Bruce Hornsby with Nate Amos (This is Lorelei)

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a songwriting and production wizard who’s having a big moment in conversation with a legend that he considers a huge influence: It’s Nate Amos and Bruce Hornsby.

Nate Amos may have caught your attention in the past few years with Water From Your Eyes, a duo he started about 10 years ago with vocalist Rachel Brown. Together they’ve released a bunch of tough-to-categorize records: One minute you’re singing along with an arty pop song, the next you’re on an unexpected, noisy tangent. Throughout the Water years, Amos also quietly amassed a solo catalog under the name This is Lorelei—putting out dozens of experimental albums and EPs that you had to dig on Bandcamp to find. But This is Lorelei poked its head into the real world a little more with 2024’s ⁠Box For Buddy, Box For Star⁠, a record so beloved that its recent re-release includes covers of its songs by Jeff Tweedy, Waxahatchee, and MJ Lenderman, among others. Those names are good reference points for the latest This Is Lorelei record, too: ⁠The Singer in My Band⁠ came out in September, and it’s a much more straightforward version of Amos’ fantastic songwriting. Check out “Billy Came Back” ⁠right here⁠.

An artist that Amos wanted to cover one of his songs for that reissue was the other half of today’s conversation, Bruce Hornsby. Hornsby liked what he heard, but unfortunately couldn’t make the timing work, as you’ll hear in this conversation. Hopefully you recognize his name: Bruce Hornsby has built an incredible career over the past 50 years. He smashed into the mainstream in the late ‘80s with huge pop hits including “The Way It Is,” but before that and definitely since then he’s been a musical wanderer who loves to mix it up. You’ll also get some insight into the music Hornsby has been making in the last decade, including the fantastic ⁠Indigo Park⁠, which features guest appearances from all sides of Hornsby’s world, from Ezra Koenig to Bob Weir. Check out the title track from Indigo Park ⁠right here⁠.

In this lively conversation, you’ll hear a lot of mutual admiration: Hornsby even asks Amos if it’s okay if he kisses his ass a little bit. They chat about Kmart mix tapes, weird time signatures, and their shared love of the band ⁠Palm⁠, among other things. Enjoy.

00:00 Intro

03:26 Start of convo, Zoom etiquette, and Nate’s guitars

05:10 The New Yorker, batting cages, and Nate’s mercury poisoning apartment

08:25 On Vermont and Virginia, Bruce’s nephew, playing cards onstage, Frank Zappa, and Captain Beefheart

13:03 On Nate’s introduction to Bruce’s music, improvising musically, and songwriting

16:03 On Bruce’s early influences, and John Mulaney supporting Bruce’s new album

19:40 On defying expectations, experimenting musically, making “weird” music, and Hunter S. Thompson

23:05 On what Bruce admires about Nate’s songwriting, how Nate tries out new ideas, microtonal music, and Ben Johnston

28:31 Breaking down the sounds in Water From Your Eyes’ “Playing Classics,” and the working principle of the project

30:53 On the producer Tony Berg, how different projects call for different sounds, and loving the group Palm

34:18 Bruce’s commentary on more Water From Your Eyes songs, how Nate got in touch about collabing, and his “swing for the fences” list

37:15 On Gerry Rafferty, The Cure, and commentary on “Hey Sara Is It Gonna Rain Forever”

40:13 On how Bruce influenced Nate’s early music, his covers of two of Bruce’s songs, and “Barren Ground”

42:55 On Bruce’s work with Bon Iver, playing at his festival, and how “Barren Ground” influenced “Beth/Rest”

45:03 On “Scenes from the South Side,” and enjoying your big moment

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Nate Amos and Bruce Hornsby for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at ⁠Talkhouse.com⁠. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan. See you next time!

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