Mary Jane Farmer, Scene In Town — (First printed in Buddy Magazine, December 2014 issue)
Ronnie Fauss
He’s been a musician off and on for his entire life, starting and stopping again; but when he became a father a few years ago, Ronnie Fauss said he “felt a renewed creative energy and decided to focus on music.” That doesn’t mean this accountant was ready to give up his day job; what it means is that he makes time for family, work, and music, adding with a smile, “There’s just not much time for sleep! Work during the day, play music at night, see my family in the in-between times. It’s a full and rich life!”
On the music side of Fauss’ life is the new CD he’s just released, Built To Break. This project was recorded at studios in Nashville, Colleyville, and Dallas, then mixed and mastered in Houston and New York City. Quite a journey for the 10 originals and one cover song. The result? Built To Break showcases not only Fauss’ voice, described by Vanity Fair as a “cross between Steve Earle and Gram Parsons,” but also displays his music dexterity in versatile and unique arrangement abilities.
And Steve Earle is one of those who have contributed heavily on Ronnie’s style, he said, along with other old-school songwriters including Guy Clark, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and Kris Kristofferson. “I learned how to write songs by incessantly listening to their records.”
But, in spite of all that musical tutelage, Fauss created his own style, evident on Built To Break. “There’s nothing worse than a boring song, so whenever I record or play something live, I like to think it has something unique to offer, either lyrically or by a melody hook. Just don’t blend in and be generic, that’s the main goal. Stylistically, I range from full band Americana rock-n-roll to a quiet duo setting accompanied by steel, fiddle, or accordion,” Ronnie clarified.
“Another Town,” the first song on the CD, is Fauss’ favorite song to sing live. “It’s just full of all those zingy one-liners, and it’s fun to spit them out in a concert setting.” Zingers such as “I miss the days when you pretended to be nice,” and “I’m here in this hotel room stacking bottles on my chest.”
His one cover song is of Phosphorescent/Matthew Houck’s rock and over-produced “Song For Zula.” Fauss brings a country-folk sensibility to the lyrics that obviously began as a country song, “Some say love is a burning thing, that it makes a fiery ring.”
Fauss is a solo-songwriter. He explained that he tried co-writing once and “It was really fun. We came away with one half of a really good song. We keep meaning to finish it, but we’re both so busy…” So, when he talked about the process of selecting songs for this new project, he first reiterated that he is the solo writer on them, except for, of course, for the one cover.
“I think most artists start off (when selecting songs for an album) with 20 or 30 songs, and then whittle it down during the recording process. Not me. When I finish writing a song, it goes into one of two buckets: it’s either definitely getting recorded, or it’s definitely never getting recorded. When I get about 10 songs or so that I definitely want to record, it’s time to make a new album. So, the songs I started with are the songs I end with.”
Fauss continued, “For the most part, my writing is personal enough, and my methods offbeat enough (I write a lot while I’m mowing the lawn, or doing the dishes) that I write best solo.” His writing begins when a line or phrases catches his attention, and that makes it worth pursuing. He said he starts building a song “out from the center, writing verses and choruses that tie back to the original sentiment. It happens organically.”
This new CD has been the highlight of Fauss’ musical career — so far. “So many talented people contributed, and they all brought a great personal vibe to the room as well. My producer, Sigurdur Birkis, is an awesome drummer and has a great ear for arrangements. Rhett Miller of the Old 97s sang guest vocals on one of the songs, and so many people in Nashville who are just killer musicians – Sadler Vaden, Devin Malone, Dave Labruyere, Megan Palmer, Chris Tuttle…these people have incredible full-time gigs, they play for people like Emmylou Harris, Jason Isbell, and so forth. So, to have them take a few days and play on my record really meant a lot. Oh, and Jenna Paulette who sang a duet with me — look out for her, she’s got an amazing voice and will be taking the world by storm here pretty soon. It was such an honor and so inspirational to work with all these people,” said the man who is grateful for every aspect of his “full and rich life.”
Built To Break, on Normaltown Records, an imprint of New West Records, is already on the Internet sites, Amazon and ITunes, in independent record stores, and sold anywhere Ronnie Fauss is playing. Polished, but not slicked up, Built To Break is a keeper.