Broadside Electric : Interview : Page 11

Chat about arrangement ideas:

Tom:	If we ever play "Lord Bateman" again, I'm telling ya: twelve-string electric guitar.
Jim:	Hey, why not?
Amy:	It's the only one we haven't brought back.
Ashley:	"Lord Bateman" is a beautiful tune. Adding twelve-string electric ... hey, any instrument that I can't play I have tremendous respect for, not to mention the person playing it. Not that I don't have respect for the violin.
Helene:	That's a big deal.
Ashley:	It is a big deal! I tried playing it. It wasn't pretty. It's a credit to everybody else that I'm able to think up this stuff because if I don't have anything to play off of, I'm going to sound lousy. And you're always pushing me in new directions. Someone once offered me this advice: Always endeavor to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.
Helene:	You're supposed to play tennis with people who are better than you.
Jim:	I don't know if you necessarily need to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you but –
Ashley:	Well, I meant people who are going to challenge your point of view.
Amy:	People who are going to lead you to do things that you wouldn't do otherwise.
Helene:	I always enjoyed being in orchestras that were too hard for me. You end up with an inferiority complex except that you get better. [laughter]
Tom:	Something I've gotten out of working with Jim over the years is that he has a real sense of adventure about arrangements and a willingness to go one step or two beyond what I'm usually willing to do. I stretch out and take chances musically.
Jim:	Tom and I were talking on the phone the other day and I was telling him about that idea for horns on "Bruton Town" and he said something like "I have my doubts." And then, I didn't say this, but I really wanted to say: "Well, Tom, I'd be worried about you if you didn't have your doubts!"
Helene:	But that's actually been kind of a ritual, where Jim comes up with something and everybody laughs at him and says: "Oh, I don't know." And then we end up doing it anyway.
Amy:	And then we do it and it's really cool!
Helene:	That's been going on for eight years.
Jim:	Well, sometimes we do it and it really sucks and then we just forget all about it.
Amy:	Well it's good to have those.
Tom:	I think his success rate is greater than fifty percent.
Helene:	And we never say: "Oh, well because seventy-five percent of the time your ideas are really cool we're just going to buy it at face value this time."

Forming the Band | Helene Joins | From 1991-1997 | Ashley Meets B.E. | Amy Meets B.E. | Ashley and Amy Join | The Philadelphia Folk Festival | It's New All Over Again | Adding Drums | Fun with Woodwinds | Arranging | Traditional Music | Complete Interview
Biography | News | Personnel | Interview | Links
About the Band | Their Music | Photography | Press Materials
Contents | Help | Site Map