Rich Price

Interview with Rich about the making of 'moonlight breaks':

This is your fourth solo album but first in more than five years. Where have you been?

RP: It's been a great five plus years. My wife and I started a family- we have two boys- and I started a band (The Sweet Remains) with Greg Naughton and Brian Chartrand. I've really enjoyed writing and recording with these guys, and we're working on the band's second record now, but I was excited to get back to work on some songs of my own.

You produced this with Joe Deveau and Clint Bierman. How was that?

RP: It was incredible. They're both supremely talented, and the degree to which these guys understood where I wanted to take these songs...I feel very lucky. Clint and I have written and played together for years- he and I cowrote I'm On My Way, which was my song on the Shrek 2 soundtrack. He's just a phenomenal guitarist (and multi-instrumentalist), and I've felt for a long time that he and Joe would work well together. Joe was part of my band when I was with Geffen, and we've deepened our collaboration- and friendship- in the years since. 

Where did you record these songs?

RP: A lot of it was done in my studio, which my oldest boy loved. He would sit next to me and watch these great musicians come in and record. Or when I was tracking by myself, he'd sit there with his own pair of headphones. Joe did all of his stuff in Los Angeles, and we had some guest musicians send in parts from various spots- Andrew Doolittle sent some great tracks from LA. He did the lap steel on Make It Right and the country tune, Sweet Ball and Chain. We had Denver Bierman, Clint's cousin and a big figure in the Nashville scene, add horns on two songs. 

How long did it take to write the songs on this album?

RP: Some of the songs had been kicking around in some form or another for a few years. Words Hang Heavy, Alchemist, Start A Fire, Sweet Ball and Chain, those tunes resurfaced as I started thinking about this record. In the fall of 2009, my wife and I went to France for our friends' wedding, and they had asked me to play a song at their wedding, so I had my guitar. We stayed in this amazing chateau, with incredible views, and I spent a few afternoons sitting outside with my guitar and wrote a few of these songs. The lyrics in 'To Be Loved' are basically an exact description of an afternoon there. 

Do you have a favorite?

RP: I have a few, maybe, but I'm really proud of all these songs. I love the vibe and simplicity of 'Wasted Chance,' and the groove in 'Words Hang Heavy.' I enjoy the country honky tonk of 'Sweet Ball and Chain,' and the crackle and patience of 'Start A Fire.' [laughs] I can go on. I love listening to all these tracks.

You're also in a band, The Sweet Remains. How do Greg and Brian feel about your solo record?

RP: They're really excited for me. With The Sweet Remains, we try to keep everything very democratic and equitable, which is great for all getting along, but it can create a back log of new material. Brian and I, in particular, write a lot, so it's nice to have an opportunity to get a bunch out at once. Brian has put out a couple solo records, and now I had a chance to as well. But they're both very supportive. Brian sings on a bunch of the tracks. We tried to get Greg in to sing on these, but scheduling didn't work out.

What's 'fo co hi ho am so?' It's something you all sing at the end of 'Words Hang Heavy'? What does it mean?

RP: [laughs] After we had tracked that, we were listening back, and it felt like some new territory for me in a way. The groove was pretty funky, and the horns were such a great element, and Joe's keyboards- he plays rhodes, B3 and clav on that track- and Clint's guitar solo...and the vocals are not quite rapping but almost talk-singing. So, I said it was folk-country-hip-hop-americana-soul. FoCoHiHoAmSo for short. We're going to start a new craze here!