DJ: Yeah‚ like especially "Thanksgiving Day Parade." Just talk for a minute about that. Those lyrics are total Americana. What's in there is a lyrical currency that's totally interchangeable.
MD: That song is really about synchronicity in a sense. You know in that‚ while we might be our own character‚ with our own story‚ everybody is their own lead in their own movie‚ that there's other stuff going on. I'm being born‚ somebody is dying. This grandmother is crying for whoever‚ and the soldier that's dying in the fields is crying at the same time. You know‚ so it's a very circular kind of song in that sense. You know it's a circle of life kind of song‚ minus the safari animals.
MP: And Elton John.
DJ: What about in "All I Own"?
MP: Well‚ just for the music. For the lyrics it was a different thing. I guess‚ to start‚ I come from a literary tradition. English major‚ English grad student‚ all the way down the line‚ and at the time I had been listening to Garcia and Grisman. I was also reading William Kennedy‚
DJ: Ah.
MP: Yeah. Francis Phelan was the inspiration for the words.
DJ: I just finished Ironweed. Francis Phelan?
MP: Yeah. That's my take on Francis Phelan. So I think my approach to the music‚ or at least the lyrics‚ is more about stories. I think because of my background in the literary tradition‚ I seem to focus on the stories more. But‚ at the same time‚ I mean now it's‚ we'll be a year and a half playing together‚ and now I can actually get down and write a tune that has little to do with story. So the last tune I wrote‚ what was the name of that tune?
MD: "No Rest for the Wicked."
MP: "No Rest for the Wicked." It's definitely more about a situation and feeling in a situation than it is about telling story. But‚ for "All I Own‚" definitely‚ there's a story there. I'm vamping on that story. I mean‚ you can see Francis Phelan there‚ I'm hoping.
DJ: Now that you mention it‚ completely. But Francis Phelan is also such a character out of Robert Johnson. So many parts of his‚ you know the "worn and ragged soul." That's such a blues trope‚ you know? The guys that's just so hurt‚ but can't really…but that's too much. Anyway. That's beautiful. That's great. All right. As far as Lazaretto goes… Lazaretto. Why?
MP: I was reading Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano‚ and there's this point in the story where everybody goes away for this retreat‚ and there's this big corporate retreat and everybody's supposed to have a great time. There's a couple dissenters amongst the group. And typically‚ this place‚ the Lazaretto‚ had been used to house the drunkards from the night‚ but in this case they were using it for prisoners from the dissenters. It's kind of a long story. I suggest reading Player Piano. That word just seemed to fit. I mean‚ it popped out on the page. Not only because of the way it looks‚ and how it's spelled‚ and how it sounds‚ but also after doing some investigation to find out what it really meant‚ it just seemed to work.
MD: We did a lot of drinking when we first started playing together. Honestly. I mean a lot of hours‚ just drinking‚ and playing guitar‚ and smoking cigarettes out on the porch. That was the basis of our musical relationship for a while. So‚ I have to say‚ I'm glad that it's not like that anymore.
MP: Is that for the record?
MD: That's for the record. It was a lot of fun. We were having a good time. But I definitely feel like we've been a lot more productive over the past few months.
DJ: So you guys are going through a little transformation?
MD: In a sense. We've been playing with a backing band every once in a while‚ which is a lot different.
DJ: Are those some of the musicians that are on the album?
MD: Yeah. Tommy (Krebs)‚ the drummer‚ that did everything on there. And the bass player (August Sagehorn) for the band he plays with‚ Alta Mira. So they've sat in with us a couple times‚ which has been different. Kind of difficult to go back to doing just the duo stuff afterwards‚ you know‚ without hearing other instruments in the back‚ but…