night when that’s less likely I’ll sit and write lyrics in Notes. It’s cleaner that way because I can cut and paste ideas later since I don’t like to stop the flow to edit. Sometimes I’ll write 10 verses for a three verse song. My journals can turn into a scribbly mess and sometimes songs will span over multiple notebooks and forget where I left ideas. I also use voice memos a lot to record song ideas so I don’t forget melodies.”
For her fans, she concluded about “Roam, Little Gypsy,” “Thanks for supporting me on my journey. I hope this song speaks to you in some way.”
To learn more about Jessi Williams & Coyote, check out their official website.
