Portland’s Mac Cornish is the uncomfortable protagonist of her bracing trad country single “Belle of the Bar.” Cornish’s deep affection for Laurel Canyon is obvious in her painterly lyrics and earthy rasp, but the twang in her rich voice is as country as they come. “Belle of the Bar” is an intriguing combination of contemporary observation and classic country deference. Cornish’s upcoming album Never Made Much of a Lover (out May 3rd) is a tour of heartbreak, sobriety, and self-reclamation. In our interview, Cornish looks to the past and the future.
Who are some of your musical influences?
I have a deep infatuation with music from the 1960s, specifically the Cosmic American sound coming out of LA during that time. Some of my favorites are the Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and Jackson Browne. I just love their blend of country, folk, rock, and psychedelica. I’m also a huge fan of English folk rock from this era too, specifically Fairport Convention (or any Sandy Denny project), Trees, and Pentangle. In a lot of ways I’m a folkie, I absolutely love Joan Baez and the early 60s folk revival, but I grew up listening to classic rock n roll, so Led Zeppelin and Creedence Clearwater Revival hold strong places in my heart, too.
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
“Matty Groves” by Fairport Convention changed my life when I first heard it. To me it’s perfect because it blends traditional folk and rock in such a seamless and epic way. Fairport took the traditional “Matty Groves” and put it to the tune of another traditional “Shady Grove” and their interpretation of both these traditional songs is genius to me. The song has this incredible groove that builds throughout the song, which works perfectly with the story being told in the lyrics and the hypnotic melody taken from “Shady Grove”, and then it explodes in the end with this amazing instrumental breakdown. At the center of all of it is Sandy Denny’s incredible vocals, her vibrato and delivery perfectly suit the tone of the song. Richard Thompson’s guitar and Dave Swarbrick’s fiddle complement each other so well and create this psychedelic, but also old timey soundscape that sucks you in.
Explain the title of your album.
Never Made Much of a Lover is a lyric from the last song on the album, “Fault Lines”. This is my favorite song on the album and I think it summarizes a lot of the album, because ultimately it’s about self acceptance even in the face of failed relationships, rejection, and loneliness. The song is a self declaration of sorts, where I sing “No I don’t think I’ll ever be a mother and I’ve never made much of a lover” and go on to explain that I don’t mind being alone. Writing this song was my way of accepting that failed relationships don’t define me and that I am redeemable always, and that ultimately, I can flourish alone.
Does your album have an overarching theme?
While it’s not a concept album, I wrote almost all these songs in a several month period so I think they all connect in their own way. Ultimately the album is about my search for self amongst the trials and tribulations of getting sober and forgiving myself for my past. Relationships are often a way that I default back to addictive behavior. So working through the break up, that I sing about a lot on this album, was a way to get back to the person I was before I drank. I also process family trauma and leaving my California home, as another way to understand the person I am now. I grapple with my past, but I look to the future with hope and acceptance of the person I’ve come to know in the wake of all these changes.
Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
I would just love to tour nationally more. I’ve done some West Coast and regional touring, but I would love to get out to the midwest, southwest, the south, or really anywhere. It would be amazing to get to perform to new audiences and to just spend more time on the road. I want music to truly feel like my career, which in many ways it does because I put so much time and effort into it, but I still work two other jobs. I feel like if I toured more it would feel even more centered in my life and like I was actually reaching more people with my music. I also just love nothing more than meeting folks along the way, it’s so wonderful to connect with different pockets of musicians and their communities when you’re on the road.
Never Made Much of a Lover will be out on May 3