Vancouver poet and singer-songwriter Rodney DeCroo sent me an LP of his latest album, Allegheny – yes, a 33 1/3 vinyl recording. I took it home, dusted off my old turntable and gave the record a spin. What I heard was a departure, yet gripping and genuine. It compelled me to talk to DeCroo about his creative journey.

In part one of this interview, DeCroo talked about how music keeps him sane and how Allegheny explores his childhood in Pennsylvania, in a place he described as “a small town along the Allegheny River where people worked in the coal mines, the mills, the local power plant or for the railroad.” On the album, he’s turned his memories of the place into what he calls poem-songs.

In part two of my interview with Rodney DeCroo, we spoke about writing poetry and songs, about the return of vinyl – and about reconnecting, through cover art, with his hometown and old friends.

Q: Tell me about how you write. Music or lyrics first?

A: I can't separate them. I sing the songs out as I write them…. I pick up my guitar every day. Usually I play other people's songs and sometimes that gets me into the space where I want to write. Then I start strumming different chord combinations in different ways until I find something that draws me in and then I'll play it over and over until I sing a line that sticks. Then I'll play those chords and sing that line repeatedly until another line comes. The song will evolve from there. Sometimes I'll read poetry aloud and that inspires me to pick up the guitar to find chords for a line that comes into my head.

Q: Is your process different when writing a poem you’re going to set to music? Or any poem?

A: I've never written a poem with the intention of setting it to music. The idea to put the poems to music came well after the fact. I had my doubts about whether bringing in music would truly work, but Rob Malowany composed music that got inside the poetry and my performance of the words. They – the poems/music – became their own thing, beyond the poems on paper. That's why it works, in my mind. My process of writing poems is similar to how I write songs. I write one line and then read it aloud and sit with it until the next line comes.

Q: Is Allegheny only coming out on LP?

A: As hard copy, yes. We're not doing CDs. It's also available digitally online.

Q: Vinyl LP and digital… Do you think vinyl is making a comeback? Or is this record an homage to the oily Allegheny River?

A: I just think vinyl is way more gratifying. I love album art and I love the heft of a record in a sleeve. I love the ritual involved in getting a record out, having to be gentle with it, keeping it clean, putting it on the turntable, dropping the needle and listening to it. It's not as impersonal as jamming a CD into your computer and forgetting about it. I find CDs too conspicuously disposable and ugly. I don't care about having them, even though I like the content. Owning a record is a commitment – at least, it feels that way to me. I love the album art on records – that's half of why I buy them. I don't know if vinyl is making a comeback, but I do know that there's more of an opportunity for me to make vinyl because I can sell it at shows. People don't keep CDs as much. They download most of their content. A record is great thing that you can take away from a show that also sounds way better than an mp3.

Q: Who took the cover picture for the LP?

A: The cover picture is of a spot along the river where we use to gather as kids to fish and hang out. When we hit our mid-teens we used to gather there to party. An old friend from my childhood who still lives in my hometown, Brad Yaksich, took the photo. He's a photographer. The spot hasn't changed at all. Brad's participation in this project has been exciting for me as I'd left when I was 16 and swore I'd never go back. We just started writing back and forth over the last year on Facebook. I now hear from other guys I grew up with, too.

I ended the interview by asking DeCroo to name five artists and the songs by them that have had an impact on him. Here’s his list.

  • Herald Nix: “What a World,” “Gonna be a Playboy,”  “Small World,” Outside the Death House.”
  • Jon Wood (Flophouse Jr.): “Transistor Radio.”
  • Elliot Smith: “Miss Misery,”  “Needle in the Hay.”
  • Bob Dylan: “Not Dark Yet,” “Red River Shore.”
  • Patti Smith: “Horses.”

Album Release show

The Allegheny release show will be February 25 at Gallery Gachet (88 E. Cordova) in Vancouver. Also on the bill that night will be The Minimalist Jug Band, Doug Andrews (Circus In Flames), Mark Haney, and Fraser Mackenzie.

Rodney DeCroo Discography:

Rodney DeCroo and The Killers (2004) – Northern Electric Records

War Torn Man (2006) Northern Electric Records
Trucker’s Memorial  with Rae Spoon (2008) Northern Electric Records
Mockingbird Bible (2009) Northern Electric Records
Queen Mary Trash (2010) Northern Electric Records
Allegheny (2012) Barge Records

posted by Derek Bird on Feb 23, 2012