Among the music of contemporary indie singer-songwriters, there’s no mistaking that of Bill Callahan. His voice and his sparse songs are deep and unhurried, low and slow. They take their time, rolling meditatively along like tumbleweeds under open Western skies, analogous to the lyrical imagery that often weaves through them. Callahan, though, has roots on the East Coast—he was born in Maryland—and the tour for Resuscitate!, the eighth album under his own name (from 1990 to 2005 he recorded as Smog) will blow him back this way for a pair of shows at Assembly in Kingston on April 20 (the evening show is sold out but at the time of this writing, tickets for the 3pm matinee show remained). Ahead of his visit, we caught up with the musician via email to answer the following questions.
—Peter Aaron
Resuscitate! was recorded live midway through the tour for YTILAER [Reality], the studio album you made during the Covid lockdown. What was it like to be able to play these then-new songs with your band in front of an audience and allow them to “breathe” out in the open? How did they change from their initial “cabin” studio recordings?
Bringing saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi into the fold changed a lot. There were horns on YTILAER [Reality] but no saxes. Dustin became the whole horn section and occasional bass regional sound maker and lots of other things. I’ve always had improv in my shows—I can’t live without it— but Dustin pushed that door open wider. Album recordings are like awkward yearbook photos. The songs come into their own when ridden every night. They need the miles on them.
You considered quitting music when you became a parent in 2015. What made you decide to continue?
I wrote some songs! I wrote 20 songs. I also felt an obligation to my cherished listeners. I couldn’t just have a kid and then abandon the listeners. Too much of a cliffhanger or an F you. Like those people that have a kid and then stop paying attention to their dog. Having a kid is a huge change in life and I wasn’t sure what it meant or who I was. So I couldn’t write at first. Then I tried to work it out in song. The only way seemed to be complete honesty.
You have such a distinctive songwriting style, which doesn’t adhere much to the traditional verse/chorus/bridge approach. Are there any other comparable songwriters you feel an affinity with when it comes to your general approach? Who has inspired you as a songwriter over the years?
I appreciate the people who can do verse/chorus/bridge stuff. It’s a timeless formula that can bring you to your knees when done with aplomb. I also like when people write something that makes you say, “Oh? Is that a song? Wait, it IS a song!” Kristofferson, Haggard, Willie, Lou Reed, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb. Fiona Apple. I always check what Billie Eilish is doing. The Breeders.
Your parents worked as language analysts for the National Security Agency, which must have made for an interesting upbringing. Would you say that being around elders who worked with words and language helped to shape your songwriting style? Being a novelist as well, were you interested in literature before you became interested in writing songs? What do you think your father and mother would have to say about the current administration’s cuts to the NSA and other related government agencies?
I think they would be stoked! They were in there and saw firsthand how much bullshit and time waste and dick measuring was going on. My parents were very upstanding rule-abiding types who just wanted to do their jobs to their fullest extents, but there were a lot of employees that wanted to do as little as possible. And that would slow them down. This was 30 years ago but I remember them grousing about the freeloaders. Reading fiction definitely spurred my interest in trying out writing for myself. Certain novels made me realize that we’re all wandering in this rocky, rooty canyon together. And any kind of familiar echo is heartening. Made me realize the potential beauty of sharing what’s in our heads. My parents’ influence on my linguistics was probably largely genetic. They would make the occasional pun but by the time I was 12 I realized how lame their puns were. Languages were the only classes that I could do decently in. And just look at my masterful use of their, there, and they’re in this interview! But my dad didn’t read books except the occasional history book and my mom mostly read frothy murder mysteries, probably trying to figure out how she could murder my dad and get away with it.
What do you most hope that people who see you perform get from the experience of attending your concerts?
That they feel they got their money’s worth. Even if they get in free. And that they get some sense of eternity at their fingertips.
Assembly
This article appears in April 2025.
