– What’s new in the world of Bill Abernathy? Hope all is well?
Thanks for asking. All is well with me. The world on the other hand…. Not so much. With Corona we are all learning a new of working and living. At this point so many people are losing their income and their security. I am fortunate to date to have not been affected negatively but my thoughts are with those who struggle today and will into the future until this mess is cleared up. Hang in their folks, we will get through this.
– Let’s talk about your album “Cross Willow Creek”. How was the recording experience?
Interesting and challenging. We tasked ourselves to take tunes I had written purely acoustic and played acoustic for years and produce them up. There were many different ideas, many different musicians’ input, and finally we ended up with Crossing Willow Creek. I tend to be a bit hardheaded with my music, so changing my thoughts to embrace some new sounds and new techniques was quite a learning experience. That said, I am really proud of the tunes and the whole record. There is value to listening to many different ideas before decisions are made. I learned a lot making Crossing Willow Creek
– Where does the idea for the album title come from?
Great question. The album cover is a shot of a piece of wood in my loft. There is a bit of wood in my loft, as a matter of fact my grandsons call my place Williams Wonderland of Wood. LOL I played with the idea of not even titling the album, just have it be “the wood album” similar to the white album. The real reason to stay so simple has to do with the cover of my Find a Way album. It’s a consigned piece of art created by an artist in Germany, Damijan Fric. I love that painting, and it hangs in my loft, but I found that many of the discussions about that album revolved around the cover and not the music. So, with Crossing Willow Creek I kept it about as simple as I could. Wood. Maybe the next project cover will be a combination of the two concepts. We shall see..
– When writing a song, is there such a thing as investing too much time? What’s the shortest time you ever took to write one? What was your strangest inspiration?
As with anything creative, it is really hard to decide when its done. I think of song writing a bit like making a stew. You have all the parts, but spices are added to taste over time as it cooks. Each spice changes the taste of the whole thing, and that too matures with time. I think it’s important to allow a song to cook until it’s done, but not to burn it up. Sometimes it’s a hard call to make. For example, I have one song called Who are you, Who am I that I have been working on for many years. It’s still cooking, maybe it’s for the next project.
I really don’t write quickly but have completed a few tunes in one session. Cry Wolf is an example of that.
Strangest inspiration? Has to be the inspiration for a line in Can’t Go Back. After a 15-minute conversation with someone from way in the past, I walked away and immediately thought “that’s one hot mess in a red sequined dress”. Not PC, but I own that… lol
– Do you follow a formula when you write?
Not when I am brainstorming an idea. It’s really a mess. Papers and notes everywhere. At some point it becomes more of a structured process. All the ideas kind of meld in my head and I start putting them into a lyrical structure. This is typically where I get the base melody notes. I then play that over and over in my head to find the right cadence that works with the lyrics. When I am close to that being decent, I start playing around with guitar stuff. At some point it all comes together into something reasonable, and I start tweaking all the elements to make them work together to focus on the message of the song. A formula? More of a process I think.
– What would be some of your main musical influences today?
There are some really good folks our today that influence me. I would say Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters is certainly one. His lyrics really hit home with me on certain songs. I feel the same with John Mayer, and even Keith Urban. Though not all their tunes resonate with me, but each has songs I connect with.
– Is it important for you to be active on Social Media?
Ahh social media. Yes, is it important to be active to keep your fans engaged and knowledgably about what you have going on. It is also important to honor peoples time and now blow up their feeds with a bunch of surveys and nonsensical stuff. I am not a fan of many of those and I think asking folks to constantly “vote for me” is pretty annoying. When you have something to say, then say it. Keep it straight and simple. That is a balance that I think we all struggle with. I tend to lean toward less is more on social media. If folks are following you, they will see what you post and pay attention to it. If you overcommunicate with a bunch of garbage, I think you drive folks into the boy who cried wolf mode and they lose interest.
– With the music industry shutting down presently. How are you dealing with these issues?
Support! Support! Support! I am fortunate to not have to rely on music for my primary income. There are many other artists who are not in that position. We have a responsibility to support the folks that play for us in local venues. They give us so much, it’s now time to support them the best we can. In this environment we need creative solutions to keep folks engaged in a safe and secure way. It’s challenging, but if it were easy it would not be any fun.
– How important is it for a musician in these difficult times to spend time on social media to self promote. It seems there are a lot more live living room broadcasts on social media?
I see folks are doing some Live Facebook concerts to help carry them through this rough time. I think that is a cool idea. I may do some as well, but not to support me, but rather to support the local folks and businesses who are having a tougher time. That is the least I can do to help. They support me with their goods and services, so will return that the best I can. With so much music stuff going on through social media I think it’s all about quality. Good sound, good video feed, and play well. Seems simple but really is not. These are our fans, and they deserve the very best we can give them.
– What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
LOL true confession time. Julie Andrews is on my playlists. What a voice! I am also a big fan of Kerry Livgren’s solo work post his time with Kansas. What a fantastic musician. One more? Tuli Kupferberg and The Fugs. Figure that one out…
– Thank you for taking the time in doing this interview. Wish you all the best.
Always a good time talking about music and stuff… Have a great day and…. Wash your hands..