He walked into Bridie’s Bar & General Store carrying nothing. Not an instrument or a bag, not even a cup of coffee. Upstairs, he picked up two of my friend David Froggatt’s guitars and picked one. Fifteen minutes later, Willy Mason’s session was done. A special experience this was, for all involved. Hours before his sold out full band show at Kilkenny Roots, the versatile artist from New York City played We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me) – known for versions by The Ink Spots, Frank Sinatra and many others – Rolling Home, a traditional song based on a poem by Charles Mackay and his own unreleased I’m Sailing – which could have been a traditional song just as well.

“When I was first learning how to sing I was trying to learn Leadbelly songs and sing them in a way that my friends would be able to appreciate their wisdom, humour, and brilliance; since lyrics and subtleties are often lost on older low fidelity recordings. Exploring other times and places through their songs has given me a lot of confidence and comfort in my writing, knowing the boldness and playfulness people have brought to songwriting over the years.”

“Lately I’ve been finding this in the 60s and 70s gospel recordings of The Pitch / Gusman; the Mills Brothers; Roger Miller; and the folk song collections of Burl Ives. Another huge influence has been the songs of my parents, Jemima James and Michael Mason.” At the end of our conversation, Mason tells me about the time he put on his father’s musical production and his plans to record songs by his father – who passed away two years ago. “There are some songs that we only had the lyrics of, so I had to remake the music from my memory of him playing them.”

‘The song evokes another world’

We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me) is a ballad published in 1939 by Nelson Cogane, Sammy Mysels and Dick Robertson. It was a hit song in 1940 for both The Ink Spots on Decca and Frank Sinatra with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Willy Mason chose it for this session because it was his favourite song to sing at the time. “It still is one of my favorites. I learned that off of the recording by The Ink Spots, which is a vocal group that I’ve been listening to a fair bit. I love the melody and the writing behind it, and it was a real challenge to learn. Every time I learn a song like that, it pushes me to learn how to use my voice better because the melody is kind of specific and a little bit more complex than a lot of the things that I already know. The song evokes another world, it feels like it comes out of a dream or something. To me, the melody and the sentiment, it sort of evokes feeling alone and yet at one with the universe at the same time.”

When Willy Mason started out as a nineteen-year-old, two decades ago, it was a splendid bit of luck that kickstarted his career. “I never thought I would have a career as a musician, after seeing my parents doing music. Other jobs seemed more stable.” But when Sean Foley, a friend of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, discovered Mason’s music on a local Martha’s Vineyard radio broadcast, Oberst offered him a record deal. “Things happened fast and I had a lot to learn, because I was doing and experiencing things I never had to think about before. Looking back now, there are things I’m proud of and other things I’m just happy I got through. I am proud of the recordings and of most of the shows we played.”

“Now things have evened out to some kind of nice balance where I am able to record and release albums and go out on tour at times.” Mason’s writing isn’t easy to pin down to any particular genre, and that probably helped getting to work and tour with a variety of musicians, like Lianne La Havas, Jamie Woon, Brendan Benson, Radiohead, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Death Cab For Cutie, KT Tunstall and The Chemical Brothers. Later this month, he’ll support Lisa Hannigan on a bunch of dates.

‘My favorite way to learn about history and social history is through songs’

Rolling Home is a traditional song with lyrics based on a poem by Charles Mackay. “I’m still trying to research that song and that melody, to find out if that really is the origin of it or if it preceded those lyrics, which were written by a poet. I have found different versions of the lyrics, but those are my favorite so far. I like to have a little bit of an understanding of the history of what I’m singing. And I also like that sometimes it can be a thread that will lead to more discoveries, you know, find maybe a composer behind a song that has other good music. It’s my favorite way to learn about history and social history through the songs because I feel like I can really connect with the way that somebody is thinking and feeling through the songs that they write more so than even a photograph.”

“Melody can also add so much meaning to words. Depending on the cadence of the melody, it can, you know, color the meaning behind a simple phrase. It’s not something that I have mastered to the point of being able to control it, but I do work with melody and lyrics to try to get the most out of what I’m saying. And it’s something that I’m always trying to get further along with; to experiment with new melodies. I need to stay playful and relaxed with it, because if I try to get too controlled with it, or too much of an intention with it, I sort of lock down.”

“It’s the way that I write because it’s what I appreciate in other art. I like things that have layers of meaning and that have room for interpretation and to grow over time. Those are the things that I’m always seeking out in art, and so I guess I’m always seeking them out while I’m writing too. Just phrases that have different shades and sides of meaning depending on how you look at them, and how they come around through different verses and different lyrical contexts and melodic contexts. I like lyrics that have room to breathe and adapt to whatever situation they’re being heard in.”

Willy Mason is sailing (well, flying) to Ireland again.

Here’s a list of his tour dates.

• Nov 9 – Levi’s corner house – Ballydehob
• Nov 10 – Park Hotel – Kenmare
• Nov 15 – Richmond Revival – Fermoy
• Nov 16 – Dublin – vicar st (opening for Muireann Bradley)  
• Nov 20 – Cleary’s Window Session – Newcastle West  

The rest of these shows are opening for Lisa Hannigan: 

• Nov 21 – Theatre Royal Waterford, The Mall – Waterford
• Nov 22 – TF Royal Hotel & Theatre – Castlebar
• Nov 23 – The Everyman – Cork
• Nov 25 – Vicar Street – Dublin 
• Nov 26 – Mandela Hall, Belfast

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 Kilkenny Roots.