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

PM: So I'll ask you something I asked Travis. What is it you like best about working with your brother?

DG: Well, there's certainly no limit to what we strive for. We work as hard as we possibly can, and we have the other to prove it can be done.

I think that we have a similar work ethic to our father and his band. It's really crucial to be able to find people you can work on the same level with. And that's something that the four of us have been able to find, just that connection with basically our work ethics, and I suppose our skills as entertainers and what we all have in common.

My brother and I are also civilized enough to realize that this is our profession and we have a responsibility to do it as well as we can, and there's really no room for stray emotions in a situation like that.

PM: Wow.

DG: However--

PM: They occur.

DG: Yes they do. And they're by no means a problem or a hindrance because, like I said, we're professionals. It's pretty healthy, I'd say.

PM: Yeah. And it looks so healthy on stage. I mean, what you guys are doing goes so far beyond the execution of the music, because there's a vast entertainment factor going on.

DG: Well, I appreciate you recognizing that. It's also important to mention that it is incredibly difficult for anybody to travel in quarters as close as a small eight-passenger van, or whatever, for so long. It's illegal to transport animals like that.

PM: [laughs]

DG: Basically, we know that. It's been a long time, and you've just got to adapt.

PM: Right. It's the rock 'n' roll version of Boat People.

DG: Yeah. The other thing, though, is that a real bond is absolutely essential for any band to be good. You have to have some link that makes you above and beyond just a bunch of players. That comes partly from being caged like wild beasts, or not even. I think that's also obviously natural if you are brothers. I'm applying your question to the larger scheme of things, because we all spend as much time as we do together.

PM: That's right. And I think, too, on stage, there's such a huge and very dry sense of humor going on. I mean, I was laughing so hard at that show at the Jayhawks I thought I was going to throw up.

[laughter]

PM: I was just running from one side of the stage to the other, watching this guy, watching that guy. And I just couldn't help myself, because what the brothers were doing, especially, was so funny to me my stomach hurt the next day.

DG: Well, we also have very different styles. And that's just a fluke, that our tastes are different in that way. But it's pretty important, because we do play totally differently. We do think totally differently. And I guess that gives us an opportunity to be slightly more diverse than, say, had we been born and bred entirely and solely on the country and western tradition.

PM: Right.

DG: That's really not going to up the ante at all in the grand scheme of things.

PM: [laughs]

DG: We do draw from different wells, even if it's the same bloodstream.

PM: Well, it's fascinating talking with you. I knew you'd both be tremendous cats. I spoke with each guy for twenty-six minutes, and so I'm going to get off.

DG: Perfect. Well, thanks so much. I had a great time talking to you about this.

PM: Likewise. And I think we're going to do an all Canadian cover, featuring the Rodeo Kings and the Sadies.

DG: Nice. Did you hear that they were recently a part of my father's induction into the Country Hall of Fame?

PM: Actually I did, because I was hanging out with them last night here in New York City. It must have made you really proud.

DG: My dad was at both of our shows on the weekend. He plays with us, too.

PM: He does?

DG: Yeah. My mother and father are both on Favourite Colours.

PM: I knew they were on the CD, and they did good stuff.

DG: We brought my mom and dad to England around Christmastime of last year, and so they know the whole set now.

PM: [laughs] You guys! That's really something...

DG: Yeah, absolutely.

PM: So what do they get up and do?

DG: Like the whole set.

[laughter]

DG: Except for maybe three or four of the instrumental songs, but, no, we got them on--my dad plays autoharp really well, and he plays slide on some songs. My mom will do backups and whatever else.

PM: [laughs] Oh, that's beautiful, Dallas. Thanks a lot for talking, man.

DG: You bet, Frank, take care.