Cat Clyde – Good Bones

By starrymag | August 25, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) I really love old folk and blues artists like Karen Dalton and Lightning Hopkins. There are so many artists that have and continue to influence me!

 

Q) How did you come to decide to create an all acoustic album?

A) I was touring for a long time solo and I wanted to capture the vibe of those solo performances.  My albums are mostly full productions with a band and some of my favorite recordings of all time are just guitar and vocal, so I really wanted to do something like that.

 

Q) What was the process for selecting songs off your other albums that you wanted to take on acoustically for this one?

A) I mostly just chose the ones that I really enjoy playing.  It felt really easy and I didn’t think too much about it.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Mama Said.”

A) This song is quite old for me and was written about a time in my life when many changes were happening. The album version is very special to me because the experience of creating it was momentous and memorable to me.  Doing an acoustic version was also special to me because I’ve been playing it that way, in its original form, on the road so long and I’m really happy to be releasing it this way!

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I think people can connect with feeling a loss of self through change.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) I generally just try to write as much as I can and collect certain phrases or poems that I really like to use in the future or sometimes full songs can come out when I’m playing around on my guitar.  There’s no real formula. I just try to show up for inspiration.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) I am very much involved in the production of my music. It’s really important for me to approve every detail and make sure things are feeling good for me.  I also think it’s very important to get other perspectives on your music, but I really have to love something to decide to release it.

 

Q) How do you shake off a long day in the studio?

A) I am the type of person who has a hard time shutting off from things, especially when they are productive and inspiring.  Walking really helps me to wind down from work in general, as well as just doing some general self-care stuff like washing my face or getting into my bath robe.

 

Q) What songs on the album hold a special place in your heart and why?

A) I think all the songs hold a piece of my heart as they are all an expression of how I feel, but I think releasing “All The Black” acoustically was special to me because I wrote it when I was seventeen years old and the way I played it on this record was the songs original form.  It’s a version I love very much.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your album Good Bones as a whole?

A) I hope it makes them feel however they need to feel.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) I really love performing in Europe as the audiences there are really passionate about music and very respectful of a performance. There were some really incredible silences I felt playing there where it was almost eerie how attentive and quiet the people were. I also always love playing in Colorado, as the people are so excited about music and are really supportive.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Bobbie Gentry

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

A) Trouble is a Lonesome Town – Lee Hazelwood.  It’s a strange record where he tells these odd stories before each song.  The songs are really simple but all so good.  I’m really obsessed with this record right now.

 

Q) What advice would you give to upcoming songwriters? 

A) Don’t try.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) These are the times we live in.  It’s pretty incredible that you can send a message to any person in the world and that there’s a pretty solid chance they will read it. Everyone uses social media and everyone is connected by their phones, which are generally on people at all times…pretty crazy.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I am extraordinarily grateful for all the support and love I receive from my fans.  If it wasn’t for those people, I wouldn’t be able to do music full time.  For that I will be forever full of gratitude for all the people who buy my music and share it with others, my followers, everyone who buys tickets to my shows, everyone who buys merch and anyone that gets something out of one of my songs.