THE LIVESAYS – The Heartland Rockers!
Interview with Billy Livesay, who spent 12 years performing, recording and touring with E-Streeter Clarence Clemons’ band.
1. Hello Billy and welcome to Skylight Webzine. Why did you decide to release a new album with your group The Livesays, independently?
First of all thank you for your interest and support. It is appreciated very much. All our CD’s have been released independently. We have no label support at this time but, we felt a need to release some music we thought needed to be heard.
2. The album has been ready since 2018 but it is out now, why?
Eddie passed away in November of 2018 and we contemplated calling it quits. Howard didn’t arrive until a few months later. I continued to write more songs, and the process slowed down. Now with the new songs I wrote we had over 20 to choose from. We felt we had something special and so it took a while to put it all together.
3. How did the loss of your drummer Eddie Zyne affect the recording and composing process of the album?
The composing process picked up but the recording process slowed down. I started singing the songs of Don Henley in a nationally known Eagles tribute band called The Long Run and continued to write new songs. With no drummer I could only make demos. So I asked the drummer of The Long Run, Enrique Reisco, to help us out and record some drum tracks. Howard joined soon after, and the only song Enrique recorded was “Another Mile”. We needed to bring Howard up to speed on old material so we could go out and play live before getting back to recording.
4. How easy or hard was to find a new drummer?
We were lucky. It turned out to be relatively easy. Howard knew of us and was an admirer of Eddie’s solid playing. He approached us for an audition. He couldn’t have been more perfect.
5. Where and how did you record your latest album “The Rhythm of Love and Dysfunction”?
We recorded it in my home studio using an Alesis HD 24 digital recorder and a Presonus console. It only gives me 24 tracks so we are limited on the instrumentation. I try to produce the songs in a way that allows us to reproduce the songs live. I don’t have the luxury of recording endless tracks for ear candy like you would with pro-tools but the machine sonically sounds good. I demo the songs with a drum machine and give my band mates copies so they can come up with their own parts. Slowly we start replacing my parts with theirs. This method keeps our cost down. The only song on the record not recorded this way was “Can I have What You Have”. It was recorded at Power Station recording studio in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Pro-tools through a Neve console with the idea of capturing the recording performance in real time on video.
6. The music on your new album is quite catchy with radio friendly riffs and a crystal production. How do you approach the issue of music production in terms of mastering and mixing?
I go to Steve Gordon, who is a grammy nominated engineer to mix. We put my tracks into pro-tools to clean up noise and maybe edit. Then I give the mixes to grammy award winner, Mike Fuller, to master and this gives us a quality product. But it still comes down to the songs.
7. According to your sayings, the track “Better Than He Ever Was” is autobiographical in nature. Could you explain further?
The music industry as well as most businesses throughout the world are youth oriented. Even in the sports world. I feel a person should not be discounted because of their age no matter what their job is. There are many great older performers that keep getting better with age. Like vintage wine, lol. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nile, Cindy Lauper, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and many others are as good now as they ever were. The Livesays have gotten much better with age.
8. Why did you decide to include 2 covers in your album?
Well, I constantly heard fans say that my voice is reminiscent of Don Henley of The Eagles.I was playing the song “The Heart Of The Matter” with a nationally known Eagles tribute band after Eddie’s death and it felt comfortable so I recorded it in my home studio. As for the song “Woodstock”, I was sensing a cultural revolution taking place due to the combination of events like the pandemic, the upcoming election and the Black Lives Matter movement. I started noodling around with the song in rehearsal during the lockdown and it seemed to reflect a vibe that was similar to the civil rights movement of the 60’s. With these 2 cover songs and over 20 others to choose from, we asked our fans for their input and these 2 songs were high on the list.In today’s music scene sometimes a remake of a popular cover from bygone years will draw attention to an unknown band or artist.
9. You are best known for your work with E Street Band legend Clarence Clemons as his guitarist & vocalist. Are you aware of any unreleased material from his side that features your contribution?
Yes. Before his death we co-wrote a song together called “Passion”. Actually it was a sax instrumental that “The Temple Of Soul” had recorded for a new record. I brought the tapes home, wrote lyrics and recorded guitars and vocals. No one has ever heard it. In 2011, after his performance with Lady Gaga, his popularity was rising, he decided to resurrect the song, release another record and tour Japan. Clarence died that summer and still no one has heard the song.
10. What about your next plans?
Right now we are in limbo like everyone else, waiting for the virus to let up. We will be performing for a live stream on our youtube channel Sept 20, the release date of the CD. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLivesaysMusicWe will continue to post music videos and do live streams.
Information: https://www.thelivesaysmusic.com/
