Blue Wilder – An Xperience Interview

Photo by Timothy Reidy

A Seat at the Banquet Table

Songwriter Blue Wilder chats with Sara Busone about live performances, her latest album, and WAMM

By Sara Busone.

RRX: Have you played WAMM (Women Are Making Music) before?

BW: So, I’ve been connected with Nikki (Lee) and WAMM, I guess, for about a year now … going to some of her small group camps and going to some of the other performances that have been organized. It’s just, I think, an important thing to support, and Nikki’s just a bundle of energy. She’s great to be around.

RRX: She sure is! That’s great.  Now sometimes you’re a solo performer, but you also collaborate with Swallowtail Vagabonds. Tell me a little more about that band.

BW: So, I put that band together about three years ago. I’ve got a long history in music, but this is actually the first band I’ve put together since, oh my gosh, the early ‘80s! So, I’ve mostly been doing a bit on my own, and then I was 10 years with, kind of doing backup vocals for another local group. So this has been fun to actually, you know, have the time and energy to put together a group and play with them regularly! 

RRX: I was checking you guys out on Facebook. It looks like a great group. I also like your Facebook quote, “a songwriter with a voice that settles comfortably on the bluesy side of folk and Americana.” Can you expand a little on that?

BW: Sure. I’ve always been a huge fan of both folk and blues, and a very, very early follower of people like Bonnie Raitt. I can remember seeing her in basements in Cambridge, and then also very early Nina Simone and others. So they’ve been real important people that I’ve learned from and followed over the years. And, you know, I am really also loving the more recent Americana way of updating and adding new sounds to, you know, folk and country music.  I just feel like a lot of these marketing genre designations are breaking down, and people are just doing music across many genres, and I’m very excited about that.

RRX: It is exciting! You had a CD release party recently at McGeary’s for “Love in the Rearview.” How has the reception been so far for your newest release?

BW: Oh, that’s been great. It’s been really fun. I had a really good turnout that day. We had a big crowd. I’ve sold a bunch of CDs and about half of my order now is gone, which is great.

RRX: Absolutely! So how long have you been performing overall?

BW: Oh my gosh. Well, do you count my first onstage performance with a guitar at about 9 years old at a summer stock theatre all my life?

RRX: Absolutely!  That’s fantastic. So you’re probably very comfortable on stage!  What would you say are some of the advantages and disadvantages of performing live in the area?

BW: Oh wow, well … performances are always the best because you get audience feedback, of course. You know, it’s immediate … and you can tell if people are appreciating the music or not, and what is clicking with them, and it inspires you to up your performance and up your energy. So live performance is terrific, always great. You know, recording is a whole different thing … because then you’re – if you’ve got a good studio and a good engineer and producer – then you’re like, “OK, given access to all this talent, how do I really want this song to sound?” And you can do it as many times as you want until you get that sound that you’re looking for. So, yeah, just totally different experiences. Recently, they’ve both been really good for me. I’m just very excited and had a wonderful experience working with On Deck Studios on my CD. And then, the different performances I’m doing live, I have one that’s a very acoustic-focused band, and then I have other local electric musicians who will back me up when I’m doing a bigger show. So I just feel I’m at this wonderful banquet table and can partake in the different parts that I want.

RRX: I love that analogy – banquet table! That’s great! What is your vision moving forward? What are some things you hope to do, things you have on the horizon?

BW: Yeah, so, I am hoping to spread out a little bit in the places that I’m performing. So at the moment, really trying to reach out to a bit of Vermont and Western Massachusetts and down the Hudson. I’m not looking at this point to get on the road and be on the road constantly touring all over the place, but I would like to widen the area of which I am exposed. There are many, many good local musicians and people; even if they love you, they only want to hear you play the same song so many times.  So, it’s good to have a wider audience that you can move around within … that’s my goal. And also, I love to travel.  So I like to play music wherever I travel, whether that’s open mics or getting gigs or things like that. So, not really organized tours, but, you know, I spend every August in Northern California. I often go to Ireland or Scotland in the spring, and just being able to do more music when I’m in those places. So, I’m looking to do that.

RRX: That sounds wonderful. So, you mentioned how you became involved with WAMM.  What are you most excited about for this year’s WAMM festival? What are some things that you’re really psyched to do or people you’re psyched to meet?

BW: Well, I just want to be a part of promoting women in music because – having spent a lifetime of being not just a singer, but a guitar player and at times a drummer- the music field has not been easy. Women musicians are getting more up front. They’re getting more support, they’re getting stronger, they’re getting more airplay. But there are still a lot of hurdles. Women have travelled all the way to Michigan to be in a music space that’s dominated by men … they shouldn’t have to travel so far, you know?