Living the Blues: An Interview with Sleepy Eyes Nelson
Walter Beck talks to Sleepy Eyes Nelson about what it means to be a blues singer in the 21st century.
Photograph by Mike Snow (Click Images to enlarge)
As one of the most prolific blues musicians in the underground, Sleepy Eyes Nelson is the real deal. He pays tribute to the old masters with his brand of lo-fi, hard-living acoustic tunes.
Recently, I had a chance to talk to Nelson about his heroes, his music, and the wild living of a 21st century blues slinger.
Introduce yourself to the readers of Polari Magazine.
Hello, I’m Sleepy Eyes Nelson, I come from a small town in Ayrshire, Scotland and I play country blues.
My first question is why the blues? You’re probably the only musician I’ve heard, at least contemporary, who plays authentic style acoustic blues. Most contemporary blues players and bands I’ve heard are very electric and eclectic in their sound, mixing in various influences until it’s barely recognizable as blues.
I’ve always liked old music. I was brought up listening to old country music and then I moved onto blues, in particular the country blues. I was always fascinated by the old country blues albums and the quality of the playing. There is nothing better than hearing someone play all the parts a band would play but just coming out of one person and a guitar. It’s my favourite type of music and the blues is something I can certainly identify with so I suppose that’s why I play it. It seems to come naturally to me.
I‘ve never wanted to plug into a fuzz box and go all blues hammer and electric with it, it‘s not me to do that. I‘m a stripped back acoustic bluesman at heart, music for the porch. People have said to me at shows “you should stand up and do this and that and jump around” and I say, “you can‘t stand up and sing the blues, it‘s just not possible”. If you‘re standing up then you’re just not feeling it. That’s the words of Lightnin’ Hopkins and I can totally identify with that.
I first heard your music on a split with C.J. Marie Trouble Comes Around, I believe that came out in 2011. How long have you been at this? When did your first record come out?
I’ve been playing the guitar since my late teens; I was a bit of a late starter. I’ve recorded loads of stuff over the years but my first official release was on an American Label called Devil’s Ruin Records back in 2008. They found me on MySpace.
Since Devil’s Ruin Records went out of operation I’ve been putting music out on the Scottish label Cheap Wine Records.
Who are some of your influences? I definitely hear strong echoes of Son House, Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Hank Williams in your records.
My main influences are Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Furry Lewis. They were the first guys I heard that blew me away.
Years ago I bought a Mance Lipscomb record in a second hand shop in Glasgow, I got it for 99p. I’ll never forget hearing that record for the first time, it was mind blowing. What he was doing on the guitar was amazing. Him and Lightnin’ are my main ones. I’m also a big fan of country music, and I mean real country music not the rubbish stuff I heard on the radio or saw on the TV when I was on tour in America recently. Yes, Hank Williams, George Jones and Johnny Cash and Townes Van Zandt. I’m a really big fan of George Jones. Nothing beats getting the beers in and slamming on some George full blast. I think he was the best of them all, real country.
What about your recording techniques? I’ve noticed your records have a lo-fi, gritty feel to them, do you use a digital set-up or are you a tape recorder sort of musician?
I keep it very simple when it comes to recording. I record the songs in my house and pretty much as soon as I write one I will record it. That’s why I have quite a lot of albums. I write songs about things that happen to me mostly, it‘s kind of autobiographical. And yes, I am very much a tape recorder kind of guy. I don’t mess about with my recordings. It comes out in a Lo- Fi way and I’m happy with that.
It’s not professional sounding and in my opinion it doesn’t need to be. It’s just me and an acoustic guitar playing the blues, you don’t need to fuck around with it. Going into a studio for me is just a waste of time and money. I prefer DIY home recordings, they have much more life and passion in them than you will ever get from a fancy overpriced recording studio.
What’s the story behind your latest album Busy with the Blues? Any plans to tour behind it?
The album title came from a conversation I was having with a friend of mine from Texas, Mike Snow. Mike has written a number of songs for me in the past and also has a song on this album. We were talking one day and I was just saying how I was really busy with the blues and he said that would make a great album title, so I used it. The artwork for the album which was done by Katharine Cameron, is based on gigs I’m doing more of these days, performing for blues dancers, so that inspired the Artwork. As for a tour, I’m always busy playing around Scotland at festivals in the summer but I might be back in America next year if all goes to plan.
What projects do you have in the works? Any new splits or new albums coming soon?
I have a split album with my pal Slate Dump coming out soon. We’ve been releasing a series of albums tilted Covered in Blues and the next one will be Volume Three and it’s in the works right now. I was in America touring volumes one and two with Slate Dump last year and we had a top time doing that.
I’ve noticed most of your releases are available for free download, is there something behind that? An artistic statement? Or do you just think records are too expensive these days?
The idea behind Cheap Wine Records is to give people a mix of free and cheap downloads. It’s not about lavish production, it’s all about good music. The label is not genre specific so you’ll find a varied mix of styles on the label from country, blues, Scottish folk to experimental and industrial.
For the label it’s about getting the balance right, some stuff has a price tag and other stuff is free but anything that you pay for will be cheap. It helps keep the label alive and gives something back to the artists and then in return the label can repay the fans with free downloads.
Underground music has always had a certain sleaziness to it that mainstream music tends to hide these days, any good road stories you wanna share with the readers? Some wild bender? Maybe a good one night stand?
There are a lot of stories I could share but like I mentioned before, I was on tour with my good friend Slate Dump. We did a pretty big tour last year. I was on a diet of cheeseburgers and beer. We had some top nights and most of the tour was a wild bender. At one part of the tour we were heading through Texas drinking with friends in Houston and Austin, we’d been on the road for quite a while, sleeping on people’s floors sleeping in horrid motels with bed bugs and drinkin’ every night. After a top gig in Austin, loaded with moonshine and Lone Star we headed for Oklahoma, we played at a great wee bar in Norman called The Blue Bonnet. I was back on the drink to steady me for the show; we saw some sights that night that I’ll keep between me and Slate Dump.
Photograph by Mike Snow
You know some things that happen on the road must stay on the road. Again we were up all night smoking, drinking and having a good time in Oklahoma and then the next thing I remember is waking up in a motel in the state of Kansas feeling rough as hell and all out of beer and no food. When Slate Dump phoned up reception to ask if there was anywhere to get some food nearby, the woman replied “you’re in the middle of nowhere sir” and that was that. So there we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, rough as hell, no food, no signal, no phone reception, no signal on the TV, just nothing. We decided to write a song that night, so me and Slate Dump wrote the ‘No Signal Blues’. It was one wild bender that came to an abrupt end. After Kansas it was onto Missouri where the bender started again with our friends The Mussy Cluves.
Any final words for the readers of Polari?
I’d like to thank you for the interview and giving me the chance to speak about my music. And to the readers of Polari: check out Cheap Wine Records for the free and cheap downloads and keep supporting honest, independent music.
https://www.facebook.com/sleepyeyesnelsonbluesmusician
http://cheapwinerecords.bandcamp.com/
