The Meanderings is a duo featuring the folk guitar sound of Daniel Cravens and the jazz pop style of Connor Morrison. Long time friends, the two decided over a beer to collaborate on some songs each of them had written over the years. With only a guitar, a keyboard, and a microphone, their music has been crafted in the mountains just outside of Albuquerque, NM, and will take you on a journey through the roads, mountains, and desert scenes that inspire their unique sound.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with The Meanderings about their latest project, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
I was jamming Hops as I prepped this article for publishing; my daughter (10 years old) walks in and says, “this is a great song”. I definitely agree. Turn it up loud and jam on out.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are from the mountains just outside of Albuquerque, NM. We ultimately create folk rock, but our music is heavily influenced by our different playing styles. On one hand, Connor is very into jazz and pop which comes through in his piano style and singing, while Daniel has more of the folk and western influence which comes through in his guitar, banjo, mandolin and singing. When it blends together though, its a cool folk rock feel that we both really like.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
It’s hard to say what individually led us to where we are, or what drives us, but we came together as a band when we both realized that each of us had a bank of songs that we had written, the desire to play them for other people, but no outlet. At that point we decided it would be good to team up and start playing the bars and breweries around where we are from. After doing that for a while, we’ve gotten to the point where we have recorded and released some songs, with another album being released in a few weeks. In terms of what keeps us going, its a blast playing for other people, and we keep writing songs, so we plan to keep at it, even if it’s just for the free beer.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
With this song specifically (Hops), its a much more vocal centric song than most of our others. We spent a lot of time during the recording process trying to get harmonies right, and getting the instrumentation to match them. It’s a stand alone song, that pays tribute to some of the people we have met at some of our shows, both the ones that like to party and get rowdy, and the ones that sit in the corner and nurse their pilsners. It’s just a fun song that is both fun to listen to and fun to play. Being a single off of our next album, it’s also worth mentioning that it represents, at a higher level, a taste of our more refined sound, which is a bit more developed as we spent about a year putting together this next album.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
It’s particularly difficult to standout as a primarily acoustic band in a time where things like EDM or even indie electro type music dominate most of the streaming sites. That’s probably our biggest battle. Without an awesome bass drum, it’s hard to get a following. That being said, technology has made it easier for independent artists like us to put out music that sounds a little bit more professional, even if we can’t afford the studio time.
What was the last song you listened to?
Julep by Punch Brothers.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
CD’s are great to have in the car and jam out to, but streaming online has been both of our means of listening just due to the mobile aspect of it. If you can get your hands on a good vinyl though, it’s hard to beat that.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I think that really just depends on convenience. Connor listens to Spotify almost exclusively because he doesn’t have an iphone. Daniels on the move a little more and likes Apple Music.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We are available pretty much anywhere you want to go. We usually point people toward Spotify or Apple Music, but we are also on Soundcloud, Amazon Music, Band Camp, and all of those places. We also love connecting to our fans through Facebook and Instagram! Below are some links.
Anything else before we sign off?
We will be releasing a new album on November 24th called Entering Cedar Crest. Its got 9 tracks on it, and we are super excited about it!
Thanks again for the interview!!
The Meanderings
