My Music Q&A: Rod Picott

FOLLOWING on from the success of his last release, Summerbirds, Rod Picott has teamed up with Amanda Shires, one of the best fiddle players to come out of Texas for many a year, for Sew Your Heart With Wires, an album of stripped back acoustic Americana, complete with the sound of birds singing, freight trains rumbling and planes flying.

Some of the songs were recorded on the day the pair wrote them, songs such as Drive That Devil Out reminding the listener of a curious mix of Tom Waits having dinner with Iron And Wine, and Shake And Cry, which recalls the Everly Brothers, Mark Knopfler and Johnny Cash.

What was your first record?

Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy from Sawyer Mills in Dover, New Hampshire. I also bought Led Zeppelin's first album the same day. Sawyer Mills was one of those great local department stores from the 70s here in the States. You could buy a dog, get your groceries and get a new iron-on transfer for your T-shirt in the same place.

What are you currently listening to?

Buck Owen's Greatest Hits. My girlfriend was playing it and left it in the CD changer.

What is your Desert Island Disc?

Born to Run would be one of them. It was part of my awakening to storytelling in song. It's beautifully orchestrated, it's passionate, and it's still inspiring. Hard to believe the guy was 25 years old when he was writing those songs.

Which song do you wish you'd written?

Valentine's Day by Steve Earle, Essence by Lucinda Williams and Barroom Girls by Gillian Welch.

Which song has had you in tears?

Redemption Song by Bob Marley. The vocal is just so heartbreaking, strong but vulnerable and the history behind all that pain is just so poignant. "Sold I to the merchant ship". It's hard to imagine the things some people have lived through.

What is your guilty music pleasure?

Abba and The Carpenters. Abba's songs are so catchy it's unbearable. Not just a couple of them, either. They had loads of monster pop songs. Karen Carpenter's voice was amazing. The melodies are just so beautifully crafted. Hard to resist and why should you?

Which music makes you angry?

Music doesn't make me angry. It sometimes bores me, which is worse actually. I hate hearing songs that are full of lyrical clichés. Writing with Amanda Shires has made me more vigilant than ever with my own writing. She has no tolerance for clichés. She'll rap my knuckles like a nun if I use a phrase she's heard before – and she hits hard.

Which musician would you like to be?

I have no answer for that. I got into this world of music to become a singer and a songwriter and I only long to be better at my own craft. But I did love the way John Bonham got around that kit.

Elvis or The Beatles?

I'm an American so can relate to Elvis more, I suppose, but he didn't squeeze every ounce out of his time in music did he? He was such a gifted guy and there was such waste – you still see that same dynamic going on today. That kind of fame is crippling to people. But the Beatles catalogue... OK, final answer is The Beatles. They were songwriters.

Rod Picott & Amanda Shires appear at The Maze on Wednesday October 1. For tickets call 0115 947 5650 or go to www.gigantic.com.

simon.wilson@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk