Q&A: Rusty Reid

Can you introduce yourself?

Hello Tongue Tied. Thanks for the interview! Yes, I'm an American singer-songwriter, orginally from Texas, now living in the Pacific Northwest. No "genre" will have me because I won't stay loyal. But my style is kind of a mishmash of folk, pop and country-rock. I'm mainly a guitar player, so there's usually some cool licks going on in my songs, either mine or other great guitarists that play with me. My voice has been compared to Roy Orbinson, Tom Petty and Elvis Costello. Make sense of that if you can. I'm a huge Beatles fan, so I try to emulate how they hardly ever wrote two songs alike, always had great melodies and said interesting things. Not all, but quite a few of my songs are philosophical, politlcal and/or spiritual (not religious). If you'd like to know what the Meaning of Life is, or learn about the history of the universe in one song, I've got you covered.

Can you describe "American Villain" in three words?

Hmm. that's a toughie. Let me select three words from the song. How about; "A conservative plague!"

What were the first and last parts of "American Villain" to be written?

Well, the title came first. American Villain. In our history, we've never had such a flawed and evil person arise to such heights of infamy. The lyrics pretty much flowed out from that. The melody came last. I was tweaking that right up to the recording.

What’s your favorite lyric or production element of "American Villain"?

I was pretty excited as the lyrics flowed. Several times I was like, "Wow, did I write that?" But I'd probably say this line sums up what is actually going on with Trump and his followers: "He gives them what they need, supremacy guaranteed, their advantage supercedes American democracy."

As for the production, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ribeiro down in Sao Paolo, Brazil game up with the moody, swirly background, and he is playing those sensational slide guitars and moog synth.

Did you learn anything new about yourself while creating this song?

Well, when you are writing a song that is non-fiction, that's about extremely important current events, you want it to not have any weakness, no baloney, no phoniness. It's got to be almost perfect, or else it stands to be mercilessly ridiculed. Not that this one won't be, but they will be wrong. So the sheer gravity of this one was pretty intense. And I can be my worst critic. So, I think I succeeded, and that's what is important. Any artist's only real responsiblity is to themselves, no one else.

Is there a certain place that you feel the most creative in?

Not particularly. I've moved around quite a bit, but I've written songs I still like in my hometown in Texas and in Nashville and Houston and Los Angeles, and now i"m based outside of Seattle. I think I'm writing and singing and playing better than ever, but I don't really ascribe that to this geographical area, but more to my evolution emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Not that this area isn't incredibly beautiful and inspiring. It's the best match for my personality I've found.

What was on your playlist as you worked on "American Villain"?

Probably Bluewater Highway. It's a Texas band that I really like. Or maybe Larkin Poe. Love those ladies.

If you could transport listeners to the perfect location to hear"American Villain" for the first time, what would that place be?

I'd say the Mall of the United States Capitol. That's a long stretch of park that runs from the Capitol building to the Lincoln Memorial. That's the very spot where Trump, after lying about the 2020 election being stolen, egged on his suporters to attack the symbol of American democracy, and attmpe to overthrow 240 something years of this liberal political experiment. As we listened to "American Villain" we could be looking right at the Capitol and thinking of how close we came to true evil almost destroying our nation.

If you had to describe your music to someone who couldn’t hear, how would you describe it?

One reviewer called me "All of the Wilbury's rolled into one!" I love that. Don't know how true that really is, but my style is an amalgamation alright. I didn't plan it like this. I was going to be the Beatles or Glen Campbell or Tom Petty or Paul Simon, but somehow just ended up being me. Who could have guessed?

What comes next for you?

I'm currently remixing by 2019 album, "Head to Heart." I've learned a lot about mixing in the past five years and figure I should really get my most important album sounding better. I call that album a 'Revolutionary Manifesto in Song!" The new version will be released soon. Then I've got a lot more material pretty much ready to go. It just needs some minor tweaking and that will be released down the road a bit.

Make sure to listen to American Villain on Spotify and follow Rusty Reid on social media to see what he's up to next!