A Conversation with Shaw Wilson of BR549 (continued)

PM: What about Goeff Firebaugh? What kind of a guy is he?

SW: Well, I suppose "classic" is the right word to use, a classic bass player, in that he just--he just got a new bass yesterday. He's been waiting like a year for these guys out in California to make it, the King Double Bass.

PM: Ahh, the King, yeah.

SW: And I haven't seen it yet, but I will soon. And he's just--he's so stoked about it. It's like a new baby or something. But he knows how to continue to do what he really loves to do, that is he's very dedicated and he really goes after the dexterity that it takes to play an instrument like that, and the strength at the same time. And everything else. He's probably the most modern technology person--how do I say that? He's the most proficient at modern technology, partly because he did a stint in the Army and they taught him a lot.

PM: Oh, he's kind of tech-y.

SW: Yeah. So he's my link to the internet, because I'm real stupid about it. I'll learn one of these days, but it hasn't happened yet. [laughs]

[There's a cool interview with Geoff over at Shawn Burrell's site, rockabillybass.com, that gets into the gear side of things.]

PM: It's interesting how some of the ties with your Arista days resurfaced in the current scene, like label and even management affiliations. Isn't that so? I mean, aren't you working now with some people who may even amount to old friends, like Dualtone, or Merrick Macias Management?

SW: Very much so. We had some friends come down from New York City when Arista dissolved. One of our dearest friends, who was an assistant to Clive Davis at the time, and is still a champion for us, called it the Arista Wake, out at Mike Duncan's house. Jeez, when was that? I don't even remember, '98 or something. The conversation was mostly not, "Oh, my God, what are we going to do?" It was kind of sullen because everyone was getting scattered to the wind. So over the next couple years, we'd catch up, like, "Where's so-and-so?" "They're working over at Atlantic." So then Atlantic goes away, and all these different labels. And all these people were still losing their jobs.

But you know what, the people who did the most for us are still in Nashville, still doing what they do best, and they're like we are, in the sense that they do it for all the right reasons, and the whole time we were at Arista we knew that. It was a great label. It just stinks that they had to be dissolved or whatever the hell happened. Well, there's a whole inside story that I don't really feel appropriate about going into, because I don't know if I know all the facts.

PM: Sure.

SW: But it was a very internal, very personal matter between a couple of individuals with a lot of power. And when that happens, heads roll, and it's usually not theirs. And there was no blame or anything on anyone, it was just "We can't afford to make this thing work anymore," or whatever. And basically it was setting the tone for what was to happen subsequently, like losing Atlantic, and losing Decca. Decca Records is country music, all those old 78s and everything.

So these people just kept hanging in there. And years later, everything fell into place. Like Vanessa Davis is our publicist, and she did so much for us. She was just animate and rabid in everything she did for us at Arista. And I think she was at Atlantic, and when that went under, she was kind of moving it around, and she found her way back to us. It just happened. The timing was right, and she's working with us again.

PM: Is she an outside publicist, or is she part of Dualtone?

SW: She and Kay Clary are Commotion Publicity.

PM: Oh, she's with Kay, okay.

SW: Yeah. And very much like Merrick Macias. David Macias was--I don't even know what his title was at Arista, but he was just really, really into what we did, and made it known, and didn't waste any time. I mean, he was very personable, but he's so busy all the time, he just works his butt off.

PM: Yeah. He's a very cool person.

SW: Yeah. And he partnered up with someone we hadn't worked with before, but we've got one at each point, pretty much, and they're all Arista people.

PM: Now, what about the cats at Dualtone? Are some of them Arista people as well?

SW: Yeah, they are. Dan Herrington and Scott Robinson both came out of Arista Austin.

PM: Oh...

SW: And they used to have little cubicles in the new Arista building when this moved over there, and they were just kind of like the bratty cousins or something. [laughs] They had important jobs, but they were the little indie label aspect of Arista. And they were doing a really great job of representing who they were representing. And now that they have their opportunity to run their own label, they put it together, and they've got Grammy Award winning artists.

PM: It's unbelievable. They are the little company that could, now.

SW: Yes, exactly. And it seemed logical--once again some Arista people--because A, we have confidence in them; and B, it feels good. They were up in New York hanging out with us at the Irving Plaza show, and they're fun to hang around with.

PM: And it's just too cool, I mean, the state of country as we know it in Nashville considered, even if hypothetically one said, "Well, if BR549 were to come back, where would they live now?" And you're with that very company! Dualtone would be and is the perfect label for where you're coming from. Imagine one of the majors that still survives trying to align with where you're coming from? They couldn't get there.

SW: Yeah.

PM: Among all the people and the vibes that are left, it's about Dualtone. I'm so glad to see that they found you and you found them. It really is unbelievable the way the story is evolving and unfolding. We're huge fans of Dualtone. That's a real class operation, a real savvy outfit. It interesting, also, how Chuck Mead's involvement with their two tribute albums of Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash's songs may have paved the way or contributed to the process of making Tangled in the Pines.

SW: Yeah. At the time of the nasty breakup, Chuck just dove into that. And I'll say, honestly, I guess my feelings were hurt, because I thought, "Oh, yeah, great, so now it's over, and you're just going to take all the hard work that we put into it and you're just going to go off and be some sort of record executive."

PM: Producer boy, yeah, right.

SW: I mean, I actually told him that. We were having a couple of drinks, and I got animated about it.

PM: [laughs]

SW: And he just went ahead and did it anyway. I'm really glad he did, because in hindsight, once again, I was never unhappy with him doing that, it was only that it pretty much took all of his time. And meanwhile, we were just disappearing--which actually happened. There are still people out there who think we're broken up.

PM: Right.

SW: But Chuck's involvement with the label at that early time enabled us to use the same studio to make our record, and then basically do the same things, like "Okay, here's this CD. You guys like it. You want to put it out?" And they go, "Yeah."

PM: Wow.

SW: And like I said, it's timing. Like Vanessa dropping into our life again, and just the way that things work out. It all makes us feel like we're definitely where we need to be. continue

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