by Jane Roser
So what’s it like living in a trailer on a 17 acre farm in Tennessee for two years with no central heat or air conditioning? Surprisingly, not so bad. For singer/songwriter Joseph LeMay, the experience was calming and highly inspiring. LeMay lived on his in-laws’ farm in Dyersburg, situated northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River, with his wife Molly. This is where he wrote and recorded most of his debut full-length album, Seventeen Acres, which was released on May 20th, 2014.
“We lived there for two years and got so used to everything,” says LeMay, “it really streamlines and compacts your life living in a tiny space, so you start using fewer things.”
Recording the album in a cabin on the property (“recording in the trailer would have been a nightmare”) in only ten days, LeMay recalls the experience to be a whirlwind. “We got a trailer and a van and basically hauled an entire studio from Nashville to Dyersburg. We tried to be as live as possible and maintain that integrity, but because of the small space, we couldn’t really have a full band.”
LeMay learned a lot about creating an album from legendary producer Charlie Peacock (The Civil Wars, The Lone Bellow) who produced LeMay’s first EP and became a good friend and mentor. Peacock had a large part in shaping the intention and element of artistry in the music that LeMay creates, which in turn, lent itself to his production style on Seventeen Acres.
“We were extremely focused on the songs,” says LeMay. “We had 20 songs and we recorded 11 for this album. Each time we finished a song, we’d then start over from scratch and by doing that, we had this continuity throughout the album, plus an element of freshness; it all worked together to have a balance.”
The niftily titled track “Possumhaw” is a simple, poetic tune that causes you to pause for reflection: “listen to the tin roof singin’ in the pale moonlight; wonder why it’s always so sad at night, and when I see the rain falling on the earth’s skin, I’m thinkin’ of the way things might have been.”
“That song was sort of a dark horse on the album,” explains LeMay. “I wasn’t too sure about it [at the time].” A possumhaw is a tree or shrub, very much like a holly bush with green leaves and small red berries, that mainly grows in swampy areas. LeMay was inspired by one he saw growing next to his driveway in the wintertime. “It was just a dreary Tennessee day and it was the only thing that was green; it reminded me of how, in the darkest periods of life, there are these sort of redemptive things that are there if you look for them. It’s a contemplative song with drab imagry and a desolate feeling, but there’s also a romanticism to it as well. The contrast and commonalities of pain and redemption.”
Then there’s “Warrant For My Worry” which comes in at an impressive 73 seconds and was the last song to be recorded. LeMay needed one more track to segue from “Fruit On The Vine” into “Call It Quits”; there was a divide there that he felt wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. “I had just written this a cappella song and sent it to my friends who worked on the album and also to my engineer (Chad Wahlbrink). We only had 30 minutes to record it in Chad’s living room in Nashville, so we did it in three takes with one mic. [The experience] was very serendipitous.”
Last month, LeMay was featured for The Made In Network’s #artistinresidence series. Fans were asked to tweet suggestions for song themes and from that blossomed “Lily”, which was written from the perspective of a flower, but could also be a metaphor for a man trapped in a small town.
LeMay thought “if you bloom where you’re planted, you’ll die where you’re thrown.” LeMay’s residency was announced on a Monday, the song was written on a Tuesday, recorded on Wednesday, videotaped for YouTube on Thursday and then he moseyed off on Friday. Absolutely no pressure whatsoever. LeMay hit a homerun with “Lily”, which is haunting and almost, visceral to listen to, striking a relateable emotional, longing tone that touches the very core of one’s humanity.
Seventeen Acres has been racking up the accolades and the holy grail of them all, Rolling Stone, recently featured it on their list of “The 26 Albums of 2014 You Probably Didn’t But Really Should Hear” alongside such legends as Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and John Fulbright. Fans have also been gushing about LeMay on social media and one iTunes reviewer stated, “I just watched him play last weekend and enjoyed his performance a lot. I saw six bands in Nashville and he was by far the best. [He has] a lot of soul and artistry.”
LeMay is currently in the midst of booking several tour dates for the fall and foresees being on the road for the rest of the year (be sure to check out his website www.josephlemaymusic.com for shows in your neck of the woods). A vinyl release of Seventeen Acres is also on the horizon, as well as a new album by the beginning of 2015. “There aren’t a whole lot of huge irons in the fire, so to speak, but it’s exciting because the possibilities are endless.”
Considering that I spoke with LeMay last month and his popularity and fan base has grown tremendously since then, I’d say that the irons are currently sizzling in that pot right now and the possibilities are indeed endless.
