Interview: Alex Lacamoire Talks Working With Jennifer Nettles on Her New Broadway-Themed Album ALWAYS LIKE NEW

Composer, arranger, musical director, orchestrator, and conductor Alex Lacamoire is the very definition of a musical genius - a multiple Tony and Grammy Award winner, he is also a Kennedy Center Honoree, and is known for his work on some of the most successful Broadway shows in history including 'In the Heights', 'Hamilton', and 'Dear Evan Hansen.'

Lacamoire recently worked with Grammy Award-winning country superstar Jennifer Nettles on her new album 'Always Like New' out now!

The album features songs including 'Wait for It' from Hamilton, 'You Will be Found' from Dear Evan Hansen, as well as tunes from Broadway classics such as 'My Fair Lady', 'Oklahoma!' and many more.

We spoke with Alex Lacamoire about what it was like collaborating with Jennifer Nettles, his process of crafting new arrangements of classic songs, what he is most excited for with the release of 'Always Like New' and much more!

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How did you get involved with this album? Was Jennifer someone you had known prior to working on it?

I had actually been a fan of Jennifer's music for quite some time. I first heard about Jennifer and her band Sugarland around 2009 when I was working on the musical 9 to 5, and the music director Stephen Oremus, in preparation for the orchestrations said, "Hey, if you want to check out contemporary country, here's a cool band you should know about." I just fell in love with her voice and became a fan of their music right away. I bought some Sugarland albums right then and there.

And then, there was an opportunity to meet her through a mutual friend, one of the producers on the album, Adam Zotovich. He arranged a breakfast for us to meet and just chat, and Jennifer and I hit it off right away. Not long after we started talking about this project that she wanted to do. Then it just became us sitting by my piano and talking about songs and working out arrangements together. It was so fun to work with someone as talented as she is, with a voice that is so singular and so powerful, I'm just a fan of the sounds that emanate from her soul. It's a beautiful, beautiful sound.

What was the process like of selecting the songs for the album? Did she have them in mind and already picked out? Was it a collaborative process?

Extremely collaborative! I think the first song that came to her was 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly', and that was just an idea of a way to sing the song that was really slow. And just hearing her sing that line a cappella into her voice memo, you could hear right away, "Oh, this would be a lovely lullaby kind of sound," and I could immediately hear guitars playing under her. There is just something about her sound that is both so emotional, and is firmly rooted in a country sound as well. And she's such a strong storyteller, basically she's able to do anything she wants. From there it became about compiling lists, and comparing lists, and talking about, "How about this composer?", "How about that genre?", "How about this era of Broadway?", "Hey, there's no Sondheim on this list, we should totally do some Sondheim," stuff like that I think we just kept surprising each other on not only what songs could be on the list, but how they could actually sound. So that was a thrill, to explore all of that.

And what can we expect to hear on the album?

You'll hear stuff from 'My Fair Lady', from 'The Bridges of Madison County', from 'Guys and Dolls', and 'Hamilton', and 'Dear Evan Hansen'... it really runs the gamut of styles of shows and eras, which I love. Even though people know Jennifer for her country career, it's not a country album. There will be some influences of country in some of the arrangements and orchestrations, but we tried to make it very diverse, and fun, and varied in terms of styles and genres, musically speaking.

What was the process like of doing the new arrangements of these songs? How did you approach it?

For me, a lot of that stuff is done by feel. We'll be sitting at a piano and trying something, and we'll know right away, we'll sing a particular melody with a certain kind of arrangement underneath it, and it will either click or it won't. And when it does click you feel very excited, and for me that's when the colors start flying. That's when I'm like, "Oh, I know exactly where this can go." And sometimes you know that right away and sometimes you discover it as you go. A great case in point is, there is an arrangement of a song from 'Barnum' called 'There Is a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute', and it has a very bluegrass feel to it-cause that song in the show, it's a very fast-paced, Broadway showtune-y, carnival-esque kind of sound- so, it has a very fast tempo that lent itself to a bluegrass feel. And it wasn't until very late in the process, after the song was already recorded that I'm like, "This song could use some fiddle on it, let's add some fiddle!"

Same thing with an arrangement of 'Almost Like Being in Love'. We recorded it with a particular band instrumentation, and then later on I'm like, "This could use another sound!" I think I proposed to Jennifer that we could use a mandolin, and she said, "Well, what about electric keyboards?" and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what a great idea!" I love how we kept surprising each other with ideas we wouldn't have thought of naturally, but when the other person recommended it, we're like, "Oh my god, that's awesome, let's keep going in that direction!" That's the best part of collaboration, when you're able to think of something you never would have thought of that enhances the direction you're going in.

I was just going to say, 'what was your working relationship like?' but it just sounds like it was pretty wonderful, and creative, and collaborative!

It was just fantastic. Jennifer is such a sweet person, she's so kind, very open, very transparent. There's no drama with her. What you see is what you get, there's no malice. I feel like certain people are hardwired for optimism, I think Jennifer is one of those people, I feel like I'm one of those people as well, so we just hit it off. It was always about the art, it was always about the music, and there was always just a sense of exploring. I loved how much I could learn from her as an artist, and I hope that I was able to show some things to her that she might not have thought of as well!

I think there was just a mutual respect for each other, I hold her in such high regard as a songwriter, as a performer, as a human, as a singer, it was kind of hard for me not to be awestruck and nervous for the first couple of times that we met! Someone in her league could have very easily been a difficult person to work with, and could have had a huge ego, and could have been really precious and protective about things. I found Jen to be the exact opposite and just completely game, and receptive, and considerate, and trusting, above all. It was just perfect for me, it was a wonderful match.

Do you have a song that was the most fun for you both to play with?

A couple of things stand out. I know that she was interested in doing a song from Hamilton, and we had to figure out what it was. I don't remember which one of us stumbled upon the idea of doing 'Wait for It', but for whatever reason, I sat down at the piano and started to play this ostinato figure, and I heard this swampy, kind of Southern Delta feel. And I remember that at first, Jen was intrigued and wasn't totally hearing what I was hearing in my head. And I think we made a demo, or we just kept going down that path, but I totally heard it clear in my head, and I was surprised to see how that song could have a completely different sound than it does in its original incarnation.

Also, there were times when it was about how to honor the music itself. For example, one of my favorite songs on the album is 'It All Fades Away', which is from 'The Bridges of Madison County', and I'm a big, huge Jason Robert Brown fan. I admire his composition, his writing so much, I also admire his orchestrations so much. So here I was thinking, "How can I do an orchestration that would make Jason Robert Brown proud? There's no way to improve upon the original because the original is so fantastic, how can I do what my version of it is while still honoring what the piece is?" It's something where I don't feel like it's a big reimagining, but rather, it's a way for me to approach a song that I love very much with a little bit of my own flair to it. And I was so grateful and humbled to know that Jason is a fan of our rendition.

What are you most looking forward to with the release of the album?

I hope people enjoy the Broadway canon, and not only the wealth of gems that there are in there, but I hope that people are tickled by the arrangements and think to themselves, "Oh man, I never would have thought of having 'Sit Down, You're Rockin'' the Boat sound like a funky, R&B-ish sound!" My hope is that people will think to themselves, "Oh wow, Jennifer Nettles is an amazing storyteller, check out how effortlessly she can sing a Broadway song on top of all the other styles she can sing as well." I think it's a fun listen, I think it's a very varied album, I think that all the performances are passionate. I'm proud of the way it came out as a package, in terms of the variety of songs, and the variety of styles, and we spent a lot of time to really craft something beautiful and something that we're proud of. So, I'm really happy with how it came out, and my hope is that people will have a great time listening to some great Broadway tunes.

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Watch to see what Jennifer Nettles had to say about the album!