Ted Russell Kamp’s California Son balances rock (the title track) and roll (“Hard to Hold”) with Greenwich Village folk (“Hanging on Blues”). We recently spoke with Kamp about the new collection, his influences and songwriting during the pandemic.
“I would go to my drummer’s house during the pandemic because he has a home studio,” Kamp says. “I’d record acoustic guitar and vocal and then would record bass and drums live. Then I would take the recording back home and finish it on my own.”
Alt-Country Specialty Chart: Explain how California Son took shape.
Ted Russell Kamp: My last record Solitaire was my acoustic quarantine record. I wrote a lot of these songs thinking they would be on Solitaire, but the album started getting more defined and these songs were too fun and rocking. I decided to make Solitaire more intimate. California Son is more rocking. I knew California Son should be more celebratory because we could be out in public again. So, I saved a bunch of these songs not knowing what they would be. I wanted a high energy level.
Describe the album’s common lyrical theme.
I was compiling my favorite eight or ten songs and discovered there was a theme. Songs like “Ballad of a Troubadour” and “High Desert Fever” are about California and me being a professional musician. “Miracle Mile” is about this great little strip in a really famous neighborhood in Los Angeles. Then I realized, “Hey, this is a California record. I should just go for it.” The last songs I wrote for the album were “California Son” and “Hanging on Blues.” I went through a John Prine kick and wanted to have this talking blues like him.
Tell the story behind writing the title track.
I thought, This is autobiographical about moving to Seattle and listening to Tom Waits when I moved to Hollywood. I don’t know if people are really gonna care, but then I thought about it in terms of it being my dream as a professional musician to come to Los Angeles and be a part of this community and history. This was my dream coming true. I hopefully still have another thirty years of making music, but I thought about it in terms of the Tom Petty documentary Running Down a Dream.
Describe how Petty’s experience was like yours.
Those guys were all from Florida, but they came to Los Angeles to make the dream come true. It worked. Some like Jackson Browne were raised in L.A. and made it work. Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones, Los Lobos all came to L.A. to make the dream come true. Even go back to Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Gene Autry and Charlie Chaplin coming out here and recording. The list goes on and on. I was like, “Wow, I’m really part of this legacy.”
Explain the draw Los Angeles has.
Los Angeles has a a really powerful, wonderful, inspiring mythology that lets people dream. So, “California Son” isn’t just about me talking about what I did last Wednesday. The song is about me being a part of this huge and wonderful tradition. I was like, “Yes, this album is now California Son.” This isn’t just a good, new song but the title of the album that states the theme.
– Brian T. Atkinson
CHART CLIMBER
Artist: Wonder Women of Country
Hometown: Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee
Album: Wonder Women of Country
Release Date: March 15, 2024
Record Label: Bismeaux Records
Artist Website: wonderwomenofcountry.com
On recording the album: “Folks were asking if we had records together at every show. We finally had a chance to make one after months of that.” – Kelly Willis
- Brian T. Atkinson
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