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Shawn
Camp - Live at the Station Inn
Around the corner – physically and musically – from Music Row, Station Inn is one of the small venues in Nashville that’s serious about its music. The bluegrass regulars who show up, to "pick" or to listen, adopt it is a home place. Camp says nearly every night of his first 8 years in Nashville found him at the Station Inn. Camp’s project is what many artists dream of doing. Gather some pickers you most want to work with, bring out some of the favorite songs you’ve written, book a venue and – just do it. And Oh Boy Records (Camp’s label home as well as that of John Prine, Janis Ian, Kris Kristofferson and others) is proud to release the finished product. A triple-threat performer, Camp is one of the most respected young artists in a city full of creative giants. Give him any stringed instrument and he can play it. He’s written number one hits for Garth Brooks ("Two Pina Coladas") and for Brooks and Dunn ("How Long Gone"), and has had multiple cuts with other artists. The strength of his new album lies in his excellent songwriting skills, his ability to partner with other equally extraordinary writers, the desire of outstanding musicians to participate and his strong vocal skills. I talked with Camp the morning after we attended the release party. He called my office for the interview as he was traveling to East Tennessee. We discussed the changes in the bluegrass genre, and the way it’s reaching a wider audience today. He feels that, while there are more new young writers working within the bluegrass style, we shouldn’t forget or lay aside the older more traditional songs. Three of the album cuts, co-authored with Guy Clark, are based on old fiddle tunes – "Sis Draper," a lively humorous ode to a traveling Arkansas fiddle woman who has "the touch;" "Magnolia Wind," a yearning entreaty to a love; "Soldier’s Joy 1864, "a stunning personal-level story of war. These 3 songs, with their varied subjects, moods and musical elements, are staunch testimony to Camp’s wide-ranging authoring abilities. Ever since I first heard it, his engaging story of a life long relationship, "The Tune of the Twenty Dollar Bill," has been a favorite of mine. The other 9 other songs on the album are just as strong as these examples. At the release party, Camp’s mother, Betty, talked with me about his early love for and involvement in music. At the age of 8, he’d sit next to the band, playing his mandolin with the big guys who’d come to the house for a "picking," a musical gathering that might include 80 – 100 people. He was constantly practicing on whatever instrument was available. But she was not eager for him to have a fiddle. Camp added to the story, relating that when hew as around 12, one of the musicians left a fiddle there for him to practice on. After 2 days, mom ordered him to box it up and take it to the truck. "She just couldn’t take it anymore."
The next year, his 16th, Camp’s dedication to music would again be evident when he chose to apply the cash that the family had available to a Martin guitar rather than his first vehicle. Question: What’s the song writing process like for you – how do you get started on a song? Answer: "If I’m awake or if I’m dreaming, I have songs in my head. I just can’t help it?" Another songwriter labeled that constant engagement in writing songs, "organic." Camp is a pure example of an "organic" songwriter. Question: "What’s the favorite song that you’ve written? Answer: "A couple of them – one that you mentioned, ‘The Tune of a Twenty Dollar Bill’ and ‘The Grandpa That I Know.’ I was real close to my grandpa and that’s what that song is about. " Question: "What instrument do you write on?" Answer: "I normally write on the guitar, but I play fiddle a lot, and I play mandolin, and a ukulele that Cowboy Jack Clement loaned me, and a pump organ I just bought and I write on that a little bit. I’m just into notes and melodies. I’d write a tune on a stick if I thought I could get any kind of tone out of it." Question: "Cowboy Jack Clement (legendary music producer) is a friend and mentor of yours. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from him?" Answer: "He’s not afraid to take risks." Question:
"What’s in your CD player now?" Answer: "Tom T. Hall - I’ve got a boxed set and I’m on a Tom T. Hall jag. He’s such a great writer and a great singer. I just love his songs. I pretty much believe we’ve all just been acting like we’re writing songs since "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine. That’s about as powerful a song as I’ve ever heard. I’ll get on a jag of people and I listen to them for a month – Hank Williams, John Prine or Guy Clark or Merle Haggard." Question: "Do you do any of your work on a computer? " Answer: "I’ve just gotten a laptop. I’m recording some songs on it and writing on it. I think it’s a neat tool. It’s certainly not as romantic as writing on a tablet, but it’s a quick way to do it." Question: "Do you see the internet playing a part in an artist’s career? " Answer: "If we knew how to use it, I guess you could be a star on the Internet." Question: "I really, really want to know. How much of the Sis Draper story is fact and how much is fiction?"
Question: "What can we expect on your next album? " Answer: "I have a few things already recorded. I’ve got some blue grass and some electric stuff. I’m going into the studio and try to put something together that I feel good about." For certain, any album of Camp’s will treat us with remarkable songs and extraordinary musicianship. It’s good to know that another album is already in the works, but for now don’t overlook this gem, Shawn Camp Live at the Station Inn.
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Shawn
Camp’s album release party for his new heralded bluegrass album, Live
at the Station Inn, filled the venue to standing room only at where
else – Station Inn. The audience reveled in the music and the players
as the original recording sessions were replicated.
He
recalled having to "march that fiddle" back up to the door of
its owner. Then on his 15th Christmas, after opening some new
shirts, he noticed his dad had left the room. He described the awful
noise that came from the next room and turning to his mother and saying,
"Ya’ll got me bagpipes for Christmas, didn’t you?" Once
the treasured fiddle was in the arm of its new owner, both were sent
outside to practice. Mom recalls that he came back in not more than
forty-five minutes later and he could play ever tune that he knew.
Answer:
"Well, Sis Draper was not the devil’s daughter. She was a
beautiful lady and played a great fiddle. Actually, the first autograph
I ever signed was to Sis Draper; I was 9 years old. We did have
"pickings" at the house. Uncle Cleve and Grandpa would
always light up when we talked about her. They’d always put their best
clothes on and tried to comb their hair just right whenever she came
around."