Buzby, Chris (Echolyn) (October 2000)

Echolyn Are Back In The Saddle Again With Cowboy Poems Free

Echolyn, the Philadelphia based quintet who first introduced themselves to progressive rock audiences with their 1991 self-titled release, have reunited in the year 2000 with a fabulous new album, Cowboy Poems Free. In between, the band released four albums and an EP, then split in two to form Almost Always and Finneus Gauge. Echolyn were on the cusp of major exposure with their signing to Sony in 1995, producing just one album, though, under the deal - As The World. Sony dropped the ball and the band, and things were never the same.

But, it's 2000 now, and a new millennium (well, in a few months). The past is the past, and the band are looking to future. I had the opportunity to cyber-chat with Chris Buzby recently, and asked him about the new album.

Stephanie Sollow: How are the sales of Cowboy Poems Free going thus far?

Chris Buzby: Sales have been very solid thus far. We had great initial pre-order support from fans and distributors alike, and now that the album has been out 3 months the sales are still coming in at a steady pace. We also now have distribution through an Internet retailer who is moving a good amount of copies through Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnesandnoble.com, 800.com, CDuniverse.com, CDNow.com and many other CD Internet sites. All of our album sale proceeds allow us to continue writing more music and putting out new albums - so thank you to all of you who are supporting us by purchasing our music. We hope you're getting as much out of it as we put into it!

SS: And the reviews?

CB: The reviews thus far have all been 4 and 5 star reviews, and while I think some people may have been thrown a bit regarding our somewhat changed approach to composition (we call it leaner and meaner), many are praising this as perhaps our best effort yet! That is a nice thing to hear, especially as we gear up to start writing new material in the next few months for the next release. [Which means this isn't a one-off thing! Woo-hoo! -ecstatic ed.]

SS: Do you find a more positive response from American reviewers or European, given how strongly tied to Americana the album is?

CB: Reviews have been positive from all around the globe. Many were just so thankful we were actually back together and writing/recording again, but many were also quite thoughtful, introspective, detailed assessments of our music and lyrics - which goes to show that our fans and critics are truly caring, concerned people themselves, who hopefully respect and like the fact that we are artists first and foremost, making music for the love of making music. Hopefully it is that honesty about Echolyn that still shines through.

SS: Did you set out to create an album examining Americana in the pre-WWII to post-WWII period, or did it just work out that way?

CB: We really just set out to create an honest musical offering - the way Echolyn always has approached writing music. We just wanted to continue to write music that was inspired by our lives. Many times bands try to set out to write these grand epic-type albums and they wrap themselves so tightly around a theme or a topic that by the time they're done writing the entire project is one giant musical and lyrical cliche. We just wanted to write and sing about what we knew best, which was our country, our lives and our own heritage. Cowboy Poems Free was the ultimate, honest creation of that goal.

SS: It just occurred to me that the release date of the album (nearly) coincided with the anniversary of D-Day, June 6 ... more than mere coincidence?

CB: That was indeed mere coincidence, but pretty neat nontheless ..... they do say that everything in life happens for a reason.....

SS: "American Vacation Tune" has a wide-open feel and a sing-a-long chorus, was that why you're releasing it as the first single?

CB: Well our initial instinct was to try and "tackle" the radio market, but in realizing what a daunting goal that was going to be without a radio promoter we've somewhat cooled our engines on that idea for now. While "AVT" could make for a solid radio single we also need to preserve time to keep writing new material while allowing our album to continue selling to the channels of people it seems to be successfully finding. It surely is not going to show up on any Billboard sales charts, but we're very happy with how it's done so far.

SS: "1729 Broadway" is quite a moving track, even with its harder edge. Is there a story behind it?

CB: Well Ray [Weston] wrote the words to that one, but they're actually real-life words taken from letters and question and answer sessions Ray had with his dad. His dad (also named Raymond) was in WWII and was stationed on a boat in the Navy (see also the lyrics to "67 Degrees") - 1729 Broadway was the address his wife lived at back home, so all his letters and correspondence from the war were always written to this address whenever he had mail to send.

SS: Actually, given that each song is a vignette, are there stories behind each?

CB: Absolutely! Every song on the album has a story behind it - whether they were inspired by historical writings and documents ("Texas Dust;" "Grey Flannel Suits;" "High As Pride;" "Too Late For Everything;" "Human Lottery"), real-life events ("Brittany;" "67 Degrees;" "1729 Broadway"), or story-telling prose in the style of Jack Kerouac ("American Vacation Tune").

SS: Which comes first, the words or the music?

CB: Music almost always comes first, although I know Brett [Kull] and Ray are always working on words that they custom or retro fit to songs that come down the pike sometimes days/weeks/months after the words were written.

SS: Did you go into this album any differently from past efforts? Take a different approach to recording, for example?

CB: We tried to go for more of an organic approach this time in terms of recording methods (not very "effected" with verb/delay/compression), instrumentation (Hammonds, Wurlitzers, Rhodes, pianos, acoustic guitars, pump organs, dulcimers, accordions, etc), and vocals (not over done, but still very "Echolyn" with the sensibility we've developed over the years as to what works and what is perhaps "too much" for the listener). We basically set out to write an album we would want to listen to 3,000 + times before we got tired of hearing it - so far so good, I'm on listen 2154 and I still like it! ;-)

[Though I didn't mention this to Chris, even though I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the disk in a while, since I reviewed it, I need but to read a song title and the song is playing in my head - "67 Degrees" at the moment. --SS]

SS: Was it strange to work with folks you didn't think you would again?

Nope. It was just like old times. Time truly does heal all wounds if you allow it to. Brett and I have a lot of music still left in us - now if we can only add 4-5 more hours to each day we'd be fine!!!

SS: Who were/are your music influences - some seem obvious from the music?

CB: To be honest with you, they're all over the map. In a nutshell I'll give you the short list:

· Brett = Joni Mitchell; Jellyfish; Soundgarden; Radiohead
· Chris = Igor Stravinsky; Pat Metheny; Elliott Smith; XTC; Jellyfish; Jeff Buckley; Radiohead
· Ray = Mr. Bungle; Pantera; Faith No More; Mike Patton
Jordan [Perlson] = Masada; King Crimson; Miles Davis; Mahavishnu Orchestra
Paul [Ramsey] = Steely Dan; Sting; Mott the Hoople (just kidding!)

SS: If you could work with anyone, who would it be?

CB: I would have to choose Pat Metheny - his sense of melody, musicianship, and all out "play until your fingers fall off" attitude is something I think could really teach, challenge and inspire me.

SS: Do (any of) you come from musical family(ies)?

CB: We all have some sort of musical background, but I probably have the most extensive in the group in the sense that I've been musically active since age 5 (I'm 30 now) with singing in church choirs, playing piano (started at age 5), French horn, and saxophone. I sang professionally in The Philadelphia Boys Choir from ages 10-13 and was in performances with Luciano Pavorotti, Jesseye Norman, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Philadelphia Opera Company, and toured and travelled Europe and the East Coast of the U.S. on several concert tours. I also went to a private high school with a strong arts program and was in every singing, instrumental and theater production offered. I majored in music composition and theory in college and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition & Theory and Music Education, and I'm currently Director of Instrumental Music at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA, where I have 8 performing ensembles (7 instrumental, 1 vocal) and teach general music/digital-audio classes from Pre-School (toddlers-5 years old) through 12th grade. Abington Friends is also where/how I met Jordan Perlson, Echolyn's second drummer for CPF.

Brett started guitar in either 8th or 9th grade and he, Ray and Paul had a cover band named Narcissus after high school that played classic rock and progressive classics.

Ray sang in his church choir and started bass lessons in middle school/high school.

Jordan was studying privately on drumkit for several years before he really took off and started working with Joe Morello (Dave Brubeck's drummer) this past year. Jordan is currently attending Berklee College of Music in Boston as a percussion performance major.

Paul studied percussion throughout middle and high school and was part of his high school drum line. He made it into a local drum and bugle corps cadet group, but turned it down to play in the cover-band Narcissus with Brett and Ray.

SS: Get time to listen to other artists' recent work? If so, what has caught your ear?

CB: I like most of the album releases from artists like: Radiohead, Incubus, Dada, Shootyz Groove, Rage Against The Machine, Live, Dave Weckl, The Pat Metheny Group, Jason Faulkner, Owsley, Allan Holdsworth, Shakti, Bela Fleck, Jellyfish, Jason Faulkner, Joshua Redman, etc...

SS: Does it surprise you that there is such a network of progressive fans? (web, usenet, etc)

CB: It doesn't surprise me at all. Fans of progressive types of music (jazz/rock/etc) also tend to be very active and up on technology like the Internet. Luckily for us they are willing to use the resource as a way to get, find and share information about bands like us who reside online, but do so in a somewhat mild/laid-back manner. We've never been a hard-sell band with our music (spam, random links, etc) ... we just let people check us out - if they like us, great. If not, hey, there's 100,000 other bands out there they might like instead.

SS: Do you even think of yourselves as "progressive," as it's a term that has gotten more rigid as much as it has become elastic?

CB: We're progressive, but more in the truest sense of the word in that we're always "progressing" from our last effort towards something new and (hopefully) more focused and refined then what prior works may have been. We're also progressive in that we like to try new things - like adding a second drummer to a group who already had a great drummer!

SS: Because the issue is "hot" in the news, what's your feeling about the whole MP3 thing? Have you seen it hurt your sales (yet) or help?

CB: If it's gonna help sell albums - great, but if it's being done to allow people to skirt around copyright and ownership laws then that part of technology is being blatantly misused.

The bottom line is that property and property ownership rights/legalities are held by the person/people who are the creators of said songs/albums/property. To hear people argue that they have a "right" or a "freedom" to just give, trade, or even in some cases, sell other people's works is just outright wrong in my eyes.

When I get into this argument with people I usually say this: If you alone can write all the music you'll want to listen to in a lifetime, then go for it, knock yourself out. It will all be yours and you can listen to it all day, everyday, copyright free! BUT, don't come to me and expect me to just "give" you the effort, talent, hard work, time, inspiration, and feeling I put into my music when you hear something of mine you all of a sudden like, because that hard work and inspiration are definitely worth something - whether it's sweat, personal satisfaction, or even in some cases money. The other thing to remember: an artist will always have the right to not allow you to see, buy or listen to their works of creative output, but then again if they never shared any of their work with us freely we'd never know what we were missing now, would we? Oh the joys of being human!! 8>)

SS: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Chris; any "parting words"?

CB: I would like to once again thank all those who continue to support Echolyn and our newest musical release Cowboy Poems Free. We are thrilled to be writing and recording again, and thank you all for the opportunity to continue pushing the boundaries of music in the year 2000 with your gracious support!

Discography:
Echolyn (1991)
Suffocating The Bloom (1992)
...And Every Blossom (1993)
As The World (1995)
When The Sweet Turns Sour (1996)
Cowboy Poems Free (2000)
mei (2002)
As The World (expanded reissue) (2005)
The End Is Beautiful (2005)
Cowboy Poems Free (remaster) (2008)
Echolyn (2012)
I Heard You Listening (2015)

Home Brew Bootleg Stew 1994-1995 (VHS, OOP) (1995)
Stars And Gardens Vol 4. (2004) (DVD)