Feature: Todd Hearon Decodes ‘IMPOSSIBLE MAN’
Credit: Photo by Greg Brown
What was the creative process like for this particular album?
This album is the third in a trilogy that includes my first and second studio albums, ‘BORDER RADIO (2021)’ and ‘YODELADY (2023).’ All the songs are relatively new, composed since 2016, the year that I purchased a 1950 Gibson J-50 named Myrtle. Myrtle is a songwriting machine. Seriously, there’s like a spirit inhabiting that guitar. (I like to think it’s the ghost of the 90-year-old grandmother who owned her before I did, who used to pull her out from under the bed on Sundays and strum cowboy chords to her sons.) From the moment I played the first chord (a G), she started spitting out songs faster than I could keep up—completely unexpected and unforeseen melodies, snatches of lyrics, chord progressions I’d never thought to put together. After a short time, I had over 100 songs to deal with. Then came the task of rotating them out for audiences, sharpening them, seeing which ones held up best. This was all mostly solo stuff, me and Myrtle and a harmonica. I started to get very anxious about them. They needed to get laid down; there needed to be some kind of record in case something happened. I wanted more than just the acoustic demos that I’d already made. Something that would show the songs in the best light, in their Sunday best. And a selection of the songs that WERE the best. That’s how the trilogy began—at the height of the pandemic, assembling tracks from my good friends spread out all over the country, bringing them together, being just bowled over at the little miracles of serendipity that were happening in the editing process, in the virtual “studio.” That was BORDER RADIO. Skip forward a couple of years; Tim Phillips and I are thick in the weeds of recording and editing YODELADY, still assembling the tracks, when Don Dixon calls. He’s heard BORDER RADIO and wants to do an album. Don Dixon?? I thought. Holy f*ck. I’ve been listening to Don’s music my whole adult life, from his early work with IRS and bands like Guadalcanal Diary, from those first two REM records he produced. Don virtually CREATED that jangly ’80s guitar sound. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip. We found a time that suited his touring schedule (he plays bass with Mary Chapin Carpenter), he assembled the musicians, and we all headed down to Mitch Easter’s studio, Fidelitorium, in Kernersville, North Carolina. We cut the album—11 songs—in 3 days.
How did you work with the producer or engineers to bring your vision for ‘IMPOSSIBLE MAN’ to life?
I had given Dixon full creative license, which was easy to do, since I innately trusted him. Trusted his ear, trusted his vision for what these songs could become. The songs on ‘IMPOSSIBLE MAN’ are quite different from the songs on the other two albums. They have more of a contemporary, even Indie rock, edge. And Don was quite clear from the beginning: “We’re making a rock album.” He’d lined up this star-studded ensemble for the session—Peter Holsapple on keys, accordion and mandolin; Sam Wilson (who also tours with Chapin Carpenter) on electric guitars and pedal steel; Rob Ladd on drums; Dixon himself played bass. I was terrified. But he had it all charted out when we arrived. We went into the studio and we’d play each song a few times then make the cuts—roughly 4 songs a day. Don was very respectful, asking me questions, “Is this all right?” Of course, I was more than pleased with the outcomes. The musicians were masterful and just spectacularly nice people. So generous. It was seriously like being inducted into a family. With the exception of Sam, who’s considerably younger, they’ve worked together most of their lives, since high school. The vibe was like that. You could tell they knew each other’s playing inside out, and Dixon knew exactly how to call what he wanted out of them. There was this funny moment, when we were beginning to play “Anchorage,” just trying out some different sounds and ways of approaching it while Don was in the command booth busy with something. He came back into the room and said, “I hate everything about that. Take it in the completely opposite direction.” And they did. And immediately we had the song.
Which song(s) from the album do you think best represents your artistic vision?
It’s hard to say which song or songs fully encapsulate my vision. I think the 11 tracks together give a composite version. They retain traces of my roots in acoustic music, folk and Americana but also hint at my love of Indie- and alternative rock. In some of these songs, I wanted to return to a sound I left back in the ’90s while retaining my love and deep immersion in folk influences and melodies. I think “Looking Glass” and “Guillotine” showcase that first quality the best. And the title track, “Impossible Man.” Other tunes like “Deadman’s Cove,” “Too Deep to Feel the Bottom” and “Love Song #551” might have felt more at home on an album of purely acoustic music, but under Don’s direction they were completely transformed.
Can you tell us more about you as a musician?
I’m an independent artist living in Exeter, New Hampshire, born in Texas and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I think all of those regions come together in my work—there’s definitely the Texas singer-songwriter’s penchant for story-songs and the well-turned, well-crafted lyrics; I can hear Appalachian folkways coming through in a number of the tunes. New England’s got to be there, too, since I’ve lived here now half my life. I think it’s most present in the musicians brought together on my first two albums, people who make up our vibrant musical community here on the New Hampshire Seacoast. Such amazingly generous and talented folks. I’m also a poet and fiction writer with three collections of poetry and one novella under my belt. I love trying to bring the two sister arts—poetry and song—together in my writing, and I feel very satisfied when people acknowledge that is happening. I won the “Lyrics Prize” from AMERICAN SONGWRITER magazine, and I was finalist/runner-up this year for the International Acoustic Music Awards Folk/Americana/Roots). SCOPE magazine says, “Poetry and song, ever old friends, meet again and merge in every line of BORDER RADIO.” I think my favorite thing anyone has ever written about my music was this, from SEACOAST ONLINE, who also listed BORDER RADIO as “Best Music of 2021”: “Todd Hearon is proof that good folkin’ singers still walk among us. Somewhere from the great beyond, Townes Van Zandt has happened on Todd’s tunes . . . and felt his cheeks go flush with envy.” That would be a high and mighty honor indeed.
Are there any specific venues or festivals that you dream of performing at?
My band and I have already played some nationally acclaimed rooms and listening spaces in New England, including The Word Barn, The Stone Church, Portsmouth Music Hall Lounge and The Firehouse Center for the Arts. The singles have been getting good traction on national and international radio, so that’s helping us gain more ground as we turn our direction south. I don’t know. As far as specific venues go—and this may sound like a strange thing to say in PUNK HEAD—I’d feel that my life would be pretty much complete if I could headline a show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
