Blake Hornsby is a young musician who mixes acid folk with oriental
scales. He offers gentle doses of acoustic pleasure and of course ecstatic
psychedelic mushrooms. His music is a great guide to the center of love
universe. And finally, Blake Hornsby’s music can be described as a bundle of
shamanic arrows that hit our souls directly!!
gew-gaw. Describe to me your childhood worries and if they
affected you in the following years. When did you decide to start playing
music? Who or what led you to this path?
Blake Hornsby. That is a very
interesting question actually. I started taking guitar lessons around the age
of 11. I forget exactly what drew me to play guitar, but I really liked music.
Unfortunately, my guitar teachers never taught me much theory or scales, rather
they taught me chords and tabs. Maybe, at such a young age, I would have been
turned off of guitar if they were teaching me more technical stuff, so perhaps
it was good. I do know that I was very enamored with Jack White at the time (I
still kind of am), so I’m sure he had a lot to do with me continuing along the
path.
I eventually started to play around
with other instruments. I took a few piano lessons, but never stuck with it. I
taught myself a little bass because I already played guitar. I bought a synthesizer
and played around with it a bit. I learned a little bit of mandolin and
later picked it up more to teach myself.
My secondary instrument is actually
the clawhammer banjo… old-time Appalachian banjo in the style that it is
traditionally played. That came about when I was around 15 years old. I had a
banjo and took lessons partially to get my mind off of a high school
heartbreak. Oddly enough, of all of the instruments featured on my albums the
banjo is only featured on “Reflection of the Sun (Pt. 3)” off of my first
album. I brought a banjo into the studio in Nashville to add to some songs on
the Teetering on the Edge of the Void record, but it never happened.
In terms of childhood worries and how
they have shaped me throughout the years, I’m going to have to get slightly
personal. My parents weren’t particularly religious, but they sent me to
private Christian schools from age 3 to 13. They did this because the education
aspects of the school were believed to be really good. Most of the time they
were, but they also literally scared the Hell out of me. I was diagnosed with
severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (which I still deal with) at the age of 8
years old. I worried more than others. I thought more than others. I was having
full blown anxiety and panic attacks by age 8. A lot of what scared me at the
time was the thought of going to Hell. I was such a shy, nice little kid, but I
was terrified. I would pray many times throughout the day just to make myself
feel like I wasn’t going to Hell.
As a teenager, I transferred to a
public arts school where there were no sports and you had to audition to get
in. I majored in theatre and creative writing. While I played some music, I was
more interested in being a thespian and a poet at the time. When I arrived at
the arts school I felt like I had been set free. I talked to all sorts of
people and started thinking for myself. I became an atheist after leaving the
Christian school system. I soon became agnostic and, as I grew older, started
exploring other ways of thought. Late in high school, I became interested in
Hinduism and Buddhism. Whenever I got to college, I became even more interested
in eastern religions, as well as many indigenous beliefs. I eventually came to
realize that there is something to take away from every belief system,
including Christianity which I had betrayed in the past. I don’t consider
myself to be part of any religion. I believe that religion confines you into a
box which is not okay. Different cultures from all over the world have
something important to say because they naturally see it from a different point
of view. These ideas of interconnectedness have had a profound influence on my
music up to what I am writing to this day.
BH. It’s very refreshing! I absolutely
love it. I never really felt like incorporating others much in my early days
because I didn’t like the idea of bossing people around. I have a very specific
vision and I didn’t feel like bothering other musicians to help me. By the time
that I was writing the songs for Teetering on the Edge of the Void, I
could start to hear other instruments in my head. Instruments that I couldn’t
play, or instruments that someone else could play way better. I realized that
if you ask, there are plenty of people willing to play music no matter what and
they enjoy it. It is less intimidating than I once thought. I just asked a
handful of people if they could contribute and they were all happy to help. Not
only were they happy to help, but they have also expressed interest in playing
the material live (which hasn’t happened much due to COVID).
I played by myself with a loop pedal
for a long time and I’m still into that to a certain extent, but it has always
been lacking something. More musicians onstage and in the studio fills out the
sound and makes it more intriguing, not just for the audience, but for the
enjoyment of the players as well. I would love to have a full 5-7 piece band
touring all over the world, but that is easier said than done. When I decided
to add more musicians is when I realized how much further I could take my
music. After all, I’m really just a guitarist, so having others to help me
really makes a difference and I am beyond grateful for everybody who has been
involved.
gg. You choose to blending world views of different cultures.
Everyone's world views purpose, according to the highest gift which is love. Do
you think this brilliant (but utopian?!) blending is possible to someday come
true?
BH. I almost certainly do. It can
happen and it will hopefully eventually happen on Earth. Whether it is in my
lifetime, 100 years from now, or 500 years from now. What seems more likely is
if some new species evolves out of us and recognizes what we have done wrong as
humans and learns from its predecessors. Looking at biological evolution,
organisms tend to become stronger, more resilient, and overall better. I
believe this could happen to the mind as well. Perhaps it is utopian, but in
utopia nobody has conflicts. There’s always going to be conflicts, but you can
still have conflicts while living in unity. I don’t know everything and I don’t
want to pretend that I do, but I believe it is important to stay optimistic.
There is one particular place that I have been to in the United States where
all of the different religions and cultures of the area come together in unity.
It has greatly influenced my music and I like to see it as a precursor to our
future.
gg. There are some who have influenced you both in the music
and in the way you describe everything. In your song entitled, “Fractalized
Visions,” among all the others, we hear a part of a Greek (I think traditional)
song. How did this come about?
BH.Wow! That's a throwback. It was
released on my first album almost 5 years ago. I don't believe that I have had
anybody ask about that particular song before. That's an interesting one
because I had written the entire album up to that point and I was trying to
push out one more song. “Fractalized Visions” was the very last part of Solipsism
and the Nectar of the Gods that I wrote. It came to me while driving around
working a delivery job. It has only ever been performed live once. Looking back
on that entire album, it’s totally amateur. It was my first album. I had just
discovered that I wanted to actually start making my own original music for
people to hear. I’m honestly slightly embarrassed by parts of the album.
However, “Fractalized Visions,” has become one of my favorite songs from the
album.
Anyways, to answer your question… I
had to go back and listen to the song to make sure that I knew what you were
talking about. I’m still not completely sure to be honest. It was awhile ago
and the entire concept of the album was to blend different cultures and ideals to
exemplify how they are all trying to attain the same thing. I just searched
YouTube and other sources to find different thoughts, sounds, chants, songs,
etc. to include via sampling. I believe that there is a Greek song in there,
but it only came about through Googling music from different parts of the
world. I would like to learn more about Greek music, but I honestly I know
extremely little.
gg. As a child, what kind of sounds do you remember being
heard in your home?
BH. A lot of Jimmy Buffett.
gg. Which songwriters and bands influenced you?
BH. Oh goodness! I could write a whole
page on that. They change a little bit every year. There’s definitely a whole
lot of Beatles and Incredible String Band influence. Robbie Basho has had the
most profound effect on my guitar playing in the recent years. Fahey too.
Mississippi John Hurt is another one of my favorites. I learned “Spike Driver’s
Blues” in high school and that led me to be able to fingerpick the way I do
nowadays, with the alternating thumb for the bass. The Grateful Dead certainly
peak through by the way some of the songs flow.
Pentangle, Os Mutantes, The United
States of America, Devendra Banhart, Broselmaschine, Big Kitty, Pink Floyd,
Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Country Joe and the Fish, Ravi Shankar,
devotional Hindu music, and Indigenous shamanic music have all had direct
influence on my music… As well as a little bit of country, a little bit of The
Residents, a little bit of old-time music, a little bit of Zeppelin, a little
bit of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes… A little bit of a lot of
things.
Sometimes I don’t notice how much
something has influenced me until after I’ve written it, or as I’m composing
other instrumentation in my head. Shawn Phillips, Tim Buckley, and Leonard
Cohen had a lot of influence on Teetering on the Edge of the Void. After
recording some of the songs, I noticed a little bit of Les Claypool influence
as well.
Since recording Teetering, I
have started to become influenced by some other artists as well. I got really
into that album Junun by Shye Ben Tzur with Jonny Greenwood and the
Rajasthan Express. I first heard it right before I finished Teetering.
It’s what inspired me to tell the engineer to put a little distortion on the
horns at the end of “El Dorado.”
I have also started to delve more
into middle eastern music and even further more into Indian classical music. I
also got really into Espers, particularly their album II. I also started
to delve deeper into obscure psych folk artists, old and new.
gg. Do you place your music in what is called acid folk? Is
that enough to describe your music?
BH. Yeah I’d say so. That’s what I’m
heavily influenced by and classify myself, but it’s also certainly more than
that. I listen back to my music and it doesn’t sound exactly like a lot of
other acid folk related artists that I listen to. I’d like to get more of that
whimsical medieval-esque vibe that a lot of them do. I write what I write and
all sorts of influences come through. I tend to lean a little further into
Indian music than a lot of acid folk artists.
A friend of mine calls my music
“Psychedelic Shamanic Trance Folk.”
gg. You recently released your first vinyl. How did you
decide to make this move? Are you satisfied with the sales?
BH. I have been an avid vinyl collector
for about 13 years. I’ve been thinking that it would be cool to release an
album on vinyl for a few years now and I finally did it. I am very happy with
the packaging and the way that it sounds.
As far as sales, I am somewhat
satisfied. I was planning on touring this album, but then COVID happened, so I
couldn’t. Naturally, it is harder to sell records if you’re not on tour. I have
never toured before and I live in a small town. That being said, I have a very
small following. I’m happy to have sold what I have considering all of the
factors.
However, I have built a bit more of a
fanbase with this particular album and a number of people have purchased my
record. Some record stores have been kind enough to buy them from me directly,
or have them on consignment. The local record store here, 641, has purchased a
number from me and they seem to be doing well there.
gg. All your releases, with culminating in your latest album
Dogwood Dance, are possessed by an inner flame that is trying to come
out. Do you think that liberating your inner quests will lead you to a specific
state of mind and soul? Or do you just want to write music?
BH. That’s a very cool question. I’m
really not sure. I haven’t thought about it much. I want to write music, but
there is certainly something driving me. We all have inner quests that will
lead us to liberation eventually, but who knows how it will evolve.
gg. What will be your next plans?
BH. I just registered for an online
class at Ali Akbar College of Music. It was started in the 60’s by sarod player
Ali Akbar Khan. Both Peter Walker and Robbie Basho studied with him. I’m
assuming that the lessons will go well and become somewhat consistent for a
little bit, but who knows! Maybe it won’t be for me. That being said, if I
actually go forth with practicing classical Indian music, I would like to
release an album of ragas for guitar.
gg. Do you want to add something else?
BH.
Yes! George! Thanks so much for the
album review and for taking your time to interview me! It has been a pleasure.
