Saturday morning, the sun is already starting to bake, my wife and son are still fast asleep and I’m sitting here surrounded by my books and albums, headphones on listening to some very cool music from New American Farmers. Saturday and Sunday mornings are my time for Folk and Alt-Country because both are a big part of what I listen to. The Byrds, Petty, Dylan, Gram Parsons, Neil Young and that list could go on for a long time but the point being , it’s a part of who I am and what I love so it is my pleasure to be sitting here listening to this fantastic duo, with beautiful harmonies, I’m way in front of you and as I write they are doing a alt-country version of ELOs’ “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” just gorgeous, I’m so impressed by New American Farmers that I want all of this on Vinyl so I can sit here without headphones on , blasting this out of my speakers. Let us add Soul Asylum to the list of Bands that are part of this history, always loved them and when I hear just a dash of Soul Asylum, I’m hooked. I haven’t read any reviews or what the critics are saying, who needs that hanging around your neck while your trying to capture why you like what your listening to. What I am saying is simple…buy the new album, buy the old albums, listen to New American Farmers if you have any time to spare as you go through your days, their music will make you smile and sing along and it doesn’t get much better than that…..
Hi our name is….
New American Farmers. We don’t have a farm. Yet. We do grow veggies and lemons, and songs.
We want a small farm some day. In Oregon or Vermont.
People say we sound like…..
Tom Petty, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, and that other band… what’s the name of that band?
We are….
Paul Knowles and Nicole Storto
We are originally from….
Mars, Arizona — but we moved to California, then changed our name after 10 years.
Who are some that have an influence on your sound??
The Monkees, The 70s Rolling Stones, 1970s Neil Young, Patti Smith, George Harrison, The Band, and Traveling Wiburys (all the current hip bands, you see).
The first time we met was…..
In a record store in Tempe, AZ., in the summer. Man was it hot.
We knew we were going to be a Band…
When we played our first show at Double Door in Chicago as duo.
Books we recommend …
The One-Straw Revolution
Fukuoka, Masanobu
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
After The Quake by Murakami
The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature
Tarnoff, Ben *
Post Office
Bukowski, Charles
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Maté, Gabor
Our craziest gig ever was….
At a sports bar up by the Russian River. We opened for another band. We played a few originals while 3 baseball games were playing on the TV. The crowd wanted to hear covers — we played a bunch of Neil Young, CSNY, and Concrete Blonde, and The Doors. We got tips and people started listening. We’re not sure how we got booked into that place.
If you could pick any time to travel back to for music, where would you go and what year would it be….
Right here in California – 1973-1974. Such a good time for singer/songwriters, and that’s around the time that Neil Young made On The Beach and Tonight’s The Night.
Growing up ,at home we listened to…..
Our dad’s records at first – Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, The Jordanaires, Nancy Sinatra, Harper Valley PTA by Jeanie C. Riley, then graduated to Beatles, ELO, Stones, Tom Petty, Television, The Monkees (all the hipster bands at the time).
What tunes are on heavy rotation for you…
Mother by Pink Floyd and Natalie Maines’ cover of Mother. Tom Heyman’s In The Nighttime World and Chickenhawks and Jesus Freaks, All Things Must Pass and Brainwashed by George Harrison, Anything by Coyote Oldman to help us relax and sleep.
If you could open for any Band right now who would that be and why?
The original Wilco band, The Clarence White era Byrds, or did you mean a current band? Then, Zoe Muth and the High Rollers or Lee Gallagher and The Hallelujah. We’ve actually worked with Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah before. We should do it again. It was a good match.
When you are touring and have some time off , where could we find you..,.,
Reading, exploring the local vibe, catching the local bands, hiking
The one thing we want you to remember while your listening to us
We’re on your side. We want you to be happy, and we want you to think.
the new album…not yet released…
Pre-order of The Farmacology Sessions. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
releases 14 October 2014
and you can follow/keep up with The New American Farmers…
