Steve Gorman On Hearing Darius Rucker In The Studio

Cris Cohen: I’m really interested in the band Howl Owl Howl. What have you noticed as a bandmate about the performance of Darius Rucker that maybe you didn’t notice as a listener or a friend?

Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes: There’s one song called “Pilot.” It’s the one song you could say is like a country song. It sounds like a George Jones song to me. (In the studio Darius) was humming the parts to himself to make sure the syllables fit. We were having a very pedestrian conversation, making sure he can find the melody with his syllables and making sure it made sense. Then he gets on that mic. And the first time he sang it, this thing washed over me. I’d never heard him sing in a studio before, on the studio speakers. Everyone knows that voice instantly. But his breath, the way he leans in or doesn’t lean in on a note, the way that he trusts the melody to do all the work, there’s not an ounce of effort in terms of his voice. The effort is in the tone and the mood and letting the melody carry it. It’s the way Tony Bennett doesn’t over sing. It was amazing.