When David Lowery answered the phone to speak with Flagpole about his latest album, he was just finishing up a gas station stop in North Dakota. Currently in the middle of a run of festivals and shows for Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, Lowery has been filling the gaps with solo shows in promotion of Fathers, Sons and Brothers, released at the end of May.
The album combines Lowery’s three previously limited released solo albums—In The Shadow of the Bull, Leaving Key Member Clause and Vending Machine—with four previously unreleased songs and four newly re-recorded tracks. This is all nicely packaged as a three-LP limited edition red, white and blue vinyl gatefold set with a 12-page booklet or as a two-CD set with a 20-page booklet. Although a lot of the material on this album has been previously released in a limited capacity, it has never been available on streaming platforms until now.
Over the years people have told Lowery he should write an autobiography, and after experimenting with writing some chapters, he came to the realization, “It’s an entirely different skill set than, you know, I spent all these years learning to write five-minute songs. So it just seemed like a better idea to do it that way. Essentially, that’s what I did to create this record.”
The collection is certainly autobiographical, but Lowery describes it more as vignettes from his life that were musically inspiring rather than tackling an outline of essential moments. Instead of a linear walkthrough of his life, the listener receives a one-sided but authentic conversation with Lowery. Even though he was much more comfortable telling his story through song than writing it out in book format, it was still a new exercise in songwriting.
“It was a little different in that oftentimes I’m trying to tell a story, and so the words become sort of more dominant, like where they have to override the meter. It’s interesting, sort of the way that you get an extra bar or two in a song so they can finish telling some part of the story. So that was different. I hadn’t really experienced that too much,” says Lowery.
Leaning into emphasizing lyrics over the instrumental aspect was a different process entirely, and the entire concept ended up being different from what Lowery had experienced within his bands.
“This is on an entirely different level, like much more honesty and factual accounting in these songs compared to what I would have normally done on a Cracker or Camper Van Beethoven song,” says Lowery.
If you’re a “behind the music” kind of person, you’re in luck. Despite saying he wasn’t going to write a memoir, Lowery has a Substack accompanying the album where he’s been writing more in-depth about the background behind each song. The entries range in length from short descriptions to several pages worth of information. The Substack is linked through Lowery’s website at davidlowerymusic.com.
As Lowery continues on his nationwide tour from the summer into the fall, he’ll be making a stop in Athens on Thursday, Aug. 14 at ACE/FRANCISCO Gallery for an installation of the monthly New Town Revue. The event highlights music and literature, a perfect cross-section for what Lowery has done. He’ll be performing a couple of songs from Fathers, Sons and Brothers as well as reading one of his Substack entries providing more context for the music.
Also that night legendary Athens photographer Terry Allen will be discussing his exhibition on display, “Passenger Side,” with fellow photographer and gallery owner Jason Thrasher. With doors opening at 5:30 p.m., the program will begin promptly at 6 p.m. with free entry.
WHAT: New Town Revue
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 14, 5:30 p.m. (doors), 6 p.m. (event)
WHERE: ACE/FRANCISCO Gallery
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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