Head Or Tail
Nick MacMahon, Staff
What’s your musical philosophy?
To be authentic and to try to reach people in a way that makes them not feel alone.
What’s your musical style?
Roots-folk-alt-country
Who or what are your influences?
My musical influences are Patty Griffin, the Weepies, Gillian Welch, Tom Petty, Sarah Harmer, Johnny Cash, Ryan Adams, Solomon Burke, Weeping Tile, Kathleen Edwards, Feist, Tom Waits, etc.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by moments in my life or the lives of those around me. I’m inspired by the feeling I get when I wake up exhausted for no good reason at 5:30 a.m. and can write faster and more clearly than ever before, through a cloud of hope and tears. I’m inspired by good friends, great music and family.
Who’s in the band?
I sing and play acoustic guitar and, for the last year and a half, I’ve been lucky enough to work with Brian James, who plays banjitar, guitars, ukelele and sings BGVs.
How do you deal with performance anxiety?
I’ve been lucky enough to not have much performance anxiety anymore. I feel the most myself when I’m singing, so I look forward to any opportunity that I have to do that. I feel more anxiety with talking to people before and after shows because, by nature, I’m a shy person. I love to sing, though and, as crazy as it was to get myself out onto stage the first few times, I know this is where I’m meant to be.
Is support from family and friends important to you?
I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of support from family and friends. It goes all the way back to when my parents showed up at my college to bring me a guitar to learn so that I could back myself up as a singer. I since have been really lucky to be totally supported by my husband Brent [JL1]and my son Kai. They have given up a lot for me to pursue this as a career and it means the world to me.
Do you have a responsibility as a composer to advance the art form?
My number one priority as a musician is to be totally authentic. I try to write honestly and from the heart. I want to connect with people. I want them to not feel alone. At the same time, I want to be really good at what I do. So, I wouldn’t say I want to advance the art form per se, I just want to be authentic and put out interesting music that, style-wise, is different than the norm.
What’s your musical philosophy?
Feel it, don’t think it. Play like your dying.
What’s your musical style?
No FX [JL2]roots “Rawk ’n’ Roll.”
Who or what are your influences?
Musically, I cut my teeth on Springsteen, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and John Prine and really just followed the road from there. Books, movies, friends, and I’m fortunate to come from a great family, which used to be a pain in the ass, but now I’m grateful.
What inspires you?
Farmers, immigrants, people who care about an issue and do something about it. I just finished reading Romeo Dallaire’s Shake Hands with the Devil. That’ll give your head a shake.
Who’s in the band?
Brother Ryan Maier plays slide, lead and rhythm guitars; Brother Jeromy Van Dusen plays the bass; Brother Anthony Giancola hammers the skins and UFOs.
How do you deal with performance anxiety?
When I started playing I drank a lot, but now, 98 per cent of the time, I feel like the stage is exactly where I want to be and the fear dissipates when my boots hit the boards. When it does happen, though, you’ve just got to fight your way through it. Gut rattles are good, it means you care.
Is support from family and friends important to you?
Artistically, no, but in every other way, immensely and immeasurably. I don’t know how many couches I’ve surfed, free meals and lodging I’ve been the recipient of, or free rides I’ve ridden while finding my way to the here and now. I come from a blue-collar, working-class background, where bullshit doesn’t fly, merit is earned, and that helps keep things close to the bone.
Do you have a responsibility as a composer to advance the art form?
No, because I don’t see myself as an innovator. Of course I want get better at my craft, but the music I play or “art form” is really spiritually the same thing played by my great-grandfather sitting around on a Saturday night, only I’ve got an amp, a tube screamer, a telecaster and an ass-kicking band. So, my tools are different. A hundred years ago, they just played music as it was passed down to them, interpreted it and played how they felt it, without a sense of responsibility to anything other than that moment and the people they were playing for. I feel responsible to that.
