Massachusetts road warrior Greg Loftus describes his music as “calloused road-worn Americana for all colors of collars.” Loftus’s soulful performance and uplifting lyrics are certainly universal. As Loftus points out in his interview below, he wants his upcoming album Western Medicine to be healing. On his new single “When My Day Comes,” Loftus delivers that healing in a big way: a meditation of mortality should be sad, but Loftus makes his peace with it. In our interview, Loftus describes his songwriting process, his favorite songs, and how he chooses the cover songs he plays.
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
One of my all time favorite songs ever written is “Clay Pigeons” by Blaze Foley. I was first introduced to Blaze in 2011 when I moved to Austin, TX. Somebody told me that since I loved Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, I needed to check him out. I had previously heard John Prine’s version of the song and thoroughly enjoyed it, but the version from “Live at The Austin Outhouse” absolutely floored me. It’s as simple as a song gets, yet unlike anything I’ve heard. He’s only accompanied by an upright bass and a harmony vocal which is exactly how it sounded in the room. The rawness in his voice and the unpretentious heart-wrenching lyrics makes this a perfect song for me.
Explain the title of your album.
My new album is called Western Medicine, which is a reference to a handful of things. First off, the literal definition. I started writing this record during the beginning of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, things were looking awfully grim but I had faith in science and in humanity. The other meaning of the album title is how healing and relaxing I find the southwestern part of the United States. From the deserts of west Texas to the mountains of Northern New Mexico, every time I visit, it clears my head and sets things straight — much like the way the Atlantic Ocean does for me, which is another massive theme in this record. I feel like the title track demonstrates this feeling pretty well. For an album about death, divorce, pandemics, and the homogenization of the Western world, it’s a surprisingly positive record. It’s about healing.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
Jeff Tweedy wrote an amazing book for songwriters called How to Write One Song and I would highly recommend it for any level of songwriter, whether you are just starting to put the pen to paper or have been writing for years and find yourself in a writing rut. The bottom line is to just write. Don’t wait for inspiration to hit, if you do the work then something good will come of it. I would also say don’t limit yourself. Sometimes when I have a rhyme scheme or a certain sound I am trying to obtain, this tends to give me rules to follow and can be difficult to shake. Just write, you don’t need to know where you’re going. Another tip I use while writing lyrics is I tend to use single syllable words at the end of my lines and focus on making the beginning and middle of the line interesting and clever. It’s a hell of a lot easier to rhyme the words ‘night’ or ‘eyes’ than ‘Palomino’ or ‘magnolia’. I find that the words tend to flow easier and sit nicely within the music.
Do you play covers at your shows? Why or Why not?
I come from the land of cover bands so I used to have a hard time doing them. It used to seem cheap to me. Then I realized that I don’t have to play “Don’t Stop Believing” or “ Wonderwall“, I can play songs that I love and aren’t covered all the time. I’m a strong believer in just because you can play it, doesn’t mean you should. I can’t tell you how many awful versions of “Free Falling” I’ve heard ruined once they try to belt out the chorus. That being said, it’s all about knowing your range. Once I started doing 3-hour solo gigs at restaurants and breweries, I learned to make sure to keep the people engaged. Good luck keeping an audience engaged for three hours when they have no idea who you are and what you’re singing about. Now I absolutely love playing covers, if it’s fun, then I do it. It’s really that simple.
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
The two albums that I have not stopped listening to lately are Cordovas “Destiny Motel” and Futurebirds “Teamwork”. I love both these albums for a lot of the same reasons. The harmonies on these albums are amazing. Futurebirds create gorgeous textures with three reverb drenched guitars and pedal steel. When you add the 3 part harmonies on top it sounds massive. The band has 3 different lead singers but every song sounds like it’s coming from the same band, which can be very difficult to do.
I feel like Cordovas are a perfect mix of modern Southern Rock with two guitar players that grew up playing every Jerry Garcia lick they could learn. Sprinkle in some Levon Helm grooves and ‘Big Pink’ harmonies and you’ve got Cordovas. These guys are smooth as hell and you’d have to be a real dick not to like something by this band. I haven’t experienced them live yet but have definitely gone down the Cordovas YouTube rabbit hole and I am in awe of how tight these guys are.