Exclusive Q and A: Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr Talks 'The Whippoorwill,' Songwriting, and Zac Brown
posted in: By Genres • Exclusive Interviews • Music News • Rock
Blackberry Smoke
Blackberry Smoke‘s recent release of The Whippoorwill has fans and critics calling the Georgia-based band the next generation of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat, Kid Rock, and other legendary southern rockers with a foot planted in the country. Since signing with Southern Ground Artists, the label founded by Zac Brown, the band have been on the road with Eric Church, the Zac Brown Band, and many other high-profile performers. It seems only a matter of time before Blackberry Smoke become headlining powerhouses themselves.
Charlie Starr, leader and main songwriter of the band, took time out from his schedule to talk about writing The Whippoorwill, how the songs were selected, and just what he hopes fans hear in the band’s latest release:
OS: You must feel great about having The Whippoorwill released.
CS: Yes, it was such a long time between making this album and the last album (Little Piece of Dixie from 2010). I had a lot of songs written that we had been playing live already. We were were excited to record those even though they weren’t new to us and our fans anymore. We definitely had those down!
OS: I’m always curious about the songwriting process. Are you the kind of writer who works on the road or do you have a certain place you prefer to write?
CS: I have this this quiet little place where I live, and it’s conducive to the creative process. I carve time away to write. I have to do exactly that. I have to take a couple days and be left alone to write. I don’t really write on the road. The day revolves around the show and unless I have divine inspiration, I don’t write then. That only really happened one time when I wrote “Ain’t Got the Blues,” in the bus. That came out in one piece but that’s more an exception than the rule.
OS: You’ve said before you get on a roll and are fairly prolific when you write. Did that happen on this project?
CS: It did. Before I knew it, there were 22 songs. The biggest problem was trimming it down. I personally try to be a good editor, not bring the boys any crap. So we play all the songs and then we have to decide. We can’t go in and make a triple album! We chose 20 and that was still too many so we played them all for Zac.
OS: I heard that Zac chose a bunch and then had you guys basically decide on the rest. Then he had one he wanted you to add at the last minute. What was that one?
CS: That was “Crimson Moon.” He said it was his favorite.
OS: Sounds like you have a very good relationship with Zac and his record label.
CS: We do. Different types of people have labels and they are figureheads so to speak. Not him. He digs right in there. It’s a beautiful thing. This is the first time we have a release on a label, so to speak. We have done it every which way we can. The record didn’t come out until August. That wasn’t because of Zac but more a [red tape kind of thing]. We felt that was too long a wait for fans. We came up with a compromise where the CDs were available at our shows before the release. We really wanted people to get them as soon as they could.
OS: Did that work out well?
CS: It did but it was hard for fans when we didn’t tour near them. I saw someone on EBay selling one for $300. That isn’t right. I know karma will get him, though, sooner or later.
OS: You’ve done a lot of touring and festivals lately. What were some of the high points?
CS: Definitely touring with Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert. We made a lot of new friends on that tour and Eric was just the best. Everybody was really cool.
OS: What do you hope fans hear when they listen to your new album?
CS: I would like that people notice that the band has evolved in a natural way. We are not doing anything brand new as far as the sound. It’s still us, but I don’t want to play the same tune over and over again and I don’t want to write the same song over and over again. I wouldn’t want our band to be thought of as pandering, though. We play the music that we love and we like to sound a certain way. That definitely has got nothing to do with what is popular right now. When we have a song, we know when it feels contrived and when it is right. This album is just right from top to bottom, in my opinion. This project sounds different from the others, but it’s not that far removed. There is a common thread but there has got to be some variety among them.
Check out music, tour dates, and more on Blackberry Smoke’s official website.
More like this: