Interview: Hello Melissa Carper

Photo by Aisha Golliher

Hey Melissa, how the devil are you?

I'm doin' great, very excited about how things are going with the new album!

So, where are you right now? And what are you up to today?

Today I am on a veggie farm near Bastrop, Texas, where I live and do work trade. I just finished my farm work this morning and now have the rest of the day to do whatever.

Introduce yourself to our lovely campers.

Hey lovely readers! I'm happy to still be talking about my new album, Daddy's Country Gold, which was released March 19th. I write original songs, sing, play upright bass, and specialize in older genres of music such as old-time country. My originals tend to reflect influences from 1930's-1950's.

So, your new album… tell me about Daddy’s Country Gold in two sentences.

Daddy's Country Gold is a collection of some of my better songs I've written in the last 10 years, some old and some new, of the Country and Western Swing variety. It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with some very fine players at The Bomb Shelter studio.

‘Makin’ Memories’ is an ace opening song, what can you tell me about it?

‘Makin' Memories’ is a song inspired by hanging out with an old friend at a SXSW show in Austin, Texas. She was joking about 'makin' memories and keepin' your memories' and I thought, "What a great idea for a song!" It has some real-life subject material referring back to my younger days of partying, and current days of getting older and not having as good of a memory.

I know it’s probably obvious, but what’s ‘My Old Chevy Van’ about?

‘My Old Chevy Van’ is about the old family van my parents bought new in 1991. I remember my Mom was really proud of that van and kept it so nice. It was mauve and purple with mauve carpet on the inside, luxury bucket seats, and the back seat folded out into a bed. I inherited that van in 2004 and drove it all over the place, lived in it some, and toured in it with a few bands. When I moved to Austin, Texas in 2009, the A/C didn't work, the electric windows didn't roll down, and it got terrible gas mileage, so I soon decided to sell it. However, once I sold it, a great sadness set in from all the memories the van held, especially the family memories.

How surprised have you been at the reaction to the album from “critics”? It’s been very positive.

It's been blowing me away. I didn't know what to expect, but this has far exceeded any expectations.

Your bio on your website says you’re a “singer/songwriter, upright bassist, and lifelong wayfarer”, in which order do you see yourself?

Hmm that's a tough question; maybe first, a lifelong wayfarer, second, a singer/songwriter, and third, a bassist. I've played bass forever, but my focus has always been more on singing and songwriting. In fact, I had Dennis Crouch play bass on most of this album because he's the master.

Upright bass is one of the coolest instruments to play, how did you get into it?

I started in elementary school. Our school had a string program that started in 4th grade if you elected to learn a stringed instrument. I wanted to learn bass, the big one, and I don't remember why, I just knew that's what I wanted. They had half-size basses for kids.

You brought together an excellent band for the recording of the album, can you tell me how you made that happen?

I asked Dennis Crouch (bassist, and co-founder of the Time Jumpers) if he would play bass on my album and possibly help produce. He said he'd help pick the players, at the very least, and once we got recording he stuck around the whole time and helped with production. The engineer, Andrija Tokic (The Bomb Shelter studio), produced as well and had great suggestions for instrumentation. So between the two of them, they decided on instrumentation and players - I had some input as well and brought friends in such as Brennen Leigh, Sierra Ferrell, Rebecca Patek, and Noel McKay. The musicians were just all so incredible. What a pleasure it was to get to have them as a backup band!

And what difference did recording live to tape make?

I think a big difference. Andrija Tokic is a master at recording to tape and he has great old equipment of all sorts. I think all of that old equipment makes a difference. They don't make 'em like they used to, ha. We recorded the core group (drums, rhythm guitar, bass, piano, and myself), live all in the same room which I think allowed for a great vibe to develop and this transferred onto the recording.

How did you find the atmosphere in The Bomb Shelter? That’s a legendary studio.

It was very comfortable and down-home. I absolutely loved working with Andrija. He had so much energy and was so positive. I would definitely record there again in a heartbeat.

What can we expect from you for the rest of 2021?

I'm going to be going on several short tours including visiting Nashville in June to play Station Inn with some of the folks that played on the album. Also, a band that I am in called Sad Daddy (bluegrass, jug band) is going to be releasing a new album this Fall. I don't know that I could squeeze it in but possibly would do a little more recording myself in Nashville.

I’ve been checking out your Instagram and see you have a dog, I love dogs. Tell me about them!

Yes I love dogs too! My little girl is Georgia Peach. She is a Whippet-Mountain Cur mix I believe. She loves living on the farm. She is sweet, smart, and fun--a most wonderful companion!

If you could recommend one artist to hear this week, who would it be?

Well, you probably already know about Sierra Ferrell, but she is my favorite singer right now, and I can't wait for her new album. She's a great songwriter too.

Sierra is really great! What’s the question I should have asked you today but haven’t?

Hmm, my favorite vegetable? But this is a hard question. I'm digging swiss chard right now and have a lot of it in my personal little garden.

Finally, how do you take your coffee?

I like my coffee black and organic and I like to have a whole pot of it in the morning!

To find out more about Melissa you can visit her official website, or you can check out what she’s up to on Instagram and Facebook.

Daddy’s Country Gold is out now and available to stream on Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music. But you should buy it on Bandcamp.