Interview: Anaïs Mitchell (Bonny Light Horseman)

Even today’s most passionate music fans might not realize quite how lucky we are to have Bonny Light Horseman.

No mere one-off lark, the team of Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown), Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), and Josh Kaufman (The Hold Steady; Josh Ritter) has maintained its bond to the tune of three folk rock records in four years — four if you count the band’s new double album, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free, as a pair. Their advanced musical prowess is a wonder to behold, and Asheville has been a fairly frequent recipient of the trio’s phenomenal live edition.

A few days before the collection’s June 7 release and the start of a tour that brings Bonny Light Horseman to The Orange Peel on Saturday, June 15 — one of only a few shows in the Southeast this year — Mitchell spoke with Stages about sustaining momentum, recording in Ireland, and working with Asheville royalty.

Edwin Arnaudin: I sadly will be in Charlotte when y'all play The Orange Peel, but I’ve been fortunate to catch your two most recent local shows: opening for Bon Iver at Rabbit Rabbit and headlining the Masonic Temple with Joan Shelley. Both times felt mutually wonderful for performers and audience alike — are there aspects of those shows that made a lasting impression and have lingered with you?

Anaïs Mitchell: We had such a beautiful time supporting Bon on that tour a couple years back, and the Rabbit Rabbit shows were the very end of the tour — lot of feelings. And the Masonic Temple was such a physically beautiful space to play in. I remember it feeling very warm and friendly — we taped a remote performance for [The Late Show with Stephen] Colbert before the show I think, and it just looked so pretty in there.

EA: Have you played The Orange Peel before?

AM: You know, I’m quite sure Josh and Eric have played there with their other projects. But me, I think I’ve mostly played The Grey Eagle. I’ve heard The Orange Peel is amazing, though! Asheville has such a cornucopia of amazing venues.

EA: It’s been wonderful seeing former Asheville staple Michael Libramento touring with Bonny Light Horseman these past two times. (My friends and I call him “the musical Forrest Gump” because he keeps popping up in phenomenal bands.) In what ways has he enhanced BLH? And will he be joining you on this tour?

AM: God, I love Libro so much. Such an incredible player and somehow even more incredible human. “Former Mayor of Asheville.” Unfortunately, he’s not with us this tour. He is a very busy and in-demand player! Last time I checked, he was playing with Marcus Mumford, then Ryan Beatty + Lizzy McAlpine.

EA: How has the creative process with Eric and Josh evolved over the course of three albums? What do you "get" about each other now that wasn't as clear/evident a few years ago?

AM: Our first record was really our getting-to-know-you project. I mean, I’d barely met Eric when we were suddenly singing full throttle into each other’s faces. The first, self-titled record was based on a lot of traditional songs, especially traditional text, so it was nice to have that to lean on. Our second record, Rolling Golden Holy, was our first attempt at just fully co-writing songs. All of them kind of “in conversation” with the trad, but still, it’s vulnerable to throw ideas around in a room.

This new record, I feel like is the result of us just saying, “Fuck it: yes!” to that kind of vulnerability. It’s very mystical how it evolved. Not sure if it’s that we “get” each other better; more like we trust each other fully. Maybe that’s the same thing.

EA: Why did you pick Levis as the initial recording site for the Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free sessions? How did what you envisioned of the space compare with what actually awaited you? And in what ways did this unusual environment enhance the collaborative experience?

AM: We were playing a couple of beautiful shows in Ireland with symphony orchestras — we had shows in Cork and Dublin and four days off in between. We thought about getting more shows but then realized we were hungry to start recording and it seemed like a vibe time and place to do some sessions.

We looked into studios but nothing really jumped out at us. Then I remembered a conversation I’d had with this incredible musician/venue owner, Joe O’Leary, who had taken over his family pub in a little town called Ballydehob in West Cork. I mentioned it to Josh and Eric and they really got excited about the idea.

I can’t believe it worked out like it did — we literally took over this pub for three days of tracking (with our engineer Bella Blasko, drummer JT Bates, and bassist Cam Ralston), and on the third night we invited a small audience into the space and recorded in front of them and with them. 95% of what we used on the record from the pub is from the live recording with the audience — there was just some undeniable magic in having a real audience there. I’ve never recorded that way in my life! It felt less like a performance and more like a community ritual.

EA: What topics and themes were most prevalent on your mind while writing these songs? While working with your bandmates, were there instances when Eric’s or Josh’s lyrics helped unlock something in your own writing — or vice versa?

AM: Well, it’s a lot. It’s midlife, family life, domestic frustration, falling in love, seeing the love of your life disfigured somehow by your long relationship, remembering mortality, a lot of journeying, trying to be present — all of that. It often felt like we were writing towards or into each other’s experience or in conversation. I think it ends up feeling like a long dinner conversation with old friends.

EA: From what I can tell, the new album isn’t officially divided into Keep Me on Your Mind and See You Free. Is there an unofficial demarcation where you see one album ending and another beginning? Or is the “division” more abstract and symbolic?

AM: It’s like…in the same way that we “said yes” to all 18 of these songs belonging together on the record (as well as two interstitial recordings), we just had to say “yes” to both titles. It’s not that one album is entitled one and the other one is entitled the other. It’s all one body of work. The two titles are the first and last track of the body of work and there’s a journey between them.

And then, as always, you get to the end of the record and it starts again. As Josh put it, the tension is between wanting to be held and wanting to be let go. Wanting to hold someone (or some thing, some time, some place), and wanting to let them/it go.

EA: The release of a 20-song collection that I’m guessing yielded additional songs not on the album suggests that BLH is commanding the bulk of your artistic attention. But are you currently working any solo projects or other collaborations? If so, how has your work in BLH informed and/or augmented those undertakings?

AM: I love that BLH is a place I can bring my creativity and also satisfy a craving to emote into a mic in a way that feels really healthy — somehow less fraught than my singer/songwriter stuff. I’m mainly working on a play with music outside of BLH right now. And some other cowriting.

EA: Lastly, what opportunities have arisen through BLH that you feel might not have come about otherwise?

AM: I never got to be part of a band like this before — the comradeship is deep. I consider these guys my deep, life-long brothers and it’s an honor to travel and make music with them. Again, it feels more pure and less fraught with the highs and lows of the ego. At its best, I forget who’s playing what part and just melt into the music. That’s what I think we’re all after with music: a blurring of the edges of the self.

IF YOU GO

Who: Bonny Light Horseman with Alpha Consumer
When: Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.
Where: The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., theorangepeel.net
Tickets: $30 advance/$35 day of show

(Photos by Jay Sansone)