Up and Down a Mountain with Rayland Baxter

(Photo Credit - Rachel Deeb)

The fantastic Rayland Baxter just dropped his newest effort ‘True Violet’! We had a chance to chat with Baxter!

You collaborated with another artist we loved and have worked with in the past, Shakey Graves on the sequencing of True Violet. How did you come to this partnership with Alejandro for the record?

“Yeah I mean he pretty much sequenced the entire record. I had to switch “Never Do” and “Another Day My Friend” because of vinyl siding times and it worked out perfectly. I lost objectivity on this record before I made it. I never made a record like this that its true expression from the deepest parts of my heart and soul. I sent Shakey the record, in alphabetical order, even two songs not on the record and was like “Dude I gotta leave two of these out.” He offered to sequence them, and by the time I got back from buying fireworks in Wyoming he had sent me a sequence. And Shakey just nailed it, I think from start to finish it flows great.”

In your writing process, you churned out around seventy tracks. How did you come to whittle that down to the eleven that made the cut?

“I had a small group of people I’d share my phone demos with, and whether its people at ATO records, my manager, my sister, a couple guys in my band, people that know me and my styles with music, most all of them came back with- everybody loved “The Fool”. And there were outliers. I sent them to (producers) and they spent some time with them, and their favorites became others’ favorites too. We recorded twenty-something songs, and “Up and Down a Mountain”, wasn’t on anyones list. Paul Butler got in the tracking room, and it was like let’s try this one. And I’m so glad we did because it’s so cool. It was a lot of trial and error. I forget when I listen to a record that’s not mine, I just assume they nailed it. I went to North Hollywood three times to work on this record, six weeks total, just recording. Then you got seventeen songs you finish and have to whittle down. A lot of shooting in the dark.”

You hit the road to tour in support of True Violet at the start of next year. What are you most looking forward to sharing these songs in the live setting?

“First off, I love playing music with the guys I play with, I’ve played with them for the last eight years- since before Wide Awake came out. We’re adding my friend Aaron Embry, he’s coming out with us on tour on piano and keys, he’s so musical, he’s such a sweet person. Looking forward to pumping up some of the songs, being able to work them out in rehearsal, they take new forms, they grow new heads. They’re puzzles. I love touring, I’ve been fortunate enough, people show up, sometimes 12 people, sometimes 1,200. And we have such a good time between the shows. I’m looking forward to making some memories and being a source of inspiration for people coming to the shows.”