Charlie Faye is a bit different, I'd say. A graduate who then turns to music. A tour with 10 stops, over 10 months. And a passion to 'stand up to the man' to save some Austin heritage. Indie Sounds caught up with her on the road, to find out more about her travels in life and music.
Photo by Alix Klingenberg
Indie Sounds: You just released your Travels With Charlie album. Tell us how it came to be?
Charlie Faye: Well, I have kind of a love-hate relationship with traditional touring. I love traveling and playing music, but I've always hated that you only get to stay in each city for one night. Touring that way, you never really get to see the places you're going, and you never get to really know anyone along the way. So, I decided to try something kind of different last year - I would tour, but I would settle into each city I went to for a full month. I lived in 10 different towns over 10 months, and I put together a band in each place.
Making a record wasn't an intention from the get-go. I was just going to do this crazy tour. But my first month, in Tucson, AZ, I had written this song, Broken Heart Maker, and I played it for my friend Sergio Mendoza. Sergio plays keys for Calexico, and he suggested that we get a few of those guys into the studio to record my new song. So we did. And then I decided I wanted to do the same thing in each city I lived in - record a new songs with local musicians, and make a record out of it.
IS: Which cities did you visit on your travels, and which songs resulted from each?
Charlie: Tucson (Broken Heart Maker), Los Angeles (Whirlwind), Portland (I recorded up in Vashon Island with Ian Moore that month - Undertow), Boulder (Shadow to Eclipse), Shreveport (recorded in Lafayette, though - Girl Who Cried Love), Burlington (Bitterness), Milwaukee (Obvious to Me), Nashville (Two-Timer), Asheville (didn't record that month), and New York (Lone Ranger). I also recorded two songs back in Austin at the end of the tour - Weight of the Neighborhood, and Heartaches and the Old Pains.
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IS: So how much pre-planning did you do to figure out which cities, and who to team up with to perform with? How seat-of-the-pants was it?
Charlie: It was pretty seat-of-the-pants most of the time! Usually, I would choose a city about three months before I was going to go there, and then I would start working on booking. If booking didn't work out for that city, then I would still have time to try another one. Two months in advance, the gigs would be booked.
About one month in advance, I would start looking for a place to live in the next city, which could happen in a number of ways. Sometimes, it was a friend of a friend who had a place they could lend me. Other times, it was more random - like, when I was looking ahead to Tucson, and I emailed the owner of a yoga studio to get their new class schedule. She wrote me back saying she was sorry but she wouldn't be there when I was there - she was going to be in India for the month of January, studying with the Iyengars. So I asked her if she needed someone to sublet her place for the month! And I ended up with my very own little adobe house in the Barrio Viejo. Once I got to a city, I would start meeting musicians and recruiting for my band. That was always one of my favorite parts of the month.
IS: Backtracking, what's the quick-ish musical history of Charlie Faye?
Charlie: Well, I didn't start playing music until after I graduated from college. I had moved back to New York with a degree in psychology, but something possessed me to get a mandolin. I started going to bluegrass jams down at the Baggot Inn. And around the same time I also started singing and playing a little guitar. I met a guy named Greg Garing, who was kind of a local country/bluegrass legend, and he asked me to be in his band. It was the best musical education I could have asked for. Greg introduced me to all kinds of music I never would have found on my own, and he taught me how to sing harmonies, and really, how to perform. I learned a lot from just watching him.
Playing with Greg, I became a much stronger musician, and I started writing my own songs too. I put together a band in New York and started playing at clubs like the Living Room and Rockwood. I was really just getting my sea legs as a performer, and a writer. I got a gig touring with Dan Zanes and Friends, playing guitar and mandolin and singing. Best job I've ever had. Playing for kids is a hundred times more rewarding than playing for adults. No offense, adults! But I'm sure you know what I mean. The kids are held in thrall by the music. They dance and they sing along and they just completely feel it - there's no self-consciousness. And that rubs off on you as a performer. You can be a lot freer on stage.
When I knew the Zanes tour was coming to an end, I decided this was my opportunity to leave my hometown and try something new. I had been to Austin a couple of times and loved it. I felt like there was a real sense of community amongst the musicians - it was a town packed with incredibly talented people who didn't seem to feel like they were in competition with each other. So I moved to Austin and put together a band here, and focused on writing and getting my career as a solo artist off the ground. I made a record called Wilson Street in my first few years in Austin. Aaaand... that's the quick-ish story!
IS: You've performed CD release gigs in Austin and NYC and are now on a promo tour. How's it been?
Charlie: Well. Like I said, I have a love-hate relationship with touring. The record release shows in Austin and New York were both amazing. I love playing at Momo's and at Rockwood 2, and my Austin and New York bands and fans really came through for me! But the rest of the touring has been kind of exhausting - lots of driving, place to place, night after night. I feel like I want to go back to the month-at-a-time residency method!
IS: And post tour, what's on the agenda when you get back to Austin?
Charlie: When I get a little time to be still back in Austin, I'm going to start focusing on the Wilson Street Cottages Project again. There is a little group of cottages in South Austin that have been housing for musicians and artists since the 70s. Developers have been threatening for years to destroy this creative enclave in order to put up another high-end condo project. Since about three years ago, I've been involved in an ongoing struggle to preserve these cottages and their rich musical history. You can read more about the whole thing here.
And I'll be writing, of course. And maybe get a dog. We'll see if I can keep myself home for more than a month at a time! A warning to all you young musicians out there - once you start touring, it's hard to stop!
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