It's a big weekend for August John Lutz II. Saturday marks the release of 'O Foolish Heart his debut solo release. Before grabbing your tickets for the show at Bourbon and Branch, check out the insight August gives us to five questions we had about his new material.
1. Q: It’s been 7 years since the first Levee Drivers EP and fans have been clamoring for a full-length album - only to be teased with a few songs here and there. Now, just a month or so before the full-length is officially recorded, you’re releasing a 5-track solo effort. Why now?
A: It basically came down to timing and finding the right songs to complement each other. Everything fell comfortably into place with this project. I’m also in the middle of recording a follow-up to O’ My Foolish Heart, and on top of that the Levee Drivers full- length should be out sometime next year. People definitely won’t have to wait long between releases!
2. Q: Where did you record O’ My Foolish Heart and with who?
A: I recorded O’ My Foolish Heart in a New Hope, Pennsylvania living room with Brian Dale Allen Strouse and Josh Friedman (of The Lawsuits). I’ve known them both for years and have had the privilege of working with them in the past, so the overall experience couldn’t have been easier. They were actually a big driving force in getting the EP off the ground, so I owe a lot to them for making this happen.
3. Q: What makes this project different from Levee Drivers?
A: People associate Levee Drivers with loud, hard-hitting barroom singalongs, but for the songs on this EP, there isn’t much accompaniment at all. Everything is more subdued, thoughtful, and personal; the music is allowed to speak for itself lyrically and have room to breathe sonically. Levee Drivers have also been leaning on more of our rock numbers recently (to prepare for our full-length) so this EP was a nice outlet for me to play and showcase more stripped down country/folk tunes that have been piling up in the ol’ catalog.
4. Q: Some songs off your new EP have been bouncing around for a while. Can you tell us about the genesis of these songs? When were they actually written and how have they evolved?
A: Yes, half of these songs were written a while back and the other half within the past year. They all fell into place with one another because of the straightforward storytelling pattern that they share. I’m not going to give away what they all mean to me personally, but as a collection, they can be 5 chapters of a relationship OR 5 different encounters with 5 completely different people...OR they can even be a continuing story that takes place in the span of one single day and night. If someone can’t guess what All Dolled Up In Red is about though, then they probably don’t know me to well to begin with!
5. Q: It seems you wrote a few heartbreak songs on this EP, but had your girlfriend (Chelsea Mitchell of Dirty Dollhouse) provide backing vocals for all 5 tracks. What made her presence so important to you with this release?
A: I always had the idea of Chelsea’s vocals complementing mine throughout the entire EP, whether they’d be right upfront or gorgeously placed in the background, filling space in a haunting sort of way. I also knew whatever she’d bring to the table would still help keep the simplicity of this EP intact. As for the supposed “heartbreak” songs on the EP, she and I have been in the songwriting business for a while now and don’t take anything too personally when it comes to one another’s lyrical direction or decisions. Writing can be a very therapeutic experience and neither of us would ever try to sabotage each other’s songs by putting our own feelings into the mix.
1. Q: It’s been 7 years since the first Levee Drivers EP and fans have been clamoring for a full-length album - only to be teased with a few songs here and there. Now, just a month or so before the full-length is officially recorded, you’re releasing a 5-track solo effort. Why now?
A: It basically came down to timing and finding the right songs to complement each other. Everything fell comfortably into place with this project. I’m also in the middle of recording a follow-up to O’ My Foolish Heart, and on top of that the Levee Drivers full- length should be out sometime next year. People definitely won’t have to wait long between releases!
 |
| August John Lutz II - Photo By Bob Sweeney |
A: I recorded O’ My Foolish Heart in a New Hope, Pennsylvania living room with Brian Dale Allen Strouse and Josh Friedman (of The Lawsuits). I’ve known them both for years and have had the privilege of working with them in the past, so the overall experience couldn’t have been easier. They were actually a big driving force in getting the EP off the ground, so I owe a lot to them for making this happen.
 |
| August John Lutz II - Photo By Bob Sweeney |
3. Q: What makes this project different from Levee Drivers?
A: People associate Levee Drivers with loud, hard-hitting barroom singalongs, but for the songs on this EP, there isn’t much accompaniment at all. Everything is more subdued, thoughtful, and personal; the music is allowed to speak for itself lyrically and have room to breathe sonically. Levee Drivers have also been leaning on more of our rock numbers recently (to prepare for our full-length) so this EP was a nice outlet for me to play and showcase more stripped down country/folk tunes that have been piling up in the ol’ catalog.
 |
| August John Lutz II - Photo By Bob Sweeney |
4. Q: Some songs off your new EP have been bouncing around for a while. Can you tell us about the genesis of these songs? When were they actually written and how have they evolved?
A: Yes, half of these songs were written a while back and the other half within the past year. They all fell into place with one another because of the straightforward storytelling pattern that they share. I’m not going to give away what they all mean to me personally, but as a collection, they can be 5 chapters of a relationship OR 5 different encounters with 5 completely different people...OR they can even be a continuing story that takes place in the span of one single day and night. If someone can’t guess what All Dolled Up In Red is about though, then they probably don’t know me to well to begin with!
 |
| August John Lutz II - Photo By Bob Sweeney |
5. Q: It seems you wrote a few heartbreak songs on this EP, but had your girlfriend (Chelsea Mitchell of Dirty Dollhouse) provide backing vocals for all 5 tracks. What made her presence so important to you with this release?
A: I always had the idea of Chelsea’s vocals complementing mine throughout the entire EP, whether they’d be right upfront or gorgeously placed in the background, filling space in a haunting sort of way. I also knew whatever she’d bring to the table would still help keep the simplicity of this EP intact. As for the supposed “heartbreak” songs on the EP, she and I have been in the songwriting business for a while now and don’t take anything too personally when it comes to one another’s lyrical direction or decisions. Writing can be a very therapeutic experience and neither of us would ever try to sabotage each other’s songs by putting our own feelings into the mix.
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