BWW Interviews: Seth Glier Talks Kerrville Folk Festival, Songwriting and his Pet Pig, Porkchop

Seth Glier is a veteran to the music business although he is only 24 years old. He has been performing all over the world for many years and continues to write his own music. I caught up with Seth while he was in Kerrville for the annual Kerrville Folk Festival. He shared with me his experiences at the festival and how he writes his music.

How did you start performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival?

I got booked here about 5 years ago. I was 19 or 20 when I first played Mainstage and they had seen me play at a conference and I have been back here every single year. I love it here. The audience is really special because it's not about anything other than the song. It's a songwriter's festival more than just a music festival.

What are some of the experiences you have had since you have been coming here?

It's been a huge vehicle for me for the rest of Texas scene for me. This is one of my favorite states to make music in. So Kerrville kind of launched that for me. Now when I go to Austin, Dallas, Houston, there's an audience there and that's because of Kerrville.

Who are some of the people that you have met since you've been coming here?

The very first time that I was here, I check into the hotel and the person behind me in line is Peter Yarrow. I introduced myself and we became best friends that weekend and we're always swapping songs with one another. That's the other thing about the festival, it brings in all sorts of different entertainers from around the country and when they're here, it's a really humble thing. Everyone's interested in the song. Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame). I got to meet David Wilcox here another one of my favorites. The Indigo Girls. It's the hang. The cool thing about Kerrville is they do this thing called campfires and that's the other part of Kerrville. We did Mainstage last night but the campfires are when you have people who have performed on Mainstage and then you have people who are just camping and have a guitar and everyone just kind of gets around a campfire and plays songs sort of a song swap. Like last night I heard an amazing song by someone I've never heard of before. That's what this is all about. It's all about the community.

And you brought Joe along.

This is his first time down here. Joe Nerney is an amazing spirit. He plays saxophone with me. He plays recorder and harmonica. He's much older than I am. He's 61 years old and just an incredible person. He's having a lot of fun.

Where did you meet him?

I was 15 years old when I was filling in for a keyboard player playing 70's cover band. That's where Joe and I met. We've been friends for just about 10 years. This year is the first time we're actually touring. We love it. It's really wonderful. I think he brings a lot to the table not just musically but it's him as a person. He has a very different perspective on a lot of things than I do partly because of his age but, he's also blind. So when we go onstage together, I think it's apparent to an audience that these guys are coming from 2 very different sides of the field. Our goal is in 30 minutes you forget all of that and it's about the music. So that's what we're trying to do and it's fun for us to do that.

Tell us about what you are planning to do this summer.

As I've written more songs, I've gotten better at the craft of music. I have enough information that I'm working with just from the techniques of writing songs that I'm good at it. What I'm putting a lot of my energy on right now is throwing all of that away and substituting information for inspiration. I was trying to put myself in places where it's going to rattle me a little bit. I'm not touring as heavy this summer. I'm doing a lot of volunteer work. I'm going to Tanzania to teach music in an orphanage. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot more than I'm going to teach there. I want songs to be intelligent but start from the heart. Songwriting shouldn't be cerebral I don't think. It can trigger that but I think if it opens someone's emotions up it comes from here. So for me, I need to be in that place where I produce that kind of stuff.

When you write music, do you come up with the music first or the lyrics?

It changes. I think that iPhones have totally changed how I write. I always have one of those note pads going with lyrics and ideas. Typically it starts with chords bringing on some kind of emotion and lyrics fall into play. Sometimes I have lyric ideas; I have a framework and it's about setting that. It can really be anything. I think the best thing for me is when they both happen same time. I have a really hard time taking lyrics and doing the Bernie Taupin and Elton John thing. That's so hard for me and vice versa. I couldn't take the music and stick it to lyrics. So for me it all happens simultaneously. And I always have 5 or 6 different song ideas going around in my head. Some of them are really brave. Some of them are about current events; some of them are about things that I haven't been able to tackle before. The nice thing about music is it allows us access of our emotions in a different way than poetry does. The music is almost like a vehicle of getting underneath the surface before you realize you're there. A lot of times I find I've be trying to write a song about my brother for years and that's an idea that is always going around in my head.

When did you write your first song? How old were you?

It was September 11 (2001) I wrote my first song. I was 12-13.

Do you still play it?

No. It's like a rap.

What was the instrument you were playing in the show last night?

The harmonium. It's like a sideways accordion but it's double reeded. It's like an organ but it's only a couple of octaves and I pump the bellows. It's a Middle Eastern instrument. And that one specifically is from India. It's cool. It's a total songwriting tool. When I'm at a piano, there's all this facility that I can go with whatever I hear in my head. The thing about that is that it's a droning instrument so you can play some chords and changes but for the most part, what you get is what you get. It's this ethereal droning. So it changes the way I write melody because I don't have chords to make it interesting. It's just one note. So the melody like in "Stars and Glitter" I wrote on that.

You have a pig. Why did you get a pig?

I always wanted a pig. They're really smart animals. They are loving and awesome. I have a miniature potbelly pig named Porkchop. He's super smart. He's house trained. He cuddles. Right now he's doing dog obedience school which is a little distracting to the other dogs but he's learning how to walk on a leash. It's super cool. I miss him.

Would you ever collaborate with other genres of music?

I think it's comparative. I listened to this band on the plane ride down here to a hip hop band callEd Macklemore and I just loved it and I want to do a hip hop record which is obviously not my MO. I think I would love that. As much as I love community of singer/songwriter stuff to me it's a double edged sword in that it's a little incestuous. I haven't collaborated with other genres. I've collaborated with musicians that have come from totally different places whether it's jazz or soul or R & B. There's good music and there's bad music. This genre thing doesn't make any sense to me.

Have you taught yourself how to play all your musical instruments?

I take voice lessons now which really helps me on the road. I taught myself how to play. I do a lot of open tunings on the guitar. I'm a really bad guitar player but I can fake it because of how I tune the guitar. I'm really only playing one finger and the rest is just flourish. I taught myself how to play the piano and watched a lot of Dr. John YouTube videos. When I went to Berklee College of Music for a year I think that one of the big things I took out of it was the academic side of music, the discipline I guess. I think I got my discipline there. I certainly don't have any regrets about leaving the school but my experience there allowed me to be in a recording session with other musicians and hand them a chart. If I hear the parts in my head, I can write them out. Stuff like that is handy because I think a lot of people are intuitive with music now.

Founded by Rod Kennedy, the Kerrville Folk Festival has run annually since 1972. It is the longest continuously running music festival of its kind in North America. For 18 straight days and nights each May and June, over 30,000 guests come from all over the world to experience the magic of what we simply call "Kerrville". The Festival is known internationally as a Mecca for singer songwriters of varying musical style. It's a place where those just developing their skills have the opportunity to play their music along- side master craftsmen.

Kerrville Folk Festival runs until June 9, 2013. Tickets can be purchased by going to www.kerrville-music.com

PHOTO CREDIT: Kathy Strain, Ian Strain

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