Q&A: Redbud Discusses ‘Long Night’ EP and “Summer Moon” Live Session
EMOTIONAL RUSHES TURN INTO WARM SONGS BY INDIE ARTIST — Katie Claghorn, known as Redbud. That energy carries over into her live performances, where everyone can feel those emotions with her. Claghorn has lived in Austin her whole life and in the past few years has connected deeply to the music community there. With everything Redbud does, it’s clear her heart is in it.
Redbud released her debut EP, Long Night, on Feb. 24, and it has a bubbly and fun energy perfect for the spring and summer. The EP exudes imagery of sun, flowers, and the sea, while simultaneously navigating difficult emotional situations that one has to walk away from. “Franny” is a fun tune that stands out, featuring a lovely saxophone solo by Zachary Kirk and hard-hitting lines such as “You can’t decide for someone else what’s real / Oh turn to the sea / To be in love again is so freeing.”
The themes of nature and love continue in Redbud’s newest video, a live session of “Summer Moon.” Claghorn sits in the sun, singing and playing guitar in a way in which each strum is significant.
Read below for more background on Redbud’s new EP, the “Summer Moon” live session, and her upcoming projects.
LUNA: You’ve been booked and busy! How has this spring season been treating you so far?
CLAGHORN: We've been celebrating the release of our debut EP, Long Night, and recovering from the fever dream that was SXSW so I think everybody is just happy to have some down time before things pick back up again. The Austin allergens are kicking my ass, but my spirits are high anyways!
LUNA: The “Summer Moon” live session is so so beautiful — it truly highlights just how smooth your voice is. Can you share a favorite moment from getting this together?
CLAGHORN: Oh man, this video honestly came together last-minute. An Austin group asked me to film a live session for them to have aired on the local news. I had already been in discussion with two friends about filming something like this, but truly it was a mad dash to film this thing in three days. And even when I sent the video over to this group, they were worried it was too late to be aired. Alas, we made it.
So we weren't sure whether the video would live up to our standards. But when we got together, the light was so delicate and the sound so gentle that it only made sense to release the video.
LUNA: We recently had you for our SXSW house show and you brought such an incredible energy to your live performance. What role does the performance side of things play during your creative process? Are you thinking about it at all?
CLAGHORN: When I write a song, it's the result of an emotional rush that has pushed me to sort out my feelings. I'm not sure that I think about my actual performance while I do it as much as I have found a comfort and flow about being on stage and genuinely presenting the work I do behind the scenes. It's nice to hear that expression is coming across.
LUNA: What’s been your favorite song to perform lately?
CLAGHORN: Solo? “Summer Moon.” Full band? “Franny”!
LUNA: Earlier this year you released your Long Night EP. Now that you’ve had some time to reflect on the project, how do you feel about this one as a whole?
CLAGHORN: Long Night is, for me, a great accomplishment. As a new musician, I was completely clueless when we began tracking. Before the EP, I had only ever mixed two songs. And I mixed them with my dad. Neither of us knew what the hell we were doing. For “to the moon” and “Opal,” my bandmates sent me their recorded parts from their homes — drums recorded on just one mic (!!) — and my dad and I mixed it over the course of many weeks.
So with Long Night, I had a little more experience under my belt but really I was just splashing in an open sea. I didn't even know the term “auxiliary percussion.” But the tracking engineer I worked with did a great job. As did the mix engineer, Dan Duszynski. And that really helped bring it all home. We recorded the EP in a south Austin home with essentially no formal studio setup. So with the mix, I really wanted the songs to come across in a rich, homey, low fidelity style that I adore.
To this day, I hear things I want to add or change or redo. But I've happily been redirecting my creative attention towards the LP we are recording this summer.
LUNA: You’ve become one of the key faces of Austin’s indie scene. How have you seen this community change over your career? What changes would you like to see?
CLAGHORN: To be honest, I'm fairly new (two or three years) to the music scene but have lived in Austin my whole life. The corner of the scene I've found myself in feels unique. It's truly communal, uplifting, and empowering. I often wonder if other cities have as wholesome a scene as we have here.
However, there can almost always be improvements in the entertainment industry. Paying a fair wage to the artists (by developing a system that involves an investment budget in the live performance) and booking more femme/POC groups are two corrections that need to be made by bookers everywhere. Same goes for media and simply working with other femme musicians. Musicians will continue to be pushed out of cities, thus removing artistic cultural presence from the city, as long as musicians are not paid a fair wage. And femmes will continue to be underpaid and overlooked unless we give them a microphone and coverage.
LUNA: Are there any other visuals/videos in the works?
CLAGHORN: We are editing a big, fat, music video for “KIN.” We're not entirely sure what it's about yet but there is inspiration from the film Midsommar. A lot of love and talent has been put into this thing. Not to mention it is a female-directed and -edited project. I knew if I worked with a femme director, I wouldn't have to concern myself with how characters were portrayed or having to fight for creative freedom, which has been an issue in the past.
Watch out for a release later this summer on our Youtube channel and Instagram.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the upcoming months?
CLAGHORN: I'm beginning to play shows outside of Austin. I'm going up to NYC/Philly May 10–14 to get some Redbud duo sets in with my good friend Stacie Agnew (keys). Next I'll swing over to LA/Portland towards the end of summer for a few solo sets.
We're also recording a full-length debut LP with mix wizard, Dan Duszynski, that we're ecstatic for. This guy gets it. He gets us. We trust him very much and look forward to having his ear on our 10-song sonic bundle.
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