The FBR
Interview conducted September 14, 2021
By Dan Locke
Tennessee-based Americana/Rock group The FBR release their new track “Still on the Run.” Inspired by artists such as Fleetwood Mac and John Prine, The FBR’s shining quality is their fearless approach to compelling storytelling. Bandmates Malarie McConaha, lead singer and guitarist, and Tim Hunter, songwriter, guitarist, and singer, met in Leipers Fork, a small town outside of Nashville, at a local open mic. What initially began as an acoustic project between the pair, eventually grew to include producer Matt Sepanic.
How did you discover music?
M: My granddad and dad were huge music lovers. I remember riding in my dad’s T-bird with red cloth interior at 2 and 3 years old, listening to Pink Floyd and Journey in the backseat. I spent a ton of time with my grandparents, and my granddad always had music, or music shows on, and listened to a variety of artists, from Sinatra to Elvis. I used to watch reruns of the Lawrence Welk show almost every weekend I was with them from a young age. As I got older, I absolutely loved diving into the stories of artists, and how songs and groups came to be.
T: My mom always had music playing in the house when I was growing up. Classic country mainly. It was the nucleus of home life. Coming or going, you always heard a song playing, and those songs were the soundtrack of childhood. Greats like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot, and Don Williams were some of her favorites. And growing up in a conservative country church, we sang a lot of acapella gospel music, which taught me harmonies, how to read music, and understand basic song structure.
How did you start to write music?
M: I was 8 when I started writing lyrics/poems.. took years to actually do anything with it, as I was terrified of singing in front of people.
T: My dad who, who was a minister at the church I was talking about, had black box of tapes that he had locked and hidden away in a closet. I found it one rainy day and heard music that was very different than the country classics my mom played. This was Steppenwolf; Santana; Peter, Paul and Mary; Grand Funk Railroad; Crosby, Stills, and Nash; Neil Young; Woodstock compilation tapes …. I was blown away. I knew immediately, at eight years old, that I wanted to create music.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
M: My mom had bought a starter electric for herself when I was about 13. It sat in her closet forever collecting dust… Id expressed wanting a guitar for a long time.. When I was 15, I went downstairs for Christmas, and she had set it up under the tree with a bow on it. They had to peel me off of it to get to my grandparents for afternoon Christmas. I think I played it about 6 hours that day.
A family friends daughter expressed interest in learning, (when I was 19), so I decided I was going to give it to her. It was black and white, and she was 9… so I decided to strip it down, and give it an Eddie Van Halen style makeover, but pink with purple stripes, and neon green strings. I believe she still has that guitar.
T: My parents got me a guitar when I young. My football coach was professor at the local college and guitar player. He gave me a few lessons, but a rain shower came one day when my guitar was propped by the window. It ruined my guitar and ended my early, short-lived guitar era. I started playing drums later in high school but continued writing music. I picked up guitar later and I still have that $100 Yamaha guitar.
What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model?
T: I play acoustic. My favorite is a Takamine dreadnaught I bought about 15 years ago.
M: My absolute baby is my Gretsch Electromatic Hollowbody Double-Cut w/Bigsby. I don’t know the year, I bought it used a couple years back from a guy who had only played it a couple Sundays at church. I got a great deal and it sounds amazing!
Tim- What is the best type of mic for harp?
T: This is a debatable question. Various makers deliver a good microphone, such as Shure. And a lot of players like the Green Bullet. Even Hohner sells one. My favorite is an old Nady VHM-7 Bushman Torpedo harmonica mic. I like it for various reasons. It picks up the range of tones that I like, it looks and feels great, and unlike a lot of the other cardioid harp mics, it plugs into a separate chord, rather than a chord hard wired to it. Some players like the wire coming from the body of the mic because it makes a better form for their hand, but I like being able to change out wires depending on what gear I use. I also play guitar, so it’s easy for me to place the mic quickly down in a clamp-on holder on my mic stand. The other mics don’t have this.
How did your band form?
T: I had a band and invited Malarie to do some gigs downtown with us and it just clicked. She added another dimension that we really needed, both vocally and musically. The other guys eventually moved away from Nashville, but we decided to keep working together and explore some of the more storytelling, roots music that we were both inclined to. We decided that this would be a good time to start The FBR.
Your band name is FBR. The band’s name, abbreviated for “Famous Blue Raincoat”, is a nod to a song by legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, one of the group’s main influences, who also had his roots in Leipers Fork at one point early in his career. Why?
T: Malarie and I met at an open mic after she had played a Leonard Cohen song. I was impressed that she had sung a lot of the verses that you often don’t hear on the radio or in movies. As our friendship grew, Leonard’s spirit sort-of kept hinting things to us. A good friend of ours produced several of his records. A friend of mine on local radio did a piece on Cohen after he died. We found old vinyls of his music in antique shops. And we heard stories from folks in Leipers Fork who knew of his couple of years there.
A frustrated Cohen had been offered keys by a friend to an old cabin after he finished a record and had gotten depressed, losing temporarily his drive to create. Leonard found again his love for music in that little cabin on Big East Fork Road, where we still take drives in our old truck whenever we want to feel inspired. We felt it only fitting to name our band to pay him tribute.
M: Tim and I met because of a Leonard Cohen tune, and our love for his writing, at Pucketts, the local music hang, on an open mic night. We met at the Tiki Bar right out front. After I sang Hallelujah, he came up and said “You didn’t learn that from church,” referencing the rather dark verses I’d chosen of the many Leonard had written in the song. Tim and I began our musical journey together that night.
A few years later, we were listening to a Jason Moon Wilkins story on NPR, about Leonard Cohen, and it was there we learned he spent time in Leipers Fork in the early 70’s, reviving his love for writing. Both of us were stunned, and even more amazed that we had ended up in this little town.. it was as if something was in the water.
What is Americana?
T: In my opinion, Americana is exactly what I described above. It’s no single genre of music. It is no packaged, marketed thing. It is a vibe. It paints a picture of life in North America. It is a story, which is in the song and in the creators of the song. It’s not just what you hear, but it’s what you see when you look deeply in somebody’s eyes. It’s an expression and delivery of a story that has roots, inspired by multiple genres of American music, by interesting experiences, and connecting with people.
I have artist friends who get angry when they are referred to as “Americana,” but I don’t. As a song writer, I understand that my inspiration comes from a melting pot of all the music I have listened to; the experiences I have had; and all the stories I have heard. My job as a writer is to take the molten stuff from that pot and forge it into something tangible that people can relate to.
What was your first performance like?
M: Our first performance together was in 2014, at a rooftop bar on Broadway in Nashville. It was Tim’s band, (The Big South Band – Named after his love for Big South Fork) and I was asked to join to sing harmonies and play guitar.
It was pretty special as my first gig in Nashville. It was a rare thing, because the roof was packed, and our setlist was 90% original songs, 10% covers… that is almost unheard of on Broadway!
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
Yes!
What makes a good songwriter?
T: A friend of ours who has had many number one hits recently told me that a good songwriter tells a story that people can relate to. I agree with him. Think of the soundtrack of your life. The emotions that well up in you when you hear a certain song. The memory you have when you hear a certain song. When you drive down the road and turn up the music really loud, it is because it speaks to you, and you want other people to know “This is my freaking song!”
I also think there are different approaches to songwriting. I appreciate the poetry in songwriting. The creative use of language to paint a much larger picture or to reach deeper into the soul of the listener than just shallow words (which also have a place).
M: People want to feel heard, represented and understood. They want to relate to what they are hearing. I think a good songwriter understands that, and that truth and vulnerability is the key to great songwriting.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
M: I had co-written one called “Goodbye Forever”, that was the first officially finished and played tune. Other than the diary style songs / poems I kept to myself since 8.
That was at 15 or 16 I believe. I think we may have done a recording in our choir room, with a makeshift studio set up, but I’d have no idea where that recording is.
In retrospect, it was quite progressive to have a songwriting class in my high school, in the middle of a farm/factory town in Ohio. The first song Mr. Robertson had us study in that course was “Styrofoam Plates” by Death Cab for Cutie. That left a deep impression of love for truth and melancholy in music, leading to my love of Leonard Cohen..
What is the process of writing your music?
T: I often start with a guitar and my harmonica. As I jam on the guitar and feel a melody coming out of the chord progression, I also get a feeling, which inspires what I call junk words. Most of the junk words don’t get used in the final song, but some of them are there because they come from a deeper, inspired zone that suggest to me what the song is about. The songs I am most proud of writing are songs that tell me what I should write, not the ones I try to force into a formula.
M: My writing is emotion driven. Typically, I’m trying to work something out in my head, and lyrics will just start flooding.
Tim and I finally have started to find a rhythm of writing together, sort of like an Elton John/Bernie Taupin sort of thing. We don’t sit down and write together, He will write lyrics, and give them to me to write a melody, and sometimes I give him the words, and He will write the melody. Or if a song is stuck, we will hand it off to each other.
Tell me about your latest song “Still on the Run”?
T: That could be a whole article in itself, but I will keep it brief. Malarie was out one evening with her girlfriends and I decided to write a song that would be from her perspective. I wanted it to be metaphorical but tell a true story. When she got home that night, she embraced the song and made it hers immediately.
M: What he said.. haha! The first time I heard it… the line “The sheriff stares me down, the preacher looks away, broken-hearted and still on the run” painted such an image in my head. I’ll never forget that moment.
What is your favorite track on your album?
M: Out of tunes we have released, Before I Drown… it just is such an emotional and powerful song.
T: “Before I Drown” is probably my favorite. Although it is a very deep, painful song, a lot of people have reached out to us since the release and told us how it said what they need to hear at the time they needed to hear it. When a song does something good, when it reaches people or gives back, it’s going to be in my top list. It is also a great showcase of Malarie’s singing abilities and I love how the harmonies turned out.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
T: As time goes by, the ways we hear and enjoy music change and evolve. Streaming music provides opportunities for a lot of people to hear new music. As it evolves, my hope is that people who find new bands and become fans will invest more in their favorite bands by buying the music in some kind of physical form like vinyl, tape, or paid download.
M: I think they payout models from streaming services could use a little adjusting.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
M: Considering I grew up in band, it still very much means sharp to me, ha!
Digital vs. vinyl?
T: Both. Depends on if you are in your car or in your living room.
M: Both. Digital allows music to exist on adventures, like soundtracking your life. But there’s something about the way vinyl sounds.. and the ritual of it. There’s nothing like pouring a nightcap and putting on a record.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
M: Hello in There – John Prine
I love that John wrote this song when he was only 22 years old. He delivered newspapers room to room at an old folks home on his mail route, and the elderly would pretend he was their family that had come to visit almost, instead of the guy delivering papers.
My own life, there were so many moments, watching my own grandparents, and working at a nursing home in high school, that my heart would just tear open for some sweet elderly person sitting looking lonely, or that looked like they felt invisible. I think I’ve always sort of felt out of place myself, and I always wanted that person to feel seen, heard and loved.
I didn’t hear this song until I was in my twenties, and I remember the first time hearing it, it hit home so hard. The last year and a half, it has been played almost daily on my piano, as the isolation definitely set in.
T: We’re currently at a beach house, so I keep hearing Jimmy Buffet in my head. That has pretty pushed out any of the deeper stuff that’s usually stuck in there.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music?
M: I don’t think so. If anything, I hear more people craving it and missing it.
T: I don’t believe that video killed the radio star. It’s a great song, but radio lives on. Even in the digital age of streaming, radio continues to rock on. I believe MTV killed the video star by introducing meaningless shows. But YouTube and Vevo have saved video, and people can watch whenever their busy schedules allows.
Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
M: The fact that it already has, to me says it will in the future. I think it is important for us to consider the safety of our shows, including illness. We care about security/threats, we care about fire codes… we should care about health too.
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist career?
M: I am sure for some artists, yes, but collectively? No. The music industry has taken a huge blow economically, on all levels. I think the plus for me, has been the time to slow down, reflect, and work on my craft. I feel so much more grateful to play live music now more than ever.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
T: Spending time with our inner circle. Seeking inspiration on our property. Playing music. Recording and releasing some.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
M: Walking, hiking, any outdoor adventures.
T: We have maintained a distance; gone on walks; learned new recipes; did I mention that we stayed away from people?
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
M: Definitely got a green thumb last year! I also re-discovered my love for painting/drawing/crafting.
With more and more live music happening. And the virus is still here. Are you willing to play large concerts and festivals and what precautions would you like to have in place?
M: Yes, and I like Jason Isbell’s recent approach to all of this. I think we need to care as artists and take precautions where we can. I like the idea of anything indoors, either a negative Covid test, vaccine proof, or at least the temperature scanners to show someone isn’t burning up with a fever.
Maybe its wrong, but if we care enough about security threats to have metal dectors and bag checks before entering a venue, we should care about the health threats too. Protecting life is protecting life. Whether it is from a criminal or from a virus.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
M: Yes. It is everywhere. But even pay to play doesn’t guarantee anything. People can’t know to listen to you unless they are exposed to your music. The market is extremely flooded these days, with thousands of songs being released a day. I think strategic marketing is important for any artist/band.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
M: I love how Brandi Carlile did her campfire virtual concerts. Still. Still, there is nothing in the world like live, in-person music.
T: Just another way to enjoy music. But it’s definitely not a replacement.
In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
M: Anything where I can create, and the days aren’t all the same.
T: If for some reason I could not do music in any way, shape, or form, I would like to be a fishing guide at the beach and writing poetry, and in the winter spend about four months a year making hand-carved tobacco pipes.
What is your happy place?
M: Around a fire, joint in hand, playing music with friends..
Either in the mountains or on a secluded beach.
T: Playing acoustic music in a circle with our good friends. All sorts of magical things happen … these moments that heal you and add to the essence of who you are. No judgement if you try something new on the harmonica or the guitar. No deadlines. No stress. Just a group of close friends all inspired together and lost in a story.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180 song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited . Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late ’80s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial. The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax-friendly concerning estate planning.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. And it was not an easy thing for him to do. But by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off of his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. And now he doesn’t have to work for a living. It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands which hurts his ability to play guitar.
Do you think you would be willing to sell your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
T: I believe it really depends on each individual what is best for their situation at the time in their life. If an artist has had a successful career and is kind-of on his or her way out and wants to retire, a big sell could make things a lot cleaner and easier in the estate.
Where I am currently, each song I write is a piece of my art and holds certain value to me as an artist. But that is just where I am today.
M: I think it would just depend on what is happening at that point in my life.
There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone that has distributed a song.
Spotify reports that in 2021 there are about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
Artists are more than ever a minnow in the ocean. an artist cannot just put a song on a streaming platform and think it is going to blow up. Marketing the song, knowing the target audience, and hustling every single day is vital to getting a song heard. A majority of artists aren’t going to make sustainable money on streaming alone either.
But also! Do not get discouraged by the vast amount of music out there, or get too obsessed with the numbers/stats. No stats on my platform artist accounts ever have made me feel the way a fan reaching out to say how much a song has impacted them does. Remember why you are doing music in the first place!
Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenges and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.TikTok has became a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners. In which it has become a place for music artist to earn revenue when people use their music. Which in many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to hug boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.TikTok does this with the the algorithmically generates a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch. Because a song can go viral because of this. Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
M: Both Tim and I are on TikTok. We’ve got a few of our songs up on TikTok, but I definitely see using it more in the future, as a tool to reach listeners!
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer. The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary,Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
M: I know some artists have seen huge surges in streaming/sales when a song goes viral on TikTok, like with some dance or theme… I think it has become a marketing force for artists. The platform itself is still social media, and a user still has to use a regular music streaming/downloading platform to get the whole song… who knows, maybe this will change now that TikTok has 3 minute videos.
T: I love TikTok for what it currently is … short videos based on algorithmic viewing experience and preference. You can get in and out without having to commit to a large amount of time. It’s also inspired a lot of people to be creative in film. It’s fantastic.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
M: Thank you!
T: Rock On!
