Originally hailing from Toronto, Canada, The Sadies have been playing their unique brand of psychedelic country rock for over 20 years. For those unacquainted, imagine Graham Parson-era Byrds mixed with Nuggets garage grit.
Over the years, The Sadies have collaborated with Neil Young, Garth Hudson, Neko Case, John Spencer, Robyn Hitchcock, Andre Williams, and many more. Their 2017 release “Northern Passages” exemplifies their musical dexterity with ballads, rockers, and spaghetti western instrumentals. It also features the vocals of touring buddy Kurt Vile on “It’s Easy Like Walking.”
Brothers Travis and Dallas Good front the band and are the sons of the legendary Good Brothers, a folk group that toured across Canada by train with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band, as featured in the legendary film “Festival Express.” The Good Brothers recorded an album produced by the Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and still play today.
Carrying on the family tradition, Travis and Dallas are both accomplished guitar pickers and play off each other in an exciting and organic way, as if Lux Interior were dueling with Clarence White. Upright bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky complete the quartet and help make them one of the most sought-after backing bands today.
The Sadies are playing a three-day residency at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn April 2-4, with local band Girls on Grass as the opening act April 2nd. Don’t miss these shows! I spoke to Travis Good by phone recently in anticipation of it all.
SR: When did you start working with Kurt Vile?
TG: He was opening for us as a solo act five years ago, and we got to know him by riding in the van. And by our tradition of having our friends sing on our records.
SR: How do collaborations like that usually happen?
TG: Often they’ll have heard of us, or we’ll have done a show together, or through the label. It depends on coordinating schedules and our mutual respect for each other. It’s really good for the band. It keeps us busy but also gives us a break. It’s refreshing, fun, and interesting. Plus, we’re on our best behavior; we get along pretty well then. (Laughs)
SR: I know you played with Neil Young. What was that like?
TG: Wow. It was through Garth Hudson for a record he did called “Garth Hudson Presents A Canadian Celebration of The Band.” Garth had Neil come in to do “This Wheels On Fire.” I wasn’t starstruck until he had all his guitars and amps delivered to the studio. (Laughs) But we just went to work, and it went well enough that we did a Canadian tour with Crazy Horse right after that. That was amazing. Patty Smith and Los Lobos were on tour too.
SR: What are the Canadian elements of your music that people don’t realize?
TG: I don’t think there really are any. But maybe the changing of the seasons; certainly, being locked up all winter can be inspirational for writing. And other than that, we’re all doing the same grind. We’re dipping into the same well; we’re inspired by the same musicians, which in the old days were mostly American.
SR: When you guys write, how do you work it out?
TG: Dallas and I are becoming the principal writers, though the other guys contribute too. But now that our songs are more lyrically based, they usually come to the table more well-formed. We don’t start from scratch so much anymore; someone usually comes with three chords or a line. So that’s changed I think for the better.
The first records we didn’t have a producer; it was just Steve Albini setting up mics & letting you do your thing. But from “Stories Often Told” onward we started getting producers which changed the songwriting, by just being more aware of singing.
SR: So, the producer’s hand helped influence how things could take shape and in turn your songwriting?
TG: Oh yeah. The last record Dallas produced, so we’re sort of back to self-producing, but at least you have someone steering the ship. But the other producers were Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, and Greg Keeler from Blue Rodeo. Both of those occasions we got producers who were well known as singer-songwriters, which wasn’t our forte. We were known more as guitar players than writers.
SR: Dallas seems to take the Clarence White role playing the B-Bender, though you both work off each other. Did you guys play together growing up? How did you work out your guitar weaving?
TG: We’re five years apart in age and didn’t really talk much growing up. Dallas took piano lessons, and I took guitar lessons from Gordon Lightfoot’s guitar player. Dallas says he learned from watching me play guitar. He got good pretty quickly by watching. One thing we did always agree on was Alice Cooper.
It wasn’t until he was about 17 & I was 21, and one Halloween we did the whole “Love It To Death” record, which is interesting because I hear a lot of Sadies stuff in there. (Laughs) It goes in directions I hear the Sadies go with dark lyrics and galloping beats. Plus, the costumes.
SR: That’s true, you guys wear great suits. Where do you get them?
TG: The first ones we got were hand-me-downs from our dad’s band The Good Brothers. We got these white polyester suits from him that were made by a guy in California who was quite famous named Tony Alamo. And after that friends of ours who take old vintage suits who embroider and put rhinestones on ’em.
SR: The Good Brothers were a big deal, right?
TG: Yeah, they were quite successful in Canada but not in the US. They made a record with the Dead, around the time of their “Workingman’s Dead” album, and toured with them across Canada. They also toured with Gordon Lightfoot in the early 70’s.
SR: Northern Passages features a photo of the Northern Lights. Have you ever experienced that?
TG: Oh yeah, I have. I’ve seen it up north and at my house quite often, even in Saskatoon. It truly is the most psychedelic thing in nature.
SR: As you tour, where do you find your music resonates most?
TG: We’ve always gravitated towards Spain. The nights are late, and the crowds are great. We recorded “New Seasons” in Spain with Gary Louris, who used to have a place in the South. We also do well in the UK and Scandinavia.
SR: With all the changes in the music industry in recent years, is it harder to make a living?
TG: I have nothing to compare it to because all that stuff happened, e.g. the death of vinyl, when we first started. We’ve never really relied on airplay, and we’ve never had a hit, yet. (Laughs) For us, it’s all about the live show.
Occasionally, we do soundtracks, lots of TV stuff, and documentaries. We did music for Ron Mann called “Tales of the Rat Fink” about Big Daddy Roth and a new one about Carmine St Guitars in NYC.
SR: What’s coming up for The Sadies?
TG: We’re going to Holland, Belgium, and the UK. Come see us in Brooklyn!
For more information on the Sadies, see their website at thesadies.net.
