Indie-Rock icon Kurt Vile (along with his steadfast band the Violators) returns to town for an intimate March 19 performance at Headliners Music Hall, sharing the bill with Weak Signal and local legends King Kong. We recently caught up with Vile by phone to discuss his early love of Bluegrass and Old Time music as well as the new EP, Back to Moon Beach, which is a catchall of stellar odds and ends that didn’t quite belong on any of Vile’s prior releases.
LEO: What sort of impact has Bluegrass and Old Time music had on you?
Kurt Vile: I grew up on that, it’s in my blood for sure. I wouldn’t say that I studied anybody but my dad was always playing Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Ralph Stanley. I especially love the banjo on Doc Watson’s version of “Shady Grove,” it’s so ethereal. And I go back to “Molly and Tenbrooks” a lot, the Stanley Brothers version. I know that Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys did it first and then the Stanleys ran with it, but that’s probably my favorite version. I have banjo-driven songs that show up here and there throughout my records and I’ll actually be bringing my banjo out on the road this time.
It’s always intriguing when a first-rate songwriter opts to incorporate another artist’s tune into their own repertoire. Could you speak to what draws you to specific cover choices like, say, John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” or the old-school Wilco cut [“Passenger Side”] that adorns Back to Moon Beach?
There are certain covers I do because they speak to me or all of a sudden one comes out of my hand through the guitar and I’m like, “what is that?” That’s how it happened when I did [Bruce] Spingsteen’s “Downbound Train.” When it comes to John Prine, I want to cover him because his songs jump out, you know, and punch me in the chest or the heart or whatever. Wilco asked me to record one of their songs for a tribute CD and I was busy at the time but I said I would do it if “Passenger Side” was available because that one reminds me of being in my teens and my cousin playing those early Wilco albums. It only ever appeared on a disc that came out through an issue of UNCUT magazine but it turned out so well that while I was compiling this EP, I threw it on there.
In regards to your originals, how do you know when any given song is completely finished? Do you keep tinkering until a composition is recorded or officially released? And is that even the end of its evolution?
When I was younger I wrote more conventionally and I thought that there were rules. The longer I do it, the more I realize that there are no rules and the possibilities are endless. It’s usually a culmination of a bunch of factors and a deadline. Often it comes down to deciding if the things that are mostly ready will make it onto an album or not. The recording is really just a snapshot of where a song is at that moment because songs will always look a little different each time you play them live and sometimes in that context the more cosmic ones start to feel like they could evolve forever.
You occasionally let loose as a guitarist. The chops are obviously there. So, is it a conscious decision or underlying philosophy to leave more spaces between notes most of the time?
One of my heroes is Neil Young. He writes great songs, his voice is great, and he also knows how to keep a groove funky and hypnotic. But then he can just TAKE OFF with his electric guitar, or he can break your heart acoustically. I’m not saying I play exactly like Neil but I recognize that you have to know when there is a hole to let loose in and when to back off and serve the song.
At this juncture you have a large body of work to draw upon. So, what are the essential components for creating an interesting setlist?
We are planning to mix things up this time by including new material from the EP and old stuff that we haven’t done in a while. Certain songs we are rehearsing also have a spiritual, get-lost-in-the-song vibe. I’m not going to say what any of those are out loud.
Kurt Vile and the Violators play Headliners Music Hall on Tuesday, March 19. For tickets and other details around this all-ages show, visit headlinerslouisville.com.
