For more than two decades, Freddy Trujillo has quietly built one of the most distinctive careers in American roots music. Whether anchoring the rhythm section as bassist for Richmond Fontaine and The Delines or as a solo artist, the Simi Valley, California-born and Portland, Oregon-based musician has consistently blended americana, folk, rock, and Mexican musical traditions into a body of work that refuses to fit neatly into any one genre.
His fifth solo album, and his first for El Cortez Records, Ave Trujillo, will arrive September 25th, and Trujillo hopes it delivers his most imaginative and ambitious work to date. The title itself carries multiple meanings. “Ave” means “bird” in both Spanish and Latin, while also serving as a nod to Ave Maria. Intriguingly, each track bears the name of a different bird.
“I have always been into birds since I was a kid,” Trujillo explains. “They’ve appeared on other records. My first record was called Hawks & Highways. It was sort of a challenge to see if I could make a whole bird-themed record.” Trujillo originally envisioned the album as a children’s album, inspired in part by his years working at CD Baby, where he noticed just how successful children’s music could be. But… “I couldn’t seem to make it a children’s record,” he laughs. “It got too dark.”
Trujillo compares the approach to the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, where lighter moments helped offset the heavier ones. “I liked the idea that a song like ‘Black-capped Chickadee’ would offset some of the darker themes,” he says. “Much like Paul McCartney would add to a Beatles record. I tend to write a lot about Chicano experiences,” he says. “‘Common Loon’ is really about Chicano soul music and what those artists went through. Artists like Thee Midniters and Sunny & the Sunliners had a hard time because Mexican audiences didn’t always embrace that sound. I wrote it as a response to seeing younger musicians rediscovering it.”
The album’s centrepiece, Vermilion Flycatcher, is a song inspired by an extraordinary moment following his father’s funeral. Spotting the brilliantly colored bird, far outside its normal range, Trujillo couldn’t help but see it as something more than coincidence.”Birders call that an ‘accidental,’” he explains. “It’s when you see a bird that’s way outside where it’s supposed to be. But in the song I say, ‘It was no accident.’ I felt like my dad came to visit us through that bird.” The song also references another birding term, “lifer,” meaning the first time someone observes a particular species. Within the song, the bird becomes both a final gift and a lasting memory. “My dad gave me life,” Trujillo says, “and then he gave me a lifer bird.”
“I wanted these birds to have different characters,” he continues. “I took some publishing classes through Berklee that talked a lot about co-writing. I’m a much more confident writer now, so collaboration comes easier.” Those collaborations also reunited many of the musicians who have become central figures throughout Trujillo’s career. Produced alongside Cory Gray, who engineered, mixed, and arranged the horn parts, and contributed keyboards and trumpet, the album features Sean Oldham on drums, Willy Vlautin on rhythm guitar and co-writing duties for Canyon Wren, and Richmond Fontaine founding member Paul Brainard delivering a memorable guitar solo on Turkey Vulture. “I realized if I got Sean, Dan, Willy, Cory, and myself together, it was almost like Richmond Fontaine 2.0,” Trujillo says, “and then adding Paul…”
In addition to the album, Freddy hosts the web series On the List with Freddy Trujillo, where he takes fellow musicians birding and uses those walks as conversations about songwriting, touring, creativity, and the music industry; a reflection of the same themes explored throughout Ave Trujillo. Freddy will be chatting to our very own “lifer” Keith on the Podcast very soon. Here’s the single:
