Steven Wells Interview
Doug Burke:
Welcome to Backstory Song. I'm your host, Doug Burke, and today we're here with Steven Wells of the band Ghostowne. Steven Wells is the singer/songwriter leader of the band Ghostowne, which he formed in 1999. They've released seven albums and are preparing to release their eighth album, Menace to Sobriety. They've been playing for 20 years and their music inspires bar crowds to drink and dance. Steven's songs celebrate hard work and sweat, a devil may care attitude, and another round of tequila shots. If you're seeking a honky-tonk bar dance sound, Steven and Ghostowne deliver that in spades.
So I'm here with Steven Wells, the founder of the band Ghostowne, and we're here to talk about a song called A Long Way from Graceland.
Steven Wells:
Correct. Basically this song began with a dream I had. So I basically woke up and the concept was a wizard of Oz kind of a theme. But instead of the house landing and you end up in Oz, I opened the door and there's Elvis. And I step outside, as the lyric says, and then we begin to drive around, and drink, and do drugs with Elvis all day. So it's kind of a dream scape, but I've thrown in some really kind of humorous and true to life lyric, of certain things that actually happened to us, or me. Certain lines in there that are really funny. There's a line in there about doing mustard tequila shots, that actually happened, camping with the band members.
Doug Burke:
I was wondering what that was. I don't think I've ever tried one.
Steven Wells:
They're delicious and I sold the band on... The backstory on that is the bass player that just passed, Sparky Tuttle, who had been with us for 10 years. We used to camp and fish together. And me and the drummer, Gordon, the drummer and Sparky and me we're out camping. And we're fly fishing, we get done with the day and we're sitting around the campfire, drinking, and drinking tequila and beers. And I couldn't find the salt, and it was dark out. And so I grabbed the mustard by mistake and, oh, that'll do. And when you put the salt on your hand and you lick it, it was spicy mustard, we put that on there. Did the shot and it was the most disgusting thing you could imagine. But I sold it well, I was like, "Whoa, man, that's so good." And I was looking at the other guy, "This is so good. You have to try it." "No way." "No, you have to try it." So I literally sold them into doing it and they both tried it, and from then it became a joke. And we actually sold other people in bars. Like we'd be in a bar and told people, and they would go and order it, and get mustard and try it because we... And so it's this ongoing joke. So I had to throw it in the song, it was perfect for this kind of a lyric.
Doug Burke:
Has anybody decided that tastes good?
Steven Wells:
No.
Doug Burke:
No.
Steven Wells:
No, not at all. But it's just a really funny story that I kind of threw into this. Because it's kind of a dream scape song and I thought, "Well that reality fits right into this, it's kind of a dream scape storyline."
Doug Burke:
And so what happens in the dream scape?
Steven Wells:
So like I said, I show up and I land wherever Elvis is. And then what I do is I just jump in his Cadi, and we drive around, and we do drugs, and we do tequila mustard shots, and smoking carpet weed. Which goes way back to another true story, was a friend dared me to put that line in. Because when, years ago, we smoked carpet weed and I swear it was a piece of a carpet and he said it was weed. And I still, to this day, think it was actually just piece of fuzz carpet. So it was kind of funny. And I said, "I'm going to put that in a song one day", and this was five, six years ago. So it just kind, I'm like, oh yeah, you dared me to put that in. So the whole concept is just kind of real tongue and cheek, but real dream scapey and kind of cartoonish in a way.
Doug Burke:
And you get a tattoo on the way?
Steven Wells:
Well, no.
Doug Burke:
In the dream?
Steven Wells:
I have an Elvis tattoo.
Doug Burke:
Oh, you do.
Steven Wells:
So I threw that in there. As like, you know...
Doug Burke:
You have more than one tattoo.
Steven Wells:
I have many, yeah.
Doug Burke:
And do you have more than one artist, or is it just Elvis?
Steven Wells:
No, just Elvis.
Doug Burke:
Just Elvis.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. He was the one that got the ball rolling as a kid. I was just really young, my parents, neither of them played music but they enjoyed music. And, so it was always in the house. In the morning I'd wake up and my dad would be drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, listening to music. And he listened to mainly classic rock and oldies. And so those kind of stuck in my head, as a young child, Elvis was like oh. And then I saw him on TV and I'm like, he is the coolest guy I've ever seen. Still, to this day, I think he's the coolest rock star, ever. A lot of those artists from that era, he listened to. But that one, Elvis, for some reason just really stuck with me and got me, I got to do something like that.
Doug Burke:
So the melody of this song, I would not call an Elvis melody.
Steven Wells:
No.
Doug Burke:
Who inspired you? How'd you come up with the melody?
Steven Wells:
Basically I just sat down, like I do with all my songs I write, and sometimes I'll have a title. In this case, I kind of had a blueprint because I had the dream. So I jotted down, in the morning, basically what it was. It's like a wizard of Oz but Elvis instead of the munchkins and all that. So I had kind of a blueprint of what I wanted to create. So I thought, I just started writing. And I think I came up with that chorus first, and then I went backwards and then got the verses, and kind of started putting them together, and that's where I'd start. and then some of these, like a song like this, I'm literally writing it and laughing. I'm like, there's a line in there about carpet weed. Who puts that in a song? So it's kind of funny and tongue and cheek. And the melody, I just start singing it and going, oh yeah, this is, you know, yippee, yah, ay. And just, oh yeah, that's really catchy. That's perfect on the chorus. And then I just put the song together and then bring in the other guys and say, here' my concept. And then we kind of tweak it a little bit.
Doug Burke:
So if your musical sort of muses are Elvis, are there musical inspirations from other artists on the melody here?
Steven Wells:
Well, there probably is. But this one is more of the storyline based off of Elvis. I wouldn't say the melody linen or the song, itself, has anything to do with Elvis.
Doug Burke:
Right. But is there someone else? Like a Tom Petty or...
Steven Wells:
No. It's just me. In most cases when I write something, I don't think of another artist. But, as an artist, I listen to everything. And I think that's why Ghostowne, we've been around 20, celebrating 20 years this year and working on our eighth record coming up, hopefully this winter, next spring at the latest. I listen to such a broad amount of music, it just kind of all gets in there. You know what I mean?
Doug Burke:
It's a big melting pot, not any one thing.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. As a child, I grew up in Minnesota, way up near the Canadian border, small mining town. And so we listened to everything up there. We got into high school, you'd go to keg parties and they were playing Tom Petty and big kind of mid-west rockers like Mellencamp and Petty.
Doug Burke:
Seger.
Steven Wells:
And Seger and Springsteen and those. But at the same time, we were listening to Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden, and Van Halen and those artist too, which I love. And so it's kind of a melting pot. And blues, and just regular rock and roll guys like Bryan Adams was really popular back then. Bands like then, then you would just be like, oh yeah, that's cool too. So it was not like you were stuck in one genre. I did find, when I started to write music, I couldn't really write more the heavy metal or the rock. I tried.
Doug Burke:
That wasn't your voice.
Steven Wells:
It just wasn't, just didn't feel like it was me. Even though I love it and I listen to it, and I still listen to that. It's when I started writing music, it just didn't come out that way. It came out more country, southern rock. You know, probably more the Springsteen, Mellencamp, Petty influence kind of came out in my writing, versus say Iron Maiden or AC/DC.
Doug Burke:
Yeah, for sure.
Steven Wells:
I guess they are more singer/songwriters. Whereas the metal bands were more, they wrote it as a band and they... lot of of riffs in that. And I just wasn't that talented, I guess.
Doug Burke:
So you describe this sound as American twang. Which is, in my mind something different than those other people that you've mentioned. In fact, more of a country sound to it. And yippee, yah, ay is a country lyric.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. We do, and that's kind of a play on it. We have an album called American Twang. And that kind of, to me, that embodies everything that is Ghostowne. We're an American band, so we imply... but we're twangy. We play Telecasters and I have all my songs kind of have a country lyric thing to them. A lot of drinking songs, a lot of those kinds of things. But we incorporate a little bit of blues, rock and roll, and country. And to me, it's kind of Americana, American music but twangy. So that's kind of where I came up with that theme and that specific song called American Twang, kind of emulates that theme. Like, we're American twang, blues, rock, country, it's all kind of in a melting pot and that's what you get with Ghostowne.
Doug Burke:
So you have a dream, you write the chorus, you fill out these verses, you come up with the melody. And then you go into the recording studio?
Steven Wells:
Yes.
Doug Burke:
How do you put that together? Who's involved in that?
Steven Wells:
Basically I write the song and then it works differently. On this last record, we did it really differently than we've done in the past. On all the previous records, we went in, as a band, into the studio, we rehearsed the songs, we got them worked out and we went in. We worked with Matt Winegar, I'm not sure if you know who he is. He produced all the Ghostowne records, even this current one. He engineered them, so we'd go to his studio when he lived in Salt Lake. And so now that he's moved, we're like, what are we going to do? And so I talked to him and he said, "Well just get the tracks and I'll mix it for you." And so, as you can see in this, we're sitting around, there's the drum kick and I've got other things and I've got all the recording gear. So I said, "All right, great." So we went and we did it. Basically I would record the vocal to an acoustic guitar, to a click track, and I would play the song in its entirety and bring the drummer in, and he would play the drum part to it. And then we'd get the bass player in, and then we have the guitar player come in. We had multiple guests on this record. So I had multiple guitar players, multiple bass players, multiple singers. I sang all the lead vocal but we had a lot of guests...
Doug Burke:
On this particular song.
Steven Wells:
On this particular album.
Doug Burke:
But we're talking about this song.
Steven Wells:
Oh, on this particular song it is a guest bass player.
Doug Burke:
Who is?
Steven Wells:
It was Jonni Lightfoot, who spent the last 10 years playing with Air Supply. And now he plays with, geeze, everybody. I mean he kind of... His daughter was growing up, so kind of wanted to get off the road. And so now he lives locally and we've been friends for 20 years. And so I said, "Well come over and play something." So, "Hey, what are you thinking?" And I told him kind of my concept on the bass line, "All right", boom and he played it. He's just extremely talented. And then the lead guitar player is Brock Peterson, who's in the band, the drummer was Gordon Gardner, who's a drummer in the band. We have two drummers and Gordon's the one on this one. The bass player was Jonni. And then the singers, we had Walter James, he is a local singer/songwriter. Phenomenal vocalist/songwriter, good friend of mine. He came over and they were doing the yippee, yah, ay up high, and then Neal Middleton from the band Royal Bliss. I don't know if you're familiar with them. But they're probably Salt Lake's largest hard rock band, and they tour all over, and we're really good friends. And so he sang, all these guys sang on multiple songs on the album, specifically on this one. So that was kind of the finishing touches, like I need some different voices on here to give it more texture. Instead of me just singing them, it's nice to have somebody else do it. It adds another element, I think, to the song.
Doug Burke:
So everybody lays down their independent tracks, here in your home studio.
Steven Wells:
Yes.
Doug Burke:
You use SoundCloud or something like to... Or what do you-
Steven Wells:
Studio One.
Doug Burke:
Studio One.
Steven Wells:
Studio One. Yup. With the...
Doug Burke:
The producer.
Steven Wells:
Yup. Well I'm basically the producer. And then when we finish the tracks, then we send it off to Matt Winegar because he's Matt Winegar, to mix it, to make it sound good. So he adds all the reverbs and delays and all the compressions and all that. I just get the basic levels, make sure the levels are good and the song structure is where we want it, beginnings, ends, all that. And then everybody comes and does their part, and we ship it off, and then he spends a week or two mixing it and sends it back.
Doug Burke:
And you release.
Steven Wells:
And we're released. Yeah.
Doug Burke:
And when did you release this?
Steven Wells:
This one came out, basically, the end of 2017, but it was more like 2018. It was right around Christmas, 2017. So I call it 2018 because after the holidays is when everybody really started hearing it.
Doug Burke:
And how was the crowd reaction?
Steven Wells:
It was good. Yeah. People loved it. I got a lot of response of having, we've never done guest stars before. And so I got a lot of excitement about that. "Oh you got this person, you got that person. This person on this song and that person on that song." And it was a lot of fun for me, and they're all friends. So it was like, it's like, hey, having your buddies come over. Hey, come on over and play on this song. Like we had so many songs for this last one and we're all busy, we have day jobs, and families. And so not everybody the time and I had all these songs. So I called the guys in the band, "Hey do you mind if so and so comes?" "No, not at all. I don't have time to do 13 songs, I'll do nine. Farm the other ones out, it'll be fun." So, of course, now that they have to learn them to play them live, they're like, "Oh, I probably...", that's a little more time. But the concept was great. I'm going to do a little bit of that on the next record coming out, next year. Probably more singers on this one than actual other musicians. I just love the color of having the harmony vocalist be a little different than me. Whether that's somebody else in the band already, which we do, like you would do live. Or just an actual really good singer with a good voice, come in and we work out a cool harmony and do it.
Doug Burke:
Steven, at the end of the song, which is a rock song up to this point, you introduce yippee, yah, ay, which is kind of country.
Steven Wells:
It is country and that's the reasoning behind it. Because the song is rock, so I wanted to kind of put a country flower on it and so I came up with the concept for yippee, yay, ay. Yippee, kay, ay is the one, what I stole it from. But I couldn't do yippee, kay, ay, so I wanted to do yippee, yah, ay, and from the Die Hard movie, when he does yippee, kay, ay motherfucker. So I just kind of shortened it down, thought, oh that's great, that's perfect. And then once again, it's just a fun song, so I wanted it to be really lighthearted and have fun in the concept. So I was just kind of looking for different things, and it worked out perfectly because that's the big background vocals on that yippee, yah, ay.
Doug Burke:
So your song is inspired by a Bruce Willis character in Die Hard.
Steven Wells:
Bruce Willis versus Elvis and different true to life things I've thrown in.
Doug Burke:
Tell us the backstory on Funny Money.
Steven Wells:
It's pretty simple traditional kind of country theme, about the evils of money. Just a play on words, funny money, and it's all about how money's not funny, how it can be just kind of ruin your life if you don't have enough. And I've never had a lot, but I imagine on the other spectrum it could too, as well. So it's just kind of about not having money, having to pawn your guitar.
Doug Burke:
Did you ever have to pawn your guitar?
Steven Wells:
Oh yeah. I couldn't even tell how many times through my life I've done that. Maybe in the hundreds. I've lost guitars in pawn because if you don't pay for them, you lose them. You know the thing, you know there's lines in there about you get back to your house, or your apartment and try the key and it doesn't work. You know you've been evicted. And you know, it's like, yeah, isn't money funny? You know?
Doug Burke:
You've had that happen to you?
Steven Wells:
Yeah. Yeah, I have.
Doug Burke:
What's that like?
Steven Wells:
Oh, it's a horrible feeling. I would say I'd rather have that than have to pawn a guitar again. I'm kind of at a spot now, I don't have to worry about that. But yeah, it's just basically about the evils of money. I think in the first verse I talk about a woman leaving you because you don't have enough money. And so the song is kind of sung to her, like, ain't money funny, but honey I don't have much. You know? Because that's kind of a stereotype. Like, oh he's got money, that's how he keeps the women. So I kind of threw that in because it was a good line.
Doug Burke:
You talk about pawning a Gibson guitar. You play a lot of different types of guitars.
Steven Wells:
I do, yeah.
Doug Burke:
Why the Gibson in the song?
Steven Wells:
Well, I have two of them. My two main acoustic guitars are Gibsons. The one's right here and the other one is-
Doug Burke:
So that's like your biggest treasure?
Steven Wells:
Yeah.
Doug Burke:
Is there more meaning to the Gibson than the Telecaster?
Steven Wells:
And it just adds color to the lyric, to specify. Instead of saying I pawned my guitar, I pawn my Gibson. And most people, even if you don't play music, you know what a Gibson guitar is. So it isn't too obscure of a reference, but it kind of colors it like, oh man, he pawned a Gibson. That's not a cheap guitar.
Doug Burke:
I haven't been to a doctor who prescribed me tequila, and it's two different ways. Explain that lyric to me.
Steven Wells:
Oh, we got Cash in the picture here. Yeah, so it's just a play on words. So you're kind of depressed, you don't have a lot of money. So you go to the doctor, you're like ugh, and he writes me a prescription for two bottles of tequila, dressed and chilled, which is the way it's served. You can have it naked, which is just straight up, just right out of the bottle. Or you can have it chilled and dressed, which is salt and lime on it. So just to add more color to the lyric.
Doug Burke:
And is the doctor a real doctor? Or a friend that's a bartender?
Steven Wells:
No. It's just a play on words. Yeah, basically. It's a friend or the bartender. Yeah. But it's just a fun song, looking at how money just kind of rules everything. But then you throw in little lighthearted lines like that. So basically money's got me down, I'm going to go get me a bottle of tequila and everything will be alright.
Doug Burke:
So the melody, you have these wonderful guitar fills.
Steven Wells:
Yes.
Doug Burke:
Tell me how you come up with...
Steven Wells:
Well those, that's actually a really good story. The guitar player on this song was one of the guest guitar players we had in town. His name is Jordan Matthew Young and he now lives in Austin. But he's from Salt Lake originally and he's really good friends with my current guitar player, Brock Peterson. And he's my friend as well, but Brock knows him better. And so I called him up and I said, "Hey, I've got this real kind of..." because he's a really good country picker kind of guy. And, so I said, "Hey, me and Brock think you would sound really good on this song. Would you like to do it." And he's like, "Yeah." He was on tour and he was coming through town. So we had only one night to do it. He'd never heard the song before, and I said, "Well let's meet at Brock's house", because he has a kind of a setup like I do. And he said, "Okay." So we went over there and played him the song a couple times, and he just literally just played. Just listened to it a few times and just kept playing until he got something he liked and left, never heard it until it came out. Like nine months later, the album came out and I sent it to him. "Wow, that sounds great." He's like, "Oh man, it sounds so good." Matt Winegar did do a lot of mixing on it to get parts. Because we recorded three or four different guitar parts, he had to kind of piece together. Which is pretty common, on a lot of albums people do that and then they just learn to play it later. And sometimes you just play it straight through, it just depends on the song. But he just didn't have time to perfect it. So he said, "Just play it three, four times, and we'll cherry pick it." But some great riffs he did, and he's a phenomenal guitar player. He just was in town this week, and he just got back from Europe. He's touring over in Europe. He was doing a blue's festival over there, in France. So he's kind of coming up a bit. And a great guy, great player, and it was great to have him on it. And then the late, my late bass player who passed away this year, he's playing the upright bass, the big stand up bass, on this one. So that kind of gives it that sound too, that really woody, nice, nice sound.
Doug Burke:
His name?
Steven Wells:
Sparky, Sparky Tuttle. Yeah.
Doug Burke:
yeah, we miss him.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. Yeah, we do. He was just a great all around guy, great bass player, and a good friend. For 10 years he was in the band. So not only did we do band things, but we did fishing, and camping, and concerts, and all that fun stuff. We have some really funny stories about going to see Willie Nelson. But I can't go into that.
Doug Burke:
Did you smoke weed with Willie?
Steven Wells:
No. I would have if we would have met him. But I don't smoke anymore. But I would have if I was in Willie's house. You know what I mean? My bass player would have. In fact, he did. Just because we were going, he's like, "When in Willie's house." So anyway, yeah. So, and the drums were Gordon Gardner, current, one of the current drummers in Ghostowne. And like I said, Sparky Tuttle on bass, and the background vocals, again, on that one, I believe, if I remember right it was Neal Middleton from Royal Bliss, again. So he did a great country harmony on that, even though he's a rock singer. He just nailed it. So that's one of the more popular songs off the record, off the latest record. That's off the Long Way from Graceland album, as well. And it's just got a really good feel to it. It's in three, four, it's got that kind of country swing. It's real just kind of flowing, everybody just kind of gravitates towards that one a lot on this album. So I'm really proud of that one, turned out really well.
Doug Burke:
And how does the crowd react when you play this one?
Steven Wells:
They love it. Yeah. Just, like I said, it's a favorite.
Doug Burke:
Is it a sing along? I think the funny money line has that.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. It can be. A lot of times, you can't hear the crowd. Because we're up on stage and loud amps, and guitars. And so you're trying to get through the song. And I guess if we were playing an arena, you'd probably hear them. But when you're playing like a... The last gig we did was - just a few thousand people there. But they're kind of further off the stage, they're not right up on stage. So you always see people swaying, and tapping, and singing along. You can see them mouthing it, but you can't, you know. But yeah, it's just a great song. One of my favorites to play off that one. It's just fun to play, and I think it's fun for people to listen to. It's really enjoyable.
Doug Burke:
So, I Only Smoke When I Drink.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. So basically I wrote this song in my car, after a relationship breakup. And I was driving to an open mic, this was 15 years ago. Somebody had said something, like we were out the weekend before and we were out at a bar, and it's like, "Oh, I didn't know you smoked." "Oh, I only smoke when I drink." So it kind of stuck in my head. I'm like, you know what? A lot of people say that. You know, “I don't normally do this, when I drink I kind of smoke.” I'm like, oh. So I had it kind of floating around in my brain, anyway. But then I was on my way, after this breakup, to an open mic and I wrote that out. I was like, oh, I only smoke when I drink, and then I only drink when I'm blue. And I only smoke when I drink, and I only drink because of you. So basically you're smoking and drinking all the time. But it is, by far, our most popular Ghostowne song. Has been since I wrote it. I've had multiple people want to re-record that song. Nobody famous yet.
Doug Burke:
If you could pick someone to record that song, any voice in the planet, who would you want to record that song?
Steven Wells:
Dwight Yoakam. He's my country idol. I love it. Of course, if anybody wants it, I'd... If I get a check with it. But to hear him sing it, he'd put his own take on that. Any of the new kind of guys that I'm listening to, any one of those could take it and just make it incredible. The Whitey Morgans or the Sturgill Simpsons, and those kind of guys, and they're kind of up and coming, they're big. Sturgill would do, oh, he'd do a killer job of that. But like I said, anybody who'd want it, I'd be like, oh. As long as it's not somebody really pop country, because I'm not a fan. I don't know, I'd have to really think about it.
Doug Burke:
Blake Shelton -
Steven Wells:
Yeah. Oh, Luke Bryant, no way. But yeah, if some of those guys that really have character, coming up, really led the life. Because I want somebody singing that that's led it like I am. Who's been down the road and...
Doug Burke:
So do you remember the girl?
Steven Wells:
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Doug Burke:
Yeah. Tell me about, were you madly in love?
Steven Wells:
At the time, yeah. Yeah.
Doug Burke:
How long are you going out with her?
Steven Wells:
Oh yeah. We went out for quite a while and we were serious. I find on like the breakup songs, you don't only take from one breakup. Like I've been through multiple breakups. I've been married and divorced, twice. And in between that, been in other relationships, long-term, nine months, a year, two years, whatever. So you kind of pick and grab from each experience. So it's not always just about one particular experience. Like with that one, that was fresh in my brain. But you kind of steal from other relationships and what's gone wrong there. And I still write about those, because that's what a songwriter does. You, oh, I want a breakup song, I have plenty to go back on and plenty to fall back on and think. Even if I stop drinking today, I can probably still write drinking songs until the day I die. Just because I have enough there, in the catalog of my brain, that I can go, oh, I remember how this was or how I could do that. So it makes a good fun as a songwriter, even though it's dark and... Almost all my songs are dark. I don't write a lot of happy songs. And eight albums later, there's maybe a handful of happy love songs. People ask me all the time, why is it? And I just think when I'm happy, I'm doing something else. I'm not with my guitar. I'm playing live, I'm happy. But when I'm writing, it's generally I'm alone and I'm writing, and I'm thinking about what to write about and things. But I know I'm not going to write a song about going to the park and drinking beer and throwing a frisbee. It'd just be silly. So, I want songs that have meaning and depth, especially the breakup songs and the drinking songs. They all have reality, they're all reality based. So I know what I'm talking about when it comes to it. Not so much in the last few years, I've toned it down. But in my early days, there was a lot of it.
Doug Burke:
Yeah. Well this song has some blame on this girl. Like you're blaming her, like I drink because of you.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. And I only because of you. And yeah. So it's definitely-
Doug Burke:
There's a little bit of denial.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. Oh yeah, totally.
Doug Burke:
It's like an excuse.
Steven Wells:
And there's some bitterness there. And so it's all those emotions that you go through when it's a fresh breakup. You're bitter, you're jaded, you're angry, you're sad. So I tried to throw that all into this song and just kind of portray all those feelings into one. And that's why you're drinking and smoking all the time, is because you just can't get her off your mind. And nothing is good about it. Like I said, you're angry, you're sad, you're bitter, you're just aahhh. You're angry at yourself, you're angry at her. It's all those emotions welling up. And I think that's why that song is so popular, is because everybody's been down that road. And when I first wrote it and I played it, and instantly everybody was like, whoa, that's a great song. And to this day, almost 15 years later, we still play it at every show. It's usually near the end of the set, if not the very last song we do, because it kicks into the double time at the end. So it's a ballad, but then it kicks into the double time at the end. And when it goes into that double time thing, that's more anger coming out, is kind of how I portrayed it. I only smoke, like you're yelling at her. I only drink because of you, all, all, all because of you. So it kind of amplifies, you know? And just, aahh. And everybody's going crazy on the instruments, in this chaotic mess. So it kind of crescendos into that. So great song, everybody loves it. Like I said, probably the most popular song to date.
Doug Burke:
Tell me about the production.
Steven Wells:
This was on the Dry County album, which I believe was 2006. Mike Bayless was the lead guitar in the original recording. Now, we have three recordings of this. The one that you have is from the Rehab album. We went and re-recorded a bunch of the old, first three records. We went in and kind of cherry picked some of the best songs and re-recorded them with the current band. So that was Joey Magger playing on that. But the original Dry County album was Mike Bayless, Stephan Allan on bass, on that, on the original recording. On this one it was Sparky Tuttle. And then I have an acoustic version you can find on our website, which is ghostowne.com. Spelled a little weird, one t in the middle, e at the end. It's an all acoustic version I did, live, in the studio. Put a mic in front of me and I just sang and played it. And then I had Matt Winegar, the producer, Matt Winegar played acoustic slide guitar through the whole thing. And so it's really country and it's really stripped down. You can also find that version on the Rehab album as a bonus track. So I had this acoustic album done that I never released. And so when we redid the Rehab album, I'm like, we did that version and I'm like, I want something cool on there that nobody's heard. I'm like, oh, this acoustic album I did, it was about 10 songs and I haven't used any of them. Because I just thought, egh, it's more like a solo project. You know? So I just didn't feel good about… But I thought, this is the perfect opportunity to throw a couple of those songs on the end of this album, because they're all re-recorded versions, alternate versions from the original ones. And so there's two versions of that on the Rehab album, the one you just heard and then the acoustic one that you can find. Which gets great reviews, too. But a completely different feeling on either one. One's just kind of lonely and sad, because it's just me with a slide guitar. And then there's the full band one, which is more powerful. So you get two takes on it. But a great song, nonetheless, and like I said, our most popular to date. Keep on pouring until I say when, because sometimes you know you just can't win.
Doug Burke:
So Steven, the next song we're going to talk about is Keep on Pouring 'til I Say When. This is part of your pantheon of drinking songs.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. We do have a lot of drinking songs. They're fun to write, fun to play, and a lot of people relate to them. Probably our most popular songs are drinking songs, for the most part. Hence the new album coming up, next year, is all drinking songs. It's kind of a concept record. But this one's off the American Twang album. One of our more popular if not our most popular song. There's one other drinking song, it's been around longer. But this one in particular was instantly a fan favorite, as soon as we released. And it's fun to play. I think people can relate to it. It's just about having a bad day and you walk up to the bartender and say, keep them coming, basically. Keep on pouring until I say I've had enough. You know? So nothing too tricky about, it's just a fun drinking song about having a bad day and just you got to relieve some stress, going to go have some drinks. Hang at the bar and just keep them coming until I say when.
Doug Burke:
You talk about hell hounds.
Steven Wells:
Yes.
Doug Burke:
Where does that come from?
Steven Wells:
Well in the line, hell hounds are barking outside the door. So it basically just means you're just having a bad day. And then the next line is, face down, I feel like I need one more. So even though the hell hounds are outside the door, and you're face down in the gutter, you're like, I think I'm going to have one more. So keep on pouring. So it just kind... So as bad as it can get, you're like, I know it will get better if I can just keep drinking it away. So it's a good concept with some great lyric in it. One of my favorite lyrics I've written and just a great song. Like I said, a fan favorite.
Doug Burke:
Do you play this around closing time?
Steven Wells:
No. We tend to play it all over through the sets. We've actually opened with this before. It's a good opening song because it's all acapella at the beginning, and people don't expect that when you walk out on stage. I think, we opened for Shooter Jennings once, and we came out and we started with that and people don't expect it. You just walk up and they expect you to, everybody kick in, and we went right into the vocal. Everybody was like, whoa, that's pretty cool. And sometimes we'll do it in the middle of the set, sometimes we'll do it at the end. It all depends on the songs around it because we like a good flow, live. So we tend to place it everywhere. But it usually in the last set, because it is a drinking song and a lot of those are put near the end of the set. Especially when we're playing a bar gig. You know, put a lot of the drinking songs in the last set because everybody's on the same level as us at that point.
Doug Burke:
And bartenders have to get tips.
Steven Wells:
Yeah. Tip your bartenders, and here's another drinking song. So yeah, it's a fun lyric. There's some great lines in there. The line, straight up, I need to kick a few back, cool off with something in a tall glass. It just tells you the beginning of the story. But there's a line in there about falling of the wagon, you know everybody, you know the term I'm on the wagon, I'm not drinking. Says, I fall off the wagon, landed under the wheels. So I mean, basically, you fall off the wagon, it ran you over. So just some fun lyric. Everything's based off of drinking in this song, every line has a little tie in there. Life is a long walk on a short pier, a friend of mine told me that once and it stuck in my head. I thought, whoa, that's a great line. And I held onto it for years and I'm like, oh, it'll fit in here. Because it makes sense, life's a long walk on a short pier. You think it's long when you're in it. But in all reality, if you look back, it's really short. So it kind of has a great kind of double meaning. I really loved that line and I held onto it for years, and it just fit this song well I put it in. And he's passed as well, a few years ago. So it's good to have a line that he gave me, on it. Just as a remembrance. When I sing it I'm like, oh, I remember Kevin.
Doug Burke:
And so tell me about the production and who's in the melody, and who's on the guitar lines, are beautiful.
Steven Wells:
This one, on this album it was Sparky Tuttle, who's been with us for 10 years. The bass player we discussed that passed, recently. Joey Magger was the guitar player on this record, he was with us for about eight or nine years in the band. He left after the Rehab album, he left and then Brock Peterson joined. But Joey's playing lead on this and he's the backing vocal as well. We all went in live and just busted it out until we got it right. It was just one of those songs. Just went in, said... Of course, we rehearsed and got it down, then we went in and “here we go”, and we ran through it until we got it right. So turned out really well, it was probably the most popular song off that record. That and the American Twang, the song, itself, called American Twang was very popular. And then Sparky Tuttle had a song that he wrote and sang. There's only two songs that I haven't sang in the history of Ghostowne, and they were both on that record. The guitar player had one that he sang, and then the bass player had one he sang. So I would say it was a different record for us, because we had different voices on there singing lead, which has never happened before. But yeah, it's a great song. The American Twang album is a great album. Proud of all of them. But I think as the album have gone along, they've gotten better. I think my songwriting has gotten better, my lyricism has gotten better, my arranging has gotten better. And I'm always striving to do something a little different. What haven't I done yet? And I did that a lot on the Long Way From Graceland album, where I said, "Oh I haven't written a song about this yet. Or, I've never done an arrangement like this." And so I would really push myself to do that. I'd hear a song on the radio, "Wow, that's a really cool arrangement. I've never done anything... I'm going to try to write something with a similar arrangement to that." And the breakdown on this was really cool, you know, that something a little different, the muted part. And it's kind of acapella-ish, like the beginning, but it's more driving with the guitar and it kind of gives it a breakdown and let's it breathe a little bit, and then builds up into the big ending. So really great song, I'm really proud of that one.
Doug Burke:
Okay Steven, we're going to talk about Let It Ride.
Steven Wells:
Yes. Another ballad, just a song about having a shitty day, once again. But basically don't sweat the small shit. That's the whole, in an umbrella, that's what the song is about. Life's a bitch, man, she don't care, she's up and gone in the flick of her hair. So life's too short, so don't sweat the small stuff. Great song, great lyric, very popular song off the new album. Everybody seems to relate to it, everybody that listens to it, oh, that really is a great song. It really says a lot. It's a simple song but it says a lot. The melody is nice, the lyrics are pretty simple. But it just portrays a great message. Hey, just don't sweat the small stuff. Your truck's running out of gas, you're down to your last cigarette, your dog chewed up your favorite pair of boots. Those are things that you can fix. So don't sweat the little things because it's just not worth it, in the long run.
Doug Burke:
Do any of these things happen to you?
Steven Wells:
Oh, I've been down it. Yeah.
Doug Burke:
Or all of them?
Steven Wells:
All of them, basically. Yeah. And I think at one point or another, in everybody's lives, they've had a part of their life where they're running out of gas, pay day's a day away. I think at some point, almost everybody's been in a position like that, where they're just not feeling great about things. And it tends to build, but it's always small things. And I found over time, if you don't let the little things get to you, life is a lot more enjoyable. So let it roll, let it ride because life's too short to be so damn uptight, just like it says. Because I have friends that are really hung up on that, and it just destroys their day. It's like, why let it control you like that? So I wrote a song about it. I'm just like, don't sweat the small shit. Just move on, nothing you can do about it. Just make your life better and do what you can do. Great song, musicianship on it was great, bunch of guest stars on this one.
Doug Burke:
Tell me who.
Steven Wells:
Eric Fields, the current Ghostowne drummer, is the drummer on it. Jonni Lightfoot is the bassist, from Air Supply and multiple bands. He's a big name, lot of people know his name. The lead guitar is Taylor Richard from Royal Bliss. 12 string guitar is Memphis Hennesy from Royal Bliss. He was also in Candlebox for a while. The backing vocal was by Walter James, again, another good friend of mine. He was on Long Way from Graceland, the song as well. He does that great counter melody in the back, that's just really beautiful. And so it's just musicianship all the way around. Piano is Rich Wyman, he's very popular. He likes in Park City, tours the world, most people know who he is, locally. Another really good friend of mine that came in and played on four, five songs on this album. Just came in, never heard a song, just popped in the studio, put the headphones on, "Play me some songs". And a lot of times I like the artist, if they're guesting, to pick the song. Because I want them to feel something in the song. I don't, oh, here's the song I picked for you. So I usually play them multiple songs and say, "Let me know when one stands out". And every single one of these guys, when this song came up, they said, "That one". So it makes you feel good as a songwriter, these great musicians come in and say, that's a great song, I want to play on that one. So it just kind of and it came together, and sent it off to Matt Winegar to mix. And he even said, "Wow, this is a great song." And a lot of people, like I said, really react to it and they get the message. Hey, it's a good reminder, don't sweat the little things. So pretty simple song, kind of simple thing but a great song and one of my favorites.
