Newspaper Page Text
Slow Burn
KURT VILE ON HIS STEADY ASCENT
By Adam Clairmusic@flagpole.com
C ompared to the bleary, blurry home
recordings released at the beginning
of his career, Kurt Vile’s most recent
record, 2015’s B’lieve I’m Goin Down..., is
a much more polished effort. Even now,
though, everything the 37-year-old guitar
ist makes seems to maintain the slow drag
of a lit cigarette resting on the rim of an
ashtray, a smoldering little sun burning
brightly in the dark, creeping almost imper
ceptibly to its terminus.
Vile hasn’t hit the filter yet. With each
of his half-dozen full-lengths, he’s sold a
few more records and played slightly big
ger venues. There hasn’t been one breakout
moment, but day after day, he works his
way farther up a ladder, getting closer to
the blinking “Rock Star” sign at the top.
Though his music draws heavily on work
ing-class heroes like Springsteen, Dylan and
Neil Young, it’s that steady, hard-earned
ascent that gives Vile his blue-collar bona
fides. He’s watched others leapfrog him to
stardom overnight, but he’s content to stay
the course.
“I can see I’ve been doing it longer than
most of those people, and put out more
songs than most of those people,” he says.
“I just kind of steady do my thing. It’s like a
slow burn.”
Vile’s last record sold better than any
before it, and ended up near the top of
numerous year-end lists. The first track on
the album, “Pretty Pimpin,” hit No. 1 on
Billboard’s Adult Alternative chart. Success
is hard to quantify in the music world, but
this was a tangible milestone.
“That never happened to me before.”
Vile says. “I [have seen] my fans change on
this record. We’ve had to make some crew
adjustments and become more professional.
We had a bus in America for the first time.
All those kinds of little things.”
The current state of the music economy
all but necessitates a working-class ethos,
regardless of genre or style. Aside from the
hustle and sacrifice required to “make it” as
one up-and-comes, most folks need another
job to finance their artistic pursuits. As a
solo performer working his way up through
the Philadelphia DIY scene—where bands
play in the same burnt-out warehouses
and factories yesterday’s laborers labored
in—Vile’s work was easy to frame in a blue-
collar context.
Maintaining that approach as his profile
has risen is a testament to its authentic
ity. Though he tours plenty and recorded
B’lieve in 10 different places (including the
Athens studio of his touring drummer, Kyle
Spence), Vile still spends most of his down
time in the Philly area, near his family and
the “roots-slash-psychedelic record-nerd
scene” he emerged
from. He has his
sights fixed on the
future while perpetu
ally keeping his past
in mind.
“The thing I like
about the early stuff
is that it’s like a real
moment captured,
letting your guard
down, recording
in your house, not
knowing what’s going
to happen tomorrow,”
he says. “[There’s]
a lot of passion in
those little pop songs.
I’m trying to get back
to that. I’m setting up
a home recording stu
dio. But I don’t want
it to sound shitty. I
like the idea of cap
turing those record
ings at a little higher
fidelity, but letting
your guard down.
Capturing the vulnerability. I’m still work
ing that in, keeping my roots there.”
He doesn’t seem surprised by his rising
profile—just the opposite, actually—but
he’s not content yet, either. He speaks with
the air of a train passenger, gazing out the
window to take in his surroundings, all
the while feeling a little restless, knowing
he’s not yet where he wants to be. He is as
cognizant of his destination as he is of his
point of departure, even if both can get a
little fuzzy.
“I want to be a little more popular and sell
a few more records each time,” Vile says, “but
I want to put some things out myself on the
side, or get more involved with show biz. All
those kinds of things, but ultimately staying
true to the music and not selling out.” ©
WHO: Kurt Vile and the Violators,
Luke Roberts
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 28,8 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $21 (adv.), $26 (door)
NORTHEAST
GEORGIA’S
2009
hendershots
coffee • bar • music
. .ym'l fasten
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25™
c/ea/ oft/e cueeA ...
WEE SIDE
OE LEWIS' PUMPKIN CUm SOUP
when you mention this ad
ACTIVE CLIMBING
Athens, ga
655 BARBER ST. - 706.354.0038
ACTIVECLIMBING.COM
ATHENS’ INTIMATE LIVE MUSIC VENUE
See website for show times & details
hendershotscoffee.com
237 prince ave.
706.353.3050,
AN EVENING WITH
\
I
JUNE 9 & 10
FOX THEATRE
TICKETS ON SALE JAN. 20 AT 10AM
FOXTHEATRE.ORG
855-285-8499
* '
THEAVETTBROTHERS.COM
JANUARY 25, 2017 | FLAGPOLE.COM 13