By Ryan Sparks
Grady are a "heavy, cowboy hat wearing band" based out of Austin
Texas and fronted by Canadian guitarist / vocalist Gordie
Johnson. The trio, which includes fellow transplants ‘Big’ Ben
Richardson on bass and Nina Singh on drums, is currently touring
Canada from coast to coast in support of their just
released third full length disc Good As Dead.
I caught up with Gordie from the road, a few days in advance of
the bands scheduled club appearance in Montreal. He gave me
the lowdown on the new album, and how the diverse musical
climate of the lone star state influenced Good As Dead,
which was tracked at Willie Nelson's studio in Spicewood TX. We
also talked a bit about his former band Big Sugar, his love of
vintage Dodge Charger's, as well as the recent casino show in
Alberta where the promoter pulled the plug on Grady after just
four songs.
Ryan: Over the course of three albums now you’ve established
Grady’s so called cow-metal or shredneck brand of rock ‘n roll,
whatever you want to call it, but at the same time I think
Good As Dead is your most eclectic disc yet. You’ve
obviously added some new flavors into the gumbo this time
around.
Gordie: Yeah it’s real reflective of our natural surroundings.
It wasn’t a case of throwing these random flavors of instruments
in there, it’s just representative of the music that we hear
every day and the people that we play with on a regular basis.
It’s a little peak into our world.
Ryan: Would I be correct in suggesting that the diverse, musical
melting pot that is Austin played a vital role in this?
Gordie: Absolutely. Not even just Austin, but the whole state of
Texas. Mexican and tejano culture is a such a big part of the
landscape there.
Ryan: You’ve also highlighted the talents of some of fine Texas
musicians as the album features guest appearances by Dale
Watson, Ethan Shaw of The Moonhangers and Michael Ramos. You
managed to corral some of your friends to come into the studio
and contribute.
Gordie: Yeah exactly. We didn’t have to call anybody, these are
all people that we know and do shows with. We covered one of
Dale’s songs (“Truckstop In La Grange”) and got him to come and
play on that. Of course we all go hear Dale play strictly
honky-tonk country every Monday night at the Continental Club.
We all go and hear him play even though his music is quite
different than ours. There’s a mutual respect, and he loves our
band too, but you’d never think that to listen to him play. That
is kind of what Austin is about.
Ryan: Yeah but you’re talking about a state like Texas which is
bigger than some countries, where you have all of these
different musical styles co-existing in one place.
Gordie: Yeah, that’s why we’re there.
Ryan: You recorded this at Willie Nelson’s studio. I heard you
talk about the magical songwriting vibe in that studio. How do
you explain it, is there something in the air?
Gordie: Well the thing is you’re standing in the shadow of a
giant when you’re in his place. Willie Nelson will probably go
down in history as one of the greatest American songwriters and
song stylists ever, and yet I have a key to his studio, you know
what I mean? We use the same bathroom [laughing]. It raises the
level of your game no question. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t
respect Willie Nelson, whether you’re a country artist or not it
doesn’t matter. Punk rockers come in there and when they realize
they’re in Willie’s place, they love him because he’s such a
rebel. Metal dudes will come and be like “Oh yeah Willie man, he
smokes lots of weed, he’s badass!” So it doesn’t matter what
style of music it is. You bring people into the studio and they
revere him so much, and also the legends that have been in that
studio, it makes you wonder if you could ever do something as
great as that and be remembered that way. They rise to the
occasion that’s for sure.
Ryan: You’re a full blown Texan having been there for six years
now, yet there’s still a Canadian connection on a song like
“Alberta Bones” and the raunchy cover of The Tragically Hip’s
“Boots or Hearts”. I understand you’ve been getting some ribbing
for not having heard much of the Hip’s material is that true?
Gordie: [laughing] Yeah I’d never heard any of it. It was all
kind of new to me. The whole time I lived in Canada and was in
Big Sugar, all we listened to was reggae music. I’d never
listened to any Canadian rock when I was in that band. I mean we
were out rocking Canada but no one was rocking us back
[laughing]. We weren’t listening to Canadian bands; we were
strictly listening to reggae. I kind of went a whole decade
where I wasn’t really aware of what else was happening out
there.
Ryan: I can understand that. You were in your own world and just
doing your thing.
Gordie: Yeah I was busy [laughs].
Ryan: The last time we spoke was when Y.U So Shady had
just been released independently I believe, and when you spoke
about your former band Big Sugar’s lack of acceptance in America
you mentioned that “Americans like to have things more
streamlined” and that “they like to be able to put their finger
on something, things have to be very compartmentalized”. That
being said I’m not sure Grady fits into a particular mold do
you?
Gordie: Well there are lots of bands like us back home. We’re
one of a number of cowboy hat wearing, heavy bands in Austin. My
comment wasn’t so much about Americans, but more about the
American music industry at the time. Even now it’s gotten better
because the industry has sort of been blown to bits and they’re
trying to reconstruct it, but at that time you had to be
categorized into what kind of radio station could play you and
what section of the record store you would be in. It’s like you
couldn’t mix the flavors on your plate, like small children who
don’t let the food touch each other, you know what I mean?
[laughs] So my comments were more from the viewpoint of the
industry. No one listens exclusively to just one thing.
Ryan: As you mentioned you threw some pretty diverse sounds into
the mix. You’ve got accordion on one song and pedal steel guitar
on another. While this diversity might be normal for Austin, do
you think that people in other parts of the country, and even in
Canada, are going to necessarily get it?
Gordie: Well I think the difference is maybe not in the
industry; it’s how much I actually care to bend to that notion,
because I don’t really care to. All you can do is be honest and
give people music that you really love, and these are all the
things that we love. If I send you a postcard from someplace, if
you live in New York and I live in Australia, why would I send
you a postcard of New York? [laughing] You can get that at home,
so I’m going to send you something exotic. So this is kind of
like our postcard from Austin Texas, for the people that don’t
get to wake up there every day. This is what we dig about where
we live and this is what can happen to you.
Ryan: If I think of most of the music that I enjoy, I like
having those little curve balls thrown at me. You know what I
mean?
Gordie: Personality counts for a lot there as well. You want to
hear something that’s individual and not like other stuff.
Ryan: Having had a record company behind you all those years in
Big Sugar, Grady has operated more independently. You’ve got
more freedom creatively but on the other hand you have to be a
lot more hands on. Are you more comfortable operating on this
level?
Gordie: I was pretty hands on before as well. I suppose they
tried to constrain me but they weren’t really successful at it
[laughs]. Obviously a heavy rock band full of reggae musicians
and a blues harmonica guy wasn’t a recipe for success [laughs],
but it sure was successful. I continue to think along the same
lines in that I’m only going to do what I like to do. This is
what we’re going to be doing anyway, whether the industry is
paying attention or not. We do have a little more self
determination in terms of how much to spend on the record, and
how long we spend doing it, that’s entirely up to us. It doesn’t
have to go before any kind of committee.
Ryan: It’s interesting that someone like Jello Biafra got
involved in distributing the band’s music because on the surface
he might not appear to be your typical guy associated with
Grady.
Gordie: He’s someone I would pick. Again it looks so exotic to
everybody else I guess, but where we live Jello and Willie,
their names get uttered in the same breath. We’ve got lots of
punk rockers in Austin. Everybody in Austin is kind of a punk
rocker in their own way.
Ryan: He called you guys the missing link between Black Flag and
Junior Brown. That’s a great quote right there.
Gordie: [laughing]
Ryan: He got you on his label Alternative Tentacles. Are they
handling the U.S. release for Good As Dead?
Gordie: No, not yet anyway.
Ryan: You should give him a call.
Gordie: Yeah I speak to him all the time. He recently asked us
to open some shows for him but we couldn’t do them because we’re
out here on our own tour, so that was kind of a drag. We’ve got
a new manager and the record label we’re with in Canada has been
really great so I think we all want to see what happens, because
they do have a US counterpart.
Ryan: Can you tell me a bit about the casino fiasco?
Gordie: [laughing]
Ryan: That must have been the weirdest thing that’s ever
happened to the band. Have you ever…
Gordie: Had the plug pulled?
Ryan: Yeah I mean I know you guys play loud but…
Gordie: Someone had to have known that before they hired us.
Unless somebody was really that stupid that they just looked at
our pictures, saw cowboy hats and thought we were going to sound
like George Canyon, which of course we dont at all [laughs].
Just the subject matter of the songs themselves, even if we
played them with drinking straws, there was no amount of making
it quiet that would have made it ok with the casino crowd. The
funny thing was there was a crowd to see us and the person who
fired us, fired us over the phone, she wasn’t even there. They
weren’t making any kind of sound judgment at all, it was a knee
jerk reaction to the one gambler who left the black jack table.
Ryan: Did you get a chance to give them a hearty dose of
“Blackass Woman”?
Gordie: I think it was during “Blackass Woman” or shortly
thereafter that the phone was handed to us [laughing]. Being in
a casino we all had bets on how long the set was going to last
anyway [laughs]. I think Big Ben won the bet.
Ryan: When you went out there and saw the stage right in the
corner on the floor of the casino, you had to have second
thoughts.
Gordie: It was so badly planned.
Ryan: Well I guess that was Grady’s Spinal Tap moment right
there.
Gordie: We went on the radio that day and the station was hyping
the show and giving away tickets. Everyone from the station was
at the gig looking just dumfounded. All the Dj’s mouths were
open and wondering what had happened.
Ryan: Were you laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation?
Gordie: I had to laugh at the absurdity of it. I wasn’t about to
fight or get into a screaming match about it. We were real
polite about it. We were paid; we had already eaten, so we were
like “Ok four songs are plenty”. So off we went. However, I took
a guitar and a bottle of tequila to the radio station I sat in
there for a few hours and got to have my rebuttal on the air,
which then caused an even bigger shit storm. As it turned out
the casino was one of their major ad buyers [laughing]. When the
boss got in the office the next day he freaked, so everybody
came out a winner there [laughing].
Ryan: Last question for you Gordie. Did you ever bring your
Charger down to Texas from Alberta?
Gordie: Oh I’ve got one there as well [laughs].
Ryan: So you still divide your time between the two places?
Gordie: A little bit. I do come up in the summer to the farm,
and Christmas as well. My ’70 has stayed in Alberta, but my ’66
lives in Austin.
Ryan: That must be a sweet ride.
Gordie: It’s pretty awesome. We’ve got a pretty good R.V out
here that has most of the comforts of home, minus the Mexican
food and the warm weather.
Ryan: You picked a good time to tour across Canada. I hope you
brought your tuque buddy!
Gordie: Oh shit I’m ready. So far we haven’t seen any snow. I
know that isn’t going to last but it’s just been at our heels
the whole tour. All the towns we’ve played so far have just been
dumped on.
Ryan: Looking forward to seeing you here in Montreal. I’ll be
willing to bet that you do more than four songs here.
Gordie: I’m pretty sure they’re tough enough [laughs]. Good
talking to you.
www.shadygrady.net
