“I wrote a lot with Stoll Vaughan, who was my songwriting partner. I brought my ideas to him, and he helped me finished them,” he said, about his new EP. “I did a session in Nashville with Steve Cropper, who is obviously a legend. He produced a song, and I did a session with Marc Ford from The Black Crowes.”
He listed “Taking Time” and “Think I’m Doing Well” as his two personal favorite songs on the album, the latter of which has a haunting vibe to it.
On his plans for the future, Betts said, “Devon Allman and I are doing this tour, and we are thinking about doing a record next year and touring on that. We will see what happens. That’s the plan for now. Then, I would like to do a full-length album of my own.”
He listed Ryan Adams and Jack White as his personal favorite songwriters. “Working with them would be cool. Jack White is really innovative,” he said.
Most recently, on July 18, Betts shared that he performed at Beacon Theatre in New York City, where he opened for Dickey Betts and The Marshall Tucker Band. “I had double duty. I opened for them, and I play in my father’s band,” he said.
Digital transformation of the music business
Regarding the impact of technology on the music business, Betts said, “Obviously, people don’t buy records anymore. Everybody just streams, and I do that too. Things are different now than they were 20 years ago. You just adapt with culture and technology. It is really about the artist that needs to be paid for his work. A big part of it is getting the music to the people too. Bands need to tour a lot since they don’t make as many records these days.”
On his use of technology in his music routine, Betts admitted that he is an “old school guy.” “I use old amps and old guitars,” he said. “I like things that have character and sound good to me. I like to experiment with different textures and different sounds. There is a cool way to incorporate ’80s production into modern-sounding material.”
His album Sketches of American Music is available on iTunes.
To learn more about singer-songwriter Duane Betts and his new music, visit his website.
Read More: Digital Journal reviewed Duane Betts’ Sketches of American Music.
