Like many touring musicians, Edward David Anderson (EDA) has logged lots of seat time in vans and RVs starting within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. His band, Backyard Tire Fire, toured a bit with Gov’t Mule, Reverend Horton Heat and others, crisscrossing Canada and the USA. EDA has been featured on NPR’s World Café and appeared on the radio program, Mountain Stage. Backyard Tire Fire went on hiatus for about 8 years from 2011 through 2019. During that point, he did some solo work or work together with his other bands, Black Dirt Revival and Alabama Getaway. To cite Jim Hayes from the County Standard Times, “He has a knack for infectious hooks, yet these are well-crafted songs; melodic and upbeat…They appear very real, as in the event that they come from the lifetime of a troubadour. Anderson continues to impress.”
EDA and I discussed the changes that are available making music once a band makes it to a certain degree. Changes occur after some radio play and album reviews. In some ways, EDA said, after a level of success music loses a few of its innocence. It becomes a job, hustling to get the gigs, get reviews and quotes in greater media venues (Rolling Stone Magazine and the Recent York Times still matter). And the social media game has a powerful role, too. Once the curtain is pulled back from the means of making a record, it reveals the business side of creating music.
He identified what number of bands, especially those on the jam band scene, rely upon each social media and an intensely loyal fan base that is not going to only follow those bands but will introduce their children to them by bringing them to festivals. That form of generational loyalty creates a level of success that might be ridden for a very long time.
In Illinois, from one end of the state to the opposite, EDA is regarded not only as an important musician but an individual worthy to know, a genuinely good man. As he and his family have settled in Havana, Illinois, he has reworked his musical journey to provide his family and himself more stability and peace. I first heard his solo act on the Hop String Festival in Joliet in 2012. After a few years of hearing him and improving acquainted, I asked to EDA to do an interview.
We began by discussing early influences.I even have thought of my first musical influences in life. Mom listened to whatever was adult contemporary radio in addition to country/western out in Montana through the late Nineteen Fifties after I was very young. And my dad played guitar so I even have that, too. Or, to cite Paul Simon from Late within the Evening:
“The very first thing I remember
I used to be lying in my bed
I could not have been no more
Then one or two
I remember there is a radio
Comin’ from the room round the corner
And my mother laughed
The way in which some ladies do
When it’s late within the evening
And the music’s seeping through”
GW: When did you first turn out to be aware of music and which type of music struck a nerve?
EDA: I remember records being played in our basement in Lombard, IL within the mid-70s, 8 tracks, too. And there was at all times music on the radio within the automobile or truck. Early stuff I remember is Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Beatles, John Denver, Neil Young, Chuck Berry, Jim Croce, Stones and really anything that was on popular radio on the time. The primary music I ever bought was Chuck Berry’s Best Hits cassette picked up at a gas station. I loved Chuck’s guitar and the cadence of his vocals, it was magic. Still is.
GW: When did you first begin to play and what instrument?
EDA: I picked up guitar at age 16. My pop showed me basic major and minor chords. I could not put it down.
GW: In case you were aware of music at an early age, does hearing that music create any thoughts or feelings now?
EDA: Obviously. One record I even have vivid memories of is known as “Free to be You and Me.” Mid-70s kids records made by Marlo Thomas with plenty of guests like Mel Brooks and Rosy Grier and such. My sisters and I listened to that album countless times, memorized all of the bits. It brings back good memories when my mom was around and really in her element. She loved being a mother and later in life told me that was all she ever wanted was to be a mom. So, after we listened to that record with our 3-year-old daughter now, it brings me back to Lombard, IL within the mid-70s
GW: Did your tastes change as you bought older, junior high and highschool?
EDA: Obviously. In junior high, everybody was listening to Van Halen and stuff like that. I used to be into what was happening. But I had older sisters that were listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Stones, Doors, Dead, etc. I recall hearing all that stuff through the wall in St. Charles, IL. In some unspecified time in the future in highschool, I discovered the Grateful Dead and commenced gravitating towards improvisation and the Allman Bros and such. I used to be down the Phish rabbit hole in grad school after I began listening to Uncle Tupelo. They really resonated with me because I loved old country music as much as I dug rock-n-roll. and their songs are incredible. It felt very accessible and natural, probably because I used to be raised on songs and songwriters. After my wife and I got married, we moved to a small town within the hills about 20 miles north of Asheville, NC. It was there that I began digging into roots music, Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, etc. I had already delved deeply into blues, but hadn’t heard a ton of flat picking and fiddling and banjo at that time, slide guitar too. I picked up on that stuff while living down there needless to say. It continues to evolve. I’m sorta in all places. I really like listening to Miles Davis as much as I do John Prine.
GW: What bands were you seeing in Bloomington/Normal while you were at Illinois State University? And the way soon were you playing?
EDA: Hmmmm, well I wasn’t seeing a ton of bands as I hit the bottom running down there in 1995. I had a band called Brother Jed that developed a following pretty quick. Made a record. Even got on the radio down there right off the bat. So, I didn’t see a ton of stuff because I used to be gigging myself. I remember being in awe of the Spelunkers though, incredible musicians and songs, power pop rock-n-roll trio to the max with insanely cool arrangements. They usually had their shit together, a record deal, a van. I remember riding up with them within the van one time once they played the Metro in Chicago. Definitely had an influence on me. Their drummer John Ganser is now who I play with in Black Dirt Revival and Backyard Tire Fire, an absolute monster drummer and stellar human.
GW: I see now we have a commonality in education. You may have a Masters in Interpersonal Communication; I even have a BA in Communication. Do you are feeling your education influenced your song writing? Did it offer you more tools to specific your thoughts? Reviews praise your way with words and storytelling. Is any of it biographical? I’m considering of Hiding on the Hole. I shared this song with my son; as a Marine, he invaded Iraq in 2003 and has PTSD. He likes his time up in deer stands and living a rural life.
EDA: I’m sure my education didn’t hurt my writing ability as that is what I used to be best at, but truthfully, it probably did not have an excessive amount of an influence. I believe just being in that environment at the moment, from a social perspective, did indeed have a huge impact on how my life turned out. Live music was still the thing that young people craved and sought out. There have been plenty of places to establish and play; bars, house parties, garages, etc. So that is what I did. People still bought your music. There was no web. We chalked the quad and got articles written about us in the coed newspaper. It snowballed. Shortly after ending grad school, the band was given a record deal and a van. It was a special time. but that scene actually had an effect on how things went for me. (There may be) plenty of autobiographical stuff in my songs. even when I invent the characters, you’ll be able to’t really help but let stuff seep in. Hole is most definitely a real story. Wife and I had just a little cabin on Completely happy Hole Lake and we would escape on the market after we could. I remember it was on the time our moms were in decline, so we were stressed and that place was where we might go to get away. I’d write songs and we would float around. Eventually we might sell it for the down payment on the RV that we took on the road together for about 5 years.
GW: I remember a day, years ago, in a campus library, searching through a book on the evolution of language and the importance of bird song. It blew my mind that, while two different centers of the brain process language and music, music is the deeper evolutionary influence. I believe early humans were responding to little wrens with as much joy and inspiration as you probably did along with your song, Little Wren. How do you perceive music?
EDA: I believe how I perceive it has modified through the years. There was a giddiness and an innocence within the early years. Ha! it’s a wierd approach to make a living. I’m not complaining, but I’ll be honest about it. You are principally campaigning non-stop one year a yr, attempting to construct this thing. Attempting to get people to hearken to your songs, to take you seriously. So, music in some unspecified time in the future became a method to an end. A approach to make a living and pay the bills. (It) does not imply it is not sacred to me, because it truly is, however it actually changes your perception.
GW: Do your early songs delay for you or do they reflect the where and when of that point and who you were then?
EDA: A number of delay. To be honest I rarely return. I can inform you that I’ve grown into the songwriter I’m. Some get it young; you already know? Jackson Browne wrote These Days when he was 16. I needed some many years of living and learning to get to where I’m and that is cool. Everybody’s musical journey is exclusive.
GW: I recently read Todd Snider’s remembrance of Loretta Lynn. He recalled spending time together with her at her home. She had a refrigerator loaded with notes, each with just a few words or phrases that may very well be for a song. Do you retain a stash of ideas, phrases and such you come back to for song writing?
EDA: I’ve got stuff laying in all places, lines jotted down. Tons of videos of song ideas that I do not wanna lose, plenty of old demos. But to be honest, I do not return fairly often. If I’m writing, it’s actually because I’m inspired to achieve this. So, I do not return sifting through stuff fairly often.
GW: Do lyrics or melody come first in your songwriting or does it mix?
EDA: It varies. Looks like most times I’ll have a progression on some instrument and melody starts to occur after. And eventually the vibe will ring a bell and words fall from the sky, that is my general model.
GW: After Loretta Lynn passed, I spent a little bit of time listening to Willie’s Roadhouse on Sirius XM. The song, Country Sunshine, by Dottie West was played. The DJ commented that when Coca-Cola bought the rights to the song for a industrial, it was what put her daughter through college.
In case you had an identical probability to do that with a song in your daughter, would you?
EDA: Yep. I used to think that was selling out. Now not.
GW: Out of your website I see Backyard Tire Fire was formed in Asheville, North Carolina, then you definitely went quickly to Georgia. Was it hard to make that move early within the band’s development?
EDA: I believe the whole lot was hard at that time. Asheville wasn’t really a rock-n-roll town so we thought Athens was only just a few hours south and most definitely had a wealthy history. We were pretty broke on the time. Bass player didn’t make the move but would drive down for gigs. It didn’t last. But we were capable of get on a bill on the Georgia Theater and hired a friend to record it. That was our first album, Live on the Georgia Theater. We used it to get gigs and it worked! Six months after moving down there, I used to be working more in a bar than playing, and having way an excessive amount of fun. So, we played Recent 12 months’s Eve 2002 and drove back to Illinois the subsequent day. My brother joined us at that time and it was onward and upward.
GW: Could you list the years of Backyard Tire Fan the flames of to the hiatus by listing just just a few words to explain annually?
EDA: 2001- five dudes get together in a basement in West Asheville, NC
2002- a few of the band moves to Athens, GA and records Live on the Georgia Theater
2003- again, a few of the band moves back to IL where my bro joins and we record & release our self-titled studio debut
2004- my brother quits his job to play full time and we gigged TONS
2005- band puts out Bar Room Semantics and lands management, continues to gig continually
2006- band puts out Skin & Bones EP, lands agent and really hits the road
2007- Vagabonds & Hooligans is released to much critical praise, played Skynyrd Cruise, toured US & Canada with Clutch
2008- band puts out The Places We Lived and continues constant touring, plenty of good press, play with Los Lobos and befriend Steve Berlin
2009- Scott Tipping jumps on board because the touring guitar player, band goes Portland, OR to record Good to Be with Steve Berlin producing
2010- band releases Good to Be and tours the US
2011- band breaks up, or as we said…went on an indefinite hiatus
GW: So how does a black-dirt-educated boy go through Georgia red clay and find yourself sitting on sand in west central Illinois?
EDA: Truthfully, I used to be able to head back to IL from NC as I knew there have been gigs and support. But we decided to make a go of it in Athens. I loved it down there. Had an excessive amount of fun, and regret none of it. Just pleased we left with an album in hand. How did I find yourself in Havana, IL? Well, after we decided to attempt to have a baby, we had this concept of raising it in a rural setting. We love the outside and desired to feel some respiratory room. So, after looking everywhere in the state, we found this place and adore it.
GW: Havana has been a town I even have wandered through since I moved to Illinois. It was a spot to get out of the corn & beans of central Illinois. And I like being by the river. I even have grandkids at school in Havana and am acquainted with all the problems of small struggling rural communities. I grew up in a small town, too, and know there’s at all times undertows. Yet Havana ain’t dead yet. Ben Wright of the Henhouse Prowlers called it probably the most authentic small town he has ever seen and he has traveled a wee bit. We’ve noticed the uptick in good music there, and improved store fronts which we consider connected to you and friends pushing the established structure in fresh directions. Tell me about Havana
EDA: It is a quaint little Illinois River town that is about an hour from in every single place. We desired to move rural and located an incredible piece of land with an old farmhouse inbuilt 1887. We’ve woods and trails and prairie. I even have a studio that sits 200 feet to east of the home. Our daughter loves it. The downtown is within the midst of a revitalization that is de facto beginning to take shape. There’s a ravishing park on the river, red brick streets, stunning architecture and plenty of charm. We dig it.
GW: Do your other enterprises, resembling a talent buyer for places in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois and festival organizer, in addition to a recording studio, permit you to find more balance than simply playing gig to gig? I understand how much work it takes to make things occur. Or does it turn out to be a labor of affection for the reason behind good local/regional music?
EDA: Obviously. I’m playing less as we tackle other endeavors by design. I need to be home. I wasn’t having fun with the travel, especially after our child was born. So we’re determining easy methods to make all of it work as we go. And things have sorta fallen into place. My wife is a force and has really taken to talent buying and dealing within the music biz on the whole. That said, it is often been a labor of affection. Making a living in the humanities is difficult, to say the least. I’m lucky to have done it for the last two and half many years.
GW: How necessary is supporting the local art/music scene to small communities and what are your observations?
EDA: It’s extremely necessary to us as we would like our child to grow up in an enriching environment. One which values arts and culture locally. And it also attracts people to this town, which helps everybody. The more folks visit and and revel in what this place has to supply, the more it’ll grow economically, which advantages each business owners and locals. In response to information from the Havana Chamber of Commerce and their surveys of individuals visiting the town, live music is listed high as the rationale they got here. There have been good local bands like Pork and the Havana Geese that played regionally for years. So there’s a musical history here needless to say
GW: I see that the band members and fans are still on the market keeping Jerry ”Pork” Armstrong’s blues legacy alive; he passed away in 2003. He was an enormous a part of the Central Illinois music scene and involved with WHIP radio when it was an area independent station. What are a few of your memorable moments with the music events in Havana? Mine was when the riverboat disembarked passengers on the park right before the Henhouse Prowlers played this past summer; an unique Illinois River-town event.
EDA: “We were really pleased with the inaugural Havana Songwriters Festival last May and may’t wait to do it again this yr. We have brought acts like Henhouse Prowlers, Miles Nielsen, Chicago Farmer, Backyard Tire Fire, Steepwater Band, Taylor Steele & more to this little town already and have lots in store.
GW: This query is by the use of my grandson, a Havana highschool student and in a Nirvana/Pearl Jam cover band but fascinated by song-writing. Would you concentrate on a songwriter workshop for teens/young adults that do not have access to bars?
EDA: I have been kicking around the concept of a songwriters workshop weekend thing out here on our homestead for a great while. Probably only a handful of oldsters, possibly 4 or 5 aspiring writers wanting to work on the method. Still within the brainstorming phase. After which my wife and I are hoping to assist fill a necessity with some arts programming and if we secure an area, I’d actually consider a songwriter workshop!
GW: With all of the bands and projects, what one would you wish to expound on?
EDA: I’m pretty pleased with how things are lately. I’ve got several projects that every one get concerning the same amount of attention. Very happy to have this latest line up of Backyard Tire Fire rocking in the intervening time. We play about 20 shows a yr. Love fidgeting with Black Dirt Revival and Alabama Getaway too. It could be nice to rehearse every every now and then, but aside from that, I’m pretty pleased in the intervening time.
GW: Out of your social media posts, I see your daughter likes being within the studio with you and enjoys music. Do you’re thinking that she may follow you into music?
EDA: I put an open-tuned guitar in the home. She would walk by and strum or pluck notes after which she began vocalizing in tune to the strings she plucked.
GW: Will you do an album of alternative songs for youngsters along with your daughter helping out?
EDA: I’m guessing that’ll occur, in some unspecified time in the future that’ll occur. We jam together each time she’s feeling it. It’s incredible watching her grow and explore musical instruments and music on the whole. She heard the Miles Davis record Sort of Blue minutes after she was brought into this world. As a baby she was raised on Aretha Frankin’s Lady Soul. She’s heard Tom Petty’s Wildflowers greater than most adults I do know. Same with Prine’s Missing Years. That said, if she doesn’t play a note, I’d be nice with it. I mean I need her to search out joy in music and am cool with nevertheless she goes about doing it.
Assorted musings:
GW: I do know the Drive-by Truckers even have roots in Georgia. Did you already know them?
EDA: We never played together but I used to be acquainted with former member, Jason Isbell, a talented man.
GW: And if the Drive-by Truckers and Backyard Tire Fire played, together would it not be a Drive-by Backyard Truck Tire Fire?
EDA: Ha!
GW: Please comment on the connection: Jerry Garcia is to JGB as EDA is to Alabama Getaway.
EDA: JGB just gave the impression of a great time for Jerry, a release, less pressure. Just playing music with friends and never a ton of expectation. I mean it was serious in that the band could really play off each other and the musicianship was outstanding, however it was loose, you already know? It was also a probability for him to dig into songs he adored that the Dead didn’t play. A lot of soul music. Melvin’s organ was such an enormous a part of that band. After which it seems strange to check, but I suppose there are some similarities. Alabama Getaway is an actual good time for me. Period. There was a rehearsal once about 3 years ago. If latest material is available in, we learn it on our own and take a look at bits at soundcheck. I’ve been playing music with the bass player, Joe Kennedy, because the Brother Jed days within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. Apart from that, it is a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants outfit. One other similarity is that I get to play stuff I really like that I do not play in my other projects. Even bringing in some stuff outside of the Dead catalogue. Like we pulled out Dixie Chicken and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed the last time we played. Each are favs.
Upcoming events:
December 16, Friday, The Primary Room – EDA Solo @ 7:00pm, Havana, IL
DESTIHL Brewery TourBus Concert Series – January 14, Saturday, Edward David Anderson @ 7:30pm, Normal, IL
February 11, Saturday, 1st & third – 6:30pm, Petersburg, IL, United States
February 18, Saturday, Fitzgerald’s – Backyard Tire Fire @ 8:30pm, Berwyn, IL