Exclusives

Country Music finds 28-year-old Lukas Nelson in philosophical mood as he ponders life, love and the wider fame that is surely coming his way. He may be young in country terms, but Lukas Nelson has already cultivated a rich and compelling resume at age 28. Son of legend Willie Nelson, Lukas has played with his father, both live and on his album Heroes. He’s played and collaborated – alongside his own seasoned band Promise Of The Real – with fellow elder Neil Young on The Monsanto Years. Touring with the venerable Young throughout 2015-16 to showcase that album, Nelson was away from the microphone, but his searing guitar still impacted audiences on a cellular level. As a singer-songwriter in his own right, he’s now back with Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real and it’s fair to say this is the album that will make Nelson a star in his own right. If Lukas was usually seen as “Willie Nelson’s son”, it’s very possible a new generation of music fans will soon know ol’ Shotgun Willie as “Lukas Nelson’s dad.” Lukas Nelson & POTR is steeped in soulful blues, and punctuated by soft rock, but with its yearning vocals, and universally-relatable storytelling it is, at heart, a collection of songs that are authentically country. It’s got its feet firmly in 2017, though, with Lady Gaga (a genuine country fan, incidentally) guesting on Find Yourself and a cross-genre appeal to music fans of all stripes. Just to get comparisons out of the way: Lukas’ voice may be redolent of his father’s as they share some similar phrasing plus a hint of that delicious, nasal twang. However Lucas possesses a big powerful voice of distinction. LN & POTR proves that the apprentice who learnt much from the master has now defined himself as a unique artist of depth, potency and integrity. And in conversation Lukas is passionate, philosophical and frank, and it’s sometimes best to leave his expansive musings speak for themselves… CM: Ostensibly, your charmed life on the road with Neil Young, surfing at home in Maui and living part-time in Austin, Texas, would appear to be one of luxury. Is there a struggle which helped inspire these visceral, soul-baring songs? LN: Right now I’m a pretty happy person. But I think the one thing that everybody can relate to no matter where they come from is that heartbreak hurts just as bad no matter the walls that you have that surround you or the quality of the mattress you sleep on. Lost love still hurts hard, across the board. So, love and death are the great levellers? Love is as human as needing to breathe and it comes in many forms: your first major dose comes from your parents, which can also fuck you up depending on your parents. I got lucky in that because I have great parents, but we have our issues too. The teenage years are a critical point of reckoning and the preface to becoming an adult. It’s about: ‘When do I take ownership of my heart? When am I an adult?’ It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about your own growing up? As a younger kid I did a lot of inward exploring because I wasn’t very happy, and I didn’t really like myself as a youngster. I felt a little bit angry because we had so much privilege yet so many other people had so little. Plus I wanted to just stay in one place so I could have friends like other kids. There are certain things I was unable to do because I felt we were sheltered and felt imprisoned by my situation even though the experiences around me were great plus we were surrounded by really conscious, aware, artistic people who were ultimately helpful to me. But I felt I didn’t get a chance to have friends because I never lived any where longer than three months, ever. Mom raised me mostly because my dad was on the road constantly. I love my dad because luckily he’s such a good-hearted person and I learnt much from him – watching him interact with other people. My mother did the best she could because there’s no manual on parenting and I had to unlearn some things and try to love myself and become a more well-rounded human being. That for me took breaking free of the confines of my own mind. The irony I became very aware of is that many rich people who have ‘everything’ are the least happy people. I’m a big reader and read voraciously both fiction and self help books as a teenager. I recognised I was privileged, but I wasn’t happy. I was always a searcher for happiness. I read many self help books like The Power Of Now, The Four Agreements and I read fiction like Joseph Campbell and [Herman Hesse novel] Siddhartha. Hesse’s theme of rebirth really touched me. So regardless of what’s around you what you feel is a choice, as is suffering. So for me, the real heart of my music is not suffering but the epiphany I get when I’ve been searching and then discover the right thought or answer that has a lot of energy and opens a new pathway. Those thoughts can make great songs. Don’t Lose Your Mind is an old song of my mine which is a mantra I tell myself to not let my thoughts control me. Gratefulness is something you’ve spoken about in the past and how crucial it is to your well-being… If you can’t live in perpetual gratitude then you’ve missed the point. I’m just grateful to be alive. I’m learning and understanding more where I now feel a bit more informed for my age. But I’ve lived a long life for a 20-something. I’ve been to a lot of places, had some unusual experiences and I’m so lucky to be here. I have to keep moving which helps me. You think you are

With her sunny disposition and effervescent vocal, Camaron Marvel Ochs is country music’s very own “Little Miss Sunshine”. Country Music caught up with the bubbly blonde to get the lowdown one of the scene’s brightest lights. Charismatic, Camaron Marvel Ochs, aka Cam, is the Californian gal with the psychology degree who wowed every stage she played at this year’s Country to Country Festival. She’s a thoughtful, engaging woman and her debut album, Untamed, and breakout single Burning House, are rare in being instant classics that also repay repeated listens. A jolt of fresh energy, Cam has not looked back since she released her debut studio album, Heartforward, in 2010 on an independent record label. She was soon snapped up by Sony Music Entertainment and released both a debut EP, Welcome to Cam Country, and Untamed in 2015. The 32-year-old singer-songwriter has gone on to charm country music fans the world over… You’re a born and bred Californian, so why did you pick country music? Being Californian, we are aware of how country music migrated during the dustbowl, and brought the whole Bakersfield sound. You had all these people making music for dancehalls, for their own audience. They were doing it in their own way. That’s something that all Californians love; being independent and entrepreneurial. When we make any kind of music, we make it how we want to make it. Like [hip-hop icon] Kendrick Lamarr, I’m so proud he’s from my state. If you’re going to devote your life to something that’s probably going to put you in financial ruin… I couldn’t just sing, “oh baby, baby”. What are your first memories of music? I remember being in my parents’ room, and besides Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the first song that I knew how to sing was I’ll Follow The Sun [from the Beatles For Sale album], which I’d been listening to with my friends. I was maybe five, and we’d just moved to Northern California, and I would sing those words over and over. Growing up, what country music did you listen to? Patsy Cline was my favourite to put on repeat at the ranch. I sang Crazy and I still do. Some Willie Nelson. My parents and grandparents also loved what’s on the fringe of country, like Bonnie Raitt and Ray Charles. People with one foot in country, one foot out. I met Bonnie at the Grammys, and she is hip! That streak in her hair is the hippest thing I’ve ever seen. Were there any musicians in your family? Nobody! My dad sings well and is a great singer, great tone and pitch. But when he was in elementary school he was singing through the halls on the way to the bathroom, and a teacher was annoyed with him for making so much noise. So he brought him in front of this older class and said, if you want to sing for everyone, do it right now. It embarrassed the shit out of him, and he says that was the end of his musical career. You don’t really meet musicians in the Bay Area, in California; it’s such an expensive place to live. One of my friend’s dads was in a cover band and that’s the closest I ever heard anyone. It wasn’t really a financial career, so you’d never devote your life to it. When I got into psychology, I loved the research, studying emotions and what makes you feel the way you want to. Just when I was about to dive into that career full-blown, I went to my professor and she said: picture yourself 80 years old, and what you’d regret, missing out on psychology or music? I was like, ‘doh!’, it’s music. So I’d graduated at 21, but didn’t quit everything until I was 24 or 25. How did you keep involved in music while studying? I graduated from UC Davis, which is very agricultural, so on Wednesdays I went line dancing. I started doing research there, and then I worked at Berkeley, then Stanford, which is where I talked to my professor about getting out. That’s when I switched. I learned how to play guitar during college, and back in fourth grade, my parents put me in a children’s choir. So that’s how I learned how to sing, to read music, to harmonise. I learned theory, and I could sing in 14 languages! We did lots of religious stuff, and actually travelled Europe and sang in Canterbury Cathedral, and Notre Dame in Paris. In high school I sang in the choir. Then in college I started an all-female a capella group. That was awesome, because there wasn’t one, and they’re still going, and sell out this huge concert hall on campus every year. I am so proud it still exists. When it started out I had friends sit with me on a couch when people auditioned so it looked like there was a group already! Did your studies help with songwriting ideas? In Davis I worked on attachment theory, how you relate to your parents and your romantic partner. Then, at Berkeley under Bob Levenson, I learnt relationship dynamics and conflict resolution… which was all very songwritery! In Stanford, under Jeanne Tsai who does culture affect valuation theory, I was educated in how culture influences what emotions you want to feel. How in Eastern cultures, there’s a valuing of calm and peaceful, and in Western cultures there’s generally a valuing of excitement. What music were you listening to during this time? I love travelling, and I spent four months in Nepal. I realised there were things I needed to re-learn. So when I came home I started listening to American genres – hip hop and country. I’d been one of those people who picked songs that I liked from genres, but never only one genre. I loved soundtracks and my grandparents’ 30s, 40s, 50s music, and my parents’ music from the 60s. Tell us all about your most recent album, Untamed.