Formed in 1970 in Boston, Aerosmith paid their early dues, played hard and partied harder, and enjoyed hits like “Walk This Way” and “Dream On.” In the summer of 1979, Perry, at odds with other members of the band, and dealing with the strain of increasing drug dependency, left Aerosmith to start The Joe Perry Project, a group with a rotating lineup that recorded three albums and toured almost constantly. With his personal and professional life a shambles, Perry and his friends in Aerosmith patched things up in 1984, got into rehab, cleaned up, and enjoyed 25 years of unprecedented success with a series of hit singles, MTV videos, critically-acclaimed albums and sold-out tours. Aerosmith have sold an astounding 150 million albums worldwide, and are members of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
But flash forward to Autumn 2009, and Aerosmith was once again in a state of confusion and turmoil. Lead singer Steven Tyler, eager to establish himself as a solo artist at age 61, decided to take an indefinite hiatus after falling off a stage this past summer. While rumors of the band’s demise abounded, Perry went on record saying that Aerosmith was still together, and might look for a replacement for Tyler. In the meantime, Perry, never one to sit still, and with a backlog of new material, quickly recorded and released an album in October called Have Guitar, Will Travel, featuring a newly handpicked group of musicians. Billed again as The Joe Perry Project, the band has just completed a short US tour, and is poised to take their act overseas within weeks of this writing, opening for Mötley Crüe and Bad Company.
A self-confessed ‘60s rock fan, guitar collector, horse enthusiast and gearhead, Joe spent time discussing his love of funky Supro guitars, and how he surprisingly plans to unload a significant portion of his vast collection in the coming year.
What was the spark that ignited your desire to play guitar?
 The Joe Perry Project performing at L’Amour, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 30, 1983. Photo by Frank White |
Once I discovered The Beatles, their music and movies, and all the other British bands like The Stones and Yardbirds, I was captured by rock ‘n’ roll.
You were influenced by Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix specifically, but how did Peter Green fit into the equation?
A lot of English bands came to Boston before they hit New York back then. I guess they wanted to warm up first there. I had a friend who got a lot of free tickets to the Boston Tea Party club. Fleetwood Mac took up residence at the Tea Party for weeks on end, and I must have seen them thirty times or more. I saw them on great nights, terrible nights, nights when they were all drunk. Peter Green’s style, attitude and sound really got to me. These guys didn’t care about being rock stars. It was all about the music for them. I became a big fan of Fleetwood Mac. I guess you could say I was most influenced by the second wave of British bands, like The Yardbirds, Mac and The Who.
Did you ever see The Yardbirds live?
No, they had broken up by the time I started going to concerts. I wish I had seen them.
The first time I saw Aerosmith, you guys were opening for Mott The Hoople.
We toured with them a lot in the beginning. I can’t say enough nice things about those guys. They were very good to us. They took us under their wing, you might say. All they wanted to do was play rock ‘n’ roll and party. They’re back together with all the original members playing shows in England, and I heard they sound great.
Let’s talk specifically about guitars. What are you using on tour right now?
 Performing at the Filmore at Irving Plaza, NYC, Nov. 10, 2009. Photo by Frank White |
Is that the brown guitar with the studs on the body?
Yes, that’s the one. I call it the Bones and Bullets guitar. There are pictures of it in the booklet of the new CD.
Performing at the Filmore at Irving Plaza, NYC, Nov. 10, 2009. Photo by Frank White
What makes a great guitar to you?
It’s the little things—the nut, the bridge, the setup. You know how it is: every guitar is different and some are just special. My Billie guitar rings like a bell when the volume is down. When you turn it up, you can get a great rock ‘n’ roll crunch, and it’s a good heavy metal guitar too. It does everything well. That guitar is really special.
How did the Billie guitar come about? I know several guitarists who speak fondly of it, for obvious reasons.
It started out as a standard B.B. King Lucille model, and I picked it because there were no F holes to get in the way of the artwork. It’s amazing that guitar plays as well as it does. I changed the electronics; it has one volume and one tone now. The inspiration was the nose art you saw on airplanes during World War II. I wanted to put the most beautiful woman I could find on there, so naturally, I chose my wife. I sent it out to an airbrush artist and he did a great job. When I got it back, I opened the case and gave it to Billie, and she hated it. She was so embarrassed she refused to come out of the dressing room at Aerosmith shows when I was using it. She couldn’t stand the sight of seeing herself on a 30- or 40-foot screen at shows. Now, she’s okay with it.
I read that you have about 600 guitars. What are some of the standout pieces from that collection? Which are your favorites and why?
It’s really closer to 500 guitars, and there are so many great ones. To tell you the truth, I want to unload a large portion of the collection. I’ve been working with Perry Margouleff [Author’s Note: Margouleff is a noted record producer and vintage guitar expert] on the best ways to disperse them. I want to sell a lot of them because they’re sitting in storage, I just don’t have time to play them all, and I’d rather get them into the hands of guitarists who will play and enjoy them. Some may go on consignment, others we’ll sell directly to collectors. Others we may donate to charities or give to kids.
Joe, do you have a Supro Dual-Tone you want to sell? That’s a guitar I’ve always wanted. Let’s talk about it when you get ready to sell, okay?
Yeah, I have two of them. Sure, no problem. We can do that.
You have two signature Les Paul models. How much input did you have in their design?
They let me decorate them; it was mostly about cosmetics. They’re pretty much standard Les Pauls. The first one has the black see-through finish. I wanted the flame top with that nice ripple effect you get. When light catches it, the flames come through. I had Gibson make them lightweight, and it has a Tonex pot on the neck pickup, which gives you a static wah sound. That’s a very cool effect for solos. The Boneyard model is custom shop Gibson. My wife is an artist who’s had experience working in multimedia visual arts, and she had an idea for the finish to bring out the tiger stripe effect. We were at the Gibson custom shop and she explained the idea to the guys there. Their response was, “That won’t work.” They tried to talk her out of it. She said, “Can’t you just try it this way?” They did, and it worked. It really brought out the wood grain. The top is sort of a greenish-orange shade, and the flame top is very prominent.
I also saw a recent promo photo of you playing a black Gretsch. How do you use it?
That guitar is a real squealer. It’s a Black Falcon. It feeds back too much live. I used a White Falcon on that cut from the new album, “Somebody’s Gonna’ Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight.” Gretsches are good rockabilly guitars. Fred Gretsch gave me the White Falcon I have.
I read somewhere that you have a lot of cheap, funky electrics like Teiscos, Supros and Danelectros. Is that true?
Yeah, those cheap guitars are so much fun to play and collect. I love the Supro Ozark model. I have two of them. I think the Ozark is the best slide guitar ever made. It’s got a flat fretboard, like the Dan Armstrong see-through, and I think that factor makes them both great slide guitars. I have written songs especially for the Ozark. The pickups on the Ozarks go over and under the strings, and the sustain is amazing. The old Rickenbacker horseshoe pickups were similar but not quite the same. There are so many variations to those old Supro guitars. No two are ever alike.
I have a red Supro Belmont I bought from a kid this past summer for $250. I had it rewired and set up for slide by David Petillo. It’s a killer. Those old Belmonts are cool too. Supros are just the best slide guitars.
What's your onstange amp rig right now?
I’ve always liked something that’s crunchy and something that’s clean, so it’s usually a combination of Marshall and Fender. I use a ’64 50-watt Plexi with an 8x10 Marshall cabinet, a ’69 Marshall Super Bass Plexi head, plus a couple of Dual Showman amps with two 15s. I also have a ’50 Bandmaster Tweed with original Jensens that smooths out and melds the sounds together. There are other amps we use onstage too. In the studio, I’ll use a Fender Champ or an old Epiphone amp with an 8" speaker.
What’s on your pedalboard right now?
I’ve got a Fulltone Echoplex reissue, a Fulltone Ultimate Octave, an Electro- Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, a blue Line 6 Modeler, a green Line 6 Delay, an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a DigiTech Whammy pedal, an original Klon Centaur, a Jimi Hendrix Signature Cry Baby wah and other stuff. The pedalboard is pretty extensive. One of the coolest things I have on there is an actual siren built into a pedal.
Premier Guitar’s motto is “the relentless pursuit of tone.” How would you define good tone?
Good tone is what works for the song. Your tone forms the basis of each song. Basically, there is no bad tone, just bad uses of tone. What’s good for one song can be bad for others. I use lots of different tones depending on the material.
The tracks I’ve heard from your latest CD have a very raw, dense quality, as if the band recorded together in the same room, the way it was done in the late sixties. Was that the vibe you were going for this time? You recorded this disc in your home studio, right?
That’s exactly what we were going for. We isolated the guitars just enough and everybody played at the same time going for keepers. With this record, we went for good takes every time. If someone screwed up, we did another take or pieced things together. The whole vibe was about getting good takes. The musicians I have now allowed me to operate that way, and it worked out real well. Aerosmith recorded Honkin’ On Bobo in my studio the same way. I’ve always had a home studio. In the beginning, it was just basic four-track stuff, but now, I have a great studio at my disposal all the time.
I frequently hear older musicians complain that there are no young guitar heroes. Are there any young guitarists you like?
I really like Jack White. He plays stuff that sounds like an exercise, but you can tell he’s listened to blues guys like John Lee Hooker. I hear the same thing when I listen to things my sons play—simple riffs, but you know they can develop what they’re doing if they work on it. Jack White will have longetivity. There are a lot of good young technical players out there.
Do you have any final words of wisdom and advice for guitarists?
Practice with a metronome. They’re cheap, you can buy one that attaches to your guitar strap, and they’re great for developing your time and feel. Every guitarist, every musician, should work with a metronome or a click track to develop a good sense of time.
Joe Perry’s Gear for the Joe Perry Project Tour 2009/2010
Left to right: Joe Perry Boneyard Gibson Les Paul, Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Joe Perry Model (stock), 2000 Dan Armstrong Plexi, "Billie Perry" custom ES-335 Lucille, Mid-'50s Supro OzarkGuitars:
“Billie Perry” custom Gibson ES-335 Lucille: a one-of-a-kind guitar with his wife Billie’s picture on it, and one of Joe’s all time favorite guitars. Boneyard Green tiger Gibson Les Paul with a bigsby tailpiece, stock: the prototype Boneyard Les Paul; it says “prototype” on the back of the headstock.
“Bullets and Bones” guitar: custom-made for Joe by R.S. Guitarworks; features a Lindy Fralin P-90 pickup in the bridge, Joe Barden pickups in the middle and neck, and a Trem King tremolo.
2000 Dan Armstrong Plexi: nothing says open-tuning slide guitar like this Plexi.
Mid-‘50s Supro Ozark: used for slide work only.
Black Gibson Les Paul: Custom Shop Joe Perry model, stock.
Gretsch White Falcon: given to Joe by Fred Gretsch Jr.
Ernie Ball Silhouette Guitar: mid-‘90s alloriginal with a Trem King tremolo.
Mid-‘70s Left-Handed Strat with reverse Telecaster headstock: the actual guitar from the first Joe Perry Project tour, and one of the guitars Joe has owned the longest. It has Barcus Berry pickups in it.
Left-Handed Fender Jim Servis/Joe Perry strat: loving referred to as “Frankenstrat,” and built by Joe and Jim Servis. It’s basically a parts guitar that has literally been in a fire; a left-handed Fender body and a reverse Tele Warmoth neck, Barden pickups custom-wound for hotter output, and a really cool green pickguard.
1992 Fender Gold Sparkle Strat: has a Suhr plate added to the cavity to cancel hum and control the noise of the pickups.
2004 Black Fender Jeff Beck Strat: all original except for the Suhr hum-canceling plate added to the cavity.
2006 Gibson Custom Shop SG: all stock with P-90s; great sounding guitar.
1958 Gibson Les Paul: bridge pickup cover removed... enough said.
2004 Gold Fender Strat: stock except for the Suhr plate.
Amps:
1964 Marshall 8x10 cabinet
1969 Marshall Super Bass head (2)
1970 Marshall Super Lead heads
1950 Fender Bandmaster with original Jensen speakers
1963 Fender VibroVerb
1980s Fender Tone Master head
1973 Fender Dual Showman 1972 Fender Dual Showman
1973 Fender Bassman 2x15 cabinet with JBL speakers
Pedals:
Fulltone Tube Tape Echo
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Electro-Harmonix POG
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal (controlling the POG volume)
Line 6 MM4 Modulation Effects
Line 6 DL4 Delay
Effects A siren (a custom-made pedal that is an actual siren)
Digitech Whammy
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
Dunlop/Custom Audio Electronics MC402 Boost Overdrive
Klon Centaur (original brown-cased)
Option 5 Destination Rotation Single
Cry Baby Jimi Hendrix Signature wah
Strings:
Pyramid strings - He uses different gauges for different guitars. He uses standard gauge 9-44 or 10-46. And he uses 11-48 for some of the guitars that have dropped down tunings…
Cables:
Belden Wire
Straps:
Custom Dunlop thin leather
Picks:
Dunlop 483 Classic Celluloid Heavy (custom imprinted)
Accesories:
Dunlop Joe Perry signature series Boneyard Slide
[Thanks to Trace Foster, Joe’s tech, for providing info on the touring gear, and special thanks to Jim Servis for his assistance in compiling this list of guitars]
Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter Distortion Pedal
With its take on the cult-classic, chainsaw distortion pedal, the EHX Hell Melter takes distortion to its extremes. The Hell Melter features expanded controls and tonal capabilities, allowing the already in-your-face sound of the pedal to broaden by switching to more open clipping options and boosting the internal voltage for increased headroom, less compression, and more attack.
Originally designed as the ultimate in high-gain tone, this world-famous distortion circuit is known for the death metal sounds of Sweden’s Entombed and the shoegaze wash of My Bloody Valentine. It’s even found a home in the rig of David Gilmour!
The EHX Hell Melter’s expanded control set includes Gain and Level controls, and a powerful active EQ featuring with parametric mids for improved versatility. The Dry level control allows for blending your input signal for improved low-end when used with a bass or even blending in other distorted tones.
Boost Footswitch engages an input gain boost and volume boost which is internally adjustable. The Normal/Burn switch toggles between the classic chainsaw sound and the more open clipping option.
For the first time in the band’s history, the Dawes lineup for Oh Brother consisted of just Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith (left and right).
Goldsmith’s lyrics spoke to me the loudest, with lines like “Well, you can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks / Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but it’s starin’ right back” (a casual Nietzsche paraphrase); and “Oh, the snowfall this time of year / It’s not what Birmingham is used to / I get the feeling that I brought it here / And now I’m taking it away.” The way his words painted a portrait of the sincere, sentimental man behind them, along with his cozy, unassuming guitar work and the band’s four-part harmonies, had me hooked.
Nothing Is Wrong and Stories Don’t End came next, and I happily gobbled up more folksy fodder in tracks like “If I Wanted,” “Most People,” and “From a Window Seat.” But 2015’s All Your Favorite Bands, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Folk Albumschart, didn’t land with me, and by the time 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die was released, it was clear that Goldsmith had shifted thematically in his writing. A friend drew a thoughtful Warren Zevon comparison to the single, “When the Tequila Runs Out”—a commentary on vapid, conceited, American-socialite party culture—but it still didn’t really do it for me. I fell off the Dawes train a bit, and became somewhat oblivious to their three full-lengths that followed.
Oh Brotheris Goldsmith’s latest addition to the Dawes songbook, and I’m grateful to say that it’s brought me back. After having done some catching up, I’d posit that it’s the second work in the third act, or fall season, of his songwriting—where 2022’s Misadventures of Doomscrollercracked open the door, Oh Brother swings it wide. And it doesn’t have much more than Dawes’ meat and potatoes, per se, in common with acts one or two. Some moodiness has stayed—as well as societal disgruntlement and the arrangement elements that first had me intoxicated. But then there’s the 7/4 section in the middle of “Front Row Seat”; the gently unwinding, quiet, intimate jazz-club feel of “Surprise!”; the experimentally percussive, soft-spoken “Enough Already”; and the unexpected, dare I say, Danny Elfman-esque harmonic twists and turns in the closing track, “Hilarity Ensues.”
The main engine behind Dawes, the Goldsmith brothers are both native “Angelinos,” having been born and raised in the L.A. area. Taylor is still proud to call the city his home.
Photo by Jon Chu
“I have this working hypothesis that who you are as a songwriter through the years is pretty close to who you are in a dinner conversation,” Goldsmith tells me in an interview, as I ask him about that thematic shift. “When I was 23, if I was invited to dinner with grownups [laughs], or just friends or whatever, and they say, ‘How you doin’, Taylor?’ I probably wouldn’t think twice to be like, ‘I’m not that good. There’s this girl, and … I don’t know where things are at—can I share this with you? Is that okay?’ I would just go in in a way that’s fairly indiscreet! And I’m grateful to that version of me, especially as a writer, because that’s what I wanted to hear, so that’s what I was making at the time.
“But then as I got older, it became, ‘Oh, maybe that’s not an appropriate way to answer the question of how I’m doing.’ Or, ‘Maybe I’ve spent enough years thinking about me! What does it feel like to turn the lens around?’” he continues, naming Elvis Costello and Paul Simon as inspirations along the way through that self-evolution. “Also, trying to be mindful of—I had strengths then that I don’t have now, but I have strengths now that I didn’t have then. And now it’s time to celebrate those. Even in just a physical way, like hearing Frank Zappa talking about how his agility as a guitar player was waning as he got older. It’s like, that just means that you showcase different aspects of your skills.
“I am a changing person. It would be weird if I was still writing the same way I was when I was 23. There would probably be some weird implications there as to who I’d be becoming as a human [laughs].”
Taylor Goldsmith considers Oh Brother, the ninth full-length in Dawes’ catalog, to be the beginning of a new phase of Dawes, containing some of his most unfiltered, unedited songwriting.
Since its inception, the engine behind Dawes has been the brothers Goldsmith, with Taylor on guitar and vocals and Griffin on drums and sometimes vocal harmonies. But they’ve always had consistent backup. For the first several years, that was Wylie Gelber on bass and Tay Strathairn on keyboards. On We’re All Gonna Die, Lee Pardini replaced Strathairn and has been with the band since. Oh Brother, however, marks the departure of Gelber and Pardini.
“We were like, ‘Wow, this is an intense time; this is a vulnerable time,’” remarks Goldsmith, who says that their parting was supportive and loving, but still rocked him and Griffin. “You get a glimpse of your vulnerability in a way that you haven’t felt in a long time when things are just up and running. For a second there, we’re like, ‘We’re getting a little rattled—how do we survive this?’”
They decided to pair up with producer Mike Viola, a close family friend, who has also worked with Mandy Moore—Taylor’s spouse—along with Panic! At the Disco, Andrew Bird, and Jenny Lewis. “[We knew that] he understands all of the parameters of that raw state. And, you know, I always show Mike my songs, so he was aware of what we had cookin’,” says Goldsmith.
Griffin stayed behind the kit, but Taylor took over on bass and keys, the latter of which he has more experience with than he’s displayed on past releases. “We’ve made records where it’s very tempting to appeal to your strengths, where it’s like, ‘Oh, I know how to do this, I’m just gonna nail it,’” he says. “Then there’s records that we make where we really push ourselves into territories where we aren’t comfortable. That contributed to [Misadventures of Doomscroller] feeling like a living, breathing thing—very reactive, very urgent, very aware. We were paying very close attention. And I would say the same goes for this.”
That new terrain, says Goldsmith, “forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do. I’m really excited in that sense, because it’s like this is the first album of a new phase.”
“That forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do.”
In proper folk (or even folk-rock) tradition, the music of Dawes isn’t exactly riddled with guitar solos, but that’s not to say that Goldsmith doesn’t show off his chops when the timing is right. Just listen to the languid, fluent lick on “Surprise!”, the shamelessly prog-inspired riff in the bridge of “Front Row Seat,” and the tactful, articulate line that threads through “Enough Already.” Goldsmith has a strong, individual sense of phrasing, where his improvised melodies can be just as biting as his catalog’s occasional lyrical jabs at presumably toxic ex-girlfriends, and just as melancholy as his self-reflective metaphors, all the while without drawing too much attention to himself over the song.
Of course, most of our conversation revolves around songwriting, as that’s the craft that’s the truest and closest to his identity. “There’s an openness, a goofiness—I even struggle to say it now, but—an earnestness that goes along with who I am, not only as a writer but as a person,” Goldsmith elaborates. “And I think it’s important that those two things reflect one another. ’Cause when you meet someone and they don’t, I get a little bit weirded out, like, ‘What have I been listening to? Are you lying to me?’” he says with a smile.
Taylor Goldsmith's Gear
Pictured here performing live in 2014, Taylor Goldsmith has been the primary songwriter for all of Dawes' records, beginning with 2009’s North Hills.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography
Guitars
- Fender Telecaster
- Gibson ES-345
- Radocaster (made by Wylie Gelber)
Amps
- ’64 Fender Deluxe
- Matchless Laurel Canyon
Effects
- 29 Pedals EUNA
- Jackson Audio Bloom
- Ibanez Tube Screamer with Keeley mod
- Vintage Boss Chorus
- Vintage Boss VB-2 Vibrato
- Strymon Flint
- Strymon El Capistan
Strings
- Ernie Ball .010s
In Goldsmith’s songwriting process, he explains that he’s learned to lean away from the inclination towards perfectionism. Paraphrasing something he heard Father John Misty share about Leonard Cohen, he says, “People think you’re cultivating these songs, or, ‘I wouldn’t deign to write something that’s beneath me,’ but the reality is, ‘I’m a rat, and I’ll take whatever I can possibly get, and then I’ll just try to get the best of it.’
“Ever since Misadventures of Doomscroller,” he adds, “I’ve enjoyed this quality of, rather than try to be a minimalist, I want to be a maximalist. I want to see how much a song can handle.” For the songs on Oh Brother, that meant that he decided to continue adding “more observations within the universe” of “Surprise!”, ultimately writing six verses. A similar approach to “King of the Never-Wills,” a ballad about a character suffering from alcoholism, resulted in four verses.
“The economy of songwriting that we’re all taught would buck that,” says Goldsmith. “It would insist that I only keep the very best and shed something that isn’t as good. But I’m not going to think economically. I’m not going to think, ‘Is this self-indulgent?’
Goldsmith’s songwriting has shifted thematically over the years, from more personal, introspective expression to more social commentary and, at times, even satire, in songs like We’re All Gonna Die’s “When the Tequila Runs Out.”
Photo by Mike White
“I don’t abide that term being applied to music. Because if there’s a concern about self-indulgence, then you’d have to dismiss all of jazz. All of it. You’d have to dismiss so many of my most favorite songs. Because in a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.” (He elaborates that, if Bob Dylan had trimmed back any of the verses on “Desolation Row,” it would have deprived him of the unique experience it creates for him when he listens to it.)
One of the joys of speaking with Goldsmith is just listening to his thought processes. When I ask him a question, he seems compelled to share every backstory to every detail that’s going through his head, in an effort to both do his insights justice and to generously provide me with the most complete answer. That makes him a bit verbose, but not in a bad way, because he never rambles. There is an endpoint to his thoughts. When he’s done, however, it takes me a second to realize that it’s then my turn to speak.
To his point on artistic self-indulgence, I offer that there’s no need for artists to feel “icky” about self-promotion—that to promote your art is to celebrate it, and to create a shared experience with your audience.
“I hear what you’re saying loud and clear; I couldn’t agree more,” Goldsmith replies. “But I also try to be mindful of this when I’m writing, like if I’m going to drag you through the mud of, ‘She left today, she’s not coming back, I’m a piece of shit, what’s wrong with me, the end’.... That might be relatable, that might evoke a response, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily helpful … other than dragging someone else through the shit with me.
“In a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.”
“So, if I’m going to share, I want there to be something to offer, something that feels like: ‘Here’s a path that’s helped me through this, or here’s an observation that has changed how I see this particular experience.’ It’s so hard to delineate between the two, but I feel like there is a difference.”
Naming the opening track “Mister Los Angeles,” “King of the Never-Wills,” and even the title track to his 2015 chart-topper, “All Your Favorite Bands,” he remarks, “I wouldn’t call these songs ‘cool.’ Like, when I hear what cool music is, I wouldn’t put those songs next to them [laughs]. But maybe this record was my strongest dose of just letting me be me, and recognizing what that essence is rather than trying to force out certain aspects of who I am, and force in certain aspects of what I’m not. I think a big part of writing these songs was just self-acceptance,” he concludes, laughing, “and just a whole lot of fishing.”
YouTube It
Led by Goldsmith, Dawes infuses more rock power into their folk sound live at the Los Angeles Ace Hotel in 2023.