Worth the wait

As one of America’s prominent singer-songwriters and Merge label alum, Richard Buckner has experienced the music industry before. During his ascension to folk troubadour status during the popular Alt-Country movement of the 1990’s, his first two albums, “Bloomed” and “Devotion & Doubt,” earned him critical praise and a loyal fan-following. His plaintive growl and deep drawl lured listeners into his passionate and love-torn lyrics. Both albums were built upon strong lyrics, creative arrangements and a loving studio touch. 

By 1998, Buckner had secured his status as an indispensable voice and songwriting talent with his seminal and critically acclaimed album, “Since.” Buckner’s cult status grew over the years with adventurous recordings like 2000’s “The Hill”—in which he set music to poems from Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology—and the departure album, “Impasse” in 2002, which took a rather slight detour from his traditionally aligned acoustic music. He continued his exploration of expansive sounds and melodies that he started with “Impasse” in his last two albums with North Carolina-based label Merge—“Dents & Shells” and “Meadow.” But it’s been nearly five years since Richard Buckner has released any new music. Until now.

A record nearly two years in the making, the Buckner who has earned critical praise and fan acclaim alike and has endured more than a decade in the business is back with “Our Blood.” The two years it took to create was, in part, the result of multiple speed bumps, including a not-so-lucrative film score assignment that never came to fruition, the burglary of his home (the thieves made off his with laptop that held an early version of “Our Blood”), and an unlikely run-in with upstate New York law enforcement that you’d think was a CSI episode. 

Buckner has been through a lot to get his latest finally released, but the blood, sweat and tears have paid off. He has created another stunning and moving piece of art with his distinctive style of music as only he can do. He incorporates elements from his previous releases while still exploring new territory among the nine tracks in “Our Blood.” From the acoustic “Escape,” Buckner-esque lyrics embrace his carpe-diem attitude, “Let’s waste the night\pay the price and get outta here\it’s not enough\backing out just to disappear.” While his love for expanding his sound around his discerning words will absolutely enthrall listeners on tracks like “Traitor” and “Gang,” his unique guitar work carries on with the beautifully strummed “Confession.” 

Recorded at his home off and on between August 2009 and February 2011, musicians dropped in to accent some of songs with bits of pedal steel, percussion, and other elements—all built around the core of each song: that voice. As fervent and utterly haunting now as when he released “Bloomed,” Buckner’s voice is his music. “‘Our Blood’ is about being caught, armed with some barbed momentary reasoning that won’t let you go,” he says. “If there is a story, it will end where it began and then keep going, free to stop, but never knowing why it should.”

In his own words

SML caught up with Richard Buckner prior to the August 2011 release of “Our Blood” and had a chance to talk to the notoriously opinionated singer-songwriter. 

SML: Five years between releases seems like an eternity for fans. Why the delay?

RB: After I finished my last record in 2006, I was asked to work up a score for a movie. It took a few years to complete and then the movie never really surfaced. I also worked on a few other songs for various things like a PBS documentary on sacred harp singing and a musical companion to a poem that McSweeny’s asked me to put together. “Our Blood” is the result of the three years that followed, where various mechanical, financial and personal setbacks and sprains helped it take longer to finish.

So how do you feel about the “singer\songwriter” label, does that truly do you justice?

I don’t feel anything.

The songs for “Our Blood” were recorded at your home, a DIY effort on many levels. What are the advantages of home recording vs. a modern studio?

I record at home because it’s free, time-wise and money-wise. It’s not really an advantage, though. Working in a studio, working with tape, working with an engineer are all good things. It’s more about where you find yourself when you start sorting through your options.

Throughout your albums, your voice feels like it could have come from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Have you ever spent any time around here?

The vocal mic on “Our Blood” is a Neumann u48 that I borrowed from a recording engineer/friend of mine named Jon Marshall Smith who lives in North Carolina; maybe that’s it. I’ve also spent time over the years in a few situations around the state.

Your affinity to acoustic music is obvious. From “Since” on your music has evolved. Do you ever get any “Dylan goes electric” comparisons?

No. There are some that don’t like amps and loops and some that complain when I don’t do the loops and make some noise. Like the war on drugs: not winnable.

If there’s no money in making records these days, does this affect the artistic process from writing to recording?

You feel like a sucker throwing money and years into a hobby pit. It’s a humiliating addiction. Evidently, music has become a commodity that no one, except the artist, has to pay for.

You’ve played the Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C., many times. The shows are always moving and incredibly sincere. Have you ever thought of relocating to our mountain metropolis?

I have. I need to go somewhere. I live in a town in upstate New York where every day is a zombie apocalypse. If a rapture had come, it wouldn’t have been noticed around here; everyone’s already given up.