Zephaniah Bostow is a singer-songwriter living in Tennessee. Growing up in a religious, working-class family of 9, he spent days at church and nights at tent revivals and fish frys. When he was 13, his pastor gave a guitar to the family, saying it was meant for his youngest sister. The guitar gathered dust. It seemed pastor or God, or both, were wrong. In time, Zephaniah took to the guitar, holing himself up to plunk out melodies and to play rhythms that went beyond the church band. After years of musical wandering, Zephaniah emerged from his room with songs to sing. These were stories of truth and doubt, suffering and liberation, born from an unflinching look at the self.
A move to Nashville brought new musical partnerships. A chance encounter at a yoga class lead to a fast friendship with Barry and Holly Tashian (Emmylou Harris, The Remains) both of whom played important roles in bringing the American songbook to life. Their encouragement lead to a connection with Joe Pisapia, a producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with K.D. Lang and Guster, among others. His first release, Waking Up, was recorded in a whirl-wind, three-day session at Middletree studio.
Before I went into the studio, there wasn’t a lot of talk about what we would make of these songs. But once we got started, there was a very organic and effortless collaboration that happened. We didn’t have to say anything, but it’s all there in the songs: something deeply intuitive and true.”
Zephaniah about the recording process.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Zephaniah about the latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
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.)
I was born outside San Antonio, Texas and moved to rural Kentucky when I was 9. I went to college in Lexington, Kentucky and studied both vocal performance and literature with a concentration in creative fiction. After college, my wife and I moved to Nashville on a whim—we had zero prospects but we were ready for a change in scenery. I’ve wrestled with the question of what kind of music I make. When someone asks about the style of music I play, I do my best to answer the question, but I always feel like my response is insufficient. I never felt that I could fully master any one style of music but I have a deep admiration for many different musical traditions. My easy and insufficient answer might be something like “I write folky pop songs with a focus on chordal and vocal harmony and rhythmic complexity.” And even as I write this, I feel like a pretentious nerd. I’m just as much a cook as I am a musician and I think I follow the same philosophy for both activities: what I appreciate and enjoy finds it’s way into whatever I make.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Music has a hold on me in ways that other art doesn’t. It’s a very mysterious kind of craft and that’s why it appeals to me. I know that there are those who have conceived formulas for how to make something catchy or ‘good enough,’ but I don’t believe there is any kind of magic formula for what makes something truly great. I continue to show up and to write in pursuit of that.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This is only my second release. I’ve been making music since I was 13, but it wasn’t until last April that I finally released something with the world. That was an EP called “Waking Up,” a collection of four songs, mostly acoustic pieces. I had the chance to work with my friend Joe Pisapia (Guster, KD Lang, et al) and everything about the process felt natural and organic and right. The most recent release was “Cold Mountain.” I worked with my friend and former neighbor, Owen Biddle. He’s a bass player and producer who exists on another plane of musical mastery–and yet he remains humble and kind and very down-to-earth. I had heard his production before and thought it was evocative and cool and slick. I knew that I wanted Cold Mountain to be something you could turn up really loud and bob your head to.
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)?
My answer is embedded in your question: namely, the market is over-saturated. Everyone is a musician, everyone writes songs, everyone has a project that they’re working on and a show they want you to attend and an album they want you to buy. This is, in many ways, a beautiful thing. I don’t like the idea that the world is divided between the ‘experts’ and those who know nothing. Advancements in recording technology have made it so that anyone can have an idea and turn it into something that sounds pretty good, even if they haven’t been playing music their whole life. It’s great that so many people are promoting their work; and it’s also difficult to get anyone’s attention. It becomes more of a game of promotion and how well someone can pull those strings and less about making something really honest and true and good. As for the benefits of music technology, I’ve been able to grow as a creator because of the easy accessibility of music software and gear. And these days, it’s not prohibitively expensive. Being able to record one part and to experiment with different textures and parts over the years means that I can better envision a song and its pieces from the outset.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Famous Hungarians” from Chilly Gonzalez’s ‘Solo Piano III’
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. However, my wife and I live in a small apartment and it’s not feasible to amass a vinyl collection. While I appreciate audiophiles who can tell the difference between flac and wav and mp3 files just by listening to them, I don’t have that ability. I care a lot more about how well a song is written than I do about the fidelity of the recording.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Here’s where my ideals don’t align with my actions. I ‘prefer’ Bandcamp, but Spotify is convenient and ubiquitous. I wish that Bandcamp could catch on and that artists could make more off what they create. I’m part of the problem, I suppose. We all know that there are issues with how we consume media. We’ll pay a few bucks for a hamburger, but we’re less likely to spend the same amount on a piece of art that may have taken years to create. And with pay-to-play services like Spotify and Apple Music, we hardly feel it when they subtract a few dollars from our bank account. I was a teenager when Napster got famous and I think the ‘music should be free’ philosophy has rubbed off on me and a lot of others. I have to be intentional about how I consume and how I support other artists and the work they create.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Instagram is the way that I connect with listeners and share the ideas I’m working on. I have a policy of not being too precious with the music I make and I try to share things long before they’re finished. Every week, I share snippets of new songs I’m writing. It’s been helpful for me, because I can see how each idea resonates with people and throwing it out into the universe before it’s done gives me some time to re-examine it and make changes before I record it and put out the final release.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thanks for listening to the song and for supporting it and for doing what you do!
