A Quick Q & A with AJ Roach

By Kathy Sands-Boehmer

It’s been said that AJ Roach’s music illustrates the blurry line between traditional folk and indie folk. His musical heritage harkens back to the old-time roots of pure and simple Appalachian music yet there’s a certain edginess that is very evident throughout all his music. It’s a great combination. For a taste of AJ Roach, go to his website.

We understand that you grew up in Scotts County, Virginia — home of the famous Carter Family. So what was that like? Did the folks in Scott County revere the Carters or did they take them for granted?

I think it’s probably a bit of both. People in Scott County don’t so much revere the Carters, but they are extremely proud of them. I like to joke and say that it’s county law that as soon as you tell someone you’re from Scott County, that you follow it with “That’s where the Carter Family is from.”

Are there music-making enzymes in the water there?

Heh. . . maybe. There certainly are a lot of great musicians who hail either from Scott County or from neighboring counties. Doc Boggs, The Carters, Ralph and Carter Stanley, etc. And of course all the other wonderful musicians and songwriters who aren’t as famous as the aforementioned guys.

If you had to describe your music in three words — what would those words be?

Lyric-driven Acoustic Songs?
Or. . .
(Always) Filed Under Folk 🙂

How did you get into touring in Europe? Many artists dream of doing that . . . what’s your secret?

My secret is luck. Actually, I’ve always heard that luck is the confluence of opportunity and preparedness. My opportunity came when the legendary BBC 2 radio personality, Bob Harris, heard one of my songs on a compilation disc. He started playing it a lot on his shows and so we sent him the full-length record. Not long after, we started getting calls from people who wanted us to come over and do some shows, so we went. Since then we’ve toured in Europe a bunch. In Ireland, the UK, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland. Once the opportunity came, the rest was just being ready and willing to go and work hard at making it happen.

On your second CD, Revelation, you use quite a number of different instruments including trumpet, trombone, Wurlitzer piano and glockenspiel. Do dyed-in-the-wool country and Americana fans gasp when they hear those instruments on your recording?

Some of them probably do. My take on it is that no tradition can survive without someone from within that tradition being willing to push the boundaries of the tradition and try new things. It might turn some as you say “dyed-in-the-wool” fans off, but for the most part I think it turns a lot of people who would normally scoff at the very idea of country and Americana onto the music, and a lot of the fans who loved Dogwood Winter (a much more “traditionally instrumented” recording) seem to like Revelation even more.

Your instructional YouTube videos about how to make it in the folk world and how to survive life on the road and Folk Alliance are inspirational. Are you getting a good reaction to them?

You mean the Cursing Kerouac series. If people are finding inspiration in them, then that’s great! It’s an idea that my good friend Nels Andrews and I had late one night after a long day on the road. Basically, the idea was to give our fans a chance to sort of get to know us “off-stage.” We’re just trying to have fun with it, and grow our audience as well as those of our “hobo” friends.

Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with performing artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blogtxp/. This one, several previous Q &As, and future ones also will be archived here on AcousticMusicScene.com.