Kenny Mehler — Cornbread and Whiskey

Kenny Mehler makes country rock without the elaborate sales pitch. Cornbread and Whiskey brings together acoustic rock, Americana and alternative country, with storytelling at the centre of it all. “Moses Brown,” originally featured on his 2007 debut now, returns in a reworked version, while “Pasadena” underwent a complete lyrical and structural overhaul before reaching the album.

Mehler's lets the song determine its own direction, keep the story understandable and give the musicians room to contribute. It's an approach rooted in years of performing around New England, where a song needs to hold up just as well on an acoustic guitar as it does with a full band.

Interview

You say you'd rather let the music do the talking than rely on self-promotion. What do you think listeners can understand about Kenny Mehler simply by hearing the songs that an artist biography could never communicate?

I have no issue with a well-written, accurate artist biography that provides a foundation and a clear understanding without attaching grand expectations that the reader brings along before actually listening to a song. Even if the song resonates with the listener on some level, the odds of it living up to the unsolicited self-hype that was force-fed to them are extremely slim.

I think the majority of new listeners would probably appreciate a "clean canvas" approach rather than a hyped-up introduction filled with crazy expectations.

I am certainly not an expert, nor do I claim to be, when it comes to crafting artist biographies. I just think that if an artist feels so passionate and confident about the overall outcome, why not let the music do the talking?

"Moses Brown" and "Pasadena" became defining songs from Cornbread and Whiskey. What did those two tracks reveal about your songwriting that you hadn't fully understood when you were making the album?

During one of the first pre-production meetings for Cornbread and Whiskey, it was decided to include "Moses Brown," even though the song had previously appeared prominently on our first album, Now (2007). The producer was adamant about it, so we agreed to re-record the song but change it up a bit.

So, as far as "Moses Brown" goes, we sort of knew ahead of time what we were getting into.

Now, "Pasadena" was a different story. It took a complete lyrical rewrite and a full overhaul of the song's structure. The original demo for "Pasadena" sounds nothing even close to the final album version.

I made the mistake of playing the original demo version for my daughters one time in the car, and they were ruthless! It was hilarious, and now it has become an ongoing punchline.

Your music sits between acoustic rock, roots music and alternative country. What determines when a song should lean toward the rougher edge of rock and when it needs the more stripped-back character of roots or country?

I am of the opinion that a song will ultimately dictate its own direction and shouldn't be forced to conform to something it's not.

One of my earlier answers seems to apply to this question as well.

"Let the music do the talking."

Cornbread and Whiskey is a title that immediately creates a strong sense of place and character. How important are specific objects, names and details to the way you build a song's world?

As a songwriter, I think it's extremely important to establish a setting and environment for your song right out of the gate. It provides you, as the writer, with a much more specific foundation to draw from and build a stronger, more authentic narrative upon.

Whenever possible, I really try to paint a picture and tell a story that has a beginning and some sort of closure, good or bad.

I also aim to keep whatever story I'm telling fairly simple, as listeners come in all shapes and sizes, with completely different triggers. Some are really into lyrics and word association, while others are content with just vibing to the melody.

You perform both intimate acoustic sets and full-band festival shows. What changes inside a song when you move from playing it alone with an acoustic guitar to performing it with a full band?

I would say the song itself remains the same. The difference is the energy provided in a full-band setting.

The "nuts and bolts" of the song don't change, only the manner in which they're presented to the audience.

For example, an acoustic version of a song tends to be stripped down, just the bare bones, with a clear, recognizable, strong structure.

Now take that exact same song, add five more cooks to the kitchen who mix their own distinct flavors into your original recipe, and you're left with something completely new.

Not a new song, but a new song structure, complete with unique solos, three-part harmonies and extended improvisation that wouldn't be possible in a solo acoustic format.

There's a certain honesty in the way you've approached your music and promotion that seems to carry over into the songwriting. Are you consciously trying to avoid polishing away the rougher, more human parts of a story?

That is a great question. I like the way you put it: "rougher, more human parts of a story."

That is the one aspect of songwriting that I have deliberately worked hard over the years not to include.

I believe people deserve better.

In order to understand exactly what I'm talking about, we need to go back in time a bit.

So, at the very, very beginning, before I had a band or had even recorded a single song, I would perform solo acoustic sets on Tuesday nights at a tiny bar on Pratt Street in Hartford, Connecticut, to an empty room.

It must have been my first or second Tuesday night show down there when a complete stranger walked up and said something that has stuck with me ever since.

He said, "I really enjoyed your music. It was refreshing and agenda-less."

At the time, I didn't really understand what he was talking about, but then he added, "Never mix politics, religion or things of that nature with your music. It can only bring you trouble."

Connecticut isn't always the first place people associate with country rock or Americana. What aspects of Hartford and the wider New England environment have found their way into your music?

I agree. Connecticut is definitely not making the top 10 list of U.S. states that you would immediately associate with country music.

However, Connecticut has no shortage of country fans, bars and venues that support live music.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but if I had to guess, the number of country music fans in New England has doubled or even tripled over the past decade or so.

We started out playing clubs and bars in Hartford, and I can tell you firsthand that country music is now pretty widespread in the area and extremely popular among concertgoers.

You have to move between very different kinds of audiences when playing a quiet acoustic show versus a larger festival set. Do you write differently when you imagine a song being heard in an intimate room compared with a field full of people?

I wish I could tell you I have some really cool, elaborate process that goes down when it comes to writing songs.

But to be honest, it's not very interesting at all. It's always the same. Just me, alone with an acoustic guitar, and absolutely nobody remotely close enough to hear a sound.

I am good about recording everything, just in case something actually starts to surface.

Unfortunately, being my own ruthless critic, it typically turns out to be a pretty uneventful event.

Your reluctance to "self-hype" is unusual in an era where artists are expected to constantly explain and promote themselves. Has stepping back from that culture given you more freedom to focus on the actual music?

My reluctance to "self-hype" is something I have been trying to put into practice for a long time. However, due to the current state of the industry and online social media, it has become increasingly hard to avoid.

As an artist, it's next to impossible for me to even find the necessary time to manage, at a bare minimum, the growing number of social media platforms being used for music promotion across the internet.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the hustle.

I am a full-time touring artist, musician and singer-songwriter, and because of the changing landscape of the music industry, my offstage responsibilities now include tour manager, booking agent, publicist, event promoter and social media cheerleader.

Oh yeah, and I'm also the father of identical triplet daughters.

So, in a perfect world, if I had the opportunity to remove one of my "extra job titles," I would retire my pom-poms, remove the distracting social media apps from all my devices and get back to the things I truly enjoy: writing songs and being a dad.

What have you learned from the songs that connect most strongly with your live audiences that you now carry into your newer songwriting?

So, from a live perspective, I have always really enjoyed the "crowd participation" aspects that were intentionally written into various songs.

Some have knocked it out of the park, and, well, some not so much.

Identifying those interactions in a live setting is pretty cool. Going forward, you try to remember what worked and what was overlooked.

There's no exact science to it. However, there is a fine line between trying to force a reaction at a particular point in a song and letting the audience come to that conclusion on their own.

In my experience, it feels way more genuine when an audience just figures that stuff out without having to be asked.

After building a following while deliberately letting the music speak for itself, what do you want the next chapter of Kenny Mehler's music to say that Cornbread and Whiskey couldn't?

The next album, currently in production, is more of a return to our original sound and is comparable to my first record, Now, back in 2007.

Not to say there was anything wrong with the country vibe that Cornbread and Whiskey brought to the table.

This new batch of tunes that I wrote just came out screaming for a "less is more" approach rather than a bunch of extra layered production.

So, we opted for a return to our stripped-down, acoustic-driven, rootsy sort of 2007 feel.

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