DEVON

Long Shot Story? With Guitar in Hand, Devon Tells It Like It Is

Born in Ontario and raised on Twin Oaks commune (outside Charlottesville, Virginia), Devon Sproule has been singing nearly her whole life. “I was forever being sung to and singing myself,” recalls Devon. At “the Oaks,” music was an essential part of life, and when the young singer showed some interest in her father’s guitar, a career was in the making. Soon, learning Beatles songs turned into writing original tunes, which Devon took to the public quite early, performing them for her friends and neighbors to great reception. From there, the natural progression was to the stage and the studio, where she recorded her self-titled debut in 1999 at the driver’s license-collecting age of 16.

Musictoday recently spoke by phone with Devon, who was staying at a friend’s house near Woodstock, New York, preparing for several publicity events in the Big Apple.

Musictoday: When did you begin playing guitar and writing songs?

Devon: Maybe 5 * years ago. I was fourteen. I think I had picked up a guitar once or twice before that, but that was about when I really started. It was really slow at first; I’d write a song and be like, “Whew, there’s a song!” And I’d have that song for a while until I wrote the next song. It’s become a lot more comfortable process since then.

MT: What is your process? Do you start with lyrics or melodies, generally?

D: I start with some kind of idea, lyrically, and then I try to put it with a couple of different musical ideas, something I’m excited about. I’ve been realizing lately that if I just sit with things and be patient with myself, things come together nicely.

MT: Are most of your songs autobiographical?

D: I’d say the majority are. Recently, I’ve been trying to move away from the “me, me, me.” I like the idea of a song standing on its own, without me there.

MT: Who would you say are your most prominent influences?

D: I’m a big Liz Phair fan. More recently, I’ve really gotten into Jeff Buckley. This sounds kind of hokey, but…I make a lot of mix tapes, and I realized that half the material I put on there comes from musicians from Charlottesville, people that I know.

Drawing inspiration from and contributing to the city’s already fertile music scene, Devon began public performances at the age of 15 on Charlottesville’s downtown mall—an entire street closed off to automobile traffic—which has become a hotbed for musical performers ranging from acoustic singer/songwriters to all-out percussion ensembles. Her charismatic outdoor shows caught the ear of many people, including Jessica Baucom, who now serves as her manager and biggest advocate. Under Baucom’s guidance, Devon recorded a debut CD with Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard, using the disc and her many ensuing gigs as a springboard to bigger things, including sidestage appearances on two consecutive DMB summer amphitheatre tours.

MT: What inspired you initially to take your act out into the public, after you had acquired a set of songs? Was there one particular thing or person that pushed you in that direction?

D: There were a lot of people out where I lived that encouraged me. I had done a lot of singing around and so it seemed like a natural progression.

MT: How were the initial responses to your performances out there?

D: Really good. I got a lot of “she’s so young,” and “oh, she can actually sing.” It’s always hard putting yourself out there, but I try not to be too sensitive, even though I am sometimes. Performing, and songwriting, is a balancing act. You’re not going to make good music unless you’re doing it for yourself, but you can’t just freak out on your own and not make it accessible to other people and expect them to listen to it. I just basically got used to playing for myself, and then if somebody came along to listen, great. Now, I’m playing these college gigs, and the pay is great, but some of them are really s**tty little, like, barbeques at Western Pennsylvania College and people aren’t really listening. At that point, if I don’t have songs I really love, I’m in trouble. I also made a lot of my true friends that I have in Charlottesville through playing on the downtown mall. These people stuck with me and really supported me through everything.

MT: Contrast playing on the downtown mall with playing sidestage at a Dave Matthews show.

D: [Laughs] Well, um, there’s lots of…I don’t know. The sidestages were…automatically, I was cool for being there—cool in quotes, you know—but the kids that go to those shows are more into the idea of me being there…well, I won’t say all of them, because I’ve met some really great people at those shows. But a lot of them were more into the idea of me being there, why I was there, what my Web site was, than actually listening to the music. Like a lot of kids would come up and buy a copy of my CD, then walk away while I was playing. There’s only so much that you can do to…you can’t make people listen to your music, whether you’re playing with the DMB or on the downtown mall. I think playing on the mall gave me humility, so I can just sit and play and not always have to make it be a performance. That carries into the sidestage shows. I’m making music, not just trying to catch somebody or sell something. In order to make a living doing this, you have to do a certain amount of selling yourself.
For her recently released “debut” record (she considers her true first album a demo only), Devon again worked with DMB’s Lessard, who served this time as producer. Long Sleeve Story is comprised of 12 eclectic rock tracks that formally introduce this young singer to the music biz. So far, the response has been positive; the disc even garnered mention in the College Music Journal.

MT: What was it like to work with Stefan?

D: It was great. It wasn’t intimidating at all. I didn’t feel dumb. I didn’t feel discouraged from learning about the process. I felt listened to. Just having someone else produce your music, technically it makes sense, but the whole idea is kind of weird. It’s basically saying, “I really care, creatively and musically, what you think, and I think that your musical brain being involved in this is going to make it better.” Stefan speaks the language of music…he’s been speaking it longer than I have, and he really knows how to express himself in much more clear way than I can. So, I can say something, or play something, or sing something, and maybe not know how to word it, but he would, or Joe [Lawler, guitarist for Devon’s record] would. Between Stefan, Joe, and Ryan [Nichols], the guy who engineered it, it was just great. I love that there were no pretenses about my age or my experience.

MT: Were most of the songs written prior to going in there?

D: There were a couple of songs that I wasn’t sure were even songs, or were going to make the album. I sent them as a demo to Nate Brown, the drummer who works with Everything—he came in later than the other musicians and just learned the songs really fast. These songs, we ended up using the actual tracks that I had recorded as a demo for Nate as the basis of the song. There was also one song that didn’t exist at all before the recording sessions [“Fast Statue”].

MT: What does the title Long Sleeve Story mean?

D: [Laughs] I was playing a bar in Buffalo, New York, and some of my family were there. I have a lot of family up there. I think it was an open mic night, and I had just written that song, the title track, and I have a line about a long sleeve in the lyrics. I played it, and this really drunk woman came up to me afterwards and was like, “that one song, you should call it ‘Long Sleeve Story,’” and I went, “hey, now, that’s a good one!” When we were trying to think of a name for the album, that one came up pretty quick and there wasn’t a lot of debating. I like it when the season changes and I can wear long sleeves. That’s very exciting for me.

MT: What are the differences in your mind between playing solo and playing with a band?

D: Playing solo you only have to account for yourself. That’s really nice. If I mess up a song, that’s it. I’m responsible. With a band, if somebody messes up, I’m still the one responsible, as the front person. I like to have creative control over my music, but there is something about playing with great musicians, which I’ve been doing lately. I think you can reach a whole different…it’s not just a different sonic level…music is like having a conversation, and when you can involve other people, other creative minds, in that conversation, it’s like…hanging out with yourself. It blows your mind; the beauty of more than one mind together. It can be like doing drugs or having sex—it’s a totally different state of being. But only, only with good musicians. It can be the worst thing or the best thing.

MT: Are you planning to tour?

D: Yes sir.

MT: With the band?

D: As much as I can. Basically, it’s about affordability. I like to be able to play with professional people and to be able to pay people to play, but I don’t have much money. That’s why I’m playing these college gigs, because I can go do them myself, and then I’ll have money to spend on the band.

MT: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

D: I would be happy to make a comfortable living playing music. Like, right now, I’m not homeless and I’m not hungry; I’m comfortably broke. In five years, I’d like to not be comfortably broke, just comfortable. If my music has progressed, that would make me happy. If I can keep being in love with making music, everything will take care of itself.

With most moderately serious mainstream musicians, the question of “making it” constantly lingers in the air. For some, it’s suffocatingly close, while for others, it comes only in faded wisps. Either way, anyone who is brave enough to put their heart and soul on disc for all to see just begs to be asked the question.

MT: Is stardom something you would aspire to at all?

D: I could see myself hating it, if I didn’t love what I was doing musically. But, yeah, if I still loved my music at that point, then yeah, I could do that. I love traveling and I love playing. I would love to travel overseas and have more money to make records with and make a really f**king great record that just stands…I mean, Long Sleeve Story is a great record and it stands on its own so much more than the first one, and the songs are more developed and they are more mature, and the musicians backing them are f**king brilliant, but I want to make that…I don’t know…I want to be on top of my game.

Will Devon Sproule emerge as a household name in the music industry over the next few years? Only time will tell. Whatever happens, don’t expect this 19-year-old singer/songwriter to be satisfied with what she’s accomplished so far. Besides, this Long Sleeve Story is just getting started.