| On The Road: Last Train Home
With Eric Brace
Musician
Friday, April 18, 2003; 1 p.m. ET Last time Eric Brace was online, he talked about Last Train Home's show at the Birchmere with the Gourds, moving to Nashville, competition in Music City, and the neverending tour. What's the latest with the former Nightwatchman? How's the songwriting? How much has the band been on the road?  | | Time and Water | Brace was online Friday, April 18, at 1 p.m. ET. and he talked about it all -- life on the road, when the Train departs for Europe and the thing or two he's learned about the music biz. Last Train Home features Jim Gray on bass; Alan Brace on mandolin, harmonica and vocals; Bill Williams on lead guitar, lap steel and banjo; Martin Lynds on drums; Scott McKnight on guitar; Kevin Cordt on trumpet and fiddle; Dave Van Allen on pedal steel guitar and lap steel; and Doug Derryberry on guitars, pianos and organ from time to time. The transcript follows. Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Eric Brace: Hello there people, I'm down in Nashville today, trying to stir things up for Last Train Home, but i'll take a break from that to chat with y'all. As the say. They also say "might could." I will try to incorporate "might could" into a sentence in this chat. Onward.
Fells Point, Md.: Didn't we just do this? Eric Brace: No, we didn't "just do this".... we did it TWO WEEKS AGO! Practically a lifetime! Your point, though, is surely along the lines of: what could be different from two weeks ago? Hmmm good question. As this year unfolds, we'll see if indeed enough new experiences transpire to make an every-two-week chat a viable, desirable thing. It could turn into a daily thing (ha! kidding) or a monthly thing. We'll find out. But don't worry, if you're bored, you can always read Hax's archives.
Northern Virginia: Did Jim Gray ever work for the Better Business Bureau? I recall a Jim Gray who was a bass player there about five to seven years ago. Same guy? Eric Brace: Little known fact about J. Gray. He is a certified mediator. You name it, he can mediate it. He says he has very reasonable rates if you've got a dispute. And he was trained in his mediation expertise by the Better Business Bureau. Yes. He was there.
washingtonpost.com: Ummm.. Eric. Hax is live right now. Eric Brace: Oh great... send them over to the really interesting stuff.. people with sex problems and such. jeepers. Way to kill a chat Lisa....
Washington, D.C.: Are you on leave from the Post? How come they let you have all this free advertising for your band like this? This should be a "Paid Discussion" Something smells fishy. Eric Brace: Like an infomercial, right? I'm sure I'll get this question during every chat, and it's a fair question, but here's the thing: For the past 20 years, I've been in bands as a leader and a sideman. I've played guitar and bass, sung a bunch. I've managed bands, booked bands, run a record label, written about bands, written songs. Helped book venues. Negotiated contracts. Toured overseas -- in other words, I've been on every single side of the music business business. Over the years, I've acquired, almost in spite of myself, some measure of expertise in this crazy world. SO, the ASSUMPTION is that as I try to take my band to the proverbial "Next Level," I can impart some wisdom to others who are on the same path. That may be a spurious assumption, but there it is. Folks in on the chat can ask me anything about the biz, and I will answer through the lens of my experience. I hope that it will be helpful information, useful somehow to others who might apply it to THEIR music careers. I suppose I COULD organize a "How To Make It In The Music Biz" seminar and charge people $250 for six hours, but instead, we're doing it this way. I hope it's entertaining (though I KNOW I can't compete with Hax) and informative. And if you don't like it, you can tell me, and I'll post it. These "Live Online" editors love it when things get all lively and contentious in their chats!
Arlington, Va.: Well, you could try your hand at a few sex problem questions... Eric Brace: OK, send em my way. I'll send the music biz questions on to Hax.
Burke, Va.: Enjoyed Marty singing at Rams Head Tavern, but he was pretty quiet at the Birchmere. Was his singing career really that short? Also, y'all rarely sing two of my favorites -- "Last Train Home" and "True North" -- how come? Eric Brace: I too enjoyed Marty's singing at the Rams Head. We didn't give him a microphone at the Birchmere because we were afraid he'd say something out loud to offend their booking agent. I'm kidding. It's hard for me to sing our songs without the harmonies that i've gotten used to, usually from the mouths of my brother Alan Brace and guitarman Bill Williams. As we got close to deciding to take it on the road, it became clear that neither Alan nor Bill would be able to travel with us (kids, careers, families...) Martin, Kevin and Jim all stepped up and said: "We will learn to sing. We'll need special rehearsals and such, but we will do it." And indeed, they have. Well, Jim hasn't yet, but only because I haven't asked him to yet. Kevin and Martin have both proven to have fine fine voices, and that will enable us to go on the road with other guitarists, say, who might be great pickers but not have the vocal skills. We're still working out parts... like sometimes I need three part harmony during a time when Kevin is playing an essential trumpet part. So we have to rethink things, rearrange stuff on the road so that we're as happy with the road version of a song as we are with the "D.C. Crew Version." It's an interesting process, figuring it out and rearranging. And regarding the song Last Train Home, we in fact are playing it out on the road, because Kevin and Marty both said we should and have eagerly learned the rather elaborate harmonies. "True North" is played less because.... ummmm because.... I don't know why not. We'll play it all three days at IOTA next weekend!
Hmmm...: Can you explain why people feel the need to post questions in the chat just to criticize the chat? Why are they here then? Eric Brace: Oh, I think people are so stirred up at the world that they feel the need to call people on all kinds of ethical questions. But hells bells, Does someone want to look into Bechtel getting the big Iraq contracts? Let's really talk conflicts of interest: Richard Perle, Oliver North, Dick Cheney. Who stands to gain the most money from this administration's current policies and practices? Don't get me started. Wrong chat.
Washington, D.C.: I'm the one who asked about the paid discussion versus regular Live Online. Thanks for answering it. I wasn't trying to be snarky, just wondering how the washingtonpost.com folks try and balance newsworthy and informative discussions with current and former Postie's side work. washingtonpost.com: It's a good question. Posties come online when they write books, and in the middle of everything going on with Iraq we still hosted horoscope shows. This is essentially a freelance gig, and it's meant as a companion to Eric's blog/road diary. But criticism duly noted. Feel free to write in and yell at me. -- Lisa. Eric Brace: And indeed, it IS a good and fair question, and i hope i gave a reasonably satisfying answer to it. "Informative" is the word you used, and I hope these chats can be. I hope they're "Entertaining" as well. I read Tom Shales' TV reviews, for instance, because I find them fun to read. I don't then watch the TV show. No TV in my life. There's nothing wrong with The Post and post.com providing some less-than-"stop the presses" moments...
Washington, D.C.: Kevin said he'd "learn to sing"? Really? Um, doesn't he sing in Spottiswoode? Plus I saw him sing with you once at Velvet and you guys sounded great together. Eric Brace: Yes yes yes... You're right. I misspoke. Kevin already knows how to sing. He does indeed sing in Spottiswoode and His Enemies. I meant "learn to sing specific harmony parts." Glad you saw him singing with me at Velvet that night. He has an amazing range.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Eric! OK, I'm writing a large paper on bands and the Internet. And I'm finding these chats fascinating. Now, my question: I know you have a Web site. How else do you use the net? E-mail newsletter? Downloadable song samples? Selling your recordings online? And does your 'Net presence make connecting with your fans, presenters, and recording companies and easier? Eric Brace: The internet really IS the great revolution. And we're still figuring out how to use it in a more powerful way. I remember when I started writing the Nightwatch column for the Weekend section in 1996, only a very few bands in the area had Web sites. They'd call me up and say check us out online! and I'd say: no, send me your CD and press kit. Now, it's the easiest thing in the world, because it's so accepted. We have a great Web site, I have to say, designed by Eric Christensen, who is responsible for the whole thing. It really is stunning, and as far as I'm concerned it's a model in web design. On it are downloadable MP3s, yes. But that's just a small part of it. We have a "hidden" page in there that we give to press and promoters where they can find all kinds of downloadable photos and press kit info, not to mention stage plots for sound techs at upcoming clubs. We send out e-mails to about 3,000 people in the Washington area through our Web site on a "listserve" and I remember 15 years ago mailing out flyers and postcards to people telling them about my band's gigs, and there were times when we wouldn't even make enough at those gigs to pay for te postage TELLING people about the gigs. So that's a huge deal. And internationally, we've been able to get in touch with promoters and fans and radio DJs from all over the world to talk about the band and such. We sell records on line, and that's proving to be the most important asset of the site, and that probably is true for any indie band. The hardest thing about releasing a CD these days is getting it into stores. Major labels control store placement and as an indie, you can figure you'll be ignored. Olsson's is one of the rare exceptions, so I have to give them props for being so good to Last Train Home. But we do most of our sales online. To do that you have to set up secure credit card payment systems. Since I didn't want to deal with that, I asked our friend Kevin Johnson to do that, through his Sam Records Web site. So the "Buy This Now" button on the LTH site goes right to kevin's site. He takes a small cut and mails it out. But the uses of the 'Net are infinite. I could certainly go on and on, but the shortest answer is that LTH would NOT be able to be trying to go full-time right now if the internet did not exist.
Singing: If you can get Jim to sing at IOTA, I'll be at all three shows! Eric Brace: I'll talk to him. He might need to mediate that request.
Washington, D.C.: Hey what's that name of Marty's favorite Western shirt place? I thought I would find them online real easy, but I am not. It's in Nashville and he says it is WALL to WALL shirts. Eric Brace: At one point a couple of years ago, Martin started going on to ebay and finding all these amazing old western shirts, mostly made by H-bar-C, an amazing western wear company that's still in business. We all sorta got into the act, to the point where we're maybe a little Western-wear heavy onstage. But it's fun, it's like playing dressup. As bluegrass star Lynn Morris says, don't wear on stage what you'd wear to the grocery store. As for as stores in nashville, we're partial to Katy K's Ranch Dressing. It rocks. I forget the name of the store down on lower Broadway that's packed with shirts... it's not cheap.
Washington, D.C.: Last time you mentioned something about the label reps saying your stuff isn't what the market wants right now. What's been the response from radio program directors? Eric Brace: We mailed out the new CD to about 250 radio stations around the country. We chose those very carefully...like, we didn't send it to the equivalent of WHFS in D.C. or even WMZQ. We had to find independent stations who play what folks are calling "Americana" music. These are often small public radio stations like WRVG in Lexington, Ky., and such, or college stations that have one "roots" or "alt-country" show on Sunday night at midnight. Given the very targeted and limited mailing we did, the response has been very good and people are playing it a lot. And it's good to know that somewhere in Alaska or Gallup, N.M., or Bozeman, Mont., someone's playing our stuff. The thing is though, they're generally not high profile stations with high-wattage, so.... But it's rewarding when an order comes in through the Web site with a note saying "I heard you last week while I was driving around Dayton and I had to look you up on the Internet.."
McLean, Va.: When does the takeover of Europe begin? Eric Brace: As of this week we have signed a deal with the small German label Blue Buffalo. It's based in a small town near Munich. We got onto their radar because our music lawyer here in Nashville, David Wycoff, also represents Duane Jarvis, a fine guitarist and songwriter who happens to have a deal with Blue Buffalo. David told me to send it to Bernhard Rosa over there. Bernhard called me saying he really liked the record and wanted to put it out. Man, that was a great call to get, considering the three other European labels that David had suggested I send "Time and Water" too pretty much blew me off without so much as a "How do you do"... So. T&W will be out in Europe (Blue Buffalo has continent-wide distribution) on May 20. Bernhard called me yesterday to talk about a tour, and we're looking at possibly Oct. 3-25. I can't wait.
Virginia: Eric -- I'm a Nashville native; where do you live? And what do you think of our little town? It's a strange place, but kind of homey, in its way. Eric Brace: I'm staying in East Nashville, which is the booming side of town right now.... a "transitional" neighborhood that's changing by the day. Lots of refurbishing going on, many, many new little clubs, bars, restaurants, etc.. it feels like Clarendon 14 years ago. That means there'll be a Cheesecake Factory and a Pottery Barn around the corner in 2015... no, it'll be sooner. I like Nashville a lot. The scale of it is very manageable and it's very beautiful in its way. I like the skyline, it feels like a real city, but with a small town vibe.
Somewhere, USA: Are you wearing pants? Eric Brace: Is this from Gene Weingarten?? Go bother Hax.
mp3s: You cannot, actually, download the mp3s on the LTH Web site. You can listen to them though. I thought you were opposed to the whole downloading songs thing. You don't have a presence on Kazaa and I've only ever been able to download one LTH song. I have mixed feelings about the downloading phenomenon. I've discovered some great music through downloads and then gone out and spent money on the actual albums, but I may be an exception. I would hate to see someone download the entire LTH album and not buy it but for bigger acts those people don't really need my money. Anyway, like I said, mixed feelings. Eric Brace: Hmmm. Odd. I know someone who DID in fact just download the entire album. I saw it and listened to it. I wonder what that means. I'm not opposed to the whole downloading songs thing. I'm opposed to people who say it's their RIGHT to download songs, as opposed to paying for them. If bands CHOOSE to offer free downloads, as some kind of promotional thingy, then by all means. I think the demographic of our potential fan-base is not a hardcore downloading crowd. I figure if they download a song or 12, they'll share with their friends, they'll come to see us play, they'll buy our CDs.. I DON'T think "music belongs to the people..." I think music belongs to those that create it and then they can choose to do with it what they want, even give it away if they want.
I miss Nashville!: Lived there for nine years -- things rub off on you. Re: ". . .don't wear on stage what you'd wear to the grocery store." We once were at dinner at a Mexican joint, and Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky was there, still in his stage outfit. At least, I HOPE it was his stage outfit. . . Eric Brace: Ranger Doug had some great outfits. At least he didn't wear it to a French restaurant.
Washington, D.C.: Along those lines, I took a Seattle friend of mine to one of your show awhile back, and they e-mailed recently that they heard you on a radio station out there. Talk about reaching the four corners. Eric Brace: Now THAT is good news. The station we mailed to out there, KEXP, is a strong supporter of independent music and has a great streaming station.. at least they did.
Curious, Washington, D.C.: Is Lisa hot? Eric Brace: Of course she is.
Washington, D.C.: Best grits in Nashville? Eric Brace: Monell's.
Washington, D.C.: Hey Eric -- at some point you mentioned doing a 'blog of your musical adventures on the road. Any update there? Eric Brace: Yes indeed. It will come. It will come soon. It will be up on the washingtonpost.com site and you will find a link to it soon from www.lasttrainhome.com. We're making it happen. Sorry for the delay.
KGSR!: Is Austin being nice to you? Eric Brace: I haven't heard anyone say they heard us yet down there. KGSR DID used to play "All Eyes Go" from our CD "True North" a lot, though.
Arlington, Va.: Is there a typical day for you? What's it like? Are you dealing with agents, rehearsing, making radio station rounds, sending stuff out, what? Eric Brace: All that. Typically, I'm on the phone with our booking agent guy, Brad Madison out in San Fran for at least 30 minutes a day lining up itineraries, looking at maps, calculating drive times and such. playing guitar, talking to a fellow who'll be filming a video for us soon, finding more and more people to whom I need to mail packets of stuff (the new CD, the press kit, our itinerary, a hand-written letter)... going to my guitar repair guy to pick up my fixed guit-boxes, talking to my song publisher guy and calling people that he's setting me up for "co-writing sessions".. a weird phenomenon I haven't yet experienced, but will soon. But the best day, and sadly least typical, was surely Monday, when my pal John Starling called me up and asked me if I wanted to visit a new studio where he was tracking songs for a new album. John is old pals with an amazing studio ace/producer/engineer named George Masenburg, and George just built an acoustically amazing little studio in the hills south of Nashville. He invited John to come down and record as a guinea pig, kinda. John called his old friend Emmylou Harris to come and sing on tracks, so I spent the day watching her sing, and watching folks like Mike Auldridge, Jon Randall, Tom Gray, John Starling and Larry Stephenson making the music. It was incredible.. I couldn't believe I was there. Inspiring.
Washington, D.C.: Wait a minute, is this the same Lisa that also produces Hax? Is there some sort of conflict of interest here? Eric, how do you know you're getting the best service out of her? Eric Brace: Yes it is the same Lisa. And I can't tell a thing from such a long distance... she may be using Robot Lisa for all I know..
Falls Church, Va.: I took some digital shots of LTH awhile back. Where shall I send them? Eric Brace: send them to me at bracee@washpost.com. and thanks.
McLean, Va.: Hello Eric -- Have you bumped into our local favorite notable musician in Nashville yet? Mary Chapin Carpenter is due to start recording a new CD in "Nashvegas" this month or next. Eric Brace: Haven't seen Chapin yet down here, but I'm sure I will when she comes down to record.
Arlington, Va.: Hi Eric, LOVE the first two LTH albums. They never come out of my cd player. But the new one hasn't quite caught me yet, except for that one song by Alan (track 9 or 10?). Can you talk about what you did differently in this album, and if you were trying to shift styles a bit? Thanks. Eric Brace: Hmmmmm. I'm sorry it hasn't grabbed you. We weren't consciously trying to do anything different...The formula was more or less the same. a few of my songs, a song of alan's, a song of scott's, a song by another pal (Mary Battiata, like we recorded Karl Straub's on earlier records), and a choice cover (Bill Monroe's Walls of Time). You're allowed to simply not like it as much, since that's always a very subjective thing, but I think it's our strongest. Two of the songs (Lorelei and See What Love Can Do) were recorded more or less live with our friend Jeff Lang on guitar and they kinda rock a little harder, and our Pollo Rico instrumental is certainly much different from anything else we've ever done, but we weren't saying to ourselves "Let's try radically different things!"... we just recorded what felt right to record at the moment. I hope it grows on you..
New York, N.Y.: Right click on the songs on the Web site to download. Eric Brace: A-HA! Tricky tricky ....
Washington, D.C.: Yo Eric, Great show at the Birchmere. The Gourds were so fun! Continuing a tradition of really great openers at LTH shows. I've discovered some really great bands through "y'all." How do you pick the openers? Also, over a year ago, you had Jim Roll as an opener and I thought he was fantastic. Any idea what he's up to these days? Eric Brace: I loved playing with the Gourds.... They're a blast, and great guys to boot. I've been talking to their lead guy, Kevin, and he's invited us to play with them in Austin when we can work out the timing of it. Picking openers is a mixed thing.. but we try to get out of town bands that could use some exposure to bigger crowds. This isn't always the case, as with Kathleen Edwards in February. That was simply a case of booking a relatively unknown Canadian act in November 2002, before her CD came out. It came out and got huge fast, so some people thought it odd that this hot young star was opening for US... just how it works sometimes. There is such a network among musicians now, courtesy of the Internet (yet another great resource) that it's easy to converse with cool out of town folks and invite them to play with us (like we're going to do with the Wilmington, N.C., band Lamont Skylark in June...they found our Web site, wrote to us, started a conversation.. They'll now play with us in D.C. and we'll play with them in N.C.) Jim Roll hasn't toured, I don't think, since his last IOTA appearance with us. He's a fine Michigan songwriter, and we hope to play with him up there.
Washington, D.C.: I dig your typical day entry, but I now have to ask, for the goodness of the masses, that is the "typical bankroll" on this endeavor? The minute I heard "song publishing guy" I heard cash registers in my head. I've not been brave enough to follow up on copyright/publishing myself. How much does it cost to farm out this work typically? And what do you look for in references if you decide to go with a publishing/copyright firm? Eric Brace: You don't pay most song publishers. Most song publishers pay YOU. If they like you and sign you to a deal, you'll typically get some kind of advance from them, and you'll be an exclusive songwriter for, say Acuff-Rose Songs, for, say, two years. I do NOT have that kind of a deal. My deal with Americana Entertainment Inc., is simpler. They will shop my songs to prominent folks like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, etc., for 18 months, and IF they get a song "placed" then they will make a percentage of the song publishing royalties. Larry Shell is the man who's "shopping" my songs around. He's a great guy who knows everyone and can get through all kinds of doors. I'm very very lucky to be working with him. As far as looking for a publishing company, you look to see who's in their songwriter roster and if it's people you respect, that's a good sign.
Arlington, Va. (don't like 3rd album yet): Thanks for answering! I think "Lorelei" is the one that sounds most different to me, especially the harmonies. I do like the Spanish chicken song, and remember enjoying it at concerts well before the CD came out. I like the band enough that I'll keep listening to the whole album anyway, but did I already say that Alan's song kicks butt? Eric Brace: Yep, you're right. That's Jeff lang singing harmonies. We just thought it rocked so hard we couldn't leave it off. And yes, Alan's song is really really great. We need to record more of his stuff.
Hoboken, N.J.: Hi Eric! Blast from the old days of B-Time and Carnival of Souls here. Sorry to have missed your solo gig here at the Goldhawk earlier this year. Any chance of LTH playing here in Hoboken in future, either at the Goldhawk again, or at Maxwell's? Eric Brace: Hey, thanks for the memories! In talking to our booker, we've both agreed to make Maxwell's a priority.... Keep checking the listings, or send your e-address to our Web site and I'll put you on our NYC/NJ list!
Alexandria, Va.: This is going to come out wrong, but have you "really" gone away at this point? Nashville full time? Bid farewell to D.C.? Or do you guys still consider this your hometown, despite relocating? Eric Brace: D.C. is still home. Nashville is more like an operations base.
Washington, D.C.: Have you felt even a little bit homesick yet? Eric Brace: And since we're in D.C. so much, I haven't had a chance to feel homesick..
Arlington, Va.: I've only been to Nashville once (LOVED it) and couldn't help but laugh at the sheer number of great musicians who live -- not just work -- there. I talked to three different people who had "I ran into Johnny Cash at the K-Mart" stories. Kept hearing how these folks just walked around among the mortals -- and that's what they loved. Not necessarily a "scene" like L.A. Have you found a camaraderie among musicians in town, much less in the biz? Eric Brace: Yeah, I think there's a real hang thing here in Nashville.. I was just talking to a pal here, steel player Pete Finney who joins us now and then, and he was talking about the scene at the Station Inn last night, where Jim Rooney has a kinda jam... Here's what he wrote me: "You shoulda come to the Station Inn, quite the "star-studded" crowd... Gillian Welch, Maura'OConnell, Peter Rowan, Iris Dement....I mostly hung with my pal Jeff White of Vince/Patty/Chieftains/Union Station fame, he mentioned seeing you in D.C. after the Chieftains show there."
More "Airtime": I hear your music on spinner.com's Americana and Alt Country "stations." Eric Brace: I'm so very glad about that! I'll go click on them later and see if we pop up..
Stage clothes in the grocery store: Well, you might could get away with wearing your western shirts in the Piggly Wiggly but you might not orta wear those leather pants. Glad to have ya back chattin' with us! Eric Brace: ha! Thanks..
Arlington, Va.: Didn't you say something about possibly opening for someone at Wolf Trap this summer? Willie's coming. And Emmylou, and Chris Isaak and Lyle Lovett. Any word yet? Eric Brace: Yes we're hoping. I'll let you know when it's something we can announce. Can you imagine? I can't, hardly... on the big stage at Wolf Trap?? Yikes.
Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.: Hey Eric: Are the Skylighters ever going to play again? Eric Brace: Speaking of John Starling and Mike Auldridge, I should say this: They are members of the Skylighters, along with me and Martin and Jim from LTH, and mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau. We play bluegrass, old-timey stuff and some country rock, and we'll be at IOTA May 22 and Birchmere June 27.
San Jose, Calif.: Hey is Last Train Home ever gonna make it out to the Left Coast or what? Eric Brace: We might hit California late this year.. November..
Arlington, Va.: The Station Inn! Now I am REALLY homesick. Once went to hear Peter Rowen there. He was billed as "Peter Rowen and Friends." Typically, a lot of people (Sam Bush, even Bill Munroe) would stop by and jam with him. Not so that night. He performed solo, and said "Must not have any friends tonight!" Great music and great memory! Eric Brace: That's a good one. Love the Station Inn. Hope to play there someday...
McLean, Va.: Eric -- I know this question was your old beat but was wondering if you knew anything about why Whitey's closed down after some 26 years in business by the current owners. They always seemed to be doing construction on that side addition to the place and I wonder if there was too much debt. Know if anyone is interested in buying this Arlington institution? Eric Brace: I think they just had too much debt and didn't know how to manage the place. it's a shame. I hope it doesn't change too much whenever it finds new owners.
Somewhere, USA: Well, as long as Lisa is duly noting criticism, she's probably noting praise, and this chat is the best. There's a certain demographic in Washington that, from what I can tell, can relate to Eric much much more than other hosts. He's like the anti-Bob Levey. Cool, artistic, paycheck to paycheck folks need someone, too. Don't cut him, give him a daily column! Eric Brace: Now that's a nice note. Thank you very much.
Falls Church, Va.: Do you think Last Train's sound will change as a result of your move to Nashville? Eric Brace: It might could change as we start playing with other people. That's inevitable. But we're hoping it's not drastic change, as we all like what we hear. There are a number of guitarists we're considering taking out on the road with us, several of which are Nashville cats... maybe they'll fit, maybe they won't. We have a particular chemistry that we're wary about messing with, so we have to find the right people to fit that, y'know...?
Arlington, Va.: Are you writing? Does that require quiet moments? Do you have any? Eric Brace: A little bit.. not as much as I'd like.. Still doing too many logistical things.. But life is quieter down here, so I know some songs will pop out soon. Then we'll do some demo recording, and thinking about the next record!
Eric Brace: OK, my time is WAY up... 36 minutes overtime.. Thanks, Lisa, for letting me ramble. And since there were so many questions, perhaps we'll do this again soon.. That would be May 2, perhaps. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for your interest in the band and such. Feel free to drop me a line at the Web site, at mail@lasttrainhome.com. Yours,
Eric
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