A Q&A With Joe Buchanan

Texas country artist Joe Buchanan blends classic sounds with Jewish faith on new album Heaven & Earth.

What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
The new album is called Heaven & Earth and it’s really a landing spot for the last 10 years as an artist. It’s a love letter to the classic country I grew up with and the family that took me in.

What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
The toughest part about putting the release together as an independent artist is time. I’m a team of one for most things and between marketing, content creation, outreach, booking contracts, logistics and more – it’s a lot in a short time. I’ve gotten good at it but it’s always the toughest part.

Who produced the release – what did they bring to it? If you produced it yourselves what do you enjoy most about producing your own material?
This is my first time stepping fully into the producer’s chair. There are so many different threads that have to come together to make an album work and I wanted to be there at each step to support and learn all that I could. We put a great team together to get this album made and it’s been a joy to see it happen, start to finish.

What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
Times are tough right now. I want folks to have a good time when they play these tunes. These songs are about finding the holiness in the everyday and celebrating life. My hope for these tunes is that they do some good out there.

How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Absolutely! We don’t go into the studio until we’re ready to lay everything down. Studio time is money, so you have to have a strong plan before you ever walk through the doors. For each song, we lay down the track live with the whole band and that’s the foundation. It’s the basic track. From there we start adding all the color – harmonies, additional instruments, and more. From there, it’s in to mixing.
A good example is on ‘My Beloved’. When we recorded that, there was an acoustic guitar solo instead of a fiddle solo. We were having a hard time finding a fiddle player that day, so we reached out to a fella named Gabe Witcher. He recorded everything there in his home and sent us the file, which we lined up with what we already had. Worked like a charm.

What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
That’s a great question. I’m a huge fan of classic country and Texas songwriters. Folks like George Strait and Robert Earl Keen have been huge influences on me. I wanted to honour the music that lifts me up and that my wife and I still dance to.

What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
We’ve started to play gigs internationally, so that door is opening up for sure. I’m playing three shows in Israel this year and a show in Birmingham in the UK. I’d love to see Scotland with my wife someday. For dream venues, I’d have to say Gruene Hall or Billy Bob’s in Texas.

If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
‘My Beloved’ is a great place to start as a single but really, if you start at ‘Good Times’ (track one), it’ll carry you right along.

What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
I want the music we make to have a positive impact on the folks who hear it. The world is pretty divided right now. If these tunes can bring some joy to folks and maybe close that divide a little, I’ll feel like I did what I was supposed to do.

Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Thank you for sharing your sacred time with us. It’s been a joy to be with you tonight. I hope you remember that you’re wonderful, just like this. Just the way you are.

Find out more about Joe Buchanan at joebuchananmusic.com