30-Minute Music Hour

Up on 2 and go.

It's the 30 Minute Music Hour.

I'm Andy Moore.

From Iowa City, Iowa.

Pieta Brown.

COME WITH ME, BABY BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT WHERE THE BIG BOYS ARE TALKING AND THEY THINK THEY'RE RIGHT WHERE THE CARNIVAL'S GOING AND THE CIRCUS IS ON AND THE BOYS IN THE BACK KEEP DOING THINGS WRONG LET'S GO BABY GO BABY WHERE I DON'T KNOW I'M JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF WEST MONROE THERE'S A MAN AT THE BAR DOWNING A DRINK YOU BUY HIM ANOTHER HE'LL TELL YOU WHAT HE THINKS IT'S A TV NATION AND YOU CAN'T TURN IT OFF WHERE A HARD HEADED MAN WHOSE BELLY'S GONE SOFT IS HOLDING THIS WOMAN AND THEY'RE MOVING SLOW JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF WEST MONROE THE BAR'S HEATING UP NOW THE PEOPLE ARE THICK THE SMOKE IS DANCING TO SOME HIP OLD LICK THIS ASHTRAY IS CROWDED THERE'S NO ROOM TO MOVE THE MOCKINGBIRD'S SINGING LOSING HER GROOVE THERE'S NOWHERE TO RUN BABY NOWHERE TO GO I'M JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF WEST MONROE SEE THE GHOST WITH THE WIG AND THE LONG GOLDEN CHAINS ASKING FOR ALL ALL THE GIRLS' NAMES DON'T I KNOW YOU AIN'T I SEEN YOU BEFORE CAN YOU TOUCH ME BABY I NEED A LITTLE MORE AND JUST ONE MORE QUESTION BEFORE I GO WHAT'S THE BEST WAY OUT OF WEST MONROE COME WITH ME, BABY BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT WHERE THE BIG BOYS ARE TALKING AND THEY THINK THEY'RE RIGHT WHERE THE CARNIVAL'S GOING AND THE CIRCUS IS ON AND THE BOYS IN THE BACK KEEP DOING THINGS WRONG LET'S GO BABY GO BABY WHERE I DON'T KNOW I'M JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF WEST MONROE I'LL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING I'LL SEE YOU TONIGHT IN MY DREAMS I'LL SEE YOU THE WAY I WANT TO AND NOT IN THE WAY THAT YOU SEEM I'LL SEE YOU ON THE WAY WITH NOTHING HOLDING US BACK WE'LL BE ROLLIN' DOWN THE TRACK ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' YOU WERE AN ANGEL YOU PLAYED THE DEVIL TOO YOU PLAYED YOUR HEART OUT YOU PLAYED IT THROUGH AND THROUGH YOU ACED THE HIGH RUNNERS YOU LEFT WITH THE DIAMOND OF JACKS YOU WERE ROLLIN' DOWN THE TRACK ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' IT'S POURING DOWN RAIN AND THERE'S THUNDER UP IN MY HEAD THE MASTERS OF WAR STILL SLEEP AT HOME IN THEIR BEDS WHEN WILL THEY WAKE UP WHEN WILL THEY TAKE IT BACK THEY'RE JUST ROLLIN' DOWN THE ACK ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' THERE THEY GO THEY'RE ON A ROLL ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' DOWN DOWN THE TRACK I'LL TAKE THE GUITAR YOU GAVE ME AND THE ROCKS FROM THE MISSOURI LIKE GOLD AND THE FIDDLE WITH NO STRINGS THAT HER DADDY USED TO HOLD I'M GOIN' DOWN TO THE RIVER I'LL SING TO THE WATER SO BLACK I'M ROLLIN' DOWN THE TRACK ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' YEAH, I'M ROLLIN' DOWN THE TRACK ROLLIN' DOWN ROLLIN' ( no audio ) ( audio feedback ) >> Real feedback.

>> I like feedback.

( laughs ) >> We'll meet the other two members of your trio in just a little bit.

I don't mean to stand in front of you, John.

>> No worries.

>> "Rollin' Down the Track," and the first song was "West Monroe."

It's from "Remember the Sun."

Pieta Brown, from Iowa City.

Iowa City, Iowa.

Where did "Rollin' Down the Track" come from?

Do you remember?

>> I do, I remember vividly.

I was at home one day, and my dad came walking up the stairs.

And he brought me a guitar.

That guitar right there, in fact.

And he was going out on the road with Bo.

They were going out to do some shows.

I was staying at home, and I sat down and wrote that song after he gave me that guitar.

>> That was the first song you composed on that guitar.

>> Yeah, it was.

>> The imagery, though.

And I was telling you my appreciation for your sound, is part lyrical and part musical.

But the lyrics can be very, very concrete.

And then sometimes very surreal.

"Singing to the black river," "fiddle with no strings."

How do you navigate between those worlds, or do you even try?

>> I don't try very hard.

I think that's probably more natural than a lot of things for me.

But songwriting is such a mystery.

And I like that about it.

I like not thinking about it very much.

I haven't written very many songs without an instrument in hand.

Every once and a while, some words will float in, and I'll sit down with a guitar or piano.

But I like letting it come in from wherever it's coming from.

>> So you start with the music first, mostly, or there's no formula?

>> No, there's no formula.

No formula.

Just the mystery, I think.

>> So no two songs are alike in that way, the way they come?

>> Yeah, I would say that's true.

I think, like I said, I don't sit down and write some words and then try to put it together.

>> What about your frame of mind?

Are you a morning person?

Is it easier to compose at night?

On the road?

At home?

>> I think it's all of them.

I think the main thing with songwriting, and I think this is true with a lot of songwriters that I admire, I think it's just being open.

I think it's getting into that place where you're open to whatever might come in, whether it's a melody, or some words, or something that's making you feel something strongly.

Whatever the things are.

>> It reminds me of the novelist E.L. Doctorow.

>> I know of him.

I haven't read his books.

>> Someone asked him what it was like to write a story.

Have you heard that?

He said writing a story is like driving at night.

You can't see past your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

>> That's a good way of putng it.

>> That's what I'm hearing you say.

You revealed to me, right before we began our program, that you were going to play two songs that haven't yet been released.

That was pretty exciting news.

So is that where we're aimed next?

>> That's where we're headed.

>> Maybe you could tell us about the first one, and I'll get out of the way.

>> This next song is just a song called "Bad News."

It's one of those, the lyric's pretty concrete.

But there's a little mystery in there.

IN THE WINDOW OUT THE DOOR WE USED TO BE FRIENDS WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE BUT I HEAR THEM TALKIN' I HEAR WHAT THEY SAY I STILL FEEL YOU LOOKING AT ME THAT WAY I BROUGHT YOU FLOWERS IN MY OLD CADILLAC YOU TOOK MY FLOWERS AND YOU NEVER CAME BACK YEAH, I SEE YOU STANDING THERE OUT ON THE STREET ONE WAY RUNNING UNDER YOUR FEET CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER BAD NEWS ON YOUR FACE YOU'RE ALWAYS ACTING SO OUT OF PLACE I BROUGHT YOU FLOWERS IN MY OLD CADILLAC YOU TOOK MY FLOWERS AND YOU NEVER CAME BACK YOU NEVER CAME BACK YEAH, I SEE YOU WALKING WITH YOUR RADIO I KNOW WHAT YOU DO I STILL... DOWN BY THE RIVER UNDER THE BRIDGE YOU WROTE OUR NAMES BY THE WATER'S EDGE YEAH, I BROUGHT YOU FLOWERS IN MY OLD CADILLAC YOU TOOK MY FLOWERS AND YOU NEVER CAME BACK YOU NEVER CAME BACK IN THE WINDOW OUT THE DOOR WE USED TO BE FRIENDS WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE That's the "Bad News" song.

( no audio ) This is another new song.

This is a song called "Calling All Angels."

WELL I'M JUST A STRANGER IN THIS LAND A STRANGER AFTER ALL I'M STANDING UP AGAINST THE WALL WATCHING STRANGERS FALL INTO THE RED INTO THE BLUE AND THE WORLD'S GONNA COVER FOR YOU I'M CALLING ALL ANGELS I'LL BE DAMNED I'M JUST A STRANGER IN THIS LAND I'M WAITING BEEN WAITING LIKE A FRIEND CLOUDS COMING DOWN THEY SMILE LIKE A WAVE... A DOORWAY TO THE SUN INTO THE RED INTO THE BLUE THE WORLD'S GONNA COVER FOR YOU I'M CALLING ALL ANGELS I'LL BE DAMNED I'M JUST A STRANGER IN THIS LAND AND ALL THROUGH THE DAY ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT THERE'S ONLY MUSIC NOW I'M NOWHERE I'M DOWN AND OUT ALONE JUST WHISKEY... AND YOU YOU HAVE A FLOWER IN YOUR HAIR I'M JUST A STRANGER IN THIS LAND INTO THE RED INTO THE BLUE AND THE WORLD'S GONNA COVER FOR YOU I'M CALLING ALL ANGELS I'LL BE DAMNED I'M JUST A STRANGER IN THIS LAND >> Two new ones.

>> Two new ones.

>> They're both too pretty.

>> Thank you.

>> Very nice.

How new?

>> They're not brand new.

They're some time in the last maybe eight months.

>> But they haven't been recorded yet.

>> One of the songs has been recorded.

I just made a little tour-only EP that I'm going to have out on the road this fall.

So we just recorded that.

That "Bad News" song is on there.

>> Tell us who's with you today.

>> Let me put that doggy back.

I've got Bo Ramsey here on electric guitar.

>> Welcome, Bo.

>> Thank you.

>> And Jon Penner on the bass guitar over here.

>> Welcome, Jon.

>> Thanks.

>> And Iowa City.

And Jon is now in Madison, I understand.

So we're straddling the bridge there, geographically.

You play everywhere.

You live in several places.

But you come back to Iowa City.

>> Yeah.

>> How come?

>> Well, a lot of roots there.

My whole broken family lives there now.

But I came back to the Midwest when I started playing shows, just to face the music, so to speak.

There's a lot of magic just in the land, I feel like, in Iowa, and in the Midwest in general.

I like the big, open spaces.

It's not too crowded.

I can be open.

I just feel at home.

>> So, family and the environment.

>> Yeah.

>> Iowa City is a pretty artistic place, too, isn't it?

>> It is.

There's the Writer's Workshop.

And southeastern Iowa is real close to the Mississippi River, so there's all that history there, with all the blues and all the folk music.

All that country thing.

My family, my great-grandfather played the banjo.

And my great-grandmother played the pump organ.

We used to go down to southeastern Iowa to the Selma Jam.

There was just all that real rural music, that felt like it was just coming right up out of the ground.

>> Do you remember how old you were when you heard the sound of your own voice singing?

>> No, I don't.

I know I made up songs when I was learning to talk.

I think most kids do.

>> You've mentioned your father, so I will.

But just only so that people can embrace that.

Greg Brown, the very prolific folk legend is your father.

You, in addition to writing these wonderful songs, and recording, have also been called upon recently to contribute to a project by the great, sort of border music Tucson band, Calexico.

>> Calexico.

>> Tell us about that project.

>> I made friends with those guys in Tucson, Arizona.

They're along the border.

And actually, when I was first getting started, I had a little duo there with a woman, Tasha Bundy on drums.

And it was just the two of us.

Those were some of my first shows.

So I got to know the Calexico boys down there.

And actually, after I left, we got to be friends more through the music, I think.

I was wanting to do that song, "This Land is Your Land" as a tribute to Woody Guthrie, and for many other obvious reasons.

So I called those guys up and sent them some music through the mail.

We made a song that way.

Then I was down visiting in Tucson, just by chance, when they were putting their latest record, called "Carried to Dust."

And I went in the studio and sang a song with Joey, that he wrote, a song called "Slowness."

And then, Bo actually played some guitar on that track, as well.

>> On the track that you sang?

>> Yeah, so Joey's great.

He's very easy to work with and likes to collaborate.

He's collaborated with a lot of great artists.

>> So that record will be out this fall.

>> Yep.

>> Very soon.

>> Yeah.

>> People can look for that.

>> They can, yeah.

>> A couple more songs?

>> You got it.

>> All right.

>> I wrote this song after seeing a track of Sonny Boy Williamson, alone with his harmonica.

He was singing a song called "Bye, Bye Bird."

I was mesmerized, and dumbfounded all at the same time.

So I went down to the basement, where I have a little studio, or where I had a little studio.

And I wrote this song here.

OVER AND OVER THE STORY GOES FROM BEGINNING TO END FROM DEATH TO A ROSE FROM ARISEN TO FALLEN AND A HAND TO A WAVE AND A LOOK THROUGH THE WINDOW A PASSERBY GAVE ARE YOU FREE?

ARE YOU FREE?

FROM A KEEPER OF SORROWS TO A LAUGH AMONG FRIENDS BY WHICH COMES THE ARROW THE MESSENGER SENDS WHEN HE'S ON HIS LAST DIME AND HE'S DOWN ON HIS KNEES WISHING HE COULD NOT FEEL YOUR DISEASE ARE YOU FREE?

ARE YOU FREE?

FROM AN OLD BOAT IN BROOKLYN TO THE WATERS BELOW THE JOY OF THE PREACHER AS HIS GARDEN GROWS TO A TUMBLER OF WHISKEY AND THE WEEDS IN THE DITCH BY A FARMER BENT DOWN ADJUSTING HIS HITCH ARE YOU FREE?

ARE YOU FREE?

FROM THE WAY YOU WENT WRONG ONCE BY WHICH YOU DID RIGHT TO THE MORNING THAT GLITTERED AFTER A STORMY NIGHT CALENDAR SENT YOU PRIORITY MAIL HUNG IN THE BASEMENT ON A STRING BY A NAIL ARE YOU FREE?

ARE YOU FREE?

FROM A FLAG IN THE LAMPLIGHT WAVING SO HIGH TO A FACE IN A MASK BEHIND AN UNSEEING EYE AND THE HALOS OF PAPER FOR THE SAINTS ON THE BRIDGE TO A DIRTY PINK SLIP ON A WINDOW LEDGE YEAH ARE YOU FREE?

FROM A BOXER AT DINNER WHO PLAYED IN THE BAND TO A BOXER AT MIDNIGHT TAPING HIS HAND A SHADOW MISTAKEN FOR ANOTHER MAN IN A DREAM ONCE FELT WHERE WILD HORSES RAN FROM THE STABLES OF EDEN TO THE GATES OF HELL JUST OUT FRONT BY THE WISHING WELL ARE YOU FREE?

ARE YOU FREE?

GET FREE FREE All right.

This next song is a song about peace, and love, and hope.

THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD IS GETTING SO HEAVY RESTLESS, HELPLESS PEOPLE GET READY REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY NOTHING SEEMS RIGHT YOU LOST THE MORNING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN YOU'RE LIVING WITH WAR IT'S INSIDE AND OUT THE BARREL IS BUSTED FILLING YOU WITH DOUBTS REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN IT'S GOING ROUND AND ROUND COVERING GROUND IT ALWAYS COMES UP AFTER IT'S DOWN TO SHINE ON EVERYONE REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO THAT AIN'T GETTING DONE THE HOPES OF THE PEOPLE UNDER THE GUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN A CROOK ON THE HILL A THIEF IN THE ALLEY WE CAN RISE UP DOWN FROM THE VALLEY REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN IT'S GOING ROUND AND ROUND COVERING GROUND IT ALWAYS COMES UP AFTER IT'S DOWN TO SHINE ON EVERYONE REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN LOOK AT YOUR SISTER LOOK AT YOUR BROTHER LOOK AT YOUR FATHER YOUR SWEET MOTHER REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN HAND TO HAND HEAD TO TOE YOU CAN FIND THE SUN WHEREVER YOU GO REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN REMEMBER, REMEMBER REMEMBER THE SUN