County Well Drink More is the latest release (September 21) from Floating Records. Floating Records, helmed by studio owner, guitarist and songwriter Don Zimmer, is a musical collective that is based in Idaho’s Wood River Valley. The Wood River Valley, home to Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley, is where Don moved to several years ago from California’s Marin County, where he had a successful music production company. Don built a recording studio on his property and founded the County Well Collective, where talented local musicians could meet, play and record in one of Idaho’s most scenic areas.
One of the talented Idaho musicians that joined the County Well Collective is singer, guitarist and bass player Michaela French. Michaela plays a prominent role in the new County Well Drink More release, singing lead on several songs and backup on several more. Michaela sat down with The Boise Beat to discuss the new album release Drink More; and how she came to be a part of this amazing group of musicians.
Q: Hello, Michaela. Where were you born and raised?
I’m originally from Lucerne, Switzerland. On the outskirts, in Central Switzerland. I was born and raised there; and I’ve been in the United States probably more than half my life; and I’ll be 50—so there’s that!
I’ve been in the Boise area for about 20 years.
Q: How did you get involved with music?
A: I’ve been a musician all my life. All of my family are musicians; and in the little town that I grew up in, it was and is a longstanding tradition that if you’re in the town band, keeping up the local traditional music, passed on from father to son. Well, I’m not a son (laughs), but it’s a tradition to be involved in music. I studied music in school, classical music as most of us did; and I played in various formations. I played all over Europe, busking as a traveling musician in the 80s and 90s.
Q: I know you play guitar, sing and play bass……..
Q: Lets talk a little bit about this new release, called County Well Drink More……you’re singing lead on three songs and doing backup vocals on several more?
A: What it is, to give a little bit of background to that, I often played in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum and in Hailey. As most of us do when we’re out and about playing, we try to go local for somebody like the drummer, the crew, right? A lot of the gigs don’t pay enough to make traveling expenses. But—-long story short—Don Zimmer, who is co-founder of Sun Valley Records/Floating Feather Records, since having moved to Hailey/Ketchum, they have started a new endeavor. When they moved to town, I believe he was trying to get into the community and show them what he’s got to offer by creating this compilation CD of local musicians, of which I was part of in the Wood River Valley.
We were asked to contribute a song—I think it was a double album—but it was to benefit the Ketchum Community Libraries; a fund raiser. So the CD that Don and some other folks compiled with local musicians benefitted the area. He did everything he needed to do in order to promote it. Through that, we met as musicians. I like visiting with people; I like to get to know folks; and it turned out they had been there for two years. They had moved there from Marin County [Northern California], and he hadn’t played out yet. I found out he’s a fabulous player and asked if he’d like to play music. That’s what we do, we’re musicians! So he joined; often times we’re a trio and he joined into that and we established a nice friendship. When it came time to record a new batch of his songs, he kindly requested that I sing—I would interpret his songs. Is that pretty inclusive?
Q: One of the songs—I like Truck—can you tell me about it?
A: It’s the one with Peter Rowland’s Truck. Yes, it’s got a cool vibe. Don’s got an idea or words, of melody, of fifths—he knows how he wants the song to feel. He’ll look for singers to interpret the words and the melody to go with the musical idea that he’s created. So how it happens—I go up there to his studio, he shows me the lyrics and he plays me the melody of he wants me to be. I try to sing it in accordance to his wishes. A lot of times, those are the tracks that we’ll hear.
What is special about it is that I can feel where Don is coming from, as he is telling the story or recounting his memory and how meaningful it is. When I go to sing it, I really try to keep that in mind. He told me the story; and I think of the story and I treasure how he captures his memories through musical snapshots. I think that all of the approaches for that are very respectful. A little tentative at times but very respectful. Then he layers them with more musical motifs to support his original idea.
Q: You sang background on some songs with Graham Guest also……
A: Yes. Don has got some songs that are very wordy. They’re not as melodic as some of the other songs. A lot of times it sounds like he would give Graham Guest, he’s a singer/songwriter and in his own right very talented, but his timbre a lot of times works really well with having a little melody to support—to bring out some warmth. A lot of times, I would go and Don would say “Okay, throw some harmonies on that and try a couple of different things to just give it a little color”. I think of it as the musical ‘paint daubes’ on his canvas.
Q: Tell me about the album as a whole, how it all fits together……the types of songs, etc…
A: It’s all very eclectic. The album as a whole, I want to say my interpretation—I usually have to talk to Don to get a better picture—but to me, it sounds like they are somewhat looking through an album. Some people take photographs and he’s got memories that he puts to a musical theme. I think he walks a lot; he likes to walk and I just imagine him going through his ‘memory bank’ and it’s like ‘A Visit With Don’. Stories and memories that he’s collected and now he’s going to put them in his album of memories and here’s what they’re going to sound like and here’s what they’re going to feel like. I think they are feeling songs, observations.
Q: You’ve been in Boise a long time. Have you been playing in a lot of the places around here?
A: I have! I’ve been playing at all the local places, wherever there’s music. In fact we’ll be playing at Pengilly’s Saloon next Friday. Don won’t be there—it’s a long visit—we’ll play O’Michaels, we’ll play Highlands. Open shows, nice and simple. A lot of times we play steakhouses, wineries, solos, duos.–a lot of local places. Places that are a little bigger, you’ve got to gather a bigger crew.
Drink More feat. Michaela French
Q: Tell me a story from the road…….
A: I’ll preface this with—I’ve lately discovered Roku; I know its taken a while, but what I like to watch are music documentaries. It’s kind of like shop; I like to watch how other people do what they do. It doesn’t matter how much cosmic weight you have behind you or not. But the one thing that I have, I know when you’re a true Road Warrior you put a lot of miles on your car. Traveling; and all the necessities of travel, a lot of public bathrooms, a lot of miles. I traveled 80,000 miles in the last 2 ½ years. Just going from and to, between the Wood River Valley and some other places. I think it’s okay, I don’t mind…but sometimes you need a place to stay and you don’t want to bother anybody, even though you have kind offers from friends, but you don’t want to impose. So I’m really good at car camping, I have everything I need in my car. I’ve got everything I need; and my Swiss Army Knife! Right here in my not very cool fanny pack! I’ve got everything I need, I’ve turned into a very efficient traveler.
Q: Tell me about something that really stands out to you….
A: I know about Don, he shared with me that he really enjoys—he used to go to New Orleans every year, like an annual pilgrimage. And it sounds like he likes a really cool horn section. He’s really into a nice ‘New Orleans Sound’; and I’m glad he found—I don’t know if it’s the same or several horn players—I’m glad he found a horn section to interpret the music that he enjoys. When I hear them interspersed throughout different songs, I’m glad he found them, because they’re hard to find. You can find a lot of guitar players, but horn players are not so easy, so that makes me feel good about them interpreting his music.
Q: So what about you and your music?
A: I’m looking at the artists and credits, the “Cast of Characters” on this latest compilation. It’s not a compilation—it’s Don’s music. He has been able to draw from a lot of local players that we play with; all of us together. Josh Kelly on drums, Lyle Evans on bass; they are guys that I’ve been playing with; my rhythm section. Josh had played with a lot of people, Bruce Willis being one of them. He’s extremely musical, very talented, very expressive and very dynamic. Lyle Evans is the bass player, he and I a lot of times would do duos at the wineries around Boise. He was with Chis Ledoux and Western Underground, he’s sort of a cowboy. For those who are familiar with country music, they will know who they are. He’s a very talented musician. Back in the day, he was with Pinto Bennett. Lyle Evans is from Mountain Home; and he’s a beautiful singer, he’s got a beautiful voice. We do a lot of musical collaboration. They’re just an amazing rhythm section, they’re great musicians.
Jeffrey Halford is on guitar; he’s notable—Don’s produced him, he’s out of California. Paul Gregory played with Bob Weir’s band Ratdog, he’s out of California originally but lives in the Wood River Valley now. He’s joined our project playing out live! I think all of us players are grateful we get to play; to play and to make it a good time, playing music. We are here to give—we’re not shoe-gazers, we’re here to give you something.
Q: The album is came out yesterday, September 21st?
A: That’s what I hear! On the cover, it’s the famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Ketchum for a while. I believe the album was designed by Don’s wife’s father. Go to Sun Valley Records, the website. What I like about their website is that you can listen to all the songs in their completeness. It’s a player and it just plays; it’s very accessible and tells you everything you need and want to know. It is a great way to get connected with Don too and their services.
Q: What else are you doing musically these days?
A: Aside from working with Don Zimmer, I’ve recorded my originals with a producer in the Treasure Valley; and it’s pretty close to being done since he does all the instrument; and I’m smitten with what I’m hearing. I’m looking forward to hearing it played, because often times when we record ourselves and hear ourselves recorded, we kind of cringe. My friend Howard Scott is doing a beautiful job; and I’m proud to be putting out my music. That will happen some time this year. What’s unique about it is, we are recording each of us doing the tracks, so it’s a live video that goes with the tracks, so you can see us playing every note; and see us singing every note. It’s a new thing, since most of us won’t go to YouTube, but you can see what’s going on. Since the music is out there, why not have a video? But the players actually play the instruments!
So I’m excited to see that come to fruition. It’s a lot of work; and he’s very talented at doing what he’s doing. I’m thrilled to see it coming together. These are original songs. I think this is the first batch I’ve got. I’ve got probably two albums worth; and whittled it down to where these songs, maybe five or six; and then there will be more, but right now it’s a small batch. We’ll load it up on our respective YouTube channels.
Q: Thank you Michaela. We’re all looking forward to hearing County Well Drink More, and can’t wait to hear your own music releases too!
The County Well—Drink More
Floating Records
Produced by Don Zimmer
info-floatingrecords@ymail.com
https://www.facebook.com/floatingrecords/
