In this interview we chat with songwriter R.X. Bertoldi about his homegrown flavor of song writing, creating music with his son, and his newest project Solid Ground.
Introduce yourself to our readers and describe the style of music you create.
Hello there! I’m R.X. Bertoldi – “Robert Xavier”, officially, so I use my initials “R.X.” when playing music. It’s a small tribute to my parents who were both in the medical profession, and in the tradition of some musicians I admire (especially JJ Cale). My friends and family just call me Bob, of course. My music is a mix of blues, traditional country, rock-n-roll and rockabilly–some of all the music I would and do listen to basically.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing styles? Also, what motivates you to keep creating?
I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan’s and the Rolling Stones’ music while in high school. Their music lead me to Tom Waits and a lot of blues players, including Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and others. I later heard and appreciated songwriters like JJ Cale, John Hiatt and Paul Simon. In my twenties, I played guitar when I had the chance, but never gave it continued or focused attention, and I never learned any theory either. I didn’t take up the guitar seriously until I was 30 years old, but I always listened intently and was aware of what various band members were doing on a recording or performance. I sang along to my folks’ hi-fi at home, and to the radio and 8-track in the car as a kid. And I actually destroyed a set of old vinyl chairs (next to the hi-fi) in our basement as a kid banging away (drumming) to my older sister’s Beatles and Stones records. The sounds and rhythms of rock-n-roll clearly resonated with me, even as a very young boy. I suppose the motivation for making music comes from the feeling that I’m still getting started and only just beginning to figure out a few things–in short, the fun of playing and always learning more from others’ music and their musical input. As a relative “beginner”, I’m well aware that they’ll almost always know more about music than myself. It’s also great fun to play and record with my sons! Both of them can read drum charts, and my older son reads bass and treble clef for piano as well. I can’t do any of that, but hope to some day.
What was the last song you listened to?
Funny, of all things, earlier this morning I actually listened to (and watched on Youtube) “Stairway to Heaven”, which I hadn’t heard in its entirety in a long, long time. Jimmy Page described the process Led Zeppelin went through as a band to write and record that track, and it was a real plus from a songwriting angle to hear for the first time how they “designed” and made it.
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?
1) Lack of mobility – in that I have two growing sons (teen and pre-teen) with lots of sports and music activities and my strong commitment to being home for them and my wife. We do a lot together since you can’t get that family together time back, and I forego travelling for my music to travel with them as a family for enjoyment when we can, including to Italy where we have strong family roots and ties.
2) Lack of undivided attention, time and energy – I’ve had 1.25 to 1.5 full time employment as the sole or main family provider for the past 15 years, so that obviously cuts into available time, attention and energy to make and promote my music and songwriting.
Do you gig, tour or perform through any live streaming services? Where can music lovers see you perform?
Due to circumstances described above, I play relatively few shows and only very locally, near Seattle. I recently learned of Concert Window’s streaming capabilities and my older son and I have discussed the possibility of streaming a show from our living room. He started playing drums with me in the studio and at our live local shows last year. I have a few videos for my music on Youtube also.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
At my website rxbertoldi.com folks can find links to my music, which is available and searchable via “R.X. Bertoldi” at Cdbaby.com, Pandora, Youtube, i-Tunes, Spotify, and even Facebook.
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Only many thanks for your interest and support of my music! I appreciate it, along with that of all the Americana radio DJs’ who’ve spun our tunes these past few years. I’m especially grateful to all those DJs, and to the programmers at SiriusXM radio who have helped me reach many listeners that otherwise would not have been possible. In fact, until a recent programming direction shift at SiriusXM’s Coffeehouse station, they played a couple of my recordings a few times weekly over the past three or four years and for their national audience. Their regular spins of my songs have been a tremendous help to me as a recording singer songwriter. The same goes for Pandora, where my recent studio recordings have also been accepted for airplay. Without yours, and all the radio support mentioned above, my music would largely be for my family and friends, and those living in our immediate vicinity. So again, many sincere thanks!
