If you’re new here then I am so excited to introduce you to Have Gun, Will Travel (HGWT). They are the bar band’s bar band and songwriter Matt Burke is one of the most thoughtful and cerebral lyric-writers in the Americana business. The band is just incredible at taking complex ideas, such as the cultural malaise in “Buyer’s Remorse,” and pump it full of a singable-hook with three verses, a chorus, and a bridge. Burke told us about his songwriting process in the interview below, and suddenly it all makes sense.
HGWT’s music has been featured in a number of film and TV productions; including the Netflix series The Ranch, CBS’s The Good Wife, Travel Channel’s Expedition Unknown, ABC’s American Housewife and the PBS series Roadtrip Nation, as well as a national Chevy TV commercial campaign and more.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
Yeah. Don’t force it. If you’re working on a song and you hit a wall or become frustrated, walk away. At a certain point, you’re just grinding gears. Focus on something else and come back to it fresh the next day.
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
For me, nine times out of ten, it’s music first. I can’t speak for anyone else, since everyone has their own approach. But I usually start with an interesting guitar riff or chord progression, play it over and over and allow a melody to kind of reveal itself. Once that’s established, I’ll kind of nonsensically mumble words to the melody until the song starts to tell me what it wants to be about. Then it’s a lot of filling in the blanks.
What have you missed about touring?
Quite a lot. I’ve missed the travel, the adventure and the camaraderie. There’s a sense of unity that occurs, or an “us against the world” type mentality among touring band members. There’s also a musical synchronicity that the band experiences as a result of playing together night after night.
What have you not missed about touring?
Hmm. There are a few things that I don’t miss. The cabin fever from eight or ten hour drives day after day. The steady diet of fast food. Showing up and discovering that the venue and/or promoter have done nothing on their end to promote the show. But I’ll gladly endure all of that stuff to get back out on the road.
How are you using your platform to support marginalized people?
We like to try to show support and collaborate with talented people from different walks of life who can bring different perspectives. We like to play shows with diverse lineups, featuring artists from various genres whenever possible. It’s much more fun and interesting that way.