Published in issue #503 of
The Big Issue.
“I’m in Nashville
where it’s a beautiful late fall, early winter’s day,” says Gillian Welch, the
scratchy phone line doing little to dull a voice which has been a constant in
my life for over a decade. Welch sounds relaxed, comfortable, happy in her
little piece of the world, a town with a musical history matched by few others.
“Nashville has
played a huge part,” she enthuses on the city she’s called home for over twenty
years. “Before I moved [here], I had written three songs, ever, so my whole
‘finding my voice’ as a writer happened here, and happened because I feel
connected here to the music that I love, the music that inspires me.
“I can feel, see
and sometimes even touch the musical tradition that I’m a part of, it’s all
around.” Nashville burns with this musical tradition – from the scungy bars of
East Nashville, to the humble Bluebird Café, the ostentatious Grand Ole Opry,
the boot-scootin’ beer halls on Broadway across the Cumberland River from
downtown – everyone lives for the music, the tradition growing stronger with each
passing year.
Gillian Welch came
to notice in 1996 with the release of her debut record, Revival. Produced by T-Bone Burnett (Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, et
al), it featured Welch and musical partner David Rawlings in what has become
their trademark sparse and simple style, just vocal harmonies overlaying
acoustic guitar, touches of banjo. It was nominated for a Grammy the following
year, and set in motion a career that today sees Welch as the darling of the
Americana scene.
She’s not one to
move quickly. There’s no real need. While she was reasonably prolific early on
(Revival was followed by Hell Among The Yearlings in 1998, then
the modern classic Time (The Revelator)
in 2001 and Soul Journey in 2003),
Welch slowed down, waiting until 2011 before her next cut, The Harrow & The Harvest. As each of her recordings have been,
it was worth the wait, another collection of heavy, mostly dark and moody songs
in the true red-dirt country tradition.
As well, she’s
contributed to both Dave Rawlings Machine records, 2009’s A Friend Of A Friend, and most recently, Nashville Obsolete, released late last year, again adding her
haunting and lithe voice to Rawlings’ brilliantly subtle guitar work.
The last time
Welch was in Australia was back in 2004, touring Soul Journey. When she’s here in late January then, with Rawlings
in tow – the tour will comprise Welch/Rawlings shows, as well as Dave Rawlings
Machine shows – it will have been eleven long years since Australian audiences will
have had the pleasure of seeing Welch in the flesh, bringing these songs to
life.
“We’ve been
talking about doing this for years… doing the duet show in one direction, turn
around, fly the band in, play it back the other direction,” she says with a smile.
“It’s a wacky brain-child we’ve been wanting to do… ever since we were down
there.”
“[But] I really
thought we’d have got down there with The
Harrow & The Harvest, we talked about it,” she then muses, on why so
long since they’ve been to Australia. “Time kind of gets away from you, and
other stuff [pops up], and you just keep rollin’ along, you know? I have no
good excuse, except we just stay busy, and it’s a big ol’ world, it takes a
while to get around.”
Welch has
certainly been around. Her songs have been covered by the likes of Emmylou
Harris, Solomon Burke and Willie Nelson; her influence stretches around the
globe (one listen to any of the myriad country-tinged singer-songwriters coming
out of Melbourne at the moment is testament to this); Time (The Revelator) is cited as one of the great country records,
by fans and media alike – it’s an album which has been played repeatedly in my
house for years, I know it intimately, as do countless others.
Knowing all this
then, perhaps it’s not so surprising, as it was at first thought, that when
she’s here in January, it’ll be almost exactly twenty years since the release
of Revival. “Wow, you’re right, I’d
not thought of that,” she says, with an almost self-conscious laugh.
“We got a lifetime
achievement award for songwriting this year (from the Americana Music
Association), and it was funny and took us by surprise, and we were very
moved,” she recalls, adding with another laugh, “but also we were kinda
laughing at ourselves, because you know, I feel too young to be getting a
lifetime achievement award!”
“But in the course
of that, someone said to me, ‘Well, it’s been almost twenty years since your
first record, so they’re allowed to give you a lifetime achievement award’,”
she says, laughing again like she can’t quite believe it’s been two decades
since that debut cut, laboured over so intently, finally released into the
world, the beginning of something so lasting and meaningful for so many.
“We’re still
trying to write better songs,” Welch says simply, towards the end of our
interview. Her contribution to that great Nashville tradition is far from over,
a lifetime of songwriting achievement still not done.
Samuel J. Fell
