In the 15 years of The Influences that have passed, a lot of my new favourite musicians are people I’ve gotten to know through other artists. They’ve either supported them or played in their bands. Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears is no different. I noticed him playing with Erin Rae and started listening to his own work, and loved it very much. His album Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears is one of those records that you can put on at any given moment and enjoy it – particularly while driving around or walking in the woods. So, during his European tour playing with Spencer Cullum last Spring, we met at Grasnapolsky’s office in Utrecht and recorded a cover of J.J. Cale’s After Midnight and his own Saturday Drive.

Spencer Cullum also recorded a session, you can expect that sometime soon as well. Also playing, on both sessions, is Rich Ruth (from S.G. Goodman among others).

“You can’t go wrong.”

“I love playing After Midnight so much. It’s just such a fun number that gets me really excited. Between all the different great JGB covers and the original J.J. Cale version, you can’t go wrong. This song was really fun to mess around with and use the drum machine during our Europe tour this summer. I miss it!”

“We have never played this song the same way twice.”

“I wrote Saturday Drive in the Spring of 2020 when everything felt like it was closing in. Afraid of people breathing on me and all the weird anti lock down freaks. I came up with the idea when I was walking my dog in the woods and realizing how much peace walking my dog brought me and how much of a break it gave me from the world. The song has morphed many times and probably has never been played the same way twice. I love it for that reason. It’s definitely become a vehicle for jamming and improvising live.”

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 by Erin Rae.