What do you think is the legacy of the massive success of O Brother, Where Art Thou? for you and roots music in general? HenleyRegatta
I don’t think a lot of people realised they liked that kind of old-time mountain music until they heard it in the film. I’m proud to have brought the music of Ralph Stanley to millions more people, in his lifetime. It was my first production credit as associate producer and the soundtrack was like my record collection coming to life. We really clicked with the Coen brothers. Joel asked if I’d make a cameo in the film. We were on the road, so I got two hours’ sleep after the show, then had to get on a red eye to Mississippi. I got in at dawn and the shoot was at 10am. I thought, “I’m gonna look like holy hell,” but they put me in the makeup chair and darkened the circles under my eyes to make me look even worse. I guess they wanted that authentically tired look.
At what point in your life did the Appalachia in you make itself apparent to the SoCal persona to which you were born? douglasdavis55
I was adopted and grew up in southern California, but my people are from North Carolina. When I was eight or nine I asked for an acoustic guitar and would lock myself in my bedroom singing Carter Family songs. It just felt very natural, like I’d inexplicably gravitated towards it. Then after high school I had an epiphany when I heard [bluegrass musicians] the Stanley Brothers. I’ve always listened to electric music, but it’s too loud for me to play. Whether it’s vacuum cleaners or hairdryers, I’ve never liked loud noise.
You and David Rawlings work so well together. Do you have any favourite musical duos? Peasywease
When we saw [US roots duo] Norman and Nancy Blake we realised two people could put on a whole night’s entertainment; from the Monroe Brothers’ [1930s] recordings we learned that as a duo you’ve got to really use every trick in the book musically and texturally to fill a big space. The Stanley Brothers are such a big influence. I’ll be singing an old-time song and someone will call me out for singing the melody the way Ralph does, and I’m not even aware of it.
How do you decide which is a David Rawlings album, a Gillian Welch album, or a joint album? All the albums seem like collaboration. Alpdx795
I’m so happy that someone noticed that whatever we do it’s always a collaboration. In our living room we write, arrange and record the songs together. We will both sing one until we decide we like one voice better than the other because of the key or because we’re always trying to make the story come across the best it can. There’s a song on the new record called Hashtag where the inspiration came from the day I woke up and saw the hashtag #GuyClark on my phone. I knew it meant Guy had died. We worked on that song for a long time and we just thought the story and the emotion came through better with Dave singing it.
When you and David play live, there’s normally a small box sitting on a table between the two of you. What’s in that box? viennesewaltzer
The box was made in the 40s or 50s and we’ve been touring with it for more than 25 years. It has four little drawers and we use it for everything we need to put on our show: guitar picks, capos, a harmonica, strings, wire cutters, string winders, a tuner, the little pad of paper we write our setlists on, a Sharpie, a pencil, a compass, nail clippers … and we’ve used everything in it. One time the strap on my dress broke onstage. I knew we had a safety pin, so I turned my back to the audience real fast and reached inside the box.
In Melbourne, you guys rode the Scenic Railway rollercoaster at Luna Park before playing the encores. Was this rush one of the best during a performance? Bobbski
It was actually during the intermission between our two sets. I think it was Dave who suggested we ride the rollercoaster, so we had to run to it through the amusement park, with me wearing a full-length dress and cowboy boots. We were laughing so hard and then had to get back into our set. Most of our songs are sad, so the hardest thing was to shake off the giggles.
How did you end up with [Led Zeppelin’s] John Paul Jones in your touring band for a while? gin007
We met JPJ at the MerleFest music festival in North Carolina. He was backstage with his wife, Mo, and had his mandolin with him. John didn’t seem to have been invited to the after-hours jam, which was ridiculous, so we put them in the back of our Cadillac, drove up to the theatre and, even though we’d just met, spent the whole night hanging out, playing Monroe Brothers and Stanley Brothers songs. He’s just so open and warm, loves music and he’s such a badass! Next time we toured in the UK he sat in with us and basically we just kept playing together and did a whole tour in the States. He travelled in the Cadillac. I’d say, “John, would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” He’d say he would, I’d make one and we’d roll on down the road. They’re treasured memories. We love him.
Your jawdropping Radiohead cover [Black Star] is one of my favourite cover versions ever. Any more up your sleeve? bandofhorses
We don’t release covers often but live we’ll always pull out the odd Neil Young, Grateful Dead or Bob Dylan song. Long ago we covered Dylan’s song Billy and only released it on a DVD, but someone in the Dylan world must have heard because for years our version of Billy was on Bob’s walk-on music. That definitely brought a smile to my face. One year we played [Jefferson Airplane’s] White Rabbit at [Woodstock activist] Wavy Gravy’s birthday bash in Berkeley. I was nervous to play it in the bastion of psychedelia, but as we came off this woman by the side of the stage was just beaming. She turned out to be Mountain Girl [former Merry Prankster], so I felt like our version had been sorta consecrated by the Pranksters.
I had the great pleasure of seeing you perform at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2011, when word spread that then UK prime minister, David Cameron, was in the audience with his wife. Did you know and did it affect your performance? SeaGoat
We heard whispers, but you never know if these people are going to show up. When we were soundchecking I thought, “Well, isn’t this place classy?” There were what I thought were well-dressed janitors in suits dusting the seats but they were actually secret service security sweeping the theatre for David Cameron’s visit. I’m not much of a political person but he sent a note saying they really liked the show. I’d have been more nervous if I’d heard David Gilmour was coming … other artists are more likely to make us nervous.
Betting you and Dave would never call yourselves fashionistas, but you have a very deliberate sense of show clothes (Gunne Sax dresses, Nudie suits) that visually complement your songs. How do you select clothing for your tours? Jess286
No one’s ever asked me about my clothes before. We’re kind of part of the tradition where you put on your good clothes. I’ve never thought about fashion, but style is there for us to express ourselves and to help people to understand who we are. Functionality is very important for us. You’ll rarely see me with big, billowy sleeves because I’m a guitar player. I can’t stand rubber soles because they don’t tap on the floor like leather ones, and buttons make noise on the guitars that you can hear through the microphones. Dave wore a really nice shirt in the movie Down from the Mountain, but it had noisy buttons! You can hear them in the film.
Your [2001] song Everything is Free, written during the Napster file-sharing era, has become a modern-day standard, covered by the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Courtney Barnett and Father John Misty. What are your feelings about the song and its sentiments in 2024? VerulamiumParkRanger
That song was a bit of a sleeper and over the years has gained strength. I’m saddened that it’s still relevant. It came from a moment when I just felt the bottom fall out of what I thought was going to be my life and career. I felt really threatened and somehow turned it around into a threat. The threat is if you don’t enable musicians to make their living playing music, you won’t get to hear it. I am never going to stop playing music, but if I can’t make a living at it, then I will stop playing it outside my living room.
• Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ new album Woodland is released via Acony Records on 23 August
