DANIEL ROMANO plays the Cameron House Friday (December 16). See listing. He also opens for the Sadies at the Horseshoe on New Year’s Eve.
Welland-based former Attack In Black frontman Daniel Romano writes country songs that sound a lot older than the few years he’s been churning out them out.
His solo albums have come out in less than a year – he followed up his 2010 debut Workin’ For The Music Man with this year’s dark and clever Sleep Beneath The Willow, featuring backup vocalists Micha Bower (Bruce Peninsula), Tamara Lindeman (The Weather Station) and Lisa Bozikovic, as well as Natalie Walker on violin.
We spoke while Romano was in Philadelphia on tour with City and Colour. He was on his cell phone at the back of the tour bus, about to get a sailor-style butterfly tattoo from a friend of Dallas Green’s (Romano plays guitar in the band).
Romano’s working on a third solo album, to be called Come Cry With Me.
Is Attack In Black on hiatus still?
I don’t really know what’s going on with that. I guess you could say that. I doubt we’ll do anything because we’re sitting on a record that never came out.
Why didn’t you put that album out?
We had label conflict. We wanted to do something a certain way, someone wanted to do something a different way. You know, the typical thing that can go wrong between a band and a label. And then instead of sorting it out, in our stubbornness, we just decided to [take off].
Was that around the same time that you put out your first solo album, Workin’ For The Music Man?
That album came out just after that, I mean I’m pretty sure the songs reflect my attitude at the time. It’s just me whining about shit, being a huge baby. Like, ‘Ah the music industry is stupid’.
Is anything going on with the Daniel, Fred and Julie project?
I haven’t seen those guys in awhile. Julie is maybe singing a song with me at the Dakota. I’ve been so busy [touring with City and Colour] that I haven’t seen anyone. Fred has a child and I haven’t seen him in like a year.
Is your CBC Radio 3 bio a true story?
Yeah.
Wow. Okay. How about the part about the plane wreck?
No, it’s not. None of it’s true. Not one part of it.
So you made that story up?
Yeah I did. Bios suck, you know. I live a really cush life, there’s my bio.
Why did you make the story up?
I just thought it would be more interesting than the truth. It’s pretty much the story of the movie The Jerk.
But before you played in rock bands, did you have any exposure to country when you were younger though?
Yeah, my grandparents listened to country music. My parents were into folk, not so much country. All the people on the Italian side of my family are the outlaw guys so there was always like a paycheck and you know …. that kind of thing going on. I’d go to my Grampa’s for lunch and there would be serious biker guys hanging out.
Did you perform solo at all when you were younger? Or is playing solo pretty recent?
During Attack in Black I played a couple shows alone but I didn’t like it. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I still don’t but … the first couple times I was like, “I don’t ever intend to do that again”. Now I love it, but, though it’s my name, I play with people. Spencer [Burton] and Aaron [Goldstein] are now playing with me.
I saw you at the Weather Station CD release. Someone was yelling stuff out to you, who was that?
Nick Ferrio. I put him on the spot and told him he had to design my set list. He kept yelling out George Jones songs because he knew that I know all of them.
I just heard George Jones for the first time recently.
He’s the best, right? I couldn’t find a better singer, that’s for sure. I try to talk about George Jones in every single interview because I’m hoping that his people have a Google search or a Google alert set up. Also, you should put that I put George Jones on the guest list every night.
You don’t seriously do that, do you?
No, but I might start. If you say that I do, then I’ll start doing it.
Who are some of your other favourite country singers and writers?
Buck Owens, writes a lot of his own songs and he’s great. This guy named David Houston. He’s like the Roy Orbison of country. He has this high, super vibrato voice. He’s hard to find on the Internet. I didn’t have any of his records until this tour … they’re nowhere in Canada for some reason.
Some of the songs at the end of Sleep Beneath The Willow — I’m thinking specifically There Are Lines In My Face — sound less classic, a bit more psychedelic. It reminds me a bit of the Sadies. I’m wondering if the stuff that you’re working on now for your next album is going to be anything like that?
The new record is pretty classic but there is one song that has minor chords and is a little psychedelic and has a buzz guitar. That’s the Sadies fault too.
