I could see Sawtooth Witch every night, in part because, as Doc explains below, no two shows are ever the same. Listening to music that feels so easy and open for adventure seeps into me as a listener. It’s both relaxing and refreshing. You can hear it for yourself at the album release for The Chariot on April 25 at the Hook and Ladder.
I enjoy the healthy tension between a reserved approach and go wild spirit with you on stage with Haley Fleming. What makes you excited about Sawtooth Witch?
Every show is gonna be different!
Sometimes we’ll reharmonize a song, take two tunes and mash ’em together, or try a cover with a completely different beat.
We don’t use setlists and we like to leave room for improv. We play a lot of different sized stages and sometimes those spontaneous moments are how we figure out the space.
We wanted to explore the area between the influences of the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground. Most nights I think it ends up sounding like a bluegrass band playing LCD Soundsystem.
I hear in your new album, The Chariot, a beat (like a heartbeat) that goes through the album, until the last song, Leave the Lights On. I’m wondering if you hear that too and was it intentional?
Definitely!
About 10 years ago, I got really into house music.
A good DJ is like watching a good jazz musician. They can reveal their innermost desires, their deepest vulnerabilities, and all their musical influences in a single set while making something completely danceable. They can push everything to its highest levels and bring the crowd right with them. At the end of the night they’ll switch to something with a slightly different vibe to float people back down to earth.
Putting “Leave the Light On” at the end of The Chariot was an attempt at something like that.
3. In Coming to America, I hear a story of the inherent dignity of immigrants. Can you tell me about the inspiration and intention?
I think you heard it loud and clear!
This country was built by immigrants and run by sleazy used car salesmen who like to lie about it. I have Irish ancestry and we like to tell stories so I wrote a song about it.
A throwaway comment in the studio eventually became my elevator pitch for the song. What if they made “Born in the USA” on MDMA?
How did it feel to play at No Kings 3 with Joan Baez, Tom Morello, Maggie Rogers and Minnesota’s own Brass Solidarity and Singing Resistance? And because I can’t say it enough, thank you for stage managing much of the main stage. You were a huge part of the success, especially in making Minnesota look our best!
The whole thing felt like a dream!
Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, and Tom Morello are all incredibly nice, and the Springsteen crew is a great hang.
I want to give a special shoutout to Brass Solidarity and the Twin Cities Singing Resistance for being amazingly easy to work with. It was an honor to play with Cliff Johnson who is a legend in his own right. Butchy from Brass Solidarity wanted to make sure Cliff was featured on the performance and we wanted to make sure the stage would have enough inputs to pull it off. When we ran it by Tim from the sound crew he said “As long as the guitars are going direct, put four of ’em up there, I don’t care! Just don’t ask for anymore mic inputs” so we got Cliff a chair right up front!
With the changeover I was a little worried about not having certain horns like the tuba close-mic’d on a stage that big, and I wanted Cliff to have the freedom to play however he wanted. I started thinking it’d be nice if someone played something simple and boring in the background for some padding, and since I got invited up to sing I figured I’d be better off with a guitar in my hands.
If I told the story to a stranger I don’t think anyone would believe me, “I was in a band with Jane Fonda! Joan Baez was singing with the best brass band in town and she brought out Maggie Rogers! The guy from Rage Against The Machine was on stage and Bruce Springsteen opened! Also Bernie Sanders was there with the governor…”
Please tell us about the upcoming album release.
Saturday April 25 at the Hook and Ladder we’re gonna be raising money for Foothold Twin Cities.
It seemed weird to have a celebration for a record release with everything going on so I figured we’d turn it into a block party and do some good for the community instead.
Some of my favorite local artists like Jillian Rae and Sleeping Jesus will be there. Sawtooth Witch will release our debut record on vinyl that night, and the whole thing is sponsored by my radio show Desert Islands for its 400th episode.
Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to a good cause and the whole thing will be done at a reasonable hour.
Music starts at 7:30
Mostly Minnesota 