In this interview spotlight, I chat with William Goin about his latest project, challenges, motivations and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
The genres I write in are what I’ve come up in & like. The “Moon Over Springfield” EP is more introspective, melancholy & minimalist, in the singer/songwriter style, which is a big part of me. With the “Swing Bone Dixie” EP, I’d been gigging & playing old time traditional jazz with a band called Junko Royals. We had risen on the scene, and were getting increasingly higher profile gigs. This inspired me to write songs in the trad jazz style. As an outlet for these songs, came the “Swing Bone Dixie” project. I called on some of my music friends to help me record them. Even though my music friends were usually busy with their own projects, we managed to record about 6 or 7 songs. As we started to gig, the musical chairs would rotate at times depending on who was available, but we had fun with the songs, and it started to feel like a band. Jesekah Sanders, who’s great with vocal blending harmonies & vocalizations, brought an undeniable magick and especially helped in making it feel like a band; though sadly for me, she decided to step away from music, I think. Anyways, I love playing in the old trad jazz style which came out of New Orleans, music that tends to feel more up, even if it is down & dark. I’m lucky to have some incredibly good musician friends who played on these recordings, as well as a very good recording engineer person who I enjoyed working with.
All that being said, the next batch of stuff I plan to work on will probably be more in the dark, minimalist & introspective vibe.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
I’d been away from my home town of Jacksonville, FL for years, and had moved back around 2013 to the historic district of Springfield where I had a creative period, and wrote a bunch of songs. I’d written other songs over the years, but never really did anything with them. Anyway, around 2014, I had an epiphany, and came to believe that I should record some of these songs, and put them out into the world.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing?
So many great songwriters and musicians I’ve loved & have inspired me… Leadbelly, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Allen Toussaint, Dr John, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Rodgers and on and on…
The music by tragic geniuses like Nick Drake and James Booker has surely touched my soul too.
Also, what motivates you to keep going?
I suppose having a passion or being driven about something; be it art, music, science, or whatever can invigorate and motivate you to keep going. I guess music is just something that’s been there for me. Even if I question why from time to time.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Songs are powerful little entities. I know the powerful effect that certain great songs have had on me and I wanted to create songs that could make a deep connection with others too, especially with the “Moon Over Springfield” EP. The “Swing Bone Dixie” EP is different in that it’s probably a little more lively & swinging, fun stuff to play live with others, and I enjoyed having more musicians involved. Especially because they’re such great players.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Belamina” from Tuba Skinny’s latest album “Nigel’s Dream”… There are so many videos of them on youtube playing on the streets in the French Quarter which are great. Absolute smoking, torch bearers for New Orleans trad jazz.
“Ginger” by Robert Lester Folsom… This is an older song but I just discovered it, by a fellow Jacksonville singer/songwriter. The video works so well with the song too. A time capsule worth checking out.
There really is some good music out there still being made. And cool stuff that’s been overlooked. Middle Tennessee Music is awesome for featuring some of this less mainstream & off the radar stuff.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
There’s nothing like the warm sound from vinyl on a record player, though sadly, my record collection has dwindled over the years… Nor do I currently have a record player.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I like Bandcamp because to me it seems to be more for us independent, outsider, little guys. It seems to me though that it’s harder to get the non-musician types to venture there.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
“The digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music”… Well put. It’s really like an avalanche of information. It’s not always easy to get people to click over to check out new music. Playing a gig with a big screen TV above you, while a ball game’s on, is not great either. There are lots of distractions out there for people.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
Here lately, I’ve been gigging less, and my focus has been on experimenting and trying to get a better grasp on the recording process. For me, sometimes it’s good to let the batteries for gigging recharge.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
I have a musician fb page which is probably the best way to connect with me online, and hopefully people will check it out and give it a “like”. The music can be found on bandcamp, itunes… and the other regular digital places like youtube, spotify and such… Here are some links of interest:
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Shout out to the folks who made contributions of their musical talents on these recordings: Jesekah Sanders, Darren Ronan, Ernie Ealum, Hugh Rankin, Tom Bennett, Alexander Goin, Sean Clancy, Rania Woodard, and Carolanne Wolfe.
