8 Essential Questions with Cindy Emch of Secret Emchy Society
- What’s the story behind your album’s title?
- One night Carolyn Mark and I were taking a break from our West Coast tour, so my wife, Carolyn, and I hopped in the car to drive down to Santa Cruz (about 90 mins from Oakland) to see the Canadian Western Swing band (and friends of Carolyn’s) Petunia & the Vipers. And let me tell you - they tore the house down. It was a rowdy, everybody dancing, everybody drinking, boots shaking the floor kind of night. At one point when the band was on a break, my wife and I got to talking about how I always seemed to be chasing down friends, chasing dreams, just always on the move chasing. I chewed on that perspective/insight into my life and behaviors for a couple of days and then sat down to write the song. The way it turned out - it really feels like the anthem of me and where I’m at in my life. As soon as the song was finished it told me that it was the title track.
- What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician?
There was a night on tour when my tour mate Shawna Virago and I had just played Chicago. The crowd had been smaller than we expected but turned out that some of the folks that had come were actually famous heroes of mine. We needed a place to crash and so the heroes offered. While I was falling asleep in their guest room the grind of the road was getting to me and I was texting Carolyn Mark about some of the struggles of the tour. She stopped me in my tracks to remind me - "Always tour with people you love, always appreciate the good moments, and if you don’t focus on the bad times they’re way easier to ignore."
The next morning I woke up late to our hosts making me coffee and telling stories and I realized that the night before and the morning moment I was right in the middle of had been some of the best times of my life - not just tour. So I followed Carolyn’s advice, swept the bad times and disappointments into the corner, and just sat there appreciating my luck and good fortune to be in exactly the moment I was in.
- What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
Be nice, be professional, and always promote the shows. When you’re first starting out, your first show will usually be because you’ve been invited by another band to play a show that they’ve booked. So first things first - go to local shows and make friends with the other musicians in your community. Listen to their sets (and don’t talk over the music). Talk to bands that you like about their songs, about your songs, ask about playing together in the future, talk to the bartenders, and ask how to book a show. And then - when it’s all so exciting and you’re on a bill of 3-5 bands, make sure you’re ready to be professional. Usually, each band gets 20-40 mins to play - pay attention. Know how long your set is - including banter - and don’t go over. Have your songs memorized, your instruments tuned, and always thank the venue, bartender, and other bands from the stage. Make it easy for everyone - the bar, the fans, the other bands - to have a good time. That helps you get invited back for more shows.
- What’s your favorite food on the road?
Smartfood cheddar popcorn. Hands down. The first time I stop to fill up with gasoline on tour I get a bag of Smartfood to help offset the road munchies. At this point, the flavor just feels like being on the road.
- What are your “must-have” albums for the road?
I can’t do slow tempo music when I’m driving for long distances, and everything absolutely MUST be a sing-a-long to help keep me away. When my wife is with me, she will DJ and play great road music like Heart, Betty Blowtorch, Journey - but when I’m solo I tend to go Shovels and Rope, Devil Makes Three, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Concrete Blonde, Carolyn Mark, Hearse, Those Darlins, Whiskey & Co, with Lizzo, Todrick Hall, Mexiressy, Devotchka, and Taylor Swift thrown in to mix it up.
- Is drinking at gigs a positive or a negative?
Drinking at gigs is all about moderation. Early on in my musician life, I played a show once where I had a bad reaction to some homemade moonshine and I couldn’t stand up - and that’s just not acceptable to me on stage. I want to make sure that me and the band bring our a-game to the fans and just play some good damn music. That said - if a drink or two loosens one up to play and doesn’t screw up the set - that’s totally fine with me. Personally I usually have one drink when I get to the show, and then have a pint glass of sparkling water and a rye on the rocks on stage with me. I think it’s about moderation. There are folks in my band who are big drinkers and folks who are sober. I just ask that we respect each other's choices and put the needs of the show first when we’re on stage.
- A favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended?
There was a time about 10 years ago where I was on staff for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco and I got a chance over the course of one day to see Hazel Dickens, The Knitters, Billy Bragg, Marianne Faithful, and Emmylou Harris. I felt like my heart got broken open by song so many times in one day. I spent the day going from stage to stage and just falling in love with everything. The Redwood trees shading us from sunburns, the fog rolling in to cool off the crazy hot day, so many smiling fans and music lovers coming together just to appreciate songs, and then the music itself - it was like magic. Billy Bragg hugged me. Greg Cohen was Marianne Faithful’s bassist that day and remembered me from a recent John Zorn show where I fangirled at him and gave him a demo for my band - and told me he liked it. I mean. I don’t think anything else comes close to that day.
- Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
Playing a show with Willie Nelson is absolutely on my bucket list. There are tons of people I’d love to play with - but he is for sure at the absolute top of the list. Second is working with Shooter Jennings on a future album. I’ve heard what he’s done with other folks and he has such a talent for making people sound like the best versions of themselves - and that’s so rare. I’m curious about what roads we would go down musically together.
- One night Carolyn Mark and I were taking a break from our West Coast tour, so my wife, Carolyn, and I hopped in the car to drive down to Santa Cruz (about 90 mins from Oakland) to see the Canadian Western Swing band (and friends of Carolyn’s) Petunia & the Vipers. And let me tell you - they tore the house down. It was a rowdy, everybody dancing, everybody drinking, boots shaking the floor kind of night. At one point when the band was on a break, my wife and I got to talking about how I always seemed to be chasing down friends, chasing dreams, just always on the move chasing. I chewed on that perspective/insight into my life and behaviors for a couple of days and then sat down to write the song. The way it turned out - it really feels like the anthem of me and where I’m at in my life. As soon as the song was finished it told me that it was the title track.
- What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician?
There was a night on tour when my tour mate Shawna Virago and I had just played Chicago. The crowd had been smaller than we expected but turned out that some of the folks that had come were actually famous heroes of mine. We needed a place to crash and so the heroes offered. While I was falling asleep in their guest room the grind of the road was getting to me and I was texting Carolyn Mark about some of the struggles of the tour. She stopped me in my tracks to remind me - "Always tour with people you love, always appreciate the good moments, and if you don’t focus on the bad times they’re way easier to ignore."
The next morning I woke up late to our hosts making me coffee and telling stories and I realized that the night before and the morning moment I was right in the middle of had been some of the best times of my life - not just tour. So I followed Carolyn’s advice, swept the bad times and disappointments into the corner, and just sat there appreciating my luck and good fortune to be in exactly the moment I was in.
- What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
Be nice, be professional, and always promote the shows. When you’re first starting out, your first show will usually be because you’ve been invited by another band to play a show that they’ve booked. So first things first - go to local shows and make friends with the other musicians in your community. Listen to their sets (and don’t talk over the music). Talk to bands that you like about their songs, about your songs, ask about playing together in the future, talk to the bartenders, and ask how to book a show. And then - when it’s all so exciting and you’re on a bill of 3-5 bands, make sure you’re ready to be professional. Usually, each band gets 20-40 mins to play - pay attention. Know how long your set is - including banter - and don’t go over. Have your songs memorized, your instruments tuned, and always thank the venue, bartender, and other bands from the stage. Make it easy for everyone - the bar, the fans, the other bands - to have a good time. That helps you get invited back for more shows.
- What’s your favorite food on the road?
Smartfood cheddar popcorn. Hands down. The first time I stop to fill up with gasoline on tour I get a bag of Smartfood to help offset the road munchies. At this point, the flavor just feels like being on the road.
- What are your “must-have” albums for the road?
I can’t do slow tempo music when I’m driving for long distances, and everything absolutely MUST be a sing-a-long to help keep me away. When my wife is with me, she will DJ and play great road music like Heart, Betty Blowtorch, Journey - but when I’m solo I tend to go Shovels and Rope, Devil Makes Three, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Concrete Blonde, Carolyn Mark, Hearse, Those Darlins, Whiskey & Co, with Lizzo, Todrick Hall, Mexiressy, Devotchka, and Taylor Swift thrown in to mix it up.
- Is drinking at gigs a positive or a negative?
Drinking at gigs is all about moderation. Early on in my musician life, I played a show once where I had a bad reaction to some homemade moonshine and I couldn’t stand up - and that’s just not acceptable to me on stage. I want to make sure that me and the band bring our a-game to the fans and just play some good damn music. That said - if a drink or two loosens one up to play and doesn’t screw up the set - that’s totally fine with me. Personally I usually have one drink when I get to the show, and then have a pint glass of sparkling water and a rye on the rocks on stage with me. I think it’s about moderation. There are folks in my band who are big drinkers and folks who are sober. I just ask that we respect each other's choices and put the needs of the show first when we’re on stage.
- A favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended?
There was a time about 10 years ago where I was on staff for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco and I got a chance over the course of one day to see Hazel Dickens, The Knitters, Billy Bragg, Marianne Faithful, and Emmylou Harris. I felt like my heart got broken open by song so many times in one day. I spent the day going from stage to stage and just falling in love with everything. The Redwood trees shading us from sunburns, the fog rolling in to cool off the crazy hot day, so many smiling fans and music lovers coming together just to appreciate songs, and then the music itself - it was like magic. Billy Bragg hugged me. Greg Cohen was Marianne Faithful’s bassist that day and remembered me from a recent John Zorn show where I fangirled at him and gave him a demo for my band - and told me he liked it. I mean. I don’t think anything else comes close to that day.
- Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
Playing a show with Willie Nelson is absolutely on my bucket list. There are tons of people I’d love to play with - but he is for sure at the absolute top of the list. Second is working with Shooter Jennings on a future album. I’ve heard what he’s done with other folks and he has such a talent for making people sound like the best versions of themselves - and that’s so rare. I’m curious about what roads we would go down musically together.
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Cindy Emch recent album The Chaser showcases her inner rockabilly with new album The Chaser.
There its not only the stories but its Cindy's voice its the voice that hits you first. That big, boisterous voice that makes you grin, but it’s also sad and wise, and very observant. A voice that stands you to a shot and a beer, kicks you out onto the dance floor despite your silly misgivings. Recorded with her long-running band, The Secret Emchy Society, The Chaser gives Cindy’s funny, deep songs an equally big voice. It’s a record of exact portraiture, country style. Cindy Emch knows how human beings behave when they’re in bars, when they’re lonely, and when they’re in love. And when they’re out of love. The Chaser is the work of an original who looks beyond Saturday night, toward an eternal present. In every meaning of that word - that comes through on the pioneering queer-country singer and songwriting Cindy Emch star shines bright. Watch Cindy recent session with 'Live in The Studio-ish! |
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