Page 34 - May 2017 Edition

Viola & the Brakeman hail from Flagstaff, with original songs reflecting the spirit of the Southwest, in the style and great tradition of Americana music. Veterans of many local festivals such as Pickin’ In The Pines and Hullabaloo, their acclaimed live performances are vibrant and engaging. In celebration of the bands 1st full length CD, The Life I Always Sing, the band will perform their CD release party at Firecreek Coffee on May 6. This music aficionado caught up with singer/songwriter and front man Brian White amidst prepara- tions for the upcoming show.
You have been writing music since the late ‘80s. How did Viola and the Brakemen come to- gether, and do you see the band as an extension of where you were headed musically as a solo performer?
Viola & the Brakemen came together as a 4-piece band in 2012, with our first “melody maker,” or lead instrument player playing a viola. I had been playing down in Oak Creek Canyon, where I lived from 2005 to 2012, with Mikey Reed, another local musician. The first lineup of V&tB was a standup bass player, fiddle player and two guitarists and our repertoire consisted of original and cover tunes. I had always wanted to play original music as I had about 60 tunes when we started. I was not interested in playing cover tunes or looking for gigs where we were considered an “entertainment band.” I wanted to create music. One of our first gigs was the inaugural for the mural painted on Lumberyard Brewery by the Mural Mice. We were actually memorialized in that mural for our participation and support.
Since the Summer of 2013 our lineup has consisted of Kristin Straka on fiddle and vo- cals, Keith Gomora on Stand Up Bass and vocals, Jessica Ludwig on percussion and vocals and within the last two years Matthew Tress on drums and cajon. As a writer I hear many different sounds and song forms when creating music. V&tB has definitely become an ex- tension of my music but the rest of the band brought their particular styles and experience into the mix. It is true instrument collaboration at this point. Kristin, Keith, Matthew and Jessica have influenced my music stylings through the genres of traditional music, psyche- delic jam band, country music and subtle southern rock. I personally am influenced by art- ists such as Cotton Jones, Iron and Wine, M Ward, the Verve and Alexis Murdoch, with a sound of mellow shoe gaze country folk. So V&tB has taken me out of my shell and has allowed me the avenues of musical exploration.
Who or what originally inspired you to pick up a guitar and write your songs?
My father, Timothy Allan White is the number one reason I play and write music today. His story was the epitome of “Americana.” He went into the Navy during Vietnam at 16 with a coffee smudge and an altered birth certificate, learned how to play guitar in the back of an old car at night in the Navy when everyone else was asleep, performed all night and then worked all day for Southern Pacific railroad and retired after 40 years. My first impressions
as a child were watching my father perform and create music. I always remember him taking on another persona when performing music. When he did not have the guitar in his hands he was usually yelling at me to pick my skateboard up from the living room, or to cut my hair, or would tell me to go outside and pick all of his tools from the ground that I just left after work- ing on a motorcycle or go kart, or some other form of motorized desert crawlers. But when he picked up the guitar his stature would become stoic and powerful. The only time I would not have to find coverage from his yelling was when he sang! That stature is what I yearn for and is what keeps me in the game of performing.
Your music has an unapologetic Southwestern feel to it, presumably influenced by simpler times. Are you an AZ native, or a transplant inspired to cre- ate by the wonders of our glorious region?
I am an Arizona Native and I was born very close to the border of Nogales, AZ. I grew up in South Tucson close to the San Xavier Mission and I believe my upbringing lends a hand to my Southwestern feel. I grew up roaming miles and miles of desert lands in flip-flops, flipping rocks over to check out the weird creatures of the desert in my youth and later taking motorcycle journeys through the Tohono O’odham nation as I got into my teen years. I had 20 years in Tuc-
son and 21 years in Flagstaff and I have never lived anywhere else.
On your new CD, The Life I Always Sing, you sound like you are having a lot of fun. Your band’s music sounds like everyone has a defined role to play, with carefully arranged individual performances. How do you approach writing and recording as a band and capture the vibe you want to portray?
Even though the music is very well-rehearsed, the music on the album becomes ex- perimental in the studio as the songs began to take recorded shape. The rehearsed song takes on many “ears” throughout this process and also becomes collaboration with studio engineers and band mates. I have to credit Bill Tress, our mixing engineer with some of these details that are present in the recordings. Not always can you hear the ambiences that occur when performing live or even once recorded, but with professional perspectives by individuals like Bill Tress, you can really start pulling out the “flavors” of the piece. The opening song, “Come Down Off Your Mountain,” takes on a whole Gospel feels with acapella chorus lines — this “feel” was mine, making it sound like it does on the album was all Bill and Matthew Tress!
Viola and the Brakemen come across as warm, upbeat and welcoming. Do you consider your- self part of the continuing narrative of American folk music?
I have aspirations to strengthen the Americana genre. I would like Americana to stand alone against monikers such as folk, blues or traditional. I align my influences through alt- country and Americana so I would like to get away from the idea that folk music has to “say something” in the writings. I am okay with fans not understanding my every word and my hope is that the words sound good with the music. Although I do love wordsmithing, I don’t always want to demand an audience know or even understand or read the words. I would like to bring in dance into the Americana-alt-country styles I am writing around.
What’s next for Viola and the Brakemen after your CD launch?
We have already started our next album! Record, record, record. At this point, this album contains 11 of now 78 tunes, Viola & the Brakemen perform 30 of these tunes and there is a lot of music to be learned and documented. I am ready to record albums now to extend V&tB’s reach and document my songs for my children’s children. As a band, our goals are to continue to play festivals through the Southwest and beyond, like when we played the main stage at Pickin’ in the Pines in 2015.
| CD Release Party! May 6th at Firecreek Coffee Company - Flagstaff. With Carlos Arzate and the Kind Souls and Flagstaff’s very own Heartwood. Doors 7PM.
34 • MAY 2017 | the NOISE arts & news | www.thenoise.us