Talking To...Sam Baker
There May Be Chickens
Music found Sam Baker as a way for him to make sense of the day he got caught in someone else’s war when a bomb went off on a train in South America. He was a passenger, those next to him were killed, including a young boy whose face he says he will never forget. He survived, but was altered, mentally and physically, by the experience.
Fatea had the chance to talk to Sam, and what unfolded was a fascinating, thought provoking, even moving, discussion about music, writing, Texas, forgiveness and even chickens...
Afterwards I was left with one certainty, if more people were like Sam Baker, in choosing to let go of hatred and anger and pursue love and forgiveness, the world would be a much better place.
SB: Sam Baker HM: Helen Mitchell
SB: Ah, well, once again, I think maybe your putting writers and writing in a box...
HM: I think it’s very intriguing that painting chickens inspired her next piece of writing. I guess they’re all forms of self expression, interlinked.
SB: Well, I think the writing will guide the writer and if chickens are your muse, then so be it. So, you know, I think you’re well on your path and it may be chickens, it may be something else.
HM: (laughs) I don’t think it’s chickens!
SB: I also think I would call this article, It May Be Chickens.
HM: Okay.
SB: Helen, really, it may be one of many things, but it may be chickens.
HM: We’re talking about writing there, can I pick that up in relation to your writing, Sam?
SB: Sure.
HM: Great. I’m going to ask a random question first.
SB: Go for it.
HM: is it intentional that so many of your songs have such short, often one word, titles?
SB: Well, that’s intentional. I really try to get by with less if it’s possible. If it’s possible I do with as little as I need.
HM: Less is more?
SB: I believe so. You know, I think some artists are wonderful that they can write a lot of stuff and it’s stays coherent. I don’t really write like that. I write a bit shorter, more direct, then I cut out anything I don’t need. If you look at that building out there, i don’t think we need to describe every nuance; I think one or two words can get us a pretty clear indication of what it’s like. So if one or two words can describe the window sash then...
HM: Go with it...
SB: Yeah, I mean, you could turn the window sash into a hundred thousand words of art, you know, the Russians, Tolstoy, those guys, would make the story in tens of thousands of words and that’s translated but...
HM: That could also be hard reading...
SB: Well, for some people it is, for some it isn’t. I mean, I think we’re drawn to what we’re drawn to. I mean I’ve gone through phases, from the Russians, like Tolstoy, to the short, clipped writing of Hemingway, then the guys from America, Garcia Marquez...
HM: Marquez is amazing! Paul Coelho?
SB: I don’t know that name.
HM: If you love Marquez, you’d love Coelho – start with The Alchemist!
SB: Yeah? I think we’re drawn to what we’re drawn to for a reason.
HM: I think we’re drawn to certain things; books, music, whatever, at certain times in our life, too.
SB: Yeah, we’re speculating, but I think you’re right. I think reading and listening aren’t that different, really. They may appear to be but...
HM: They’re two parts of one process, really, I guess.
SB: I think that’s right. I mean, listening is in the same derivation...I mean, not derivation, the same camp I guess, as reading. I think before I can empty a glass of beer (looking at my glass)
HM: I’m afraid that’s just coke...
SB: Well, okay, before I can empty a glass of coca cola, I have to put coca cola in the glass.
HM: I’ve always loved books, from being little and I’ve always loved words and listening to music, and I think I love the kind of music I love, because I love to read, because it’s all about the words, you know?
SB: Yeah, absolutely. Helen, I really think you’ve got a story somewhere you want to tell. That would be my guess. Really, think about it.
HM: You think? It might be chickens!
SB: It might be chickens!
HM: Moving on, would you agree that you’re a storyteller?
SB: Sure.
HM: Is that the way you’ve always written?
SB: I’ve not always written. I didn’t really start to write seriously until about 2000. I just chose to start writing better. I’d written before that but I hadn’t really focussed on it. I think I made a conscious effort to be more clear, more exact with words.
HM: It’s occurred to me more than once and I have heard other people make the same comment, that there is something in your style, lyrics, delivery, that is reminiscent of Mary Gauthier.
SB: I don’t know, but I love Mary so I’m flattered. I love her spirit, I love what she writes, I love that she struggles with her art, it doesn’t come easily to her.
HM: What made you release the CDs as a trilogy? Was that your intention from the beginning?
SB: No, that was never my intention. In fact, Mercy wasn’t intended to be what it was but I was pleased with how it turned out. Then Bob Harris became a fan and...
HM: It always comes back to Bob Harris!