INTERVIEW: Quinn DeVeaux
Quinn DeVeaux
The Photo Ladies Interview
Nashville-based artist Quinn DeVeaux spent his early years with his grandmother, a former jazz singer, in Gary, IN cultivating a love of music that would help him go on to discover his signature sound. Combining gospel, blues, soul and R&B, DeVeaux has created a sound that he has been dubbed "blue beat soul", that encompasses sounds of the past with his own modern touches. As a teen, he headed west with his guitar, landing in San Francisco where he became a founding member of local group Blue Roots. Following his time in Blue Roots, DeVeaux went on to form Quinn DeVeaux & The Blue Beat Review, releasing several acclaimed albums and performing raucous live shows that showed his fans a boisterous good time. Now performing simply as Quinn DeVeaux, he recently released his new album Book Of Soul via QDV Records, an album that harkens back to the era of the iconic Sun Studios in Memphis. DeVeaux wrote and produced the entire album himself and recorded the album in Nashville, TN at The Bomb Shelter, with the versatile sounds focusing on showcasing his deep love for storytelling. With sounds reminiscent to artists such as Nathaniel Rateliff, Leon Bridges, Anderson Paak, Al Green and Bill Withers, DeVeaux blends the sounds from all of his influences and elevates them through his timeless sounds. “I love this record and feel that I am at the beginning of a new era in my creative life,” says DeVeaux. “I want as many people to hear this record as possible and looking back I'm not sure I ever felt that way. This record has more of my soul in it than anything I've done.” You can follow Quinn DeVeaux and stay up-to-date with all upcoming music and news, as well as stream and purchase his music, via the following links:
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You spent your early childhood in Gary, IN living with your grandmother, who was a former jazz singer. What kind of influence did she have on you as an artist and your love of music in general?
I think she instilled my love of music in me. She would always have me and my sister singing in the back seat of the car, on the way to church or the store or wherever. She would help us with our harmonies. We would be singing, like, commercials or some song that we heard on the radio. She was a great singer, in and out of the church. She got me piano lessons, which of course I didn't keep doing, because it was piano or Nintendo and at that age Nintendo sounds a lot more fun [laughs]. Of course now I wish I had kept doing it, but she got me those first piano lessons. She really instilled in me a joy and a love of music.
You were brought up with two religious faiths- Jehovah's Witness and Baptist. How did that shape your views on the world and on your faith growing up? There are some pretty distinct differences between the two religions!
Yeah, you know it was interesting. It was very existential for me growing up because I was really...I mean, I think that religion is supposed to do a lot of things perhaps, but certainly one of them is to make sure you know what is going to happen to you when you die, or at least give you some faith. The two faiths are pretty diametrically opposed (laughs)! In the Baptist church, it's more traditional where you die and you either go to heaven or hell. But with Jehovah's Witness, it's a bit different. If you die, and you are not a Jehovah's Witness, you're just dead. You're just dirt. You're just nothing. If you die and you are a Jehovah's Witness, you come back with Jesus and you get to stay on earth and live forever with Jesus. So going from believing that there's a chance you'll go to heaven or some sort of afterlife to the prospect of just being nothing really still scares me to this day (laughs)! It doesn't scare me as much as it used to. I've definitely done a lot of work around death and myself, just reading books and what not. There's a great book...aw man, I wish I could remember the title. It just talks about a bunch of near death experiences people have had. By in-large, people describe the sort of...you know there is the light. People talk about this beautiful light that happens and this tremendous sense of peace and comfort and feeling like everything they've ever worried about is just gone. It sounds quite lovely. Of course, there's a lot of dopamine and chemicals that our bodies put out when we're dying and all of these things can somewhat be explained by science. At the same time, that whole line between science and the chemicals in our bodies and what we're actually feeling and everything....so anyways, this is all just my general journey with religion (laughs). But yeah, they are very much opposed which was hard for me growing up. One does more research as an adult and hopefully comes to some kind of peace with everything.
You grew up going to church and gospel music was a big influence for you. What can you tell me about developing your sound, that combines those gospel influences with soul and R&B, as well?
All of the great music that I love is all of these things coming together. I definitely have a gospel base and then was turned onto the blues and Muddy Waters and then was turned onto soul and Sam Cook and Ray Charles. Everything that you love, you want to bring it together. That's basically what I've been trying to do. I definitely accomplished the beginning of that with Book Of Soul. It really came out largely how I wanted it to and I am hoping to combine all of these things. I also love country music and folk music, that's more story based...more than soul. The next step for me now is to try to incorporate that into the gospel and soul and R&B.
You have said that you feel that you are the beginning of a new era in your creative life and the songs on this album have more soul than anything else you have done in the past. What inspired this new era of creativity for you and what can you tell me about the process of making the album and why it is so special for you?
It's special I think because I was feeling very stagnant and needed something to just jump me out of the feeling I was in, that I was never going to create anything new or interesting. I think we all get stagnant sometimes, like "Aw man, I've been doing the same thing. Is this still what I want to do?". The answer came back to me that it just wasn't. I moved to Nashville, which at the time felt crazy. As much as I love country music, I was not necessarily wanting to move to the country music capital. But man, when I got there it wasn't at all what I thought it would be. The musicians there are so open and welcoming and they play everything. I mean, sure, they are known for country music, but man these guys can play anything. That's been my experience. And even more than that, the songwriting is such a central part of living there. So moving to Nashville, it was a few things converging. Moving to Nashville and really wanting to say something with my music that I hadn't said before and didn't know was possible. So writing all of the songs on Book Of Soul really was like "Oh, ok" and then the way that the album turned out and the sounds that we got just really opened my eyes. I was like "Man, ok. Let's do this. Let's go in this direction".
How has your songwriting evolved over the years? Would you say your inspirations when writing lyrics have changed?
Oh absolutely! I actually do keep a tally of my favorite artists lyrically and my top 5 now includes Bill Withers and John Prine. Even those two, who are probably my number 1's, or right up there, man...if I could just bring the kind of storytelling and honest delivery of John Prine and equally honest delivery of Bill Withers, with the soul and the vibe and the groove that doesn't let go. That's really the goal, because for me I find that with a lot of soul music, you can write about love and a lot of things, but there's a bit of a limit so far that I'm kind of trying to break through. I'm not even exactly sure what's on the other side, but I really want to be able to talk about just my life. I really want to talk about things that are, I don't know if I'd say complicated, but things you don't normally hear about in a soul song.
You have said that sometimes you have to reinvent yourself in order to move forward. Do you feel that is kind of the process you are going through right now?
Absolutely, yeah. Book Of Soul is kind of the beginning of that and I'm still going through it right now. I actually have most of the next record written already, but I'm really trying to move in a particular direction. I think that before Book Of Soul, I was just writing. I would write something and would put out albums of my favorite songs that I had written, whereas now I am actually trying to move in an artistic direction. That's the best way I can say it.
Your music pays homage to the blues, R&B and soul that came before but has your own modern twist. How have you gone about combining the sounds of the past but putting your own spin on it?
Yeah, I think that happens pretty naturally. I listen to a lot of music. I do sometimes have to force myself to listen to more modern music (laughs). There's just so many great records...Bill Withers, Al Green...just so many great records. There's also some great modern stuff, so I put it all in the pot and try to listen to as much as I can. I'm an avid lyrics reader, as well. And then, I, you know, live life and hear stories from friends about their lives and try to make it into something that captures a moment. For me, that's what a song should be. You should capture a moment or a feeling or a story. That's what I'm trying to do.
As a teenager, you moved to San Francisco with just your guitar and became a founding member of the group Blue Roots. What can you tell me about your early years of playing music and how that shaped you into the musician you are today?
Even before I moved to the west coast, or before I moved to the bay area, I went to Evergreen State College up north and I was in a cover band. This is one night I will always remember. I was in a cover band and we played a show and it was just when all of the Freshman had arrived. It was the beginning of the school year. It was great night. I played with a band, but then afterwards I played my songs solo. That just blew my mind because everyone just sat down and they were quiet and they were just listening to my songs. I felt the impact of the words and like people understood the story I was trying to tell. I was like "Oh, ok. This is what I love!". I didn't care if it was with electric guitars or acoustic guitars, a big band or small band, I just wanted to write words that people could feel and understand and put a story across. That's what I love, when I can watch a performer and they really take me somewhere. I leave myself and I'm in their world for a while. That was definitely an important moment for me, when I realized that if I did it right, that I could do that. That I could take people somewhere.
With this album, you completely wrote and produced it. Is that something you had done with previous albums or was this the first time you had done everything yourself?
This was the first time. I gotta say, I worked really closely with Andrija at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville. The tones that you hear on Book Of Soul...he's just a master at it. I'm really proud of what we did. But yeah, it was the first time I had produced something and it gave me the freedom that I wanted and I took some chances. Thankfully I really liked the record and it worked out.
What has it been like for you to promote an album during the shutdowns and quarantine. How has it altered the plans you had for the album, such as touring?
Totally. My booker is just going crazy! Every time they extend things in California or elsewhere, he's like "Ok. I got us booked for July 1st." He takes us right up to the date and then the next day we're on the road (laughs). So yeah, we'll see what happens. But yeah, it's definitely been a challenge. I send the link out. I send the Book Of Souls Spotify out, or Pandora or whatever because I want people to hear it. Nothing can replace watching a band or a performer live. I certainly hope to get back on the road. Promoting the record has definitely been tough, but I also think that once we do get going, I think that people who like the record will still like the record 3, 4 or 5 months from now. Once I can get it out there, that will be great.
Do you feel that artists and people will come out of this pandemic with more of an appreciation for the arts? That's definitely what a lot of people turn to, music and different forms of art, during these times. What do you think the state of the industry/music will be once this is all over?
I think that people will flock to shows. I think that, for many reasons, that watching music is a great place to have an experience with your friends and get together and lose yourself in show. I think that people will definitely flock to shows after this is over. It's interesting because people are...I'm in California...but people are already going to bars and stuff. There's definitely different levels of the re-openings. I think once bigger tours...we had a three week tour planned and another two and a half week tour planned, and that was just at the beginning of the summer...so I think that once some of these bigger tours get going, I think the excitement of music very well could emerge. It's like meeting an old lover and being like "Aw man, I forgot how this felt!" (laughs)! I think that people will have that experience. And me too. I look forward to, as much as I miss playing live, I think once I actually start doing it again, it's like you realize what you've been missing in a new way.
You have talked about what a big influence Bill Withers has had on you and your music and recently took part in an online "Lean On Me' Tribute. What was that like for you, to pay tribute to an artist that had such an influence on you?
Man, he's one of those guys where every time I dig back into his catalog...because you know I'll go away for a while and then come back...the deeper I go, the better it gets. It was amazing to be a part of that project and see so many people from around the world who his music has touched and wanted to also pay tribute to him and be a part of it. It makes you feel connected. That's what I'm talking about man! If you can tell a good story and get that feeling across to people, then you bring them together. It doesn't matter where you are from or what you look like. That's really what it's about. That's what people like Bill Withers do. If you sit down and listen to "Lean On Me", it's like, everyone believes that.
What's next for you? What do you have coming up?
Well, I have my solo project Flamingo Dores, which is kind of just me and a guitar. I have a new record of that. I also have a new Quinn DeVeaux solo record. They are pretty much ready to go. In a way, I'm holding the train at the station because obviously I can't go and record right now, so I'm trying to wait. Everything is like 90% done right now. I wanna hit the studio, so that's kind of what's next. Once everything opens up, I'm going to get on the road with the band and promote Book Of Soul and then I'm going to get in the studio with the Nashville band and record the next Quinn DeVeaux record and the next Flamingo Dores record.