Kasey Anderson and I talk a lot about a lot of things: namely, the Yankees and my fascination with giant hunk of meat Luke Voit, who should be off the IL any day now. Anderson just released (or re-released) his 2011 album Let the Blood Moon Rise, released on 4/30. It never saw the light of day — officially. Before it was released, Anderson was incarcerated for wire fraud after embezzling money from a crowd-sourced charity album. But the album was leaked online while Kasey was in jail, so this reissue is both remastered and resequenced based on Kasey’s original intent. Anderson is best known for the Counting Crows’ cover of “Like Teenage Gravity” and has seen a surge of popularity for his song “The Dangerous Ones” (one of my favorites) which was used in a political ad. So Kasey and I wanted to talk about it. We’ll spare you the Yankees discussion for a future podcast episode; for now, here’s 5 rounds with Kasey Anderson.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
Read and listen more than you write.Edit as often as you write.
Do you have any go-to albums to listen to in the van?
Years before we were ever in a band together, Andrew McKeag introduced me to You Am I’s records and they never fail me, whether it’s a long drive between gigs, a short trip across town, or headphones at home. Most people would suggest starting with Hourly Daily but I think a great entry point for those unfamiliar with You Am I is a record they released in 2007 called Convicts. You really can’t go wrong with any of their records so maybe a more appropriate suggestion would be to just buy them all and dive into the deep end of the pool.
What are some of the best venues you’ve played? Why?
We played Red Rocks on the Counting Crows tour and it was exactly as hair-raising as people are led to believe. The sound is incredible, the view from the stage is unlike anything I’ve seen in my life, and everyone feels closely connected, whether they’re right down front or way up towards the top of the amphitheater. It was a truly singular experience, playing that place.
On the other end of that spectrum was the 3B Tavern in Bellingham, Washington, where I spent most of my early 20s. Dingy, booze-soaked, terrible sound, monitors always fucked up. I loved playing there just as much as I loved playing Red Rocks, though, in a completely different way.
How are you using your platform to support marginalized people?
I have been listening to and working with community organizers for most of my young adult and adult life so the recent shift a lot of people underwent in their awareness wasn’t anything new for me but, to the extent that I have a platform, I have tried to do that work in a way that encourages others to do the same. I have tried to be public and transparent about learning, about growth. Most importantly for me, given that I am a white person living in the whitest urban area in the country, is I don’t ask others to do labor I should be doing myself. It’s white people’s responsibility to get educated; to make amends and to get active. I don’t ask other people to educate me or to do emotional labor — to do any kind of labor for that matter — that I can and should be doing on my own.
What’s the first concert you ever attended? What do you remember about it?
My dad took me to see Stone Temple Pilots with Meat Puppets and Redd Kross in 1994, I think. It’s one of many shows my dad took me to, I think about them all often. He passed away in February of 2020 and the memories of going to shows together, sharing music with each other… I’ve kept those really close to me.
What 5 albums are you going to make your kid listen to and why?
My daughter is five months old and it’s already very clear to me there is very little I’ll be able to “make” her do but I can tell you she’s really into Thelonious Monk’s record, Underground. I’ll probably do the same thing my parents did, which is just put on records and see how the kid responds. Aretha Franklin, she’ll hear for sure. Stevie Wonder. Dylan, Springsteen, Stones. Pearl Jam, Alice Coltrane. I guess if I wanted to tie this whole thing together I’d say I’ll give her all of You Am I’s records and tell her to dive into the deep end of the pool.
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