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Willy Mason

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by James Rowland   It is a shame his phone battery died mid-interview. We took the all too brief opportunity to chat with Willy Mason while he was on a bus on route to his gig in Sheffield. In the true style of a folk artist, he rambles from city to city on his UK tour via various modes of our infamous public transport system. He is alone. Mason has no roadies, groupies or hangers-on, and apparently no phone charger with him. When he took the call from us at Bn1 Magazine he was negotiating down the isle of the bus with his cart in one hand (containing his guitar, amp and worldly possessions) and his mobile in the other. I guess when you’re your own touring party organisation becomes tricky...   So do you prefer Willy, William or Will? “Hang on man, just one second...” (White noise of bustling, ambulance sirens and ticket machines ensues)... “Aah Willy is fine, wait just one second; they gotta let me off the bus...”   “Sorry about that I was pushing my cart through everyone and making their lives miserable in the process.”   Cart? Why do you have a cart with you? “Aw man it’s just full of all my shit like my tent and my sleeping bag in case I get caught out, and my guitar and my amp.”   That’s very folkie of you, be careful or someone might mistake you for a bum or a poser... **No response, maybe my jibes weren’t appreciated or the screeching of another ambulance covered it.   “Hey man I’m ready now, sorry about all that, fire away.”   No worries. I read online that you grew up on the Island of Martha’s Vinyard [of America’s East Coast] in Massachusetts with your parents, who were both folk singers. How did your surroundings and upbringing influence your career choice? “My childhood runs pretty strong in my music. Growing up as an islander when I went to the mainland I felt like a foreigner in my own country. I learnt how to channel that feeling in the folk tradition and sentiment through my parents.”   It is easy to tell there’s closeness with your parents in ‘Live it Up’, [track one from Mason’s first E.P.] in that song you talk about your support of them and wisdom beyond your years. Do you think that wisdom is invaluable to a folk singer or story teller? “Yes but it’s not only building wisdom, I think it’s more just honesty. It is not always literal honesty either; even if you’re lying it is the sentiment behind the lie that can be true. It’s best to stick with what you feel. That way the honesty just pours out.”
What folk artists inspired you to get into music?
“I guess Hank Williams is a big one for me.”   Hank Williams? “Well I use the term folk artist loosely; it is all music that is part of a great tradition and sentiment, made up as we go along. Folk is just one big cultural exchange. John Lee Hooker is another favourite.”   Are there any folk favourites of yours this side of the Atlantic? “There’s a lot of great stuff goin’ on over here right now. I guess I’m just aquatinting myself with it all really. I like Ben Howard, we travelled together in spring and that was cool.”   That must have been an experience. How is life on the road on the UK tour? “It’s going good, it is very demanding juggling everything on trains and buses on my own. But soon I’ll be joined by Dan Leftkowitz [former member of folk rockers The Low Anthem]. It’ll be cool to have a travelling partner, and he’s an American folk man as well!”   When the tour leads you to Brighton to play Komedia are there any songs from the new album we should be listening out for? “I’ll be playing a lot of new stuff, but my favourite to perform at the moment is a song about trees and people falling and disappearing and evolution, it’s called ‘What is this?’.   At this point Mason’s phone battery died. But shortly after we received a text... “Hey sorry about that. Phone did die. I’m on the train w charger now, let me know any questions. W.”   As I had already bombed over my word count at this point we closed the interview there with the usual niceties. It seems a folk singer and his lifestyle and travel habits are all interlinked in Mason’s case. You can catch Willy Mason live at Komedia on Thursday 8^th September. For Information and tickets go to  www.komedia.co.uk/brighton/music/