SET LIST:

Peace of Mind

How can I make you happy

Undone

Hollywood Hills

Love is on the way

Allston

Big Bright Sun

Kindness

Tomorrow Still Comes

Casual Friday

You don’t know how it feels

Down The Drain

Never Be Your Baby

Laugh It Off

AL: Congratulations on the Boston Music Awards nominations! How did you get the news? Where can fans vote for you? Will you be attending the show, and if so, might there be a performance by you and the Rivals in the cards?

WILL: I was on a train to Detroit to start a tour. It was great news and totally surprised me. It actually feels really good. I’ve heard this all my life by people who get nominated for things but it really is nice to be in the same company as the other acts. The Boston Music Awards are important in that they highlight the people who are working hard and drawing attention to the city. Also supporting the clubs and the service staff and media outlets. Artists help those things thrive.
We are playing at the awards Wednesday night. I think we are doing about 5-6 songs.
You can vote here: http://thebostonmusicawards.com/contests/bma09/vote/
Today (Monday ) is the last day to vote.

AL: Crazy as it seems, 2010 is right around the corner…What plans do you have already lined up as far as your music goes? Will there be a big tour coming up soon? Any new studio time booked?

WILL: The main focus is a new material. I will be demoing stuff up through January and tracking in February if all goes according to plan.

AL: Being a musician, a profession that seemingly does not lend itself to quality health insurance options, I thought you would be a good person to ask about the health care debate going on in the country right now. What’s your take on this, both the concept of national health care itself as well as the way the dialogue is being conducted?

WILL: Being a musician it has been tough at time. Any old bio on the web will tell the tale. Being a musician also means that I don’t know much about the inner workings. So much of it to me does not make sense. Universal care sounds ideal and matches my values but I am not educated enough on the matter to declare it an absolute must. Everything has a positive and negative outcome and to calculate the perfect answer can be exhausting. So I tend to insist on my personal values: everyone, if they so choose, should be able to have health care and stay healthy, and others shouldn’t make astronomical sums of money off another’s illness there by promoting illness. First and foremost I would like to be able to bid on heath insurance across state lines that would make a huge difference for me as a musician and for my musician friends. That much I do know.

AL: Are you as psyched for the release of Avatar as I am? I wasn’t paying that much attention until I saw the full length trailer they aired during Glee a few weeks back and now I am obsessed.

WILL: Yes I am. I am excited about a lot of winter films. It is amazing how 3-D is becoming the norm.

AL: Speaking of which, what would be a bigger pop culture high – having a contestant do one of your songs on American Idol or hearing one of your songs done by the kids on Glee?

WILL: Hmmm. Not being a huge fan of either it is tough to say. But I love answering your questions. I would have to say Glee because that means a whole group of people think that your song is right for their project as opposed to one person who is trying to be the next sacred cow.

You can read Al Norton’s Two Tivos To Paradise every Friday at 411mania.com

LINK OF THE WEEK: VOTE- http://thebostonmusicawards.com/contests/bma09/vote/

By Drew Pearce

Laden with electric 12-string riffs and rich harmonies, Will Dailey’s third release has a vintage vibe that calls to mind intergenerational collaborations between the Byrds and the Jayhawks (“Laugh It Off”) or Tom Petty and Ryan Adams (“So Many Wrong Ways”). But it’s more than the ring of familiarity that makes this record instantly enjoyable; Dailey has impeccable pop instincts and a knack for marrying the finest phrases to the catchiest melodies. Blending anthemic melodies, rave-up rhythms, and a “Wall of Sound” arrangement that culminates in a killer guitar solo, “Never Be Your Baby” sounds like his surefire radio hit. When the instrumentation is pared back to acoustic guitars, mandolin, and percussion (“Allston”), or a single ukelele (“Too Long”), the songs have even more charm and resonance. And though some songs come close to “Kravitz-ing” the classics, one tune captures the passion of someone reacting to this moment in history. On “Down the Drain,” Dailey digs into the lyrics with the conviction of Bruce Springsteen and the soul of Martin Sexton and makes you believe him when he sings, “I am more concerned with the quality of my freedom than I am with the quantity of my days.” (CBS Records, cbsrecords.com)

http://www.acguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=25041

Torrent artwork

““I’m gonna win your heart, one attack at a time,” promises this soulful singer-songwriter. And he does just that on this album.”
PEOPLE MAGAZINE

“Sometimes you don’t even have to turn on a TV to discover the next American Idol…Forget the last five months of force-fed artificial pop music on TV…Will Dailey is the real deal.”
NEW YORK POST

“Dailey’s sumptuously clever lyrics take the spotlight…Dailey’s troubadour persona proves effective.”
MUSIC CONNECTION

“Dailey’s melodious, Petty-like approach combines riffs and roots-pop flair, with a touch more crooner soul.”
BOSTON METRO

“Now more than ever, his productivity is a step above the rest…With his vocals reminiscent of Jason Mraz and John Mayer, Dailey is popular because of his acoustic guitar and piano concoctions…and the popularity is steadily on the rise.”
THE AQUARIAN WEEKLY

“Opener “Peace of Mind” not only swings and sways like a sapling in the cool breeze, but it includes Roger McGuinn…This album is really two separate EPs, and perhaps its defining trait is that both releases are strong enough to stand on their own…a tremendous talent has arrived.”
BOSTON’S WEEKLY DIG

“Dailey’s the kind of singer/songwriter who grows on you, the kind of singer/songwriter who will go far.”
AMERICANSONGWRITER.COM

“Dailey gives classic rock a contemporary feel, making his music not only compelling but also extremely relevant…while redefining and reconfiguring the fundamentals of what it takes to make a great album.”
ELMOREMAGAZINE.COM

“This Boston-based singer-songwriter has been racking up fans the old-fashioned way: strong tunes and crowd-pleasing shows…say you were there when he’s the next big thing that your friends won’t shut up about.”
METROMIX

Will- I don’t even know what day it is today to tell you the truth. I have flight schedules and interviews. I don’t do much of anything special. I celebrate it at the shows and when I pen something new. There is a lot of hard work building up to a release and just as much following it that it all blurs into one large experience. Back Flipping Forward was a long drawn out experience because it was released independently and then again through CBS.  I designed TORRENT so that it would be more conducive to the creative process and a true window into my pace and how I do thinks.  People can really come along for the ride with Torrent. I am currently working out the songs for Vol. 3 and looking at getting that out online in the fall.

Al- Sometimes you hear performers talk about how their new album is intensely personal, about a break up or maybe about a new love? Others say, “this is my socially conscious album – I couldn’t ignore what was going on in the world around me.” You even hear a few, “I went back to my roots for this batch of songs.” How would you describe “Torrent, Volume 1 + 2″?

Will- Aren’t all song personal, conscious, a result of positive and negative influences? That always bugs me when people say that. That is the machine behind it all trying to find a “hook”.  Torrent, for me, starts with a rule: I’m doing it my way.  What makes me happiest in life is writing songs and playing them for people. I didn’t want to end up working one album for 2 years. That doesn’t always make sense with the speed the world currently operates.  TORRENT allows me to keep it flowing, which ended up sharpening creative direction. With Vol. 1 (Fashion of Distraction) I took a group of songs that I believed were the result of my Byrd’s influence. In Vol. 2 (By The Blue Hills) I took some songs influenced by experiences in Boston and we (my band, myself and my producer) focused on dialing in the “Boston Sounds” especially on songs like “The Right One” and “Tomorrow Still Comes”.

Al- Assuming your broke the two batch of songs up into their EP’s for specific reasons, was there more thought than usual to selecting track order when they came together to form “Torrent”?, making sure they flowed?

Will- Not really but I love listening to the end of “Allston”, hearing the record player flip over and then the piano intro for “Down The Drain”. I do think they flow nicely but we didn’t lose sleep on a master plan.  There is an organic flow to the whole project so far. I also hold tightly to the fact that if you are being true to yourself it should flow on its own. The whole concept of Torrent was created so that I could to be true to myself first.

Al- I know asking a songwriter about their favorite songs on a CD is like asking a parent about their favorite kids (since it’s not my CD, allow me to weigh in and say Peace of Mind, Never Be Your Baby, Down the Drain, and Love is on the Way) but there must be a couple you are especially proud of, right? Did you listen to any of the finished products and think (in a good way, of course), “wow, I wrote that?”

Will- I definitely listened to “Love is on the way” and was pretty surprised. I knew the song was supposed to be fun but I was worried about getting across the story of an a washed up middle aged man being happy for the first time in his life because he just ordered a bride. The twisted fun in the song adds an unnerving quality to the story for me. And lately I have loved playing “Keep You A Mystery” live. That surprised me.  I was in love with the recording but worried that I wouldn’t translate live but the Rivals have been killing it.

Al- In 100 words or less (actually, take more if you need it), tell fans who bought the two EP’s on their own why they’d want to own Torrent, too (Editor’s note- because the sound is AMAZING!!!!)

Will- One: because you get to actually hold what you own. But the MAIN REASON is the sound. T Bone Burnett designed CODE so that people who care about the quality of the sound get the best sound yet to be delivered to the consumer. I am honored and proud that T Bone selected Torrent 1 & 2 for CODE and that fans get that choice.

Al – You’ve spent a decent amount of 2009 on the road; what do you and the band listen to while driving from gig to gig?

WD- There is usually a rotating ipod between myself, Dave Brophy and Joe McMahon. That means there can be any number of things playing. Between us we have ever new album that just came out, everything released from 1969 to 1981 and every jazz record. We save the comedy records for late night driving.

Al – In the past several weeks you’ve had new music on 90210, Numb3rs, Harper’s Island and NCIS. Does hearing your songs on TV ever get old? Is there a TV show you watch that you’d love to get played on?

WD- I don’t know if it gets old but sometimes I don’t find out about it until someone calls and tells me. TV is the new radio. (I know that sounds like a band name.) I would love to get a song on McGyver but I am having a hard time making that happen for some reason. It would be fun to play live on the Real Time with Bill Maher with Rush Limbaugh as my drummer and Al Gore as my bass player. We would sound horrible but the after set fights would be epic.

Al – Knowing you were a big fan of the show, what did you think of the Battlestar Galactica finale?

WD- First 3 seasons were genius and the last two were kind of a let down. It got too convoluted for my brain to follow. I still love Starbuck though. I want to see if I can get her in a music video.

AL – Being a Boston boy, have you been enjoying the local sports teams? Between the marathon, the Red Sox 11 game winning streak, the Bruins eliminating the Canadians from the playoffs, and the Celtics-Bulls series being considered one of the best in NBA post-season history, Boston has been pretty much the hub of the athletic universe these last several weeks.

WD- It never stops and sometimes I have to remember to live my life. I have found the baseball makes me bite my nails, basket ball elicits child like banshee screams coupled with dramatic applause and football causes me to destroy furniture. Modern technology lets me follow any game on my cell phone which makes the road easier… and more dangerous.

Check it out there. It is interesting stuff. Juicy. Really juicy. Well, informative really…

Al: How have the past two months of shows felt to you, knowing that people could finally hear the music you’d been working on for so long? I know how much I love Peace of Mind in particular but what kind of feedback have you been getting on Fashion of Distraction, Vol 1?

Will: It has been wonderful rolling out all this new music and playing some of it live for the first time. It’s not easy either, figuring out how to translate some of the songs from studio to live. I was so worried about how we were going to do “Allston” live. It is a recording I am very proud of and thought we wouldn’t be able to reach for it live. But that one worked out fine. Better than I could have imagined.
“Keep you a mystery” I was worried about because it is so chill but the first night we played it was magical. It was so magical that now I am afraid to play it again.
The response has been tremendous. And people seem to be getting excited for Vol. 2. Which is kind of the idea.

Al: Is how you are releasing your new music the way the industry on a whole is headed? We’ve certainly come a long way from fitting those little yellow plastic things in the middle of a ‘45.

Will: I don’t know if is the way the industry as a whole is headed but it is the way I am headed. And I don’t know where this road goes but I like driving it. It fits me creatively so I am going to be selfish and do things this way. It makes sense to me not just artistically but also with the way people ingest art and with the amount of money people have to spend currently. Instead of spending 5$ to download a bunch of random songs from my catalogue you can start of by downloading a complete idea and project in a Torrent Volume and go from there.
LINK OF THE WEEK: RRR
VIDEO OF THE WEEK: KEEP YOU A MYSTERY

You can read Al Norton’s Two Tivos To Paradise every Friday at 411mania.com

Al: I just finished listening to Aaron Neville’s fantastic cover of Crazy Love (which features Robbie Robertson on guitar and comes from the Phenomenon soundtrack), and between that and Valentine’s Day it got me wondering…what are some of your favorite love songs? And no, I didn’t ask you this as a way for you to plug your Valentine’s Night gig at Harper’s Ferry in Boston.