Jonathan Rundman: an interview and a review.

Jonathan Rundman's "The Best Of Jonathan Rundman: 20 Songs from the 20th Century” was one of my favorite discs of 2007. I described that disc as "following in the power pop tradition of Matthew Sweet (see Goodfriends aka Girlfriend demos)/Nick Lowe/Parthenon Huxley/Tommy Keene/ The Silos with a folky acoustic twist". Rundman's 2008 follow-up "insomniaccomplishments" is an equally impressive collection of intelligent well-crafted songs. Jonathan has penned a collection of tunes with a spiritual twist that wouldn't sound out of place in a rock club or a church sanctuary. “I Thought You Were Mine”, "If You Have A Question”, “I’m A Liar” and “Imperfection” address love, doubt, devotion and yes, imperfection without lecturing or preaching. Like the confusingly similarly named Jonathan Richman (author of “Everyday Clothes” and “When She Kisses Me”), Jonathan Rundman finds pop tunes lurking everywhere: “Her Lip Balm” is a song about her, and her lip balm, and “Dialysis Carpool” is a surprisingly upbeat song about the camaraderie found carpooling to the doctor’s office. Stretching out, Jonathan leads off the disc with an a capella tune and on another track showcases his guitar playing on a Finnish folk song. "insomniaccomplishments" is an infectious disc full of radio and family friendly tunes (not a F bomb to be found) that's currently in heavy rotation at my house. I could go on and on but why listen to me? Let’s ask Jonathan:

HW: I'm a big fan of T-Bone Burnett and Tonio K. Were they an influence on you and your music?

JR: Very observant of you! Yes, both are a huge part of my songwriting and production education. I was a T-Bone fan first, as a high school kid. I loved his production at the time, with the first BoDeans album, Peter Case, Tommy Keene, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, etc. Soon after I discovered his solo records of the late '80s and early '90s and totally loved that stuff, too. I first heard Tonio K when "Notes from the lost Civilization" came out, and T-Bone was the producer on that too. Then I eventually acquired all the other Tonio records...I think "Ole" (again, recorded with T-Bone) is his masterpiece, and one of my all-time favorite records. That whole suspiciously spiritual LA rock crowd of the late-80s have always been my role models....T-Bone, Sam Phillips, Peter Case, Victoria Williams, Maria McKee, Tonio K...and in that era they all worked together, and overlapped with other heros of mine like Bruce Cockburn and Buddy & Julie Miller. In many ways, I've mapped my own career on the tone and attitude that those people set back when I was a teenaged music nerd.

HW: Where does "insomniaccomplishments" come from?

JR: I like making up my own compound words, so I enjoy the huge 22-leter mass of it all. But the title of the album is also literally true. When I was finishing up the album this past Winter, I was coming off of a couple years of terrible sleep problems. My wife and I had new baby in the house who was always waking up, I was recovering from a tonsillectomy and a strange sleep-related side-effect from my pain meds, and my body clock was totally messed up. I was exhausted all day, and wide awake at night. So rather than lie in bed awake and bored all night, I'd get up and go down to my basement studio where I would finish up old song ideas, sing vocal tracks, and experiement with strange instruments and arrangements.So this particular album is literally what I was able to accomplish during my insomnia. Thankfully, this Summer my daughter began to sleep through the night, and I made some changes in my schedule that have finally allowed me to sleep!

HW: Do you have plans to tour in support of "insomniaccomplishments"?

JR: Yes...although the album is being released nationally in December, I've had pre-release copies with me on tour this Fall. I've been on the road a lot. Since September I've played in KS, AZ, NY, MA, MI, WI, MN, IL, TX, ND, and OK. All sorts of gigs...rock clubs, churches, coffeehouses, colleges, hotel lounges, house concerts. I'll be doing official CD release shows in Minneapolis and St. Paul in December, and in 2009 I've got gigs shaping up in Chicago, California, and the Pacific Northwest.

HW: I really like your version of the Finnish folk song "Kuortane". It reminds me of an acoustic Richard Thompson recording!

JR: Thanks! I love acoustic instrumental music, and I'm a big fan of guys like Richard Thompson and Bruce Cockburn. My ancestors came to the USA from Finland in 1903 (some of them came from the Finnish town of Kuortane, where the song comes from), and in the past few years I've been able to play shows over there. I've also been listening to some contemporary Finnish folk music too, like Varttina. This past Summer I got to sit in on mandolin with one of the best Finnish bluegrass bands, the Ninni Poijarvi Trio...we did Finnish folk songs as well as American country tunes by Julie Miller and Dolly Parton. It was a blast. I plan to work on learning more Scandinavian music...my wife plays accordion, and we have fun doing duet arrangements of those old Swedish and Finnish folk songs and hymns.

HW: Could you describe the weirdest gig you ever played?

JR: There are too many weird ones to name. I've played a preschool PTA hot dog picnic. I've played for residents at nursing homes. I've played a show for inmates at a maximum security prison. When I was 19 years old I traveled to former East Germany right after the Berlin Wall came down and played concerts for people who had never seen an American before. I played a show in the basement of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I played for 36,000 Lutheran youth in the Lousiana Superdome in New Orleans. My first real gig was when I was 17 years old, opening for folk legend Greg Brown in a hockey arena. It's been a strange career.

HW: Turn us on to a favorite band (or two) or yours that's under the radar.

JR: My two favorite bands came out of the late-80s pre-Americana movement...The Rainmakers and The Silos. Other obscure bands who I totally idolize are The Pursuit of Happiness (from Canada), Michael Hall (from Austin, TX).
HW note: Check out "Public Library” Jonathan’s disc produced by Walter Salaa-Humara of the Silos and featuring the Silos as his backing band. Highly recommended.

HW: Have you ever played Guitar Hero?

JR: I played Rock Band once, and I was terrible at the guitar parts. The drumming was okay, and I sang "Peace of Mind" by Boston and scored a 93! I was very proud of myself.

HW: Is spiritual power-pop a genre? Thanks for the music whatever you call it!

JR: I'm not sure if it's a musical genre, but there are a few folks (who we discussed in the first question) who've done great work exploring those topics. These days there's a new cohort of folks who write that way...people like David Bazan, Sufjan Stevens, etc. But I'm forever indebted to those bands from the '80s who I discovered in high school.

Disclosure: Jonathan sent HickoryWind unsolicited copies of “The Best Of Jonathan Rundman” and “Public Library” last year. I’ve enjoyed those two discs so much that I couldn’t in good faith request a review copy of the new disc. I sent a check and received my copy with a post-it note that read “Thanks Hal! You’re the first to purchase this CD-JR”

Money well spent!