Photo by Danny Cordero
To have the chance at a conversation with Liam St. John is near parallel to a glimpse into the heart of blues music. This week, I had the opportunity to speak with the singer-songwriter on behalf of The Concert Chronicles and gain his insight on what it means to impact society as a creative.
From his roots in the vast Pacific Northwest to his life now in the vibrant city of Nashville, Liam St. John’s genre-bending ability has allowed him to capture the hearts of many listeners. His soulful combination of blues and rock is like no other, especially when matched with a voice and spirit that was made for storytelling. Liam knows what he wants in this industry, and we can see that determination manifest into his career. After gaining nationwide recognition as a finalist on The Voice in 2020 for his blues twist on Marcy Playgrounds “Sex and Candy,” Liam has made a name for himself and continues to grow his career and loyal fanbase every day.
My first question for Liam came easily due to pure luck in timing. Hours before our conversation, he announced his new single, featuring two-time Grammy award winning singer songwriter, Molly Tuttle.
TCC: “So, I’m kind of going to start with the elephant in the room. You announced a new single today with Molly Tuttle, “Greyhound Bus Blues,” and I was wondering if we could expect anything in comparison to your past work? Is there anything you could tell us about that?
Liam: “I’m so excited for that song and, you know, I’ve been a huge fan of Molly for a long time, so I’m just really excited for that one. I mean, I wrote this song a couple of years ago and so it’s taken a while to come to life. But it’s a full band production which is a little different than my past stuff, I’m really excited just about how it sounds, and Molly crushes it as the feature. So that’s what I’m really excited about.”
TCC: “That’s really amazing. Do you have a particular songwriting process, or maybe it’s even sporadic or unhinged, or there’s no process at all. But is there anything there?”
Liam: “Absolutely. I think as a songwriter it’s your duty to show up every day, even if you’re not, uh, inspired or motivated, because that’s usually when good ones come, when I’m least expecting it. So I usually sit down with my guitar every day. Sometimes I have an idea, sometimes it’s a feeling I’m trying to express, but always, as soon as I start strumming my guitar, things start coming to me. That’s when it gets really exciting. When the lines start coming in and start working together. But yeah, it’s never the same, because sometimes we just don’t have the motivation, and we have to force ourselves to sit down and put pen on paper.“
TCC: “What are some of your favorite parts of performing your songs live? I mean apart from having that connection with people and really getting to see it in front of your eyes.”
Liam: “It’s where I feel most myself and I just need it, you know, and I love it so much. My favorite part is just you know, when you’re up there, you have two options. You can just sing with no emotions, or you can tear down your walls and let the real you speak, in whatever way it wants to speak. I love that so much about performances. You just never know what your voice can do, what your stage presence can do. You can just tear down those walls, and just let it go.“
TCC: “I feel like it’s almost a different version of your songs every time you perform them. It gives them a whole new life.”
Liam: “Yeah, exactly.”
TCC: “I feel that with your work and your music, you can really get a feel of who’s behind it and the purpose that went into every piece. I was wondering if there were any inspirations you grabbed from that aren’t necessarily other artists or music, maybe different places or cultures, or even people?”
Liam: “Yeah, absolutely. “Devil In Disguise” I wrote in the Rocky Mountains, like in the middle of Montana. And that’s where I’m from, the pacific northwest. That has greatly inspired my songs and just me as a person, just the environment that I grew up in. I take a lot of pride in where I’m from but yeah, you know, I was an athlete and I looked up to a lot of athletes as a kid and I feel like all of those things impact the way you see the world and impacts how you write songs. I lived in South Africa for a year and saw some of the coolest and most, you know, beautiful people inside and out, that I’ve ever met there. That greatly changed the trajectory of my life, and all those things had an impact, and had impacted the way I perceived the world and, you know, intern how I write songs.”
TCC: ” I feel that the more of the world you see, the more your eyes open up. It’s like, there’s so many different ways to look at things and there’s so many different ways that people live. Your single “Devil In Disguise” with Houndmouth, It really spoke to me lyrically, and I was wondering if there was a particular message or emotion you were trying to convey? If so, do you feel that it resonated well with your audience?”
Liam: “Yeah, in every song I write my main filter I put it through is: am I being honest with myself as I’m writing? That one in particular was an incredibly intimate song, to how I was feeling at the time I wrote it. It was just an introspective moment I had. Kind of addressing, you know some of the mistakes I’ve made and how it’s impacted the people I love, and so it was a really tough one to write, but I think those ones are the special ones. You have no option but to be honest. I hope it’s resonating with people in their own way. It seems like it is, I mean, it’s streaming really well, so hopefully people love it.”
TCC: “That’s really inspirational. I was wondering, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from someone, or even something in your career at any point?”
Liam: “I just think you know, the things I’ve learned along the way, just pursuing this career. Let’s see… As an artist and a creative, especially in the industry, It’s really easy to you know, just rely on others. Like, ‘once I get a manager or once I get an agent or once I do this, then I will have what it takes.’ But what I learned was in the end, like the career you want is up to you. It just takes the courage to pursue that every day. With the passion and persistence and the more you do that, the more those people you know, start coming into your corner. A lot of people think they need to sit around and wait until somebody notices them, but you really have to take it in your hands. That’s when things start to build.”
TCC: “When you take it upon yourself to take action, I feel that can really bring out your best creative side, because you’re doing what you really love. In an interview you did last year, you were going over your life prior to pursuing music. You recalled moments like going to college and getting your masters. You kind of referred to these things as the ‘safe route.’ I was wondering, do you feel creatives are almost expected to have that safe route or that plan B?”
Liam: “Although it’s the societal norm, you know getting your degree and then being expected to get a job, even with all the education I had, it still wasn’t a guaranteed thing to get a job or anything like that. I feel like it’s the creatives who should question whether or not they should pursue a career. Nothing’s guaranteed so you might as well pursue something you love. As far as the plan B, I think that’s also a lie, you know, I do believe that while you’re pursuing your career, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to give yourself the means to follow your passion. But yeah, I don’t have a plan B now, so this is my only course and I think it’s important to just totally commit to a career, especially in the creative industry.”
TCC: “Yeah, that’s really inspirational. I think that having that balance in the beginning is really important, but like you said, if you’re really dedicated to something, I feel like you should go for it. You pursued track and field for a while prior to music, would you say that your approach changed when you shifted focus from track to music?”
Liam: “Yeah I would say that because, I spent so much of my life dedicated to track and field, I think the perseverance, and discipline, and self-control, all those things we learn from being a dedicated athlete. I think that translated to being an artist, especially when, you know, there was no proof that I would have success, you know, you kind of have to, just keep your head down and just keep working. I think what changed was the confidence I had in myself as an artist versus athlete. My body just had its limits and so did my confidence as an athlete. Being an artist, you know, the confidence I have and my purpose, my purpose is very strong and so it allows me to work even harder than I did as an athlete.”
TCC: “I feel like that confidence can help in the competitive side of things in both fields.”
Liam: “Absolutely.”
TCC: “How do you personally find music that you connect with in such like a dense and saturated space?”
Liam: “Yeah, I have my go-tos that I listen to a lot. Like I really love Bob Marley and Amy Whinehouse and Little Feat. I have bands and artists that I just kind of need them, I listen to them a lot. But I really love finding new music that moves me. It’s so special, when you hear a song just like you know on a Spotify playlist a friend suggested, and it moves you, it’s a pretty special thing. That’s what I love about the industry now is there’s no barrier to entry. Anybody can use it and so there’s so much good music coming now.”
TCC: “I’m sure you are, but do you feel proud that you have your own work and your own songs that people can resonate with and feel that kind of special connection with?”
Liam: “Yeah, like I said I feel this is my purpose and meaning in life is to write these songs and it’s really been like the joy of my life getting to tour across the country and overseas. Getting to see people, you know, meet the people that have resonated with the song, I mean, it’s really special to sing to them every night and it’s something I’ll always be proud of even if my career stops today, I feel like I have accomplished my lifes purpose.”
TCC: “Is there anything you’d want to tell the version of yourself that was just starting out, and was just starting to see all these different parts of the world, being like ‘this is so much bigger than me?’”
Liam: “I look back on the beginning where this was just an impossible dream that I was staring at, and I’m really proud of myself for just having the courage to step into it and try. And I guess I would affirm myself, the younger me, that that was right move. I feel like a lot of people are staring at a huge dream that they’re a little afraid to attack and I would just have so much regret if I didn’t try you know, put my best effort towards this career. Yeah I mean you said it, the more of the world you see, the more effort you put into this, into the world, the more you get back.”
TCC: “In an interview from last year you said, “I spent most of my life pleasing others, and suppressing many of my own emotions.” What would you say to an artist, or anyone, going through that same thing and what helped you get out of that mindset?”
Liam: “I mean that caused me a lot of pain in my life. I guess I would just tell anybody going through that, the people that truly love you and truly support you and are truly behind you, would never want nothing but the real you. It’s really kind of suppressing your talent and your potential when we are, you know, trying to live for the sake of others. But there’s just so much beauty lost in that and, you really find your true tribe and your true potential when you let go of that and, you know, sometimes it’s hard to even know that you’re doing it. And it definitely is very hard to let go of, but yeah. I guess take my career as an inspiration to just try.”
TCC: “I feel when you find those people they’ll let you really thrive to your full extent, no matter what it looks like. and I feel like you’re a really good representation of that for a lot of people.”
Liam: “Yeah, I’m grateful for everything I’ve experienced in my life, even the tough parts. Some of those lessons were really hard to learn. But they make me who I am, and I’m so grateful for that.”
To close out this incredible interview, I asked Liam one last fun, yet fascinating question!!
TCC: “I was wondering, if your life at the present time had a theme song or even an album, what do you think it would be and why?”
Liam: “Thats a good question. Well, I love the band Little Feat, especially Lowell George, he was their lead singer, he passed away from a cocaine overdose. But their song “Lonesome Whistle,” or “Rock and Roll Doctor.” Very excellent songs, but it’s on there’s the album Hoy-Hoy! That would probably be my theme album right now.”
TCC: “Well, I appreciate you giving me your time today and I’m really looking forward to hearing you new music, as I know a lot of people are as well!”
Liam: “Ah thank you so much for the good questions.”
Catch a live show!!
Liam St.John is currently on tour with ZZ Ward. Get your tickets to The Dirty Sun Tour here!!
Tour — Welcome to Dirty Shine
Find Liam St. John on all platforms!
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