Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I was raised in the Pentecostal Baptist Church. As you may or may not know, this is a noisy group of prayers and singers. These early years were formative to my interpretation of a deep, spirit-based element of life as well foundational to my relationship with music. In my teenage years, I came to resent and even hate the politics of all churches, and the hateful, exclusionary rhetoric that influences elections, and brainwashes poor people into segregation and voting against their own best interests. As an adult and a musician, I’m grateful for the exposure to this Southern Religion, spirituality, and music. I cherish the rich culture of the poor, country folk that are my home. Being a social activist with religious roots influences my writing to this day. I almost always try to observe a current reality, as well as a deeper undertone and meaning within my writing. And in my songs, I still find myself empowering the underdog and championing our collective aspirational values – such as tolerance, forgiveness, and justice.
I will forever be a homesteading, simple country girl.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Gunslingers”?
A: We’ve been touring the US regularly for two years, and will continue to do so. In 2024, we’re focused a little more on the midwest, where we currently live. We’re always working to build relationships with our audience and other musicians. In 2023 we started our own label, Owl Creek Tapes to promote our music and other music we love. In November we hosted our first Owl Creek Tapes Festival, and look forward to repeating this success in 2024. We share our music on all streaming platforms and on our website, and highly encourage all listeners and bloggers to playlist our work!
We’d like new listeners to understand how important community is to us. We picked the name Gunslingers because we are an ever rotating group of musicians backing the songwriting and vocals of Lou Heneise. Just like the old cowboy bandits of the wild west, the group rarely consists of the same members. We are always welcoming new musicians to sit on live shows and even on studio sessions. Because of that, the songs and records often vary in tone and timbre. The 2024 releases, by and large were recorded with a string band, and have a more bluegrass feel than earlier releases. We’re excited for folks to hear them, but we can’t promise we won’t be a rock-a-billy band next year. The only thing we know is Lou writes country songs, and Gunslingers will always be a country-folk band.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: We spent much of 2023 listening to DIY and local Roots bands like Nick Lee, Hollow Down, Blossomin’ Bone, SS Web, Fangerlis, WT Newton, and Rambler Kane. We also follow Gems on VHS and Western AF closely; Nick Shoulders, Willie Carlisle, Matt Heckler. But Lou has always been heavily influenced by music you can dance to, and regularly listens to Rockabilly and Soul. After years of making and listening to sad songs, we want to make up beat songs. We want people to dance, and stomp. We think an introspective message lands better with an upbeat or midtempo sound. We love the way Possessed by Paul James accomplishes this. But we don’t sound like him. We sound like a country barn dance and we like it that way.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Shadows.”?
A: My favorite writers are John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, and Kurt Vonegut. Every one of them write about what is to be a flawed human, and what it is to love flawed humans as flawed humans. I read an article about a letter John Steinbeck wrote his 15 year old son in boarding school after his son professed he’d fallen in love. John Steinbeck did not dismiss his young son’s feelings, but instead simply noted there are two types of love. To paraphrase, one is greedy, and seeks to constantly take affection, attention, praise, etc. The other, is a giving love, and seeks to comfort and accept it’s target. JS wrote he hoped it was this second kind of love his sound found, for it is infinitely more gratifying. “Shadows” is about that second kind of love – that accepts its object in all the flawed humanness. “‘I love you’ means all your shadows too.”
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: pastoral
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Shadows”?
A: We almost always record remotely, which can present challenges, but the writing and recording of this one came together pretty effortlessly. It must have just been ‘meant to be’
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: I want to tell a story. Even when I’m complaining in a song, or threatening God, I’m telling a story. Every song is a vignette, an opportunity to peek into a shared experience. I want to shine a light into dark corners to show others, no, that is in fact not mentally ill, but a perfectly normal, and critical part of the full human experience. I want to offer solidarity and friendship to any listener, and eradicate shame. I want to empower the marginalized. I want to encourage people to step into the fullness of their being without worry about “fitting in.” I want to honor the places from where I came and the people in those places. I want to reinforce and normalize the social values that we hear more often than we see.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Alive? Nick Shoulders on banjo and harmony, hands down. There is a joy that emanates from him that I want to feel in my own music. Dead, Earl Scruggs for the exact same reasons.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: If you love it, don’t make it a career. Music careers will have you compromising all kinds of versions of yourself that swore they would always be true. If you can make a living at it, great, but make music for money. Those are called jingles and we can all tell when we hear them. Do it for the love of the game, and what comes out of you will always, always, always feel good.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: You’re better than you think you are. Trust that, even when you don’t feel it. Mistakes are prerequisite, and they never end, so get comfy with them. You have plenty of time. Don’t rush. Don’t try to be perfect. Don’t worry if anyone else notices you aren’t perfect. You belong, just as you come. And for the love of god, girl, do not stop now.
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