What could three musicians from Portland (USA), Sheffield and London (England) have in common you ask? Well, more than you’d think. In the case of Jeffrey Silverstein, Bobby Lee and Joe Harvey-Whyte, it led to a colorful collaboration in a live album and Cosmic Country Revue tours. During Kilkenny Roots in Ireland this year, the band members got to Cleere’s a bit earlier and recorded three songs for The Influences; Silverstein’s Gassed Up, Lee’s Impregnated by Drops of Rainbow and Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s Observatory Crest.

For those who don’t know (yet), cosmic country is a hybrid genre, most often defined as a mixture of country, western, R&B, soul, folk, and psychedelic music. It is where Portland songwriter Jeffrey Silverstein, Sheffield guitarist Bobby Lee and London pedal steel guitarist Joe Harvey-Whyte come alive. The three found each other in their mutual love for the genre and started collaborating on tours they named Cosmic Country Revue.

Jeffrey Silverstein grew up playing in louder bands. “In college, I started digging in on more ‘classic rock’ (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Allman Brothers) and also fell in love with the sounds of early ‘freak-folk (Devendra Banhart, Vetiver) as well as more ‘stoned’ sounds (Dead Meadow, Brightblack Morning Light). Country, ambient, and solo guitar music came later down the line for me which I think you can hear threads of in what I’m doing now.”

Bobby Lee adds: “A lot of post-punk and psychedelia in my teens, acid folk and cosmic Americana and Balearic into my 20s, deeply unfashionable soft rock in my 30s. I guess my trajectory wasn’t so different from Jeffrey’s. My elevator pitch when I started playing under my own name was ‘the JJ Cale/Durutti Column collab you never knew you wanted’.”

Joe Harvey-Whyte grew up on 70s West Coast music due to his dad’s record collection. “I didn’t get it as a teenager but it planted some seeds for sure. Flying Burrito Brothers, New Riders of The Purple Sage, The Byrds, Jackson Browne… All those tunes had incredible pedal steel and I was hooked on that sound. In the last five years or so I’ve been much more interested in making and listening to ambient music and field recordings. I’ve really gravitated to the releases on the ’12k’ label. I also love American primitive & English folk guitar picking styles. I started out playing guitar and for sure the sounds of John Fahey, Marisa Anderson, Nick Drake, John Martyn have found their way into my guitar playing.”

“Our common ground is those artists who tug at the edges of convention.”

Pretty often it’s the difference in musical taste and background what makes collaborations between musicians particularly interesting. Jeffrey: “Bobby and Joe have unbelievable taste. I’m constantly learning from them. I think our common ground is that we are just always all constantly searching for things we haven’t heard before. We love the thrill of the hunt, the joy of the bargain bin find.”

Bobby: “I think Jeffrey, Joe, and I all have a deep love of bargain bin country rock, denimy singer-songwriters, and early drum machines. Our common ground is those artists who tug at the edges of convention, whether that’s through psychedelics, technology, or philosophical approach, especially within the broad arc of ‘country’ music. None of us are coming from a traditional country music background which helps us feel freer with convention, I think. We quickly discovered we’d all get excited about the same country-funk tune or ambient Americana oddity.”

Joe: “I think we have a shared love for wonky, left-field records that shouldn’t be great but kinda are. I also echo Jeff’s sentiments that music is a search for all three of us. We’re all out there hunting for something that’s gonna make us feel something. A funky vintage drum machine sound, a tear-jerking pedal steel solo, a janky synth in a track that shouldn’t have it but it just makes the tune. When we find these things we share them among each other and that kind of musical conversation is something I deeply value.”

A meeting of kindred spirits

Jeffrey: “I could go on for a long time here but I deeply admire both Joe and Bobby’s work ethic, commitment to community, and their ability to bring folks together wherever they are.” Bobby says: “I first heard Jeffrey’s You Become The Mountain over lockdown and knew instantly I’d found a kindred spirit. Chiming guitars, lo-fi drum machines, ambient-ish bits, gently funky drums. It could have been made for me. I love how spacious Jeffrey’s music is. There aren’t endless layers of guitar or unnecessary affectations. It’s crisp but loose, mellow with occasional gnarliness, simple in the best way, it grooves.”

Bobby met Joe when he was playing in GospelbeacH and The Hanging Stars were on the same tour. “There aren’t that many steel players in the UK, especially ones as good and open-minded as Joe, so it was a real joy to be able to hear him do his thing every night. We’d go to record shops before the shows and seeing him get as excited by Klaus Schulze LPs as Red Rhodes or Lloyd Green, I knew we were on the same page. His Flatland/Spaceland EP is rad too. There’s a few people exploring the experimental potential of the pedal steel right now and Joe is up there with the best of them.”

Joe admires Bobby and Jeff’s determination: “They have a vision, or catch a wave of inspiration, and they follow it wholeheartedly. Their music has atmosphere. You put their records on and you’re transported to another place entirely. I admire the ability to create worlds a lot. They’re both also incredibly generous and kind people. I’ve spent many nights being well fed and watered at Bobby’s place after shows and recording sessions (as well as walking away with a bunch of records and vintage clobber under my arm). And I’m looking forward to hanging with Jeff in Portland on an upcoming tour of the US.”

Cosmic Country Revue

Bobby: “Mostly trying to turn Jeffrey on to 90s British comedies and translating northern slang. Seriously though, Jeffrey’s trips over the pond are usually pretty brief so it could easily become rushed and stressful, but it never feels like that. I feel like a proud father watching Guy and Mark back him up. Joe being in London (and always touring) and us in Sheffield means the novelty still hasn’t worn off playing with him either. This collab came about through some misty-eyed pipe dream so I guess it’s encouraged me to follow through on some of my more pie-in-the-sky ideas.”

Jeffrey: “Working with this crew (including our de facto tour manager Dave Mack) is a dream. Tough to express how grateful I am to be in their orbit. Everything about our collaboration is natural, it just makes sense. That’s very hard to find and I look forward to seeing where we bring CCR next. Bobby and Joe make me want to work harder and more importantly, to not stop.”

Joe: “I think we all just feel like neighbours despite being separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. The positive power of the internet means we can keep the tour bus banter and tune swapping going digitally over the big distances. I was given space to trust my instincts in relation to playing on Jeff’s or Bobby’s music and encouraged to showcase my own music as well as contributing to their work.”

Another collaboration on its way in 2025

While we were taking photos outside of Cleere’s in Kilkenny, Bobby Lee and Joe Harvey-Whyte shared that they’re working on an album together as well. “It’s very nearly done”, Bobby says: “Just a few final mix tweaks to sign off. Hopefully it should see the light of day in early 2025.” It’s been great working with Bobby on this record, Joe adds: “Expect Ambient Americana filtered through the lens of Paris, Texas. JJ Cale stretched out and slowed down across an ambient event horizon. I’m very excited for people to hear this record!”

Photos

Keep watching

Thank you for watching and enjoying this session. You’ll probably like some other sessions from The Influences’ archive too, like these earlier ones we filmed at TakeRoot festival.