Exclusive Q and A: Kevin Costner and Modern West Saddle up for a Tour
posted in: Country • Exclusive Interviews
Kevin Costner just feels right about making music with his band Modern West. You could say that comfort came easily because he has played guitar and piano since childhood. Or you may say his dozens of acting roles in such human interest dramas as Dances with Wolves and Wyatt Earp allowed him to reflect sonically. Even Costner seems unable to pinpoint the exact reason his music career”which we’ll call it, though he might not”seems such a natural fit. What we can trace are the roots of his music, that began in earnest when he met future band mate John Coinman in a Los Angeles acting workshop. The two began to perform and write together. Then they teamed with friend Blair Forward, and formed their own band The Roving Boys. The band was working its way to success, when Costner’s acting career skyrocketed. The Roving Boys was shelved until a 2005 reunion restarted the band’s creative engine. Now a six piece band”with members Teddy Morgan, Larry Cobb and Park Chisholm”and called Modern West, the band has begun a tour behind its latest release From Where I Stand (now available in Europe; a US release may soon be announced).Costner took time out of his schedule to chat a bit about his latest album, the band’s original songs and just why his music career worries his children.
KC: Making the record came from my desire to play live wherever I want hanging out. I didn’t see it translating into a tour. I found myself at golf tournaments and charity events, and I would be more comfortable onstage [performing] than standing out there signing autographs. I wanted to be part of the party instead of a prop. I have always loved performing and I love performing original music. There was no end game. This was not the idea, to tour. It was not the idea to make a record. Things unfold and I bent with the wind.
OS: And now you have this major record deal.
KC: I do not have a major record deal. I have to be very, very clear. There is no machine behind me, behind us. That has been the heart burn for the guys in the band. We could play 200 or 300 nights [a year], and that would change the lives of everyone in the band. I don’t want to do that. So one satisfaction has led to others’ dissatisfaction.
OS: So it seems everyone in the band writes?
KC: I write a lot of lyrics and occasionally I do a melody line. It all depends on how I’m feeling. More [of my] songs get tossed than are kept. Most often one of the guys [in the band] writes a song based on something I say. I might say “Hey, that is catchy,” and they’ll say “those first four lines are what you said.” Then we flesh the song out. That’s how our band operates.
OS: You played a significant role in using Dolly Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You,” in the movie The Bodyguard. What was it about that song that appealed to you in that situation?
KC: I think we all have had to make that decision at some point. Maybe someone is not the right person at one point, maybe you are star crossed, but I found a genius in that song. Melodically I was always moved by that. That was a song that was immediately received by [Whitney Houston’s] camp. We felt it was right for the movie [but others] said it wouldn’t get any radio play. I remember saying “Don’t be so sure.” The fact that someone would sing without orchestration [as Houston did] is heroic.
OS: Is your affection for songs by artists such as Dolly Parton the reason you chose to go country?
KC: I don’t think of myself as country. I know when we wrote songs country [embraced us]. We are influenced by the Doors, the Four Seasons, James Taylor, the Rascals, the Stones. I like [songs by such artists as] Marty Robbins. They just told a story.
OS: What do your children think of your music career?
KC: Two of them are in a band. One daughter is in Providence [Rhode Island] and my son is [in California]. They make great music together when they don’t fight! I think they are proud of me. They are much better songwriters than I am. Once in a while they jump on stage with me. They are also very protective of me; they don’t want people to make fun of me. I tell them that I’m doing something I enjoy. I will be OK.
OS: What is it that performing music gives you?
KC: I like playing live. I like the drama of it.
OS: What do you see as your next musical steps?
KC: I don’t know. I am feeling a pressure now that we are asked to play around the world. I am wrestling with us being able to do that. I can’t emotionally drive songs to be on the charts, though. I’m not going to be at radio stations [promoting my band]. That’s not why I started. I wouldn’t know exactly how to do that. I have avoided going on TV for many years now. That would be an oddity. It wouldn’t be organically real.
Find out more about Kevin Costner & Modern West, including tour dates, on the band’s website.
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