Interview with Amy Farris (May 2, 2004)
For more than a decade, since she was in her early twenties, Amy Farris has been supporting other musicians. Playing in somebody else's band. Singing on somebody else's records. Riding in somebody else's tour bus.
As of the first week of May, 2004, the singer, songwriter and fiddler has her own record, which she's taking on the road with a variety of supporting musicians in cities across the U.S.
The Austin, Texas, native, who's now in her mid-30s, talked by phone to the Green Man Review from her home in suburban Los Angeles, just days before the whirlwind of touring and promotion was scheduled to start with the release of her Yep Roc debut, Anyway.
"I love touring," she says. And it's a good thing she does. Her plans call for a record release party in Hollywood, then several appearances in Austin, followed by some time playing in Nashville (including a date on the Opry Plaza opening for the resurgent BR549), and a few dates opening for Dave Alvin, one of her musical heroes and mentors, who produced Anyway. "I'm really looking forward to all of it -- it's going to be fun, especially in Austin." Tentative plans call for a short tour of Europe and the U.K. in the fall of 2004.
Farris is a rare bird, an Austin musician who actually grew up in Austin. In fact, her roots go deep in Texas -- one of her forebears fought and died at the Alamo.
Anyone listening to her debut CD would be impressed with the range of musical styles represented, from jazz standards to swing to rock to hard country. So it's no surprise she grew up in a household that loved music.
"I grew up doing a lot of singing, just for fun," she says. "And I listened to a lot of music. My father listened to classical, and I heard a lot of mainstream country on the radio in my mom's car." Her first musical training was classical, beginning with piano, which she hated.
"I loved classical music as a child, but I also had certain records, an Annette Funicello record about the Pineapple Princess, and (Charlie Daniels') 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' and (Glen Campbell's) 'Rhinestone Cowboy'. . . those are wonderful story songs for children, really.
"Even before I was playing the violin, I just loved the sound of a big string section," she continues. "When (the movie) Star Wars came out, I loved the soundtrack. I was particularly blown away by the strings." Her piano teacher also taught violin, and may have spoken with her parents, because "one day I came home, and there in my bedroom was this three-quarter-size violin." It was mutual love at first sight, she recalls. "I could immediately make a nice tone on it -- I couldn't play any songs yet, but I could get a good sound out of it. I felt right at home with it."
She played violin all the way through school, playing in the high school orchestra and in the University of Texas Symphony.
But somewhere in there, she also started playing fiddle, as opposed to violin. It'd be hard to be a musician in Texas without going that route. And Austin has quite literally hundreds of places to play.
"I started playing in bands during college," she says. "I could always improvise, making up tunes in my head, and singing a lot just for fun. There are so many bands in Austin you can hardly throw a rock without hitting a musician." Sometime in the early '90s, alt-country superstar Alejandro Escovedo heard her play and was favorably impressed.
"I got the call and he offered me this gig and I took it," she says, leaving behind her day job as a legal secretary and going on the road. "That was an amazing experience, I was about 23 or 24. I played with Al off and on for two or three years, one really long intense tour, and a few shorter tours, and a two-week trip to Paris one time."
And she hasn't quit making music since then. She's toured and played with artists such as The Derailers, Tish Hinojosa, and country legend Ray Price. "I was the first single woman allowed on Ray's tour bus," she says. "I had to get a special dispensation from his wife." Most recently, she played with Kelly Willis and her husband, Bruce Robison, who have both become her close friends.
When it came time to record her first album, she enlisted another alt-country legend, Dave Alvin. In May, 2003, she moved to Alvin's hometown of Silver Lake to begin the recording process.
"Seeing X with Dave Alvin (in college in the '80s) was a life-changing experience," she says. "I was just blown away by Dave. I live right around the corner from him now! It was a dream come true for me to make a record with him, and write songs with him, and get to be friends."
In addition to violin, Farris plays its largely ignored big sister, the viola, as well as mandolin. And she's started learning cello.
"I've been playing more and more viola," she says. "I think the viola could be my favorite instrument. I started playing viola because I was playing with a lot of women, and it sounds really good with women who have higher voices."
She still plays classical music, too. "I haven't met a lot of classical players out here in California yet, but I practice classical music because I feel like it keeps my chops up. I've been playing lot of Bach lately."
You can learn more at Amy Farris' Web site.
