The Sit Down with Anderson East
Anderson East returns this week with his first album in four years – Worthy . His first release with Rounders Records sees him team up with long-time collaborator Dave Cobb to co-produce the album. East tapped friends and famed counterparts like Grammy-winning songwriters Natalie Hemby (Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, Lauren Daigle), Lori McKenna (Brandy Clark, Tim McGraw) and Aaron Raitiere (Whiskey Myers, Ella Langley), the Grammy-nominated Ashley Monroe (Caitlyn Smith), and Emmy-winning songwriter Trent Dabbs (Ingrid Michaelson, The Lone Bellow) to co-write the ten song project. Ten years on since the Athens, Alabama natives first major-label debut, we caught up with Anderson to find out more about his latest project
Thank you for taking the time today.
No sweat. Thank you.
I'm sure it's quite a busy day for you because Worthy is out tomorrow.
Yeah, I haven't really done a lot. Just written a song and producing another record and just trying to stay on top of everything.
Are you going to be staying up till midnight tonight for it to come out or are you just going to let it be in the morning?
Yeah, I go to bed around like 8:30 - 9, so that is far past my bedtime!
You produced the record with Dave Cobb. How important is doing the producing side of things for you?
It's the part that I enjoy the most. I feel like I've had a pretty incredible education having worked with Dave for so long. I love making records. That's kind of what I had set out to really do and then somewhere along the way was the guy singing the songs.
How important to work with Dave on this one for you?
You know, pretty much everything that I've worked on that I'm proud of, him and I have done together. He's one of the few people that I'll just have like blanket trust with. Not only do I respect his opinion and respect him creatively, but to trust somebody when they're like, okay, that's enough. That's a hard thing to relinquish control with.
You've produced and written songs for so many artists, is it strange when you're doing it for yourself?
The hardest part about it is having some objectivity and being able to look at yourself as a person and not kind of tie up your sense of self-worth. In like listening back to something and be able to look at it just as a song instead of all the other shit that gets caught up in making a record. So that's kind of the was a lesson that I've struggled to learn for 20 something years now.
Thank you for taking the time today.
No sweat. Thank you.
I'm sure it's quite a busy day for you because Worthy is out tomorrow.
Yeah, I haven't really done a lot. Just written a song and producing another record and just trying to stay on top of everything.
Are you going to be staying up till midnight tonight for it to come out or are you just going to let it be in the morning?
Yeah, I go to bed around like 8:30 - 9, so that is far past my bedtime!
You produced the record with Dave Cobb. How important is doing the producing side of things for you?
It's the part that I enjoy the most. I feel like I've had a pretty incredible education having worked with Dave for so long. I love making records. That's kind of what I had set out to really do and then somewhere along the way was the guy singing the songs.
How important to work with Dave on this one for you?
You know, pretty much everything that I've worked on that I'm proud of, him and I have done together. He's one of the few people that I'll just have like blanket trust with. Not only do I respect his opinion and respect him creatively, but to trust somebody when they're like, okay, that's enough. That's a hard thing to relinquish control with.
You've produced and written songs for so many artists, is it strange when you're doing it for yourself?
The hardest part about it is having some objectivity and being able to look at yourself as a person and not kind of tie up your sense of self-worth. In like listening back to something and be able to look at it just as a song instead of all the other shit that gets caught up in making a record. So that's kind of the was a lesson that I've struggled to learn for 20 something years now.
You've obviously got a release show tomorrow at Grimeys. Is this the kind of record that really goes well as a album and as a live record as well?
Yeah, for sure. The majority of it, besides the horns and backgrounds and stuff like that, all pretty much is just guys hanging out in a room with microphones in front of them. So, it definitely lends itself to being played that way.
You've also had a show at the Opry this week too.
Yeah, yeah, we did that this past week. It was amazing. If you would have told me I would have been doing that, you know, 15 years ago, I'd have laughed your head out of the boardroom. It was incredible. It was nice to get to play some new songs with that incredible band and kind of just stand there in that room with so much history behind you.
Is that the kind of venue when sometimes you wondered if you would ever get to play?
I mean, I've played there alongside other people, so I've done it a few times and that was great. I don't really see anyone calling my number to have me come play, so I'd kind of scratched that itch in a way. I was honoured to be asked to do it.
Looking at the record, there's so many amazing co-writers and you have a writing credit on every song, was that important to you to make sure it is your stamp on this record?
Um, no not really. I mean, I love writing songs and that's kind of my that's my day job, so I have a lot of them! This was a big exercise and I'm just here for the song and I don't care about anything else. If it sounds good, it works. That's really all that I was going for. I'm incredibly fortunate to have incredibly talented friends who didn't mind wasting an afternoon or two with me to write these songs and they were all songs that it felt like belong together in a cohesive way.
When you approach other writers when it comes to your own album, do you feel it’s harder to approach them when it's something for yourself rather than knowing you're writing a song for somebody else?
It's definitely kind of awkward, I think, because the superpower of being a songwriter is that you get to come in and kind of play therapist and it's more like and how does that make you feel? Oh, really? Why do you think that? Once you're the one on the couch, you kind of have to be more vulnerable. There was a handful of those songs where I was playing the therapist and I just talk too much! I was like, well, we'll just I'll keep that song.
As a songwriter at heart, were there a few tracks that you think it might not work for this project, but you've got an artist in mind for it?
Yeah, usually you kind of just hear murmurings of who's looking for something and you can be with an artist asking is that yours? Is that mine? Who's taking it?
Yeah, for sure. The majority of it, besides the horns and backgrounds and stuff like that, all pretty much is just guys hanging out in a room with microphones in front of them. So, it definitely lends itself to being played that way.
You've also had a show at the Opry this week too.
Yeah, yeah, we did that this past week. It was amazing. If you would have told me I would have been doing that, you know, 15 years ago, I'd have laughed your head out of the boardroom. It was incredible. It was nice to get to play some new songs with that incredible band and kind of just stand there in that room with so much history behind you.
Is that the kind of venue when sometimes you wondered if you would ever get to play?
I mean, I've played there alongside other people, so I've done it a few times and that was great. I don't really see anyone calling my number to have me come play, so I'd kind of scratched that itch in a way. I was honoured to be asked to do it.
Looking at the record, there's so many amazing co-writers and you have a writing credit on every song, was that important to you to make sure it is your stamp on this record?
Um, no not really. I mean, I love writing songs and that's kind of my that's my day job, so I have a lot of them! This was a big exercise and I'm just here for the song and I don't care about anything else. If it sounds good, it works. That's really all that I was going for. I'm incredibly fortunate to have incredibly talented friends who didn't mind wasting an afternoon or two with me to write these songs and they were all songs that it felt like belong together in a cohesive way.
When you approach other writers when it comes to your own album, do you feel it’s harder to approach them when it's something for yourself rather than knowing you're writing a song for somebody else?
It's definitely kind of awkward, I think, because the superpower of being a songwriter is that you get to come in and kind of play therapist and it's more like and how does that make you feel? Oh, really? Why do you think that? Once you're the one on the couch, you kind of have to be more vulnerable. There was a handful of those songs where I was playing the therapist and I just talk too much! I was like, well, we'll just I'll keep that song.
As a songwriter at heart, were there a few tracks that you think it might not work for this project, but you've got an artist in mind for it?
Yeah, usually you kind of just hear murmurings of who's looking for something and you can be with an artist asking is that yours? Is that mine? Who's taking it?
It's been four years now since Maybe We Never Die came out. Did you think it was going to be four years or are you happy to have taken your time with this record and give yourself time to focus on other projects in that time?
Man, I haven't been in a rush with too much. That last record and then just like state of the world, meant we went right back on tour as soon as the doors were open. After that record, I was a little a little disillusioned, maybe just like, I think I'm good. I'm going to let the world spin a little bit before I need to go get back out in it. I didn't stop working and I just started working on what I wanted to, trying to instead of feeling like a selfish music pursuit I was trying to be helpful to other people. I think I've probably been the most productive I've ever been in my life in the past couple of years. It's just a massive lag time in music as it's usually like two years by the time you finish something before it actually sees the light of day.
With this being a 10 track record, was there any track on it that kind of gave you that momentum of right now is the time to get this record together?
Um, I think it was either Never Meant to Hurt You or I'd Do Anything. I can't remember exactly which one, but whichever has the longer outro. I remember we listened to it and we did it over two weekends. It's was the ending of the first weekend and we just were listening back late at night and were like, what did we record? I didn’t even know! When that one played back, I was like, oh, there's something there, that one that feels like what I've been trying to do my whole life and I was just hearing it back in that moment. That one small feeling was enough to kind of chase down the rest of it.
Man, I haven't been in a rush with too much. That last record and then just like state of the world, meant we went right back on tour as soon as the doors were open. After that record, I was a little a little disillusioned, maybe just like, I think I'm good. I'm going to let the world spin a little bit before I need to go get back out in it. I didn't stop working and I just started working on what I wanted to, trying to instead of feeling like a selfish music pursuit I was trying to be helpful to other people. I think I've probably been the most productive I've ever been in my life in the past couple of years. It's just a massive lag time in music as it's usually like two years by the time you finish something before it actually sees the light of day.
With this being a 10 track record, was there any track on it that kind of gave you that momentum of right now is the time to get this record together?
Um, I think it was either Never Meant to Hurt You or I'd Do Anything. I can't remember exactly which one, but whichever has the longer outro. I remember we listened to it and we did it over two weekends. It's was the ending of the first weekend and we just were listening back late at night and were like, what did we record? I didn’t even know! When that one played back, I was like, oh, there's something there, that one that feels like what I've been trying to do my whole life and I was just hearing it back in that moment. That one small feeling was enough to kind of chase down the rest of it.
This is going to be your first release then with Rounder Records. How important is it to get over that first hurdle and get that debut release with them out of the way?
Um, you know, I'm not really sure. I haven't really thought too deeply on it. When I was making this record, there was no input from anybody. It was pretty much at the finish line and when I played it for them, they said we'd love to be involved. They really helped bring it home and they've been a really supportive group of folks that are kind of like, just whatever you want to do, go for it!
You've got the Grimeys show tomorrow, you've had the Opry show and you've got the Ryman coming up in August. Is that a big date on your calendar at the minute?
Yeah, I'm terrified and looking forward to it all at the same time. So yeah, it's a magical place and you hope you don't screw it up and look like an idiot in front of hometown!
Do you think there's going to be plans to build this into a tour or are you just trying to get back into the writing room and get back to the day job?
It's a little bit of both. I think I don't really have a desire to go kill myself on the road like I did. But that being said, this record is a lot of fun to play, so we're still figuring out what that looks like.
Well, hopefully you can find your way over to England with it as well.
Yeah, I'd love that.
Thank you so much, Anderson, for your time and obviously good luck with release day in the show tomorrow.
Thanks, man I appreciate it.
Follow Anderson East:
Website: https://www.andersoneast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andersoneast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andersoneast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/andersoneast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5q6z6GTth6lMbL9I8CAgby
Um, you know, I'm not really sure. I haven't really thought too deeply on it. When I was making this record, there was no input from anybody. It was pretty much at the finish line and when I played it for them, they said we'd love to be involved. They really helped bring it home and they've been a really supportive group of folks that are kind of like, just whatever you want to do, go for it!
You've got the Grimeys show tomorrow, you've had the Opry show and you've got the Ryman coming up in August. Is that a big date on your calendar at the minute?
Yeah, I'm terrified and looking forward to it all at the same time. So yeah, it's a magical place and you hope you don't screw it up and look like an idiot in front of hometown!
Do you think there's going to be plans to build this into a tour or are you just trying to get back into the writing room and get back to the day job?
It's a little bit of both. I think I don't really have a desire to go kill myself on the road like I did. But that being said, this record is a lot of fun to play, so we're still figuring out what that looks like.
Well, hopefully you can find your way over to England with it as well.
Yeah, I'd love that.
Thank you so much, Anderson, for your time and obviously good luck with release day in the show tomorrow.
Thanks, man I appreciate it.
Follow Anderson East:
Website: https://www.andersoneast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andersoneast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andersoneast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/andersoneast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5q6z6GTth6lMbL9I8CAgby
