Hailing from Virginia, singer-songwriter Rob Cheatham recently released his new album, Villains and Ghosts, which paints detailed, real portraits of American life that connect with the listener. Here, Cheatham answers his Essential 8 and talks about songwriting, "mid-level band hell," Carole King, and more.
Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? All of the above. My favorite songs are the really descriptive ones with lots of complete sentences and vivid pictures. So when I write, it usually starts with something from my own life, but then I pull from things I've seen or day dreamed about and I try to describe them with detail so you immediately know whats going on. What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician? My friend Peter Griesar told me not to worry about being interesting or hip. "just do what you do, really well. Just get really good at the thing you do." I think he was absolutely right, be yourself and work hard at making that awesome. Do you have any touring tips? So we've taken to calling it "Mid-Level band hell" - playing medium sized clubs all over the place, looking for a little momentum. I have two pieces of advice on touring. 1. Advil. 2. Give it a few days before you freak out. The first couple days are pretty shitty. but, usually, after that, you kind of get used to things. so no big decisions in the first three days. What has been your biggest struggle so far? My biggest struggle so far is definitely getting people to hear the music. When they listen, they like it. But getting in front of the appropriate audience is tricky. You can have any kind of music you want, instantly. But getting them to click on your song almost requires a sales/marketing person. What has been your biggest success? Definitely playing at The Kennedy Center last August. It was a dream come true and an honor to have performed there. What’s your dream venue and why? 9:30 Club in DC. I've seen some amazing shows there and had the good fortune to be on stage there once with a friend's band but never my own show. It's the perfect size, the sound is insane, and your close enough to the audience to look into their eyes. Favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended? My first concert was Carole King in 1992. My mom wanted to go so she took me with her, and looking back it's fairly ironic because what I most want to be remembered for is songwriting, and Carole King is one of the best songwriters of all time. And she was awesome. Song (of yours) you wish you would have released as a single and why? So, I was lucky enough to have 2 singles off my last record Colors, and though I love both of them I kind of regret not releasing the song "King". It has a bad word in it so we had to make an edited version. I listened to some other peoples opinions instead of trusting my gut. Now I'll never know what the reaction would have been. Bandcamp/Facebook
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |