This article was recently pulished in the Knoxville Songwriter's Association Newsletter,
The KSA Songwriter, by Stephen Rhodes. This was a nice write up exposing our songwriting approaches and interests, as well as Foster's (or Forster, as some know him) truly largest and most significant musical influence. Not to be missed.
LOCAL SCENE<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />....
By Stephen Rhodes....
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />....Medford....’s Black Record Collection....
....Knoxville.... based Medford’s Black Record Collection is a quartet of musicians who, in a way, really live up to their quirky name. Their music is heavily influenced by country music, bluegrass, old timey mountain music, and murder ballads--and, as we shall see, much of the music is a collection of tunes highlighting the darker aspects of human nature. The group was started at the end of ’04 by Mike Davis and Matt Foster--two young men of similar age and musical interests. They performed as a duo for the first couple of years, both men playing a variety of stringed instruments--....Davis.... playing the guitar, mandolin, banjo, and harmonica, with Foster handling these same instruments plus the dobro. Live, Davis and Foster play with a lot of energy, exhibiting their instrumental prowess on all these instruments. Tight harmonies round out the sound. With the addition of Clint Mullican on bass and Dave Whitaker on drums, they have added a solid rhythm section. To date, the group has produced two albums; The Flattville Murder Album, and Eccentricity Nos (Not Otherwise Specified--a term connected with ....Davis....’s job as an alcohol and drug counselor). ....
Recently, Davis and Foster agreed to speak with me about their music, influences, songwriting, and their recorded output.....
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“I guess, for me”, Davis told me, ” one of the first records I listened to as a kid was Bruce Hornsby and the Range--that song “The Way It is”--I would listen to that over and over again while I was sitting in my room drawing.” ....Davis.... says he hated country when he was a kid, but started listening to more country music as he got older. He grew up in ..Benton.., ..Tennessee.., a town about 40 miles east of ..Chattanooga.., and he says that there wasn’t much else but country on the radio stations out of ....Chattanooga..... “I was listening to Clint Black, Garth Brooks, and Alan Jackson--folks like that. But then I started really getting into Dwight Yoakum, and he’s been a really big influence on me. Some people have even said I take after him a little bit vocally. I really loved his first two albums, “Guitar and Cadillac’s, Etc, Etc”, and “Hillbilly Deluxe”. He wrote most of the tunes, and the music was a mix of rockabilly, honky tonk, and rock and roll, as well as country. I realized that this guy had something going on that I could really get into.” Davis also talked about his bluegrass influences--artists such as Allison Krauss, Blue Highway, and Tony Rice--“Back when he could sing,” chuckles Davis.....
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Matt Foster listed Ray Stevens as one of his main influences. In addition to the country and bluegrass element to the group’s sound, there is also the unmistakable old timey flavor that permeates the music. “It’s hard to pin the old timey influences on any one person. Doc Watson is one artist I can think of. But Old Timey music is kind of an all encompassing sort of influence, and different people take from it and make it their own,” Davis said.....
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When asked about their songwriting styles, Davis and Foster both confessed to a lack of set patterns to their songwriting. “It varies how I write a song, whether the lyrics or chords come first,” said Foster. ....Davis.... corroborated this, saying: “Sometimes I’ll come up with a melody and the lyrics first. Then I’ll sit down with my guitar and work it out. Other times I’ll come up with a chord progression first. Also, sometimes I’ll sit down and just write words without a melody or chord progressions. There’s no set pattern for how that happens.”....
Medfords’ first album, “The Flattville Murder Album”, is a concept album--a collection of 19 interrelated songs that tell the tale of murder, betrayal, deception, jealousy and hatred in a small ....Tennessee.... town. It’s also historical, set just after the Civil War. The story centers on three brothers, Abner, Latham, and Crawford. All three brothers are in love with Sue O’Reilly, a beautiful, flirtatious, and somewhat wicked woman, ultimately concerned with her own interests. She marries Abner, and then later has an affair with Crawford. Crawford is a crooked sheriff in a dry county, getting his cut of the illegal booze revenues coming into the county. He frames Latham, a simple farmer who has loved Sue for years, with a fake love letter supposedly written by Latham to Sue. Abner, a huge, imposing blacksmith, then kills Latham, his action perhaps fueled by the fact that Latham mistakenly killed his best friend in a Civil War battle--as was not uncommon in ..East Tennessee.. in the Civil War both brothers fought on opposite sides. Abner then goes on a rampage killing Crawford and all the lawmen who tried to stop him and also attempting to kill Sue. The album culminates with “Sinner’s Plea”, a sort of religious song that attempts to offer solace for all the mayhem.....
“These stories are so full of powerful emotions,” ....Davis.... says. “These old murder ballads are legends that often are based on true happenings. And they’re real important and relevant to the people that these things happen to. For people to do some of the things they do to each other there had to have been something really bad that happened to cause it. We wanted to really explore such a story and develop it.”....
The band’s latest album, Eccentricity Nos, which came out about a year ago, is a continuation of the same country, bluegrass, and old timey influenced music, but the group also incorporates some new sounds into the mix, adding a powerful, crunchy electric guitar by ....Knoxville.... guitarist John Pucket. There is an eerie slide guitar on “Athena”, courtesy of Ryan Seymour--....Knoxville.... singer songwriter Sam Lewis’ guitarist. Other ....Knoxville.... musicians contributing to the album are Christina Horn, Sam Lewis, Kevin Hyfantis, Roman Reese, and Clint Young.....
“As the name of the album suggests”, says ....Davis...., “There are a lot of colorful and eccentric characters in the album. For example, in one of the songs, “Daylight above the ground”--the guy in the song is a miner who fights in world War One--he’s digging a hole to his death in one place, then goes overseas and digs a hole to his death in another.”....
..Medford..’s Black Record Collection regularly performs at various ..Knoxville.. venues as well as in ....Nashville.... and other cities. Their next gig is at Sassy Ann’s Blues Bar in ..Knoxville.. on April 3, with Hudson K, also of ....Knoxville..... To hear a sample of their music on the net, they can be heard at www.myspace.com/medfordsblackrecordcollection Also, check out their website www.mbrconline.com for an amusing story on the origin of their name.....