An insight into what makes the Delines’ music so unique.
Regular visitors to Americana UK can be in no doubt of the high regard in which the music of the Delines is held. We have spoken with songwriter Willy Vlautin on numerous occasions, with bassist Freddy Trujillo last year and our own Andrew Frolish chatted with the whole band at Black Deer last year. However, we last spoke with vocalist Amy Boone in 2019 so it seemed timely that we get her views on their new release “Mr Luck & Ms Doom”, and get the lowdown on what fans can expect from the band’s up-and-coming tour of the UK and Europe. Amy Boone is one reason why the Delines’ music is so unique, and if anyone has any doubts about this just remember that Willy Vlautin specifically sought her out to sing his story songs. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson caught up with Amy Boone in the Bocce recording studio in Vancouver to discuss the new album and to try and get a sense of what makes the Delines sound so special. She makes it clear that she thinks the Delines’ music is very difficult to categorise, and attempts to categorise it can potentially limit it. While the relationship between Amy’s voice and Willy’s songs makes the Delines special, she shares her amazement at working with the calibre of musicians that make up the Delines and explains that Willy thinks of the band being the padding and sound for his stories.
How are you?
I’m in the studio where we record, Bocce in Vancouver. I’m freezing, I can’t take my jacket off. I drove up here with Corey and it was 27 degrees this morning and his car was encased in frost. We are having a cold snap.
This could be your chance to get your own back, Amy. We’ve spoken to Willy on numerous occasions, and we spoke to Freddy last year. So, this is your chance to say what really happens with the band.
I’ll do my best. My memory is pretty shot. The best times of my life have been with this band, so I’m glad to talk about it.
What are the dynamics from your perspective within the Delines, and how does your relationship with Willy actually work?
The chemistry is wonderful. The way a song develops is it starts with Willy just recording something on his phone, an idea, sometimes it is just a rough frame of something, but he always bounces it off me first to see if it is something I want to sing. I love that he always gives me the chance to say yes or no thank you, I don’t ever say no thank you, I always love what he writes. Even if I don’t understand it right away, I give it a chance. So, it always starts out with that, and then we slowly develop the music with the rest of the fellas later on for practice.
From what I’ve read Willy was almost stalking you from a songwriting perspective before he offered you the Delines gig. What did you think when he made that initial approach?
He wrote me a wonderful letter, he hand-wrote it and put it in the real mailbox, and I still have that letter and I treasure it. It was very flattering, I was blown away that he wanted to write songs for my voice because at that time I didn’t really think of myself as a lead singer or a front person. I’d been in a band with my sister, but we kind of co-led it and I played bass, so I’d never sung without an instrument. I liked the idea and it was a bit terrifying, but I loved the songs which he sent to me in batches, and I loved every single one of the first five songs he sent me, and they all made it to “Colfax”, our first record. The end of the letter was really sweet because he said “If you don’t want to do this, don’t feel bad or nervous to tell me because I want you to be honest. We will always be friends, even if you don’t want to do it”. He gave me this really nice out which I didn’t take because I love this band.
How were the songs selected for the new album “Mr Luck & Ms Doom”?
I think when Willy first started bringing groups of songs and bouncing them off me he was saying in his mind that he saw this definitely as a relationship record. Not always great relationships, and with people moving around, not settled and kind of drifting. The first song is his attempt at a love story that I asked him to write for me, “Mr Luck and Ms Doom”. It is a little bit more romantic, but it still has that Willy Vlautin signature. I love it, the dimension of the characters and there’s some wonderful imagery, for me, where Ms Doom is getting yelled at by her boss, and it is overlooking the bay and the cross, and I can just picture that as a scene in a movie.
As you’ve said, Willy writes songs for you to sing. What are your thoughts on the women in those songs?
Even though I can’t always specifically identify with the circumstances he creates in his songs, there’s always an element in the song that I can attach myself to, whether it is just sympathy or empathy for the characters. So, I always try and find a door in, that’s my goal. I think he writes from his heart, and I’m kind of a heart person myself so I can find the door in, usually. It works for us, and our band has a wonderful friendship and dynamic. For me as an artist who used to be more of a songwriter, I love seeing how professional people work together to make a song better or to add what they have to the musicality of a song. Mostly when that’s going on I’m just in the room watching these guys work together. It is just wonderful to see the guys create together.
The Delines are pretty prolific as far as records go but you have that rare knack of being able to maintain your high standards. How hard does the band have to work to achieve this?
It depends. I can give you an example, the ballad “Her Ponyboy” is a pretty long one, and we had the full band in for some time, and then we decided it should be more stripped down with a piano. We had slow, fast, do it in a different key, all those transformations until it just feels right to everybody. Ballads are hard to work, you want people to pay attention from the beginning of the story to the end, and that has to do with the production of a ballad to hold somebody’s attention. The band works really hard, where’s the instrumental going to be, and the production has a lot to do with John Askew our producer as well, but these guys just come in and make it beautiful. Cory arranges the strings and the horns and plays all the keyboard parts, they are just ringer players.
You sound like a fan, Amy.
I am a fan. If you want to know what Willy and I talk about when we are alone, it’s that we can’t believe we are in a band with such amazing musicians, because we are way down here and they are way up there, you know.
How do you view the music of the Delines?
It is very hard to say we are a country folk band because it’s always like you are missing something when you try and put it into a genre. You have to be careful with these things, there’s a jazzy element to it because of the horns, and to me, it is also developing into something almost theatrical where I’m doing spoken word, or sometimes I talk-sing which seems almost theatrical. So, it’s really hard to define this band, and sometimes I feel the Delines are just making their own sound. I know you all have to write about it and find a way to write about it, but it’s hard for me to put my finger on the pulse of the Delines other than it’s interesting, and we keep experimenting. There are new rhythms in this record, ‘Maureen’s Gone Missing’ is new for us, it’s a little groovier.
Do you have a view on why the Delines seem more popular in Europe than you are in the US?
I like to believe that people saw us live, and loved us live. We have people like you all at Americana UK being so supportive of the band, and we really appreciate that support over all these years. If the press isn’t behind you nobody’s going to come to the shows. When you first travel you imagine getting on the aeroplane and you’re imagining getting over here and nobody coming to the shows, and we’ve been really lucky to have people show up and listen. I don’t know, I have theories about that, americana music is based on ballads as well because we got a lot of our folk music from England, Ireland and Germany, and I think the audience that comes to the Delines are lyric people and they want to hear the lyrics.
People go to see music for different reasons, and Willy likes to think of the band as being quiet, they are the padding and the sound of the story. That’s how we approach live shows, and I don’t want to be disparaging to Americanas, but Willy and I grew up playing in bars, we both played in bar bands, and people go there to drink and talk, to be rowdy and socialise, and it was really hard to get people to listen. If you don’t listen to Willy’s lyrics you’ve missed the whole point of the band. I’m sure there’s a crowd in America who would listen, we just haven’t found that niche yet.
Who are your main influences as a singer?
A lot are the same as Willy’s. I love Bobbie Gentry, I like Sammi Smith, these are some of the old Nashville country singers, I listen to a lot of Motown, I love Al Green, and the list goes on and on. I listen to all kinds of music, I lived in Austin for thirty years and I really got a taste for Texas country music which is really its own thing, Tony Joe White, Willie Nelson of course, and all those wonderful songwriters down there. That’s a big influence on what I listened to for a big chunk of time in my life.
You might think this is an unfair question, but how would you rate Willy’s songwriting against other songwriters?
It’s hard for me to be objective because I love him so much, but he draws from the same influence of things that I like, so when he writes a song like “Holly The Hustle” or “Nancy & The Pensacola Pimp” I know where he’s drawing from so it’s familiar, but he puts his own Willyism into it. So, he makes it his own but he draws from things I really like, it speaks to me.
Are you ready for your up-and-coming UK and European tour?
We have a gig here before we leave. We always try to do Portland or Seattle before we leave, just to get back into the game again. These guys all have side things that they do. Cory’s in the other room working on his side project right now, I’m the one who doesn’t really have anything other than the Delines, so when we take these big breaks I feel like I’m starting all over again. I play at home and stuff, but I start to get nervous again, and I just have to get on stage again. I’ve just got to do it, and everything will be alright, I hope. I’m nervous but I’m excited, we all love coming over there, you’ve all been so wonderful to us. The shows are selling out pretty well, so we already have confidence the rooms aren’t going to be empty and there will be people there because they like the Delines. That in itself gives me confidence, and I’m really proud of this record, I like it a lot.
What do you think of the rest of Europe, and why they’ve taken to the Delines, because there is a language difference as far as the lyrics go?
That was really nerve-racking to me, and it was really surprising, although in Spain and The Netherlands, a lot of people speak really good English, probably better than I speak it. I know a lot will probably be lost in translation, there are a lot of Americanisms and vernacularisms, and slang in the lyrics, and I wonder sometimes what people make of it, and then I think they must just be vibing off the vibe of the beautiful music and the band, and while not getting every single nuance, getting it in general. I’m very surprised by that.
At AUK, we like to share music with our readers, so can you share which artists, albums, or tracks are currently top three on your personal playlist?
I’m listening to Chris Eckman because he will be opening for us and I’m trying to catch up. I always love Pete Bruntnell, I think he’s wonderful. I don’t usually do big-time production stuff, I tend to stay with friends handing me local stuff, so those are the two most recent things I’ve listened to. And Cory’s band, and Freddy’s band, there’s so much good music out there I don’t know how anyone keeps up with it. I always feel so lame, but I can’t keep up with all the new stuff.
You can make a good case that there is too much new music because it is very hard for all of it to be given a chance to be heard.
That makes us feel so particularly lucky that somehow with all the support we’ve had, we have managed to find a little niche in there that is a really sweet niche. I love talking to people after shows. I actually have people asking me questions about that song “Little Earl”, where he drives off in his car with his bleeding brother in the hospital, what happens to him? They want to know the sequel. It is amazing they are listening, and hanging on to every word, and I’m blown away by that. I love talking to people because I usually let them tell me what happened to this or that character. It’s fun to hear people’s perspectives on these songs, it’s fun to chat with people after the show.
Finally, do you want to say anything to our UK readers?
We love coming over there, just keep coming to shows and we’ll keep coming over. We appreciate Americana UK’s support and all your writers. You’ve got a big job and we appreciate you taking the time to pay attention to the Delines. I think we are a special band, and we appreciate it.
The Delines’ “Mr Luck & Ms Doom” is out now on Decor Records.
The Delines 2025 UK and European Tour
Mon March 24 – Rough Trade East London, United Kingdom
Tue March 25 – The Old Market Brighton And Hove, United Kingdom
Wed March 26 – Band on the Wall Manchester, United Kingdom
Thu March 27 – Leeds City Varieties Leeds, United Kingdom
Sat March 29 – Civic Theatre Gosforth, United Kingdom
Sun March 30 – Metronome Nottingham, United Kingdom
Mon March 31 – The Glee Club Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom
Tue March 1 – Bristol Beacon Bristol, United Kingdom
Wed April 2 – The 1865 Southampton, United Kingdom
Thu April 3 – Union Chapel London, United Kingdom
Fri April 4 – Muziekclub N9 Eeklo, Belgium
Sat April 5 – LantarenVenster Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sun April 6 – TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Netherlands
Mon April 7 – SPOT Groningen Groningen, Netherlands
Mon May 5 – Tolhuistuin Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tue May 6 – NOCHTWACHE Hamburg, Germany
Wed May 7 – HeadQuarters Aarhus C, Denmark
Thu May 8 – Pustervik Göteborg, Sweden
Fri May 9 – Nalen Stockholm, Sweden
Sun May 11 – Hotel Cecil København K, Denmark
Mon May 12 – Privatclub Berlin, Germany
