Welcome back to our appointment with Independent Interviews.
Today I have the honor of having a chat with one of the best singer-songwriters that American independent music has produced in recent years: the great Joe Stamm.
Hi Joe, thanks for your availability. I am truly honored to be able to host you on my blog, where I remind you you can also find stories about him such as his album «Wild Man».
Tell us about yourself: where were you born and raised, when did you begin to understand that music would be your life. Where did your career begin?
I was born and raised in central Illinois…about half way between Chicago and St. Louis, as the crow flies, in a little town called Metamora.
Music wasn’t a big part of my life until college.
I had started getting really into songwriters like Chris Knight and Kris Kristofferson, Pat Green and Reckless Kelly.
I was taking a more active approach to listening to and digesting music, if that makes sense? But I never played or sang music myself.
Until I had to take an arts course my senior year of college, when I picked up an Intro to Guitar class.
I started writing my own songs pretty much as soon as I could put a couple chords together on the guitar.
I didn’t start taking it seriously as a potential full time career, though, until several years later.
I put a local band together in 2013 and grew it to the point that I was somewhat comfortable quitting my job in 2016 to write, record and perform full time.
I’m still convincing myself every day, though, that music will be my life. Ha.
What were your biggest influences? What music do you listen to when you are not on tour or in the studio?
Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Charles Wesley Godwin and Shane Smith & the Saints.
But my main influences, the ones you might say I was listening to in my formative years are those I mentioned above, especially Chris Knight and Kris Kristofferson.
I’d like to think I’ve drawn a lot of influence from Creedence Clearwater Revival, too. I‘ve always loved their soound and Fogerty’s songwriting.
That said, I don’t ingest music like a used to.
More often than not, on or off the road, I’m listening to audio books and sports podcasts.
It is always a treat when a great album releases from an artist I like, though.
I tend to wear new, good music out pretty quickly.
Who is the Joe Stamm Band made up of? Is it the same band that follows you in the studio and live?
Yep, Joe Stamm Band releases are always recorded with my band.
There’s been some turnover throughout the years, but right now we’ve got Bruce Moser on bass (8 years), Dave Glover on electric guitar (8 years), Tim Kramp on drums (4 years) and Murray Rice on keys and lap steel (1 year).
It’s a good group of dedicated fellas.
The life of an independent musician is hard, we know, how do you cope with life on the road? Do you like being always on the road? How do you manage to be with your family and those you love?
I’m not sure I do cope, ha ha.
The shine of the road has definitely long wore off.
The hotels and the public restrooms and the long days take their toll, especially by this time of year, as I’m writing in October after a long busy season.
But I take December and January off, which is always a welcome break.
I’m trying to focus more and more on being present while at home…and setting aside days and blocks of time each day for myself and for my family.
Because there’s always more to do…more emails to answer, more to post to social media, more songs to write.
So I’ve become more deliberate about managing and creating downtime while I am at home.
Streaming is important, for example your music has even crossed the ocean and arrived in Italy, but what is your relationship with this world? Is merchandising really so fundamental for an independent artist?
Streaming is simply essential because it’s how people digest music now.
And the revenue adds up…it’s like emptying the change in your pocket into a jar every day. Eventually, it adds up, you take it to the bank and get a nice payout.
Merchandising, though, is paramount.
It literally keeps us on the road.
Without merchandising, we can’t pay for the van, equipment, repairs, studio time, making new records, etc.
So you hope that folks who find us on streaming will eventually navigate over to the merch store.
You have played around the United States, you have been to the Whiskey Myers Festival «Firewater», which location impressed you the most? And in which one do you dream of playing one day?
Red Rocks Amphitheater is a common dream for performers, and I would have to include myself in that group. Maybe someday.
Firewater Fest was a memorable day.
I wish they had kept that festival going.
But we play Peacemaker Festival in Fort Smith, AR every year and HWY30 out in Idaho.
Those are certainly among our favorite stops throughout the year.
It is a golden moment for independent music, are there any artists you would recommend? Or songs that you always like to listen to?
There’s a guy from my hometown named Jake Rebman. I think folks should listen to him. I admire his songwriting.
Otherwise, he’s not independent anymore, but I think everyone should be listening to Charles Wesley Godwin and his band Allegheny High.
They’re such a talented group of artists, creative and brilliant in their writing and production.
Which of your works are you most attached to? Is there a song of yours that you prefer to the others?
I always prefer the songs I’ve most recently written.
So my current favorites, at any given time, are likely not yet released.
But I’m very proud of the EP I did with Allegheny High called “Allegheny“.
Our Wild Man record is definitely my favorite production that our band has put together. I’m very proud of the writing on both those records.
“Memoirs” is special to me because it’s so basic and stripped down and it’s just me.
I was nervous releasing it, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the feedback.
Do you prefer to play alone in acoustic or with the whole band in front of wilder audiences?
I’m not sure I’d ever want to exclusively do either.
I enjoy both for different reasons and I hope that both will remain a part of my career for the foreseeable future.
We know that you are very prolific and recently the beautiful acoustic album «Memoirs» was released, do you have new music on the horizon? Will you use the crowdfunding tool again? (which I joined for the beautiful «Wild Man»).
Yes, the band is going back into the studio this December for what will hopefully be a 2025 or 2026 release.
Once we’ve wrapped the tracking for that record, I will likely return to the studio by myself for another solo acoustic release down the road, though my method for recording that kind of record tends to be longer and more drawn out…I just pop into the studio from time to time when I have a new song I’d like to put down.
I’d also like to do a live album with the band at some point.
I think once this next record gets finished up, I may start thinking about when and where to put that together.
Thanks Joe for this interview, I know it is difficult to find time.
I wish you the success your songwriting skills deserve, you are one of my favorite artists.
Trex
