Last Shot: 5 Singles, of Cliff Dawe, Anna Perreault, Without Little Big Band and The Nashville Out Takes
Published on 7/15/2008
By Artistopia
INTERVIEW STARTS HERE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AUTHOR: Artistopia
HEADLINE: Album Release Interview with YOUR STAGE NAME
ARTICLE TEXT: Q. To set the tone for the readers, how would you describe your sound?
ANSWER HERE Our sound, whether it be Anna Perreault or me, Cliff Dawe with or without Little Big Band as back up or just us dueting or just either one of us doing a single, has always been what some of today’s industry people would call, “Traditional Country Music”, but as Dale Watson says, by today’s definition of Country Music most people think that means sounding like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill or Kenny Chesney, Shania etc. however, I would prefer for people to know that is exactly not how we sound or the music we do!
I prefer the Merle Haggard, George Jones, Vern Gosdin, Shane Worley, Chris Vaughn, Dale Watson, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Lewis, Johnny Rodriguez and a thousand more we never hear type of music on main stream radio! But basically it was a “New Country” Musician by the name of Brad Johner ( Canadian on 360 Records) that defined my sound ! He said what I do is called,” Hard Country,” the type of music Real Country Music use to represent! So be it! And I’m dam proud of it!
Dale Watson calls his music “Ameripolitan”, to avoid the confusion of being booked under expectation of playing what is currently known as Top 40 Country on main stream radio!
I love Dale Watson’s sound especially a song called, “My Heart Is Yours”, hey, “Hard Country”, doesn’t get any better than that folks! I then thought – this guy is a great example of how to go about getting a genre back to define our type of music after what was our genre from the 1930’s to the 1990’s as “Country Music,” and had it successfully stolen from us by these so called, “New Country”, artists!
So I tried calling our music Canapolitan, which didn’t define anything to anybody, cause let’s face it there really is nobody on mainstream radio in Canada that really sounds like “Real Traditional Country Music”! Or what would be defined as “Hard Country”! But when I tell folks we play “Hard Country,” like what Hag, Buck and George used to do folks catch on right away! I’ve even had them say, “you mean that TWANG stuff like Tammy WHIIIIIIINNNNNNEEEEETTTE used to sing and play?
And I say, “DAM Right! And I’m dam proud of it! - Then look em’ straight in the eye!
Then say, “You don’t buy that New Country Music do you?” “ Cause their lyric laid into the tune has nothing what-so-ever to do with the truth or being real, they just laid that in there cause it rhymed and they thought you wouldn’t know the difference – but to be honest, their just blowing smoke up your butt! Real or Hard Country Music tells the truth about life no candy coated covers here, it is simply a reflection of how you live and an artist who noticed it, told it like it is! As George Jones told you, “The Cold Hard Truth!”
Our sound then is defined as Brad Johner said, “Hard Country”! So be it!
Q. So you are about to release a new album, tell us everything about it starting with the name of the album.
ANSWER HERE We have watched the music business over the past few years, and what we’ve decided to do at this point in time simply by watching music patrons reaction to albums in this day and age and have found that the general public is no longer that interested in purchasing albums as much as they are interested in purchasing songs that they like!
For too many years the music consumer has purchased music albums in vinyl LP,,cassette and CD format and have found there was maybe only one or two songs they liked on the whole album and they had spent from $12 to $20 on one or two songs! The consumer felt ripped off and they wonder today why, CD’s don’t sell!
We instead have decided to release five singles that we believe are some of our heart’s best efforts from our stage repertoire and from strange occurrences we had happen to us in the business and as each single goes out, listeners can decide which of these they identify with and enjoy and can order each one they like by MP3 or CD! This is our way of attempting to bring back the single to music as it was when 45 RPM records were available! Why not? It is not such a big deal to allow someone to buy a single song on a CD or a CD with an MP3 on it that a patron or listener likes at a cost that is reasonable for the consumer! We are calling this attempt at starting a new trend, “Last Shot”!
Q. Who else was involved in helping you bring this album to fruition?
ANSWER HERE This time around we organized and produced it ourselves from our own little “Last Shot” Label Studio and Little Big Pub. It was my out take tape from Nashville that I had and had to reconstruct, as they lost the Master in Nashville, Anna and I doing a duo and playing all the instruments!
Vocals and harmonies, piano and synthesizer by Anna, Cliff: guitar, drums and vocals!
The technical help of Paul McCain, Engineer and DJ at http://www.supercountryradio.com out of Oxford, Alabama.
Q. What would you say some of the challenges you encountered in doing this album were?
ANSWER HERE Getting it done fast enough, so we were still remembered on Indie Radio and all of the technicality that goes with recording music!
Q. Can you give us some insight into where, what or who motivated you to do the album?
ANSWER HERE Just the fact that we love, Real Country Music and still have something to say, and have a few more licks in us yet! There are still a few folks that love the “Hard Country”, and a few of the younger crowd are starting to catch on that the heart and soul of Hard Country is true blue compared to “New Country”, which is about the latest fad and cash register sales for executives and Big Label Record companies! That is motivation enough for us to keep playing Hard Country!
Q. What would you say is the best single and why do you think it is?
ANSWER HERE One of Anna’s favorite singles is Dolly Parton’s Yellow Roses, because it hits so close to home for her! I have a couple and thousands more of favorite singles but I’ll only mention two or three of them here! First of all let me say that I only sing songs my heart has lived and is living, as way back when - I discovered that is what Hank Williams Sr. did! Dam me, I got into the way of it and there’s no changing once you’re in and sometimes I don’t know if I live the song or the song lives me and let me warn you,sometimes it hurts like hell!
But listening wise I believe closest to my heart is a tune called : “This Song Wrote It’s Self”, by Vern Gosdin! The second is, “Since Fifteen Years Ago”, by Conway Twitty ( Harold Jenkins ) The third was just revealed to me by Internet radio which these days really tells the truth compared to Main Stream Radio is by a man named Buddy Lewis, the song is called, “Once Upon a Broken Heart”, it is so plaintive but it is so true and real, exactly how a man can feel!
Q. Are you planning to produce videos for any of the songs on this album?
ANSWER HERE I am presently working on a video to promote this album! A video for “Ever Been Lonely”!
Q. Are you planning to tour to promote this album? If so, when and where will you be performing?
ANSWER HERE Let me be honest with you ! I can’t afford it! I’ll just keep making drop in appearances in and around the bars here in Canada! The market has pretty much fallen off for Traditional and Hard Country Music in Canada, so respectable clubs are out for my type of music! But I will appear where they’ll take me and I’ll keep playing Hard Country Music! To be honest I really don’t like the “New Country”! If I wanted to be a Rock or Pop musician I would have pursued that genre!
Lets put it this way if I can create a tour that won’t make me bankrupt here in Canada I’ll pursue it! Let me also say this, can’t say too much because I have to stay within legalities – but it is much, much more welcoming to play “Hard Country”, in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama so if I were to plan a tour I’d rather plan one in those states! Hey I’m Canadian, I love Canadians in a lot of ways however, when it comes to music most times these days the twain don’t meet!
Q. So how do you see this album propelling your career in the music industry?
ANSWER HERE This series of singles – providing we obtain enough airplay will truly tell folks our identity and what our music is about! My music is not about the latest fad (which is fickle, fads come and they go) or like you see pop & rock musicians stick their butt out and wiggle their fanny at each other and shake their head because they feel so cool - while wearing their shades so they can see each other in them and have another moment of Narcissistic self adoration of how great they feel in their own mind with their hype and pyro flash fire effects! And when there through with the tune, they holler out, “HELLO SOMEWHERE USA! OR HELLO SOMEWHERE CANADA! What B.S., it’s full of Narcissism! Geez, as George Strait says maybe I could sell you some, “Ocean Front Property in Arizona”?
Our music is about people, life and feelings projected in the art of “Hard Country” and real life! I know, sometimes you want to get away from it all and yep there are times when we lighten up, however, we don’t live in a bubble and life can be pretty tough, so we put it into music! Don’t let me be the first one to tell you – there’s no Santa Claus!
Q. And we can’t forget to ask, of course, when and where can fans buy this album?
ANSWER HERE We are experimenting with something different here! First of all let me say we are testing the theory that now with the advent of internet the world is our oyster!
I think according to some Internet websites, we are checking out if we can get rid of the leeches in the music business like big corporate record labels, cut out the middleman and undercut the jukebox by charging 25 cents per MP3 requested on the song “Ever Been Lonely”
Because I don’t believe I’d have that much after some big label record executive finished accounting my royalties after his accountants got through balancing the books! So I want to cut out the record company and see what I could accomplish without the leeches and the red tape!
If you send a request to: cliffdaw@gmail.com To purchase, “Ever Been Lonely” MP3 for 25 cents by paying through http://www.paypal.com I will email you the song which I wrote and sang via your email to your preferred email address! Signed: Cliff Dawe cliffdaw@gmail.com
Q. One last question for you: What other great things or projects can we look forward to hearing about from you in the future?
ANSWER HERE There are many songs and feats I’d like to accomplish in the music business! I am now simply going to see what kind of response, I get from this project before we plan our future any further! Cliff Dawe and little Big Band always put out the best show we were capable of doing! Anna Perreault as a single act has done the same ! Cliff Dawe as a single act has done his utmost to perform to the best of my abilities and talent! Cliff Dawe continued performing with Anna Perreault and the duo known as Little Big Band the night his( Dad ) father passed away July 11, 1989 at the Avenue Hotel in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada and none of the patrons new there was a situation except the managers of the hotel! After Cliff received the phone call with the news of his fathers passing, he came back on the next set – Anna asked, “Are you alright?”, “Do you think you can perform anymore tonight?” Cliff said, “Yes!” and performed the last set, thinking this is the first time my dad may be able to see me perform professionally, while watching from either heaven or out of body!
Cliff finished the set saying, “Goodnight Folks, we sure appreciate you being here tonight with us and hope you come back to see us again, when we come back to the Avenue Hotel here in Prince Albert, have a great evening and drive home safely, God Bless and Goodnight!”
That is just a small sampling of the history of Cliff Dawe, Anna Perreault and Little Big Band believe me a motion picture could be made from this outfits history and trials!
We would like to thank you for talking with us and we wish you all the best!
Thank you for allowing us to be so frank with you! Most performers interviewed, I guess are supposed to make it look all gung ho, sparkle and glitter!
But God only knows we love our music with all our hearts! However let me tell you the glitter is nice but it only comes here and there – just enough to get you back up on your feet to encourage you to do it all again!
I always say, or heard it somewhere – the endings always make the beginnings regret able! Cliff Dawe and Anna Perreault Cliffdaw@gmail.com http:www.artistiopia.com/cliff_dawe
