A Conversation with Travis Good of The Sadies (cont.)

PM: So when was it that you guys started to turn around, got out of your respective punk bands, started getting along and playing some country inflected music?

TG: Well, the Sadies were pretty edgy when they first started.

PM: Yeah, that's right--I don't have some of those early records. But they were pretty tough, weren't they?

TG: A little bit, yeah.

PM: I've got to get those.

TG: The band started just as a two-piece. It was Dallas and Sean. And it pretty much started when those two guys both got acoustic instruments for the first time. They were both in punk rock bands. And Sean bought an upright bass one day, and Dallas got my dad's old dobro. And then they got a gig offered to them, I think it was that same week, to open for the John Spencer Blues Explosion in Toronto. And the two of them just went up with their acoustics and did all Carl Perkins songs, calling themselves The Sadies.

And then they started to get a little more electric. And then I started to get a little bit of time on my hands. I was playing with The Good Brothers, and I had a little off time, so I started to play fiddle with them. And from there it just got progressively less rock, I guess, a little more acoustic-y.

PM: So was there any all-acoustic period?

TG: I think just that first show.

[laughter]

PM: Right from those days, did you guys find it easier to get along? Or are you traditional brothers in that you duke it out plenty and it's plenty edgy?

TG: No, we've learned. We used to duke it out plenty, and we've kind of learned when to cool it. You've got to know when to walk away. And we're starting to really get good at that. We've had the blowout thing, "I'll never work with you again."

PM: Right.

TG: But then ultimately, two weeks later, it's like, "Well, what am going to do then?"

[laughter]

TG: We came to the agreement that we don't want to ever do that again, so we know when to step aside.

PM: What do you like best about working with Dallas?

TG: What do I like best about it? That's a good question. I've never been asked that. Let me think. Well, one thing, though I would say this more from the listener's point of view, but I guess certainly singing together, brothers have a sound. I'm sure not trying to compare us to anything like the Everly Brothers or any other amazing brother singers, but there is a sound of two brothers, of siblings singing together.

PM: There's no question. I mean, it's a matter of DNA.

TG: Yeah. I think it really helps, it makes it a lot easier. You don't have to be a great singer, and you can have some great sounds with sibling voices.

PM: It's just a question of a blend. And yeah, I think there's a lot of great singing from the brothers on the new record, on Favourite Colours.

TG: Oh, thank you.

PM: I mean, it's way sing-ier than Stories Often Told.

TG: Way, way. If you listen to the old records, which I'm not necessarily saying you should--

[laughter]

TG: --but on Bloodshot Records, I mean, the first record I think we probably sing four songs out of twenty. And then on the second one we sing maybe seven or eight out of eighteen.

PM: Right.

TG: And then progressively more and more, until now there's only a couple of instrumentals on the new record.

PM: And the instrumentals on this are just fabulous.

TG: Oh, thanks.

PM: I mean, "The Iceberg," what an incredible vibe. How did that song come about?

TG: Well, Sean had the basic melody for it, and he just brought it in. It was easy to play and learn, it's just that it's pretty trippy, so--

PM: Yeah, very.

TG: --it was easy to get into that mindset, record it nice and late at night.

[laughter]

PM: Right. When it's all perfect.

TG: Yeah. That one, when I think back, I remember doing a lot of that with headphones on.

PM: Ahh.

TG: A lot of times we like to get the sound of the room while we're putting things down. But there, it was trippy. We're probably getting halfway cooked ourselves. I remember sitting around on the couch doing that one with headphones on, it was great...

[laughter]

PM: Was that down in Tucson?

TG: Oh no, that was at the farm. That would be probably the only place we could have gotten that trippy.

PM: [laughs] So Sean brought it in on guitar, or...?

TG: No, on bass, pretty much. He's like, "You guys think of anything for this?"

PM: Wow!

TG: It was like the process on the whole record. We didn't just come with completed songs, we kind of chipped away at it. We went in the studio anytime anyone had an idea. I think that particular day we were working on another song, and then right afterwards Sean just came up with this. And we were like, "Yeah, let's just lay it down."

PM: It's funny, you hear that over and over again, that people come in with a shred of an idea. Or like Buddy Miller will say, "I hate to go into the studio when everybody already knows the song. That's no good. You got to go in and you say, 'Oh, yeah, I have this,' and throw one out and no one knows how to play it and you go, 'Ready, one, two, three, let's go.'"

[laughter]

TG: Yeah, that's when you can really usually catch the best thing.

PM: Yeah, the first take. That's when it sounds good.

TG: Yep.

PM: Well, now, I'm supposed to call Dallas at six o'clock. So that's our part of it right there, Travis.

TG: All right, then.

PM: It's wonderful talking to you. I'm a huge Sadies fan.

TG: Thanks a lot.

PM: And we're going do an all Canadian cover, with The Sadies and Blackie & the Rodeo Kings.

TG: Cool.

PM: Because we can't get enough of this Canadian thing, I can't shut up about it. A lot of people in the States don't understand how incredible the Canadian scene is. You just got to get out there and find it.

TG: I appreciate that.

PM: All right, Travis. Take care of yourself, man. I look forward to seeing you when you're in Nashville again.

TG: Yeah. Thanks again. Bye-bye.  continue (to Dallas)

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