Local vanity press Weeva allows all comers to create hardcover collections of baby pictures, anniversaries, graduations, etc., which imbues Seduced by Sound with a yearbook quality. One hundred Austin artists, recruited by Ghost Wolves frontwoman Carley Wolf, filled out short questionnaires about their inspirations, influences, writing processes, and favorite works from their own catalogs. If some responses aren’t book-worthy, other homegrown Austin acts spin gold.
Joe Doerr, scholarly mouthpiece for Churchwood and LeRoi Bros., details a singular cure for writer’s block: “Kick in the door to the darkened room where the moment that can’t be bothered resides, turn on all the lights, tear off all the covers, [and] put a pot of black coffee and a tin cup on the bedside table. I’ll even toss in a bottle of whiskey on the bed sheets, if necessary, and say evenly, ‘We have to talk.'”
Other reflections include Jack Wilson ruminating on the balance of ego and id, Rosie Flores revealing “Music allows me to feel any emotion I need to attach myself to at any given moment,” Dale Watson declaring his muse is always love (prominently deceased girlfriend Terri Lynn Herbert), and Shinyribs’ Kevin Russell crediting childhood imaginary friend Mata for guiding his music.
Most artists cite main influences as collaborators – Christian Bland names Black Angels bandmate Alex Maas – or family members: Warren and Marshall Hood took inspiration from their father/uncle Champ Hood, while chain saw-wielding sculptor Doug Moreland lays his fiddle at his father’s feet. Those connections light up Seduced by Sound, heartened by prologues from Margaret Moser and Jody Denberg, and in-memoriams for bygone Austin legends including Blaze Foley and Paul Ray.
Seduced by Sound: Austin – 100 Musicians on Why They Make Music
Weeva, 311 pp., $49.95This article appears in December 9 • 2016.