America’s Smartest Rock n’ Roller?

I was mesmerized on a muggy Middle America August afternoon when I called Roger Clyne for a short interview. For fifteen minutes I sat and listened as the most knowledgeable, well thought, well informed, and eloquent man I’ve had the privilege speaking to spoke about his career, his records and the state of music as it is today.

“The release of Americano is slated for late October,” said Clyne when I asked him about the latest news on the release of “Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers’” next record. “It takes that much time to actually produce the record to be released. So, we’re hoping for late October.”

I then asked as to whether the upcoming record has a theme or feeling to it, and if it was akin to the first two Peacemakers’ albums. “They’re all very different, and I’m very intimate to all of them. “Honky Tonk Union” was more of a songwriter’s album because I wrote it before I had a band. Then “Sonoran Hope and Madness” was a more conscious record. Americano is far more rock n’ roll. It’s a more fun record…People around me who have listened to it say it’s my best work since “Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy” back with The Refreshments. They say it’s more upbeat, so I guess they consider more upbeat as better…I would definitely say it’s my most upbeat record since “Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy.” When asked to look back at his career thus far Clyne had this to say. “On every record there are some things I like and some things I don’t. One every record there are moments I’m truly proud of and then there are learning experiences,…moments that make me wince…I would have to say that Americano is the first time listening to a record and really enjoying it…I feel it’s my best effort.”

We then spoke about the state of the music scene in America today with the corporate advertising machines and whether or not it is harder for a band like The Peacemakers to carve out a niche. “Ironically the stupefied monopoly which they have created actually makes it easier because they have left so many chinks in the armor…The internet is also so powerful now that everyone is connected with everyone the music can make it from the artist to the fan without have to go through the promotional segment of a big record company. The music can get from the artist to the fan unfiltered. But there is also another side to that. Because the internet becomes so clogged it can make it hard for an artist to get their work to the forefront. You must come up with new and creative ways to bring yourself to the audience.”

I then asked Clyne where and what he draws his inspiration from. “I’m an observer. My job is to be an artist so I must try to keep my ears and eyes open and objective. I feel the job of the artist consists of two parts. One: To identify an ill in society no matter how difficult. I think that a lot of art stops there, but it needs to be taken one step further. I feel that the artist needs to offer a remedy, or possibility of transcendence. Whether or not that remedy is valid doesn’t matter, it just needs to be offered…I take all of this very seriously, but at the same time with a sense of humor. I’d say that humor is a save that I use often.”

Much more was said than written here. All I know is that I left our conversation overwhelmed with all that Roger had said to me. It all made sense and gave me a new perspective and idea as to why people should strive to create and to be artists of any sort. Creation of understanding and reverence became much more important to me than it ever was before speaking with Roger. But, as the guy from Star Trek said on Reading Rainbow, “Don’t take my word for it.” Check out more info about Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at www.RogerClyne.net. I personally suggest ordering and watching the documentary “Long Ride Home” filmed during The Peacemakers’ Honky Tonk Union” tour. It will leave you informed, and with a feeling of reassurance that some bands are still out there doing things right, for the right reasons, and for the fans.

- Will Saulsbery