Interview with Misty Boyce

As a lead up to our show featuring Soft Swells, Elle Belle, and Misty Boyce at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco, CA on Friday, September 1st, we’ve asked each of the artists a few questions about what they are up to and their experiences in San Francisco. Today we start off with Misty Boyce:

I understand you have a new record called “Get Lost” to be released on November 10th, 2017. What can you tell us about the upcoming release?

I recorded this record in Nashville with my good friends Lera Lynn (True Detective) and Josh Grange (Sheryl Crow) producing. The three of us played all the instruments (except for “I Don’t Wanna Be Yer Gurl, which my friend D. Bermudez came and played drums on) and some of the songs were tracked live. We had so much fun. You wouldn’t know it by the somber tone of the record, but we laughed a whole lot in the making-of.

How do you see this fitting in with your other work?

I think these songs and this record are an extension of what I’ve done in the past, but I dug deeper for the right words and even deeper for the right voice and came out with something that is a ripened and honest version of myself in a specific time in space.

Do you use the studio as a songwriting tool or is everything pretty much planned ahead?

Most everything is planned ahead. I wrote one song in the studio, “Crazy Iris”, to finish the record, but I do much better when there is a plan, and then I can be spontaneous within that framework.

Some songwriters use the medium as a journal while others take a more observatory view. Where do you see yourself in that spectrum?

I think that I take an observatory view of my journal. Ha! There’s so much going on in my world and the world immediately around me, and I live by the “write what you know” rule, pulling from my own experience and my observation of that experience.

You’ll be playing a show in San Francisco at the Hemlock Tavern on Friday September 1st with Elle Belle and Soft Swells. Will you be performing solo or with other musicians?

I’ll be performing at Hemlock Tavern solo and with the accompaniment of the incredible Isaiah Gage on cello for a handful of songs.

You’ve had some musical adventures with both Elle Belle and Soft Swells. How did you meet them?

I met Tim Williams of Soft Swells when I was brand new to New York City and looking for work as a musician on Craigslist back in 2007! I auditioned to go on tour with Tim for the release of his second solo record, was hired, and we’ve been close friends ever since. And I met Christopher Pappas of Elle Belle through playing with Tim once he had moved out to LA. The reason I moved to LA was the family I found in Tim and his wife and the prospect of getting to be friends and make music with talents like Chris.

You call Los Angeles your home now. Do you get up to San Francisco much?

I don’t get up to San Fran as often as I would like! But I have some close friends and extended family there now, so I’ve made it up more frequently as of late and hope to keep it up!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’m so excited to play a show in San Fransisco. It’s one of my favorite cities and the site of some of my favorite shows I’ve played as a side-woman. Such a special place full of creative people and you can really feel that in the air. I can’t wait to see you there!

Photo by Deborah Farnault