| Westbound |
| |
|
| |
Phillip Hong
August 6, 2012 |
| |
| Anyone can scrawl a few words on a piece of paper and call themselves a
singer-songwriter, but Westbound has proven that there's more to
music than just words and a melody. |
| |
| Your latest album "Now & Then" is mostly made up of the classics. Was it the love
of the music that persuaded you to record a new approach to these songs? |
| |
| The album "Now & Then" is what we call our "respect" album. The songs on the album
were very carefully chosen, certainly for the love of the music, but there's also a
deep-seated respect for these songwriters and their place in the continuum of music. These
songs have helped us continue to find our voice, and it's our hope that people who listen
and like the songs go search out the original songwriter, to learn more about them. These
folks are all very important to us, and it is a joy to be able to share what we know of their
work with others. |
| |
| Musical successes as of late have been mainly focused on pop. Do you believe that
roots and Americana could become a more popular style of music? |
| |
| It's our belief that roots and Americana will likely not see the massive popularity and
subsequent homogenization as so many of the pop styles of music, and as you might guess, we
believe that's a good thing. |
| |
| Roots and Americana is folk music, and folk music has its roots in the everyday life of
working class folks. So much of the popularity of the highest-grossing pop entertainers is based
on grooming them into a salable product, making them younger and more exciting, all to make the
most money possible. Roots music is not about being a groomed product or maximizing income,
it's about being simple and honest. As such, we don't believe it will ever be the popularity
contest that higher-grossing forms of music are, but like we said... that's a good thing. Roots
musicians and their fans have an deep appreciation for life at the working class level, and
that's a wonderful thing. |
| |
| The interview continues
here. |
| |
| You can find out more about Westbound and their touring
dates at www.thewestboundband.com. |
