Gregory Alan Isakov: Before and After

Gregory Alan Isakov graced the stage at the Louisville Palace on Sunday, June 16, touring in support of his new album Appaloosa bone. Following a great opening set by Liberian artist Mon Rovîa, Isakov took the stage and opened his show with his stunning song “Amsterdam,” setting the mood for a night of soulful lyrics and beautiful, swelling instrumentation.

It was Isakov’s first concert in Louisville since his appearance at Headliners in 2019. With new songs by Appaloosa bone, In addition to older classics, the songwriter from Colorado hypnotized the audience at the Palace and completely immersed them in the music.

Before the show, LEO had the opportunity to interview him to talk about Appaloosa boneColorado, and what he heard.

LEO: Your new album, Appaloosa Bones, has a slightly different sound and theme than some of your previous work. What influenced that sound, the western feel and cowboy-like imagery you hear throughout?

Gregory: It’s funny that it’s come to this. Often the landscapes I’m in will feed into the songs, and I wrote a lot of this record in West Texas, near Big Bend National Park. I put all the songs together at home in the studio where I live. I think I recorded (about) 35 songs of the stuff that came to mind, and then slowly whittled it down, and it turns out a lot of the songs that made it were from that part of the world.

So your home is now in Boulder, Colorado. What was it about Boulder that fascinated you and made you want to live there?

It’s funny, I’m shocked I’m still there. I came there to set up a horticulture school and then I met my band. I ran a couple of farms there and then finally got my own land about ten years ago and now I feel pretty rooted, pretty connected to it.

One aspect of your work that has always impressed me is the way your lyrics tell stories. Do the stories in your music emerge as you write the song, or do you have an idea of ​​them before you start working on a new piece?

I never know what it’s going to be until I write it. In many ways, that’s the magic of it. I’m sure you as a writer can probably relate to that, because you’re just going along with it and holding the reins. It almost feels like a co-creative process with that text and yourself, and you’re asking it what it wants to be. Often I have no idea what it’s about when I write it, and then afterwards I think, “Oh yeah, I think I get it now.”

“Appaloosa Bones” is your first album since “Evening Machines” in 2018. Did you have the idea for this album since the release of your last album or did it come relatively recently?

I’ve probably been working on it ever since. I’m already working on something new. It doesn’t take me a lot of time to make a record. It’s more that I’m pretty serious about taking time away from music and then coming back to it to make sure it lives on for me. I think when you finish a lyric or something you get really excited and you’re like, “Oh, that’s it! I’ve struck gold!” and then a year later you’re like, “Oh, it’s not that good, I don’t know if anyone’s going to get it.” So I like that time away from it and I come back and just see if it’s going to be of any use to me and other people. I think a lot of the process for me is being quiet between sessions and then coming back. Records aren’t merchandise, it’s not like I’m saying, “I need a record for a tour,” I want to make things that hopefully will last when I’m gone. Maybe that’s an illusion of greatness, but I think in my own little world I want to create something that I think can last. I don’t know if I’m there yet, but that’s the goal.

At the beginning of the month you were featured on a new single by Shovels & Rope and in February on one with Noah Kahan. How was it collaborating with other artists?

Yes, I’ve worked on a lot of projects this year, once with Noah and once with Shovels. I did a song with Jeremiah Fraites from The Lumineers. He had an instrumental record out and he really wanted to do a song with vocals and he chose this Radiohead song. I loved it. I don’t do it often but I always have a lot of fun collaborating with people, it’s really good.

Just because it’s my favorite song of yours, I was wondering if you could tell us a little about the background to “Saint Valentine” by The Weatherman from 2013?

Yeah, it’s funny, we haven’t played that in a while, maybe we’ll play it today. I think a lot of my songs come from short lyrics, short pieces of prose, and I always had this image of this story with this character, Saint Valentine. That holiday has always been this weird Hallmark holiday, there was always this weird pressure. I used to wait tables and I remember Valentine’s Day being great because the tips were really good, but it was like, “Oh God, those poor people.” I feel like there was all this pressure to go to this nice restaurant and spend a lot of money, and if you don’t do anything, it’s crap. So, I had this idea of ​​this character that was a flop, (that) had this weird veil of this watered down idea. I started there and it took its own path. I remember I used to play on the street a lot and a couple of buskers made it into the song.

What artists have you been listening to on repeat lately? Is there anything you think people should hear and get to know?

A lot of music. I’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental music, this guy Alabaster DePlume, he’s a jazz saxophonist. It’s funny, I woke up here in Milwaukee and went down to get a cup of coffee and ran into my friend Sam from Iron & Wine. I’m obsessed with his new album that he just came out, so I was talking to him this morning about recording it. I love that record. I just think Sam is one of the greatest songwriters I know right now, just the way he can bring all those elements together in a song. Gosh, I listen to a lot of Nick Drake, probably still too much Leonard Cohen. At the end of the year, do you get your Spotify retrospective? Mine was hilarious this year, it was this playlist called “Japanese Fishing Village” and it was this Japanese koto music. I seem to have that on loop a lot on the farm because we wash and pack two days a week, basically just washing and packing lettuce. But yeah, we had this playlist of Japanese fishing music playing all day. It’s hilarious when Spotify tells you what you just listened to. But yeah, looking back, Alabaster DePlume is pretty interesting. He has this one record that you should definitely listen to, it’s called To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1, it’s a beautiful record, incredible.