They held a contest for a new state song for Florida. Grant entered and, um, he lost
Sunshine State
AN EIGHTBALL INTERVIEW WITH
GRANT PEEPLES
1: Can you give a bio in seventy-five words or less?
GP: I’ve got a song called “Liberal With A Gun”; it’s autobiographical. I’m a tree hugger that keeps a pistol benath the seat, a vegetarian that watches NASCAR. I lived on an island off the Coast of Nicaragua for eleven years. I can’t stand the garbage on contemporary country radio today. I don't smoke, drink, chew or do drugs. Anymore.
2: What’s on your mix tape?
GP: Sam Baker, Greg Brown and Mary Gauthier. Lefty Frizzell and Lucinda Williams. Ray Wiley Hubbard and Son Volt. The new live stuff by Leonard Cohen. And Dylan. But I spend more time reading poets like Andrea Gibson, Jack Saunders, Mia Leonin and Barbara Ras than I do listening to music.
3: What do you most want people to understand about your songs, your music?
GP: That I don’t make this shit up.
4: How has your music and writing style evolved over the years?
GP: I figured out that if a song makes sense, it’ll sound right. Not the other way around. I’ve learned to let songs breathe, to sing left and right of the beat instead of riding it like a hobby horse. I don’t let melody get in the way of phrasing. And now I try to avoid adjectives.
5: Describe how the writing process works for you.
GP: I wait and watch and listen and read and pay attention to a lot. And I ignore even more
6: If you could sit down for an hour and play with any musician, who would it be and what would you ask them?
GP: That’s easy. Merle Haggard. There are five things in this business: writing, playing, singing, performing, and taking other people’s material and making it yours. Nobody else has nailed all five like Haggard. I’d ask him to tell me about Lefty Frizzel.
7: When did you decide to become a full-time musician?
GP: I had recorded a song called “Carmen.” Lis Williamson, of GatorBone Records, had produced it and sang harmony. Riding home from the studio, I put the rough-mixed song in and listened to it. About five times. Then I said to myself: “Okay, I can do this.” That’s when I forsook everything else for music. Nothing has been the same since.
8: What have you always wanted to learn how to do?
GP: Control my emotions.
