"Greener Pastures," we wrote the title track while we were in Dallas, Texas," began Kira Annalise, one half of the duo The Waymores. "We actually started on the drive to Dallas and it just kept noodling through everything we were doing whether we were unloading the van or walking, our little conversations about it started working its way out until one day Kira put it all together," adds her partner, Willie Heath Neal.
An incredibly talented duo from Georgia, The Waymores have just released their third album, the previously mentioned "Greener Pastures." Recently Kira and Willie discussed the title, their thoughts on making the album, its material and their work with a new producer.
"We went for a walk that morning, coincidentally through some pastures and by the time we got back home, made breakfast and ate it; the song was written," continued Kira. "It was so funny," adds Willie, "We were both like, we need to write a song, "Greener Pastures," all of our albums have a little tie-in together, we have "Weeds," we have "Stone Sessions" and now we have "Greener Pastures." I started writing one song and she started writing another and we kind of used most of hers and pulled a couple little parts of mine, inserted them in there and it made one song."
Sometimes songs come quickly, others take a while and yet there are other times when you need a little help from a friend and for this title track; they reached back to their last release, "Stone Sessions" and got a little assistance.
" We also had some input on this one from a co-writer buddy of ours named Johnny McGowan out of Austin,Texas," explained Kira. "We sent it to him because we had figured we went as far as we could take the song and because he writes in this kind of late '60s early '70s country vibe pretty often and we wanted to see if there was anything he would change or add to it and the rule usually goes, "Change a word, get a third" (laughs); so, he got some songwriter credit on that one. Yeah, he definitely groomed up some of the language, the arrangement is still ours but he is really good with that and he kind of tightened up some of our verbiage," concluded Willie.
Some days in the music business are better than others and things can change in an instant; such was the case for The Waymores who had next to no downtime between the release of "Stone Sessions" and the beginning of the process of writing and recording "Greener Pastures" but in the process; they gained a legendary difference maker and re-visited some old time country music from which came a couple of remakes for the record.
"So, Shel Talmy produced this album, he produced The Kinks, The Who and David Bowie back in the day and he heard us through a friend in L.A.; he heard the album "Stone Sessions" the day it came out and he had always wanted to record country music and had never gotten the chance and he asked if we'd be interested and we of course said, "Yes," because we aren't idiots," laughed Kira. "Then he sent over probably 30 or 40 old country standards, none of which had been re-recorded in about 40 years that he believed could be hits today. We just chose a couple from those with the plan to go out there and record two songs and make a 45; something a little novelty to keep on our table and we all fell in love with each other and wound up going back out there to record the other eight songs."
"It had all happened so fast," said Willie,"We had just finished up all of the press and touring for "Stone Sessions" when this opportunity came about; we put another album out in a year and four months. So, it was all kind of a whirlwind thing and a lot of the songs on "Greener Pastures" were just kind of written on the spot. Normally, we'll write songs and once we've written enough where we can pull through; we'll make an album. This is the first time we've ever had to sit down and crank songs out specifically for a project."
Ah, a quick turn around; the potential kiss of death on a follow up album given that many times the lyrics and music can sound forced or the artist uses songs to fill space; was that the case with this latest effort? Kira and Willie both say, "No."
"There are songs on here; we're not gonna tell you which ones but there are some that are our least favorites. We don't quite consider them "Filler" but you know when you listen to something which songs are your absolute "A Game" material and which songs aren't. While I truly believe and what I was taught by Willie early in my career to only play your "A Game" material, I really think that what you consider your "B Game" material, might be somebody else's absolute favorite song. Actually, our radio promoter for this, picked a song that we don't consider one of our strongest songs on the album and we fought back and he said, "Absolutely not, we are putting this one out for radio" but then we decided as we decided throughout this entire project; he knows his business the best. He understands radio better than we do, let's let him do what he's gonna do and that's the same approach we took with Shel Talmy's arrangements and his producing of the entire record. There were things we questioned so hard during the early days of this record where we were like, this is gonna sound insane; what is he hearing here that we are not hearing? Then we would hear it live with the band and we'd be like, oh! That was really great!"
"Stone Sessions" for us was very much a "Pandemic album." We created a lot of those songs during the pandemic because pre-pandemic, we were touring about 200 dates a year. So, we really didn't get the chance to be artists as far as creating music, we were just playing or booking or doing the business end. So, we were doing a lot of that and when the pandemic hit we got the chance to just slow down and create music and so we did just like everybody did and "Stone Sessions" came out of that. Then when this opportunity fell into our laps we had to take it because we'd be crazy not to work with Shel Talmy. So, there was a bit of pressure, it was very stressful just because of the timeline. The label wasn't really pressuring us, we created this timeline because Shel wanted us right back out there; I believe the first time we went was July and then we went back in January. So, we had to come up with eight songs between August and January and have them written, ready and demoed and still work. It was very stressful, it was a lot of fun and looking back it was a fantastic experience; one that taught us so much just from writing in this vein and working with the people that we got to work with; all of it was lessons abound but I wouldn't say that we'd want to go right back into the studio and do another album in less than a year. "Stone Sessions" came out in April and we were right back in the studio again in July and that was a lot of work. We're living in Atlanta and they're in California so, it was a lot of travel and a lot of work but we're thrilled that it came out the way it did and we are both really proud of our work with Shel."
"I'm very, very proud of us; I've never worked in that vein," interjected Willie. "I never was a guy who could write under pressure or under the gun. I always thought that it would sound too contrived. One of our big things with songwriting is to let the song kind of happen and not force it but we were literally forcing songs and yet I'm very proud of them; I was worried over nothing. So, I learned that lesson, let the people do their jobs. So, to the point of filler songs, don't get us wrong. The songs we're talking about that we found to be the weaker songs on the album; we don't think they're bad songs, we just think they are the weaker ones. We don't think they are bad songs, we just think they're the weaker ones on the record."
A new producer who hadn't done a country record, a radio guy, studio musicians and the artist; sounds like the beginning of an old joke; however, this was anything but, add in time constraints and there was a sense of urgency to complete the record. Oftentimes when these scenarios align, the results can be less than each party hopes; often, producers and record companies try to change the artist's sound or direction. Once again, the duo emphatically said, "No, it is not the case!"
"Shel didn't try to change things," Kira was quick to answer, "He went back to some classic arrangements that Willie and I weren't used to at the time and when we say, whatever Shel says. goes; our integrity as songwriters was never once compromised. He said that he loved our sound and really wanted to work with us and he wanted to enhance that, not change it. Now, we're not gonna just bend over backwards for some producer no matter who he is if he tries to turn us into something we're not but letting Shel just go; we went into it with an open mind and whatever he did we loved. There was never anything he did where we went, I don't care who you are, we're not doing that. All he did, we found acceptable and the changes were brilliant; we just never thought they'd work. I remember having so much anxiety about it because we had gone into the studio and did good quality acoustic demos with the songs that we were gonna do and sent them to him and he sent back a ton of changes. He sent back key changes, modulation and arrangement changes and I was like; What?! These are brilliant! Then we were like, nope, we are gonna let Shel do what Shel does. I wouldn't have done modulations because I was scared of them (laughs). I thought it was hard to change keys out of the blue," added Willie with a large laugh.
Now that they've trusted the process and tried different things which gave their music a different look; how do they feel about the players who may be recording or touring with them in the future? Are they looking forward to hearing their spin on their songs both old and new or will things remain status quo?
"What ended up happening is," laughed Kira, "Shel brought out something in both of us that we didn't know was there. That's why I say we learned so much from Shel and all the players on this record. We had no idea, we would never have thought of putting modulations on a song before and I think there are three of them on this album. I think in both of our heads that we thought modulations were a little bit more complicated than they are but they are not; we just have to go back to the G (laughs). A lot of people, us included, you just tend to find comfort in the things you know and we were stuck for a little while; not that our previous two albums weren't good too but when you write with the same people all of the time and play with the same players all of the time, you can get stuck in a rut and Shel 100 percent brought us out of that."
"That can go the opposite way too," laughed Willie who has had some experience with this in the past. "That's a tricky line because once the songs are recorded and done and you hire someone to play those parts and keep the integrity of what's on the record there; you can have a little bit of freedom but we've had people come in and bring their whole spin and it's like, it's not a reggae song man; it's a country song! Do it my way! So, it's a fine line with that, so, if somebody is coming in there and adds a little bit of temperature to a song that you've tired of playing, that's good but it can go the other way fast."
With the album's August 25 release date behind us; how do they intend on promoting the new record? Kira says, "They'll be busy."
"We are going all the way from Florida to California via Texas, New Mexico. Then we are going to Chicago, Grand Rapids, over to Nebraska. I think from September 1 to October 28 we are booked for this album release tour."
To discover more about "Greener Pastures" and The Waymores, please visit, https://www.thewaymores.com/the-latest.
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
