Singer-Songwriter Ben Glover: Evoking Heartfelt Imagery From Northern Ireland To Nashville
Ben Glover has been compelled to write songs since his mid-teens growing up in County Antrim Ireland—when he was awoken and unsettled by Bob Dylan. Armed with a law degree from Queens University Belfast, he put his legal ambitions on hold to pursue a career in music.
That career got its start with Glover’s debut outing, The Week The Clocks Changed, produced by J.D. Foster and featuring guest appearances by A-list roots music artists including Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller and Vince Gill. Through the Noise, Through the Night followed in 2009, which was produced by Neilson Hubbard (Kim Richey, Matthew Perryman Jones, Glen Phillips), and drew rave reviews and comparisons to the likes of Ryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen.
Relocating to Nashville in ‘08—to summon the spirits of great songwriters that came before him—Hank, Willie, Cash and Kristofferson—Glover began penning new tunes with some of Music Row’s finest, including acclaimed singer-songwriter, Mary Gauthier. His second record Through the Noise, Through the Night was filled with soul-moving melodies that lingered and stirred.
Now comes his ‘joycholic’ 2011 outing, Before The Birds.
What lead you to create music? I don't recall anything specific 'leading' me to music. I grew up the youngest of six children so I was exposed to the music that my siblings were listening to. My parents had a radio on in the house, too, so music was always in my home environment. There was always a guitar or two in our house and my brothers played a bit, so music was never far away. At Christmas and family gatherings we were called upon to do our party piece, and I always remember music being central to those kinds of get-togethers. The idea of having to sing a song or perform was never a big deal. I remember a lot of sing-songs at family parties, it was always central, and that of course is a bit of an Irish custom. So it was never really a journey towards music, or arriving at music, it has just always been there.
When and how did you start making music? I was thirteen and I heard the song "Fisherman's Blues" by The Waterboys. I remember this being the first time that a particular song had such an effect on me. Something very definitely was turned on inside of me; I mean, it was as if I heard a brand new noise for the first time. I'm not sure what exactly it was in that sound, but whatever it was it drew a line in the sand. Shortly after that, I pestered one of my brothers to teach me a couple of chords on the guitar and that was that. I think I started writing pretty much as soon as I started playing the guitar. Those two fires were lit together. I was fifteen when I played my first gig, so as it was with the songwriting, performing happened soon after I started making music.
Where do you draw your influences from and what are some of your greatest ones? When I started playing I was into folk music, mostly Irish folk singers. Then when I was fifteen, I bought my first Bob Dylan album and that opened up a whole new vein. I remember forcing myself to listen to Dylan, as I did not find it easy at all. In fact, it made me uncomfortable, but I kept telling myself that the most important thing I could do was listen to Bob because I knew he was such an important musical figure. I suppose it became an obsession and it positively warped my selection in what music I listened to for a few years as it all had to have some link or connection to Dylan. I was pretty obsessed with all things Dylan. I have no regrets about submersing myself so heavily in that world, either. Being an artist requires a form of obsessiveness and I was probably just allowing that characteristic the chance to kick-start back then!
I was always drawn to and continue to be attracted to artists of a poetic nature, or great storytellers—obvious names like Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Neil Young, and Paul Simon. And I've always had a great affection for country music, which probably stems from hearing my father's country albums in the car when I was a child. I grew up listening to a lot of that stuff, and the Americana imagery always fascinated me. So people like Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard are important sources to me, as well. I suppose, too, what I really was also drawn to were artists who had a very strong identity—maybe not the best singers in the world—but had great voices and said important and meaningful things in their songs.
When we talk about influences though, I feel it's important to put it in this context: essentially music has to come out of a life and if there's no life there is no music. So influences are essential but not the vital thing when it comes to creativity.
How has your Irish background and living part-time in Nashville influenced and shaped your sound?
Living in a different country always gives you a unique perspective; to a large extent you are always on the outside looking in. One great benefit of being an outsider is that you have to observe what's going on around you and that skill is so critical in being a writer. Living in Nashville has been a wonderful experience. I feel very at home and it's an environment very conductive to being creative. There's a definite charge in the air here as it is a town flooding with creativity. At first, being in an atmosphere of so many excellent musicians and songwriters was a bit overwhelming, but then it turned into a great motivating factor; an inspiration. Ironically, my music has probably gotten less Americana-sounding since I moved to Nashville. Working and living in Nashville has also let me find my strengths and really taught me that the secret is being true to your self. There is a lot of great talent in Nashville but if you stick to your style, stick to your vision, things happen, opportunities arrive. Plus, on a romantic side, which is important, these are the streets that Hank, Willie, Cash and Kristofferson walked on when they were starting out on their journeys. It's a city that was very central to what a lot of my musical heroes did, including Dylan, who recorded a number of albums here. On his Nashville Skyline album, there’s the photo of the Nashville skyline, and everyday waking up and looking at that skyline is pretty inspirational. Plus, the ghosts of Hank and Cash are closer at hand if you ever need to summon them up.
Talk about your songwriting process. Writing is a reaction, a response. It's all about telegraphing the inner and outer landscape. The process for me is definitely more about trying to understand rather than to be understood. It's a very necessary process for me; it's vital. You can only write the best song that's in the room that day. Nothing can be forced. Good songs you can take credit for, great songs you can't—those are ones that come easy, unforced, as if they're gifted to you. I had always written alone but since moving to Nashville I have also enjoyed the process of co-writing. It always feels as if you are walking into the unknown when you walk into a co-writing session. Will you click with this person; will you find some common ground, etc.? More often than not, if you’re honest and open, something happens. It's always inspiring walking into a room with someone you mightn’t even have met, you have an idea or a melody, and you thrash it around. Then hopefully (if the muse allows), you arrive at a place where something new has been created. When that process is a success, when it happens in full force, there’s a serious rush, a real buzz. It’s up there with the buzz of performing a great gig. In fact, it may be a better rush, as you know that you’ve created something that’s going to last, whereas a gig is very much an ‘in-the-moment experience.’ The co-writing process is a lot more honest and personal than I thought it would be when I first started.
You invented the word “joycholic” to describe this record. What
does that mean? Joycholic refers to both the nature of the songs and the sonic landscape. In both, there are elements of joy and there are elements of melancholy. On your third recording, Before The Birds, how has your sound evolved? I feel as if it’s taken three albums for me to finally step into my own shoes; to finally create a sound, which I feel wholly represents me. It's not as if my first two albums were very heavily produced, but my sound has naturally become more stripped back, less layered. I was very intent on making my vocal and the essence of the song be the focal point of Before The Birds. This was my second album working with the producer Neilson Hubbard and it's the most personal record I've made. Neilson creates such a trusting environment that allows for us both to throw out ideas and try new things. That relationship afforded me the space to explore and make the truest record of my career.
What are the predominant themes of Before The Birds? Before The Birds is that time of the day right before the dawn; that place and time when the day is so new that the world, or even the birds, haven’t even awoken. That time and place where the world is full of infinite possibilities. There we stand at the very beginning of a new journey, a new beginning. Our world, our relationships, our experiences are in our hands to create. It's a kind of testament that says our fate is in our own hands. It is a place, too, where we can feel the comfort and intimacy of being together, where nothing threatens us.
On the other hand Before The Birds has its darker, sadder themes.
It can be that time and place in the night just before the dawn, when
isolation and aloneness are stronger than ever; those moments when we feel so distant and apart from a world that is in between ending and awakening. It’s that place and time of the night just as it is about to depart forever. It is over and it has slipped through our fingers again. At the far side of the night, darkness is unfolding into morning but we know something has changed. We mourn the loss of another night.
What was the creative impetus for Before The Birds? The purpose was that it simply needed to be recorded. It needed to be. I had spent
the previous 12 months writing, not specifically for a record, but just writing. At the end of that year I had over 25 songs. I had a strong sense that some of these songs needed to be brought to life in the studio. There is a certain life cycle to a song: the spark of the idea, the actual writing, the performing of it live and also the recording of it. These 10 songs needed the full "life cycle," so it was essential to record them at this time.
What did the making of Before The Birds teach you as an artist? It always comes down to honesty, in the song, the performance and
the sound. Once you achieve this, you have fulfilled your responsibility as an artist.
On your third recording, Before The Birds, how has your sound evolved? I feel as if it’s taken three albums for me to finally step into my own shoes; to finally create a sound, which I feel wholly represents me. It's not as if my first two albums were very heavily produced, but my sound has naturally become more stripped back, less layered. I was very intent on making my vocal and the essence of the song be the focal point of Before The Birds. This was my second album working with the producer Neilson Hubbard and it's the most personal record I've made. Neilson creates such a trusting environment that allows for us both to throw out ideas and try new things. That relationship afforded me the space to explore and make the truest record of my career.
What are the predominant themes of Before The Birds? Before The Birds is that time of the day right before the dawn; that place and time when the day is so new that the world, or even the birds, haven’t even awoken. That time and place where the world is full of infinite possibilities. There we stand at the very beginning of a new journey, a new beginning. Our world, our relationships, our experiences are in our hands to create. It's a kind of testament that says our fate is in our own hands. It is a place, too, where we can feel the comfort and intimacy of being together, where nothing threatens us.
On the other hand Before The Birds has its darker, sadder themes.
It can be that time and place in the night just before the dawn, when
isolation and aloneness are stronger than ever; those moments when we feel so distant and apart from a world that is in between ending and awakening. It’s that place and time of the night just as it is about to depart forever. It is over and it has slipped through our fingers again. At the far side of the night, darkness is unfolding into morning but we know something has changed. We mourn the loss of another night.
What was the creative impetus for Before The Birds? The purpose was that it simply needed to be recorded. It needed to be. I had spent
the previous 12 months writing, not specifically for a record, but just writing. At the end of that year I had over 25 songs. I had a strong sense that some of these songs needed to be brought to life in the studio. There is a certain life cycle to a song: the spark of the idea, the actual writing, the performing of it live and also the recording of it. These 10 songs needed the full "life cycle," so it was essential to record them at this time.
What did the making of Before The Birds teach you as an artist? It always comes down to honesty, in the song, the performance and
the sound. Once you achieve this, you have fulfilled your responsibility as an artist.
