So when we started this site almost exactly three years ago (sigh), one of the bands we seemed to talk about all the time was Bosque Brown, a folk/country influenced group fronted by singer/songwriter Mara Lee Miller. Unfortunately, after a while we didn't hear much from Bosque Brown after Miller decided to take a year long break from music almost entirely. The good news is that Bosque Brown is back with a new album, Baby, due out in March, and plans for more live shows and touring. We sent Mara Lee Miller a few questions via email, and here's what we talked about:
1. To me, you are one of the more interesting and compelling vocalists in Dallas, Fort Worth or Denton. Could you tell us a little bit some of your favorite vocalists, male or female, and how they might have influenced your singing?
I like any vocalist that sounds as if they are really singing from their soul...one whose voice is only theirs ....i like to hear a lot of "heart" ..when the singer just lets it all go....i guess i look for that spiritual element in a voice...one of my favorite singers is josh pearson....his voice is familiar and spiritual and there is no restraint....i also completely love hank williams, judy garland, win butler and cedric bixler-zavala....josh and hank probably have influenced me more on the "texas" side of things..embracing where your from instead of running from it....not to be afraid to be from nothing or nowhere...i grew up with old voices like judy garland...simple songs but so difficult to do well...and win and cedric influence the darker side and even almost somewhat bitter part of things for me..
2. So it seems like you took a fairly long break from performing over the past year or so. Were you writing songs during this time, or were you stepping a bit back from music all together for a while?
It does feel like i have been on a very long break...and i guess we have...i really have done almost no music since we stopped recording last december...i did a few things with different people here and there..but nothing of my own...i really have barely touched my guitar in almost a year...i haven't gone to shows at all either...so it is pretty weird stepping back into things...but i think i needed no music for a while and just to focus on getting things taken care of in my personal life..we have started to practice now for our first live shows..so writing will come soon for me..at least i hope...seems like i tend to either do music or not do it at all...guess i got to be hot or cold about it.
3. Tell us a little bit about the process of writing and recording this latest album. We read that you recorded with Chris Flemmons this time, meaning that you decided not to work with David Bazan and Damien Jurado again, right? Why the change?
Basically all the songs were written but we really did not have arrangements on many of the songs yet.....the few songs we did have arrangements on were older songs that i had just never recorded that i really felt should be on this record....so since the band did not know most of the record i did not think it would be a good idea to record the album out of state..i am tied down to a job and my sister has a child so if we would have gone out of state it would of had to have been for only a short time.....i had gotten to know chris flemmons because we had so much in common and i really loved his music and he expressed interest in doing the record...so since i was so into his taste we decided to go for it...i of course still love the people i worked with before..but it was just a perfect fit with chris this time around and i am completely pleased with what he did..he truly put his heart in the record..he was completely honest with us..if something was boring or not good he told us...so it was an intense process...but i am so glad we listened to the criticisms....i basically decided we were all so different musically that i really did want to work with someone who was going to take more of a producing role..which chris did...i mean i am not ashamed to say it...i am just still very inexperienced with coming up with arrangements and i really needed some help with ti....we had really gotten ourselves stuck in a box on every single song..and he helped us get out...
4. I read that you grew up in Stephenville, which I thought was interesting because a good friend of mine from college grew up there too. Is it really as Varsity Bluesish as I've been told? My friend explained that he almost moved because the high school almost completely cut its arts program for additional football spending. Do you think that the near west Texas culture there had a big influence on you artistically in either a positive or negative way?
What's your friends name?.. that's all us Stephenville people do..talk about people that lived in stephenville..we just sit around and gripe about it..but love it..yes it is as varsity bluesish as you've been told..there are a couple of documentaries to prove it too...oh yeah..everything you hear is true..it's been in the national news quite a bit..especially in the last couple of years...it's a hole you drive in and then you can't see anything or hear anything other than stephenville...you are what's in that hole...and it is self sufficient enough that once you are there....you don't really have to go to the city for anything.....you have to live there to understand...otherwise it sounds like it's made up....it never changes...always stuck in the time...but it made me all that i am .....caused a lot of pain..but it made me search for something else...i knew i was not the people there...but i don't know if i would have searched so hard if i had not been forced to...for a long time i would say it was only negative for me....but now i feel very differently...when i was younger i was very angry at the town and all the people in it and how people were..but now i almost think it's funny....and i somewhat enjoy going back and reading the paper.....and in many ways i grew up very free...we could sleep in the driveway...take a walk at night...ride your bike across town....a trip to the store took a minute...and everyone knew everyone...like one big dysfunctional family....maybe i didn't like them..but it was safe and familiar...nothing to do ..nowhere to go...so you just sit around and talk...not much stimulation....and in a lot of ways..that's the best kind of place to be in to be creative and really think...it is the absence of materialism..now there are things i miss..and i am not angry at people for being backwards...i realize that i can't be offended that people don't understand..we can't all be the same...and i took it for granted but i did grow up with some of the nicest people on earth....my first record focuses more on the negative side of growing up there....took me a long time to "get over it".....this record embraces everything more and ironically a lot of frustrations i sing about now have a lot to do with the city..i guess that's how it goes..
5. We've noticed that you guys have been featured on some fairly influential music blogs lately, including Gorilla vs Bear. Does this excite you as an artist? Do you see it as a good opportunity to spread the word about your music, or do you think "blog buzz" is overrated as far as its ability to generate excitement and/or success for a band?
I mean it's always nice for people to say nice things about you...but i really try not to look at the press or blog stuff to much.....i am pretty sensitive because my music is so personal...and i don't know if i ever really got out of the mentality that i am just this nobody from nowhere who will never fit in anywhere..so it is pretty scary to read stuff...i think it is weird more than anything..i have not done anything in so long..and we are not yet ready to play shows...so it feels like oh yeah..i just remembered i play music....i better get busy. i feel like blogs have a huge influence on the success of bands if they are truly a good band... i mean...i feel the internet has completely changed music..it's anyone's game now...and the right mention can make a huge difference...i got a record before i even played my first show just because someone mentioned my name...i do feel like a lot of the blog buzz is overrated in the instances when the band mentioned is just a trend band...i mean yeah..they can be huge for a year or maybe few..but if it's a trend..then it won't last....but i mean i feel like the blogs have a lot to do with success...i do think who talks about you is important ...but ultimately i think if a band is really good..they will eventually get heard and be successful even if they are not a "blog buzz" band....it just might be a different kind of success...
6. Obviously much of the music that has influenced your song-writing is very traditional. What kind of connection do you feel with older Texas blues/country/folk artists, and why do you think this music continues to resonate with so many people today?
i just think love it or hate it..if you come from a small town in Texas it never leaves you....and when you hear other people singing about the same things you felt and knew then it draws you in...i think people are drawn to what is familiar and ultimately what reminds them of family..at least i am
7. Aside from releasing your upcoming record soon, what are your immediate plans for Bosque Brown?
we really don't have any concrete plans.....this year will be really interesting actually..i have a career outside of music..my sister has a child now and my drummer lives in Austin....none of us live in the same town...so just trying to practice is a chore....so honestly we are taking it a day at a time..of course we do have some shows coming up...and we will definitely be trying to have the record released in Europe as well..i would love to tour and God willing we'll do it....so we will just have to see....
THURSDAY Artists talk with Daniel Rozenberg (DMA) 7:30pm Rozenberg is the lead artist of Dadara, responsible for the show at Centraltrak on Saturday.
FRIDAY Rusty Scruby (The MAC) 5:30-7:30 pm I think that the MAC and Pan American shows are actually one exhibit, with the MAC housing Scruby's larger installations.
SATURDAY Checkpoint Dreamyourtopia (Centraltrak) 5-10 pm (doors close at 9 pm) This is a performance art installation from Dutch artist collective Dadara. I'm a little confused as to what exactly will happen, but you are supposed to bring a 2x2 passport photo and fill out "immigration forms." Also, bring $4 and get there by 9pm.
Vacant Spaces (Marty Walker) 6-8 pm The work of Ted Kincaid, Barry Anderson, Lisa Grossman, and Casey Rae.
Susan Barnett, Matt Clark, and Jules Buck Jones (Conduit) 5-8 pm
Kana Harada: Kodama-Spirit of the Trees (Mighty Fine Arts) 6-9 pm
Also check out Sarah Lucas at Goss-Michael, Vicious Pink at Centraltrak, and the multi-artist show at Public Trust, which all close by the end of the month.
El Paso Hot Button | The Black | Ume (The Lounge) This is almost the tenth time in three years (Wow, three years, really?) that we have listed El Paso Hot Button on a show, so I'll spare you any redundancy, but at least mention that some of the tracks have a quieter 60's psych-sound I wasn't expecting, which is a welcome departure from the usual riff-focused material heard from this project. Ume is one of those bands that never quite does it for me, they are one of many bands that gets lost in this "sea of ordinary" where many bands find themselves; competent at their instruments and they seem tasteful enough, but somehow everything just comes out as the audio equivalent of Diet Sprite. These words are hard for me to type since they seem a little pointlessly harsh, but I'm what I'm supposed to say after hearing 40,000 bands like this? In any event, I wish them great success, because the odds are stacked against you when you're in a straight-forward rock band, and I mean that with all sincerity.
Mad Swirl | Swirve (Absinthe) I first caught Swirve almost a decade ago, and they put on an impressive show in a rather unlikely place: The Bone in Deep Ellum. I saw them again this past month at The Lounge, and they were still good, mixing horns and drums in either an improvisation that sounded meticulously planned, or a meticulous plan that sounded improvised. In either case, the music is pretty good and even kept the meat-heads interested. Why are instrumental acts automatically considered "experimental?" I can name ten off the top of my head (Explosions In The Sky being the daddy of them all) that basically play children's music.
ADD: Sun Club/Females | Yeah Def (Hailey's) Sun Club will be spinning Chicago and French house, Detroit techno, microhouse and disco. Sorry, internet is acting a little strange today, so we can't add links at the moment.
I went to see the final show at Brooke Berman Gallery a couple of weekends ago without really putting a lot of forethought into what would be there. I was stunned by the greatness of this guy Josh Fletcher's work. His new web site isn't up and running yet so I'm interspersing a few images from his current show in this week's episode of Greatness...
Richardson Heights: What is your favorite color?
Josh Fletcher: I do not have one favorite color - I mainly enjoy they way colors interact in relationship to each other. If I had to seclude my self to one color I would still be stuck saying I like many different shades of green.
RH: What is your studio situation like right now?
JF: I bought a house in January of this year - so I have a lot of open space to work with - I mainly work in my garage, but I do have a separate room set aside for painting and storing of my artwork.
RH: What do you feel when you tell non-artists that you're an artist?
JF: I always enjoy running into new faces; artist and non-artist alike - I think my biggest reaction to telling someone I am artist would be the expectation from that individual to always have to explain my "style" or genre of art - where I show work - and then I normally have to hear a short story, of sorts, about their art past.
RH: How do you go about managing your inventory of completed works?
JF: As of now I have a stock pile of older paintings - they stay neatly packed away for reference and to be reused for frames or ideas. I use my home as my own private gallery most of the time, which tends to drive my wife a little crazy.
RH: I'd like to know how you did that crackly background job in some of the painting in your current show at Brooke Berman. It looks like the effect of varnish when put on oil paint before its dried. How did you do it with acrylics?
JF: I can't explain my way of making this happen, it is my little secret - let's just say if you really look into it and go to the right stores anyone could figure it out - it is just a matter of application after that point - and generally adds an extra 2 days to your timeline for that painting.
RH: Can you tell us about your process in developing the rich geometric background areas in your paintings?
JF: I started developing my backgrounds from suburban neighborhood schematics / blueprints - and actually the semicircle-like lines that are in a few of my pieces are taken from @ symbol, which initially developed from my concept of technology as a major influence in my work - Most of all I wish to display a static image juxtaposed in a vibrant color ground that makes my selected imagery jump off the canvas.
RH: Would you talk a bit about where you find the "illustrative influences" for the subject of your paintings?
JF: I scan through many unrelated picture books, comics, illustrated novels, and online library resources to narrow down my search. I am constantly exploring forgotten artist who may have never gained recognition in their own lifetime. These artists illustrated and conceptualized many great stories that reached out to many people throughout a multitude of generations, then later to me in my paintings. I really champion the illustrative work produced during the turn of the century in America, Germany and Holland. In saying this I mean that this style or type of illustration holds a certain sense of implication or meaning, portrayed from that time period that is weighted in its subject matter and can easily be relatable to happenings of our day to convey an overall message of unrest or discontent that I strive to bring out in my work.
Josh's work is currently on display at Brooke Berman Gallery through some time in January.
Off With Their Heads | Baconator | Negaduck | Over Stars And Gutters (1919 Hemphill) Off With Their Heads and Over Stars And Gutters (Damn these long names) are the two touring acts, and they are almost indistinguishable from one another. The opening samples on their respective Myspace pages sounded like they had the exact same stock melodic punk riff. I just can't handle that, and I usually escape out of the page before the vocals even start. Anyways, the two locals are both much better; Negaduck has a very teenage-sounding vocalist, and that's not an insult since blind hardcore rage sounds more believable the younger you are, unless you're Negative Approach. And finally, I'm willing to admit that Baconator might have some of the same issues I brought up with the touring acts if I were to hear a recording, but they were great live.
Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge) Tonight's guests are Blake Ward and Van Damme.
Somewhere in my brain, I've always compared the evolution of the Sly and the Family Stone discography to that of a party. The early records are the arrival of the guests, first drinks, fun conversation, maybe dancing for those that are so inclined. "Stand" represents the drunken, albeit well-meaning, argumentative phase, while "There's a Riot Goin' On" is the hazy freak out that everybody loved but nobody quite remembers. I suppose that, following this logic, 'Fresh' is the paranoid, introspective thoughts that are going through your head after all of the fun has worn off and you can't sleep because the sun is coming up and the people fucking in the other corner of the room aren't even trying to be quiet about it.
And a Bonus--
What a shitty week for music. Animal Collective get their asses kissed worldwide, Florian Schneider leaves Kraftwerk, AND fucking Ron Asheton dies!
I bought the first Stooges record when i was 13 or 14 years old and played the shit out of it. I remember listening to 'i wanna be your dog' and coming to the realization that you don't have to play like Hendrix or Kirk Hammett or even J Mascis to pull off kick ass guitar solos. That song in particular (and the rest of the record) was a fucking life changer for me. Thank you Mr. Asheton, RIP.
Merriweather Post Pavilion Listening Party (the Cavern) Looks like the Cavern will be the place to be tonight, weather and all, as Gorilla vs Bear's Chris Cantalini teams up with Radio UTD and Domino Records for a listening party for Animal Collective's latest record, Merriweather Post Pavilion, which will be released this week on vinyl and MP3 download. After reading today's Pitchfork review of the record (9.6) and having heard quite a bit about in the past few weeks (including some empirical research with my own downloaded copy), I just have to wonder aloud what everyone is getting so excited about. Is this a good record? Yes, it's a good record. Is it worth a 9.6 rating? I have no fucking clue. I guess so. I don't know. I don't care. Pitchfork's ratings are maybe 1/10th as important as they used to be, and frankly, their reviews usually make me hate whatever album they're talking about anyway. Just look at this shit from today's review:
"The lyrics focus on the body, basic human connection, the need to take care of oneself, the puzzle of existence. Where the churning electronic sound, with its fizzes and echoes and underwater cast, brings to mind altered states and the confusing gap between the familiar and the strange, the words seem like a running commentary on the essential mystery of being alive."
Really, guy? Are you kidding me? I enjoy writing like a dickhead more than anyone else I know (Other than DL, duh), but let us actually sit here for a second and analyze what the fuck those sentences are supposed to mean. Or let's not. The point is that I could care less what Panda Bear's thoughts are concerning the "running commentary on the essential mystery of being alive," and if that's really what Animal Collective intended this record to be about, then I'll just pretend that they're singing in gibberish or something. Look, Animal Collective is a good band. They're a fairly interesting band. They used to be better but they're still good. I've been reading overblown reviews and blog comments on this record for the past few weeks, many of which involved the authors placing bets on what rating Pitchfork would give it, how many year end lists it would end up on, whether it will be the record of the year or if Grizzly Bear or Arcade Fire will "beat it out" or if Panda Bear will formally release some remix album of all the songs that will actually be better than the album and blah blah blah. This record isn't going to change the world, and honestly, it sounds pretty much like the last Animal Collective and Panda Bear solo records, which, last time I checked, were only "revolutionary" to 16 year olds who hadn't had a chance to discover the group's influences just yet. So love this band all you want, but if I'm supposed to care about the fake blog media storm that Animal Collective's PR agency has created about their above average new album, then I quit.
Oh, and I'm not sure if this will be downstairs and Cool Out will be upstairs or what. Maybe someone in the know can tell us in the comment section.
MON: Blueberry Fist/Rocket for Ethiopia/Roy Robertson/I Am Skogo (1919 Hemphill) WED: El Paso Hot Button/The Black/UME (The Lounge) SAT: Tunneldigger/Language of Light/Echo-Toll (Knight House) SAT: Byron House/Small Pox/Halves & Thirds/Husere Grav (House of Tinnitus) SAT: Vega/Genova (The Cavern) SAT: The Angelus/History at Our Disposal/Dust Congress/Timeline Post (Rubber Gloves)
I don't know what any of you lame asses did for NYE, but I had a blast and I hope you did too. I'm still kind of recovering from it all, but shit, it's the weekend, and I'll totally keep rockin' in 09'. The scene waits for no man, my man. This one doesn't have a lot of commentary as we've decided to pretty much take the rest of this week off, but we'll be rested and ready to go with more 2008 year end coverage starting Monday, so stay tuned. PS-- we wanted to thank everyone for reading and making 2008 the biggest and best year we've had so far. Here's to another year of pissing off the people in Dallas who think they run shit:
Strike A Pose (Green Elephant) This is a collaboration between Unit One and Central Booking to celebrate Select's birthday, featuring DJ sets from Select, Keith P and Vega (Alan Palomo). Should be the place to be in Dallas on Saturday.
