Interview: Brad Tursi on “Parallel Love”

Filtering James Taylor and Southern rock to distil his own sound.

Old Dominion are one of the leading modern country bands with a sound that mixes country, rock & roll and pop. The band was formed in 2016 by Nashville musicians as a vehicle for their own material, and guitarist and prolific Nashville songwriter Brad Tursi has now released his first solo album “Parallel Love” comprising songs that didn’t necessarily fit the Old Dominion mould. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson caught up with Brad Tursi at home in Nashville to discuss why now is the time to record a solo album and what the rest of the Old Dominion guys think. He explains that when he started recording the tracks it was for personal satisfaction rather than with any clear idea of recording an actual album. When Sony Music expressed an interest in releasing an album he says he was surprised but excited. Finally, Brad Tursi shares fond memories of playing house concerts in the UK with Stephanie Lambring.

What’s it like doing your own round of publicity as a solo artist?

It’s actually quite nice and a little less stressful than I thought it would be. I thought it would be the other way around but it seems to be easier, I’m in control and I don’t have to listen to those guys yapping and wait my turn, I get to answer it all myself.

Old Dominion are a hard-working band, why did you feel the need to record your own album “Parallel Love”?

To be honest, I started it at this point in my career because I’ve written so many songs that I know aren’t for the band, and I had the means at this point to just go in and record and pay for it myself. I did it at my leisure and when I finished it I wasn’t even sure I’d be releasing it. I handed it to my label and management and I was like hey, I’ve made this, and they were like, this is great what’s your plan?  I was like, well, if you didn’t like it that was the end of my plan, I’d send it to my mom and call it a day. I’m glad it was well received, and I’m excited for it.

Old Dominion are known for their vocals, what was it like recording the vocals as a solo artist?

My voice is just different to Matthew’s, you know. Sometimes the songs I write lend themselves to the band, and sometimes they don’t. I kind of come from a folky James Taylorish background, and I think the music sounds different because I’m a different person to the band. It was fun, and there really aren’t many giant harmonies on the record, it is just me singing. A different approach, for sure.

You are a very prolific songwriter, how did you select the 10 songs for the album?

I think there are only seven because one of the songs is broken into three different pieces, so I cheated a little. Some of the songs are old, you know, ten years or more old, and I really just went with the songs I enjoy playing, even if they were older. They had never lost their lustre for me, so I figured what the heck. I like that this is more of a shorter record, a little bit more concise, and I think that sometimes these days artists are putting out these super double albums and what have you, which is a little bit much in my opinion.

You are a prolific songwriter and collaborator. What do you get out of collaborating?

At this point, I’ve built up relationships with various writers that I love and trust, and if I’m stuck on a song or an idea, I know I can bring it to them. You can save certain ideas, like ‘Parallel Love’ was just perfect for Dan (Isbell), this country idea and Dan is as country as they come. It was a perfect match, and it was a nice day with two old buddies who hadn’t seen each other in a while, just hanging out and we finished the song while we were catching up.

You are not a country boy, are you?

No, I’m from Connecticut and Trevor (Rosen) is from Michigan. I always say I’m from Connecticut, but I’m from the South of Connecticut.

What made you want to come to Nashville and play country all those years ago?

While I didn’t grow up on country music per se, there was a lot of country-influenced music, like James Taylor, like the Rolling Stones, like the Black Crows, and the Allman Brothers, that’s what I grew up listening to when I was first learning to play music, and such. I was country by way of these other people, who were influenced by real country music and Nashville is the last frontier you can go to. I went just to be a songwriter because I was tired of being in bands. At that point, I’d already been in three bands and I’d been driving around the country in dirty vans, so I moved here because I knew I could make a living just writing songs.

What did you say to the other guys when you decided to make a solo album?

They were great, but I think it caught them off guard a little bit. I told them I was making it but at the time I had no idea it would be released, especially on Sony Records. That might have caught them by surprise but they have been very supportive. All the bands we grew up loving, be it Tom Petty or Pearl Jam, the Eagles, everyone had their own thing to offer in those bands as well, so they understand I have no plans to leave, and that it’s just a nice little thing on the side.

Your songs have been covered by everybody, or so it seems. What drives you to be such a prolific songwriter?

I’m not sure. I think it’s once you start and move to Nashville and do it at this level and you’re doing it day in and day out, your radar is always up for ideas and stuff. It’s another way of meditation and it is such a fun craft to be able to do. It’s great to be able to do it with people, and it’s great to just wake up, have some coffee, sit in your house by yourself and just try and create something on your own. It is a great way to pass the time.

How disciplined a songwriter are you?

I still do co-writing so I have appointments, probably two a week or something, but on the days I don’t I’ll go around the house, especially in the morning because that’s when I feel most creative, and I’ll grab a guitar or a piano before my brain has really woken up and just play what comes to mind, nonsense or whatever. Some days something comes out, other days it doesn’t and that’s fine. I’d say discipline is a strong word, but I’m persistent.

You said you recorded the album over time, but did you know what you wanted or was it organic on a song-by-song basis?

I think I had the songs in mind that I wanted to do, and it did take a while because it isn’t very structured, and when you are just your own self trying to schedule with other people like producers, and it wasn’t like I was a giant priority for anyone I was just like for fun, you know. It was just song by song, two of the songs were produced by Marc Sibilia and they took longer than the others because he played nearly every instrument on those tracks. There was just a lot of trial and error on those tracks, but for four of the tracks I just went in with a studio band and we did those songs in one day and we just kind of knocked those out. ‘Church Bells and Train Whistles’ was just a demo of a co-write I wrote with Ben West and Stephen Wilson Jr. that was probably pitched to a million people around town, and nobody ever wanted to record it, but I always loved it so much and I loved the way Ben recorded it that I didn’t even try to re-record it we just got it mixed. So that’s a “demo”. It was kind of pieced together from all sorts of different places.

Where did your guitar playing come from?

You know what’s funny, in Old Dominion I’m the lead guitar player so I do a lot of the solos and all that stuff, but on this record, I think I played one electric guitar just like a simple background part, and I left it all to the professionals. I just wanted to play the acoustic, my first love, I learnt to play guitar on an acoustic and that’s what I gravitate to. When I’m at the house I don’t often pick up an electric guitar, so I just wanted to stick to my role on this project which I think is acoustic, and let the other musicians take care of the rest.

Are you going to get a chance to tour the album?

We are going to do a little tour for the month of October, and maybe a little bit into November, just small little theatres. It will be fun, I’m looking forward to it. Old Dominion has a slower year this year, so there’s an opportunity for me to play some shows by myself.

Do you have any plans to play in the UK?

With this band, not yet, with the other band yes, we’ll be over for sure. We’ll see, I’d love to do it and I’m excited for this chapter. In the thirty years I’ve been playing music, this is the first time I’ve been in the middle singing the songs. I’m a little nervous and excited too.

How did you feel when you completed the album?

Great. We just released the album cover and track listing today on social media and people have been texting me, My Moms called, and she’s real excited, it feels nice, and it feels good, get it out there.

At AUK, we like to share music with our readers. What are your favourite tracks, albums or artists on your playlists?

I listen to a bunch of weird stuff. Right now I’m listening to Ry Cooder, I’ve always been a big “Buena Vista Social Club” fan, that stuff he did down there with those musicians, and he’s done various spin-off projects with each of those musicians and I’m listening to “Mambo Sinuendo”. It’s nice, sometimes I don’t want to hear any words, I just want to hear some music. My girlfriend got me into Vance Joy, he’s a really good singer-songwriter.

Finally, do you want to say anything to our UK readers?

Obviously, the album’s out, and I really hope to get over there at some point. That would be really special. I remember a number of years ago I toured with a girl called Stephanie Lambring, she’s been over there a couple of different times, and we did like house concerts in the U. We were doing England and Scotland and it was really fun, people would sell tickets for their house, and we would stay at their house. Maybe something like that would be fun, I don’t know.

Brad Tursi’s “Parallel Love” is out now on Sony Music.