An interview with Ry Cavanaugh of Session Americana

Session Americana hail from Boston, Massachusetts, where they convened just over a decade ago. Their sound explores folk-rock and 'roots' styles, with the band being another contribution to the excellent music scene across the state. We spoke to guitarist and vocalist Ry Cavanaugh ahead of their show at Band on the Wall, discussing music in the state and their new album.

Yourself and some of the band hail from Massachusetts, a state that's home to some renowned folk festivals as well as the prestigious Berklee College of Music. What is the music scene like across the state, and has it had an effect on the music you play?

I love Boston and the New England area for music. When I was younger there were so many amazing acts from here that its hard to overstate this area's influence in the national scene: I?m thinking of Jonathan Richman, the Pixies, Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, Juliana Hatfield, Tracey Bonham, Jen Trynin, Dinosaur JR, Treat Her Right, Morphine, G Love, The Neighborhoods. When I moved here in 1993 the folk scene was really blowing up too and Rounder was right here in Cambridge. I guess Martin Sexton and Patty Griffin are the really big ones who clicked up into the national scene, but of course shortly thereafter Gillian Welch and David Rawlings changed everything; they gave Berklee its street cred.

I produced a little compilation of local folk here called ?One Night in Cambridge? - this is going way back - and there were a bunch of interesting people who were playing open mics who appeared on that cd: One was Mary Gauthier who has done amazing things since then and Faith Soloway has had an incredible career, most recently creating the Amazon TV show, Transparent, with her sister Jill. I?m just dropping international career type names now but there really was/is a genuine sense of community here starting at the end of the label era in the 90s. My wife, Jennifer Kimball, had an incredible career starting in Amherst with The Story in the 80s and when she was done with that she continuing into a label-oriented solo career in the late 90s. She?s been such a huge influence and really taught a lot of us how to sing! I may be talking out of school but I know that Kris Delmhorst, Aoife O?Donovan, Sarah Siskind, and tons of other people have benefited from working with her, especially in terms of singing harmonies with compelling and challenging intervals. Matt Glaser?s band, the Wayfaring Strangers, was a great catalyst for some fancy bluegrass stuff to cross-polinate with folk and pop and it was amazing to hear Jennifer in there singing her dissonant harmonies with Lucy Kaplansky or Aoife, with Andy Statman and John McGann and Tony Trishka. This was all happening here in Boston!

Session Americana was a nice place to be too. We were getting going when New England Conservatory and Berklee were really taking off in terms of having some really imaginative and talented people showing up on the scene here. We were being influenced heavily by the old guard roots guys here like Jimmy Ryan, Dennis Brennan, Duke Levine, Tim Gearan and Peter Wolf but we also were starting to play with Laura Cortese and Aoife was sitting in and Jefferson Hamer and tons of other amazing artists would drop in on our sessions. Rachael Price from Lake Street really blew our minds when she first came by - she is just so sexy and soulful and loud as hell! I don?t know if I answered your question but this has been a great place to be musically for sure.

Many music fans are aware of Cambridge's Club 47 or Passim because of some of the amazing folk-rock and blues names who've played there; have you ever seen any of the greats at the club or played there yourself?

In the 90s, the whole Passim thing was kind of at a low point but when the ownership changed and Matt Smith came in things really started getting good there again. Before that I think it was just a lot of hoo-haa and remember-when. I mean, you have to really be part of whats going on and moving forward instead of just looking back. I worked at one of the really early shows when it re-opened after the owners changed in the 90s - pulled the sound desk out of a closet and mixed Ramblin? Jack Elliot there. That was cool. I also mixed the Push Stars, who were really great. If you look at those old calendars from the 60s, you kind of want to go back there and see all those great bands and I get that for sure - you want to see Bob Dylan of course! But I like the calendars they have going now just as well - its a bit more eclectic.

I have played there a bunch over the years. Its less than a mile from my house. I guess maybe I was a little rough around the edges when I was younger and didn?t quite fit in there so well but now I love it - I have softened a bit for sure, but Passim has gritted up a bit too which is great. We?ve had some really fun shows there and some great parties too!

Tell us about 'Pack up the Circus', what inspired the title of the new album and the artwork?

The song, Pack Up the Circus, was written primarily by Jabe Beyer and myself, but the rest of the guys helped out quite a bit. I guess its about being a maker - and how awkward that is here in the States, but also how lucky we are to have each other. Its complicated. Anais Mitchell co-produced and she is really into journeys. I think all these songs are journey songs. There aren?t really any straight ahead love songs on this record, which is kind of different - my favorite songs are usually love songs but I really like Anais? work and I love what she drew out of us for this record. We are really lucky to have a great team. I mean one of the best things about the independent music era is that there are no label-desk-jockeys messing up your s***. The artwork is by Shaun Wortis and he really takes the time to listen to the record and he knows us really well. He found this old postcard and hand colored it and thats the cover.

Aside from your live shows, how do you intend to spend your time in England?

It sounds so moronically stereotypical, but I can?t wait to be in England and take long walks in the country along incredible footpaths, have lunch in an old roadhouse, drink a big mug of bitter. I have a walk I?ve done a few times, once with Jeff Foucault and once with Session, in the Peaks at Curbar Gap that I am looking forward to doing again. Hopefully it won?t be too wet and there will be a fire going in the Grouse.