Louisiana singer-songwriter Eric Schmitt’s love affair with music began when he was a boy. “I grew up around it,” he says. “My uncle was a professional jazz pianist, and as kids, my older brother and I played trumpet. My family had records that ranged from classical to jazz and big band, to just about every decade of folk, rock, and country. And now, of course, I’m completely aware that what I do is rooted in these early influences.”
On his fourth album Wait for the Night (out April 11), Schmitt captures the stories of everyday heroes, like the couple in “One of These Days.”
“This song, like many others, came out after a period of frustration. Nothing seemed to be ‘coming.’ I mean, stuff was coming out, but nothing good or inspiring. And I think I just wanted to create a character. Maybe my recent creations were too mired in abstraction and generalities and lacked life. I don’t know. But as I sat down to work one day, this idea of a tough, sturdy woman materialized.”
That’s where the first line, “She works the late shift at the Home Depot,” came from.
Schmitt imagined the kind of person she’d be entangeld with — “a somewhat worthless musician.”
“As I was writing this tune, I put myself in the place of someone rooting for her. Maybe it’s a good friend who knows she’s too good for this clown; maybe it’s a fella who is interested in her, maybe it’s her mom or dad. And so it’s this person telling the story, which explains the tone of it, I think. It wasn’t a conscious choice. None of it was. It just started to come out, and I went with it.”
One of These Nights is out on April 11th.
Eric Schmitt — Official