Q&A: Kevin Atwater Brings ‘Blush Red’ to All Things Go DC
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SHEVON GREENE ☆
THE LAST TIME LUNA CHATTED WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER KEVIN ATWATER—he was still trying to figure out what his sophomore album Blush Red would look like outside of the realms of his mind. The project hadn’t been released yet, its tour was still months away and there were still some “what ifs” on how he’d translate his intimate, fingerpicked songs to a festival stage.
Just a few months later, he’s fully delved into those hypotheticals becoming his daily routine. He’s currently about halfway completed with the Blush Red tour and just made a pitstop at All Things Go DC, where he performed to a mix of his dedicated fanbase and new listeners alike on a rainy Saturday morning.
The album itself became a very constructed world set in a fictional bar called The Red, complete with short films, intertwined characters and one emotional rollercoaster of a night—but touring has made Atwater feel even more connected with his listeners getting to perform those tracks for them almost every night. As he tells Luna, seeing those reactions in front of him has felt “like remembering why you do it.”
That doesn’t mean everything always has to go exactly according to plan. His setlist continues to shift depending on the room, even down to how he plays the guitar depending on the vibe he gets from the crowd.
Luna caught up with Atwater after his All Things Go performance to talk about bringing Blush Red to life on stage, letting audiences reshape his songs, some unexpected realities of touring and what he’ll have the hardest time leaving behind when the era eventually ends. Read more below.
LUNA: Congrats on your set! The last time that we talked, you were still figuring out what a Kevin Atwater festival set might look like, especially because some of your songs are very intimate, where you’re using your guitar a lot. How did it feel being up there today?
ATWATER: What’s interesting is that it doesn’t feel much different. I’m on tour right now, so I’ve been playing shows for the past couple of weeks. It’s still just people listening to music at the end of the day. I still did a fingerpicking song and it felt the same. The setting was a little different looking over the hill, but the actual playing of the music and knowing that people are hearing it is the same. So I tried to do a little less of the quieter stuff, just because it’s early in the day. I’m waking people up.
LUNA: With your clarinet.
ATWATER: With my clarinet, exactly. It was just a lot of, “What can I do in 20 minutes?”
LUNA: You made the most out of it and it was awesome! When we last talked, Blush Red was just about to come out, and now you’ve had a couple months to take it in and live with it while also being on tour. Is there anything about fans’ reactions to the songs that has surprised you so far? Anything you weren’t expecting?
ATWATER: Yeah, definitely. There’s a song on the album called “house with windows” that people are generally angry that I’m not playing. But I’m not playing it because it’s too hard (laughs). The fingerpicking part that I wrote is all great when I’m by myself focusing. It was just too hard for me to make work in a live setting. But it’s flattering also. I’m happy they’re mad that I’m not playing something.
LUNA: We also last talked about how you wrote Blush Red with live performance in mind more than ever before. Now that you’re in the middle of touring it, is there any song that you were expecting to perform a certain way that has taken an unexpected turn?
ATWATER: That’s a good question. There’s a slot in the live set where I switch out a song depending on what I’m feeling from the crowd, specifically. So, technically that’s different. But it’s a lot about feeling out what that audience might like and that informs the way I play songs too. It’s even dependent on how fast I play a couple of the fingerpicking ones, like “jailer” or “why did you invite me to your wedding.” I found that if people are really engaged, it’ll make me want to speed up. And then sometimes I’m like, “It’s more of a relaxed vibe, so I’m gonna relax.”
LUNA: Now that you’ve been on the road for a bit, what’s been your favorite part of the whole tour so far? Or maybe the most unexpected part?
ATWATER: I’m trying to pick one thing. There’s this thing that happens when you’re making an album, which is a very internal and personal process, and it’s with a small group of people, your collaborators and your team. And then people hear it, but you don’t see those people hearing it. You see their reactions online. But it’s not tangible in front of you until you go on tour. That’s my favorite part.
LUNA: That makes so much sense. You have no idea until you’re there in person performing and you’re watching people react to it in the crowd.
ATWATER: It’s like remembering why you do it.
LUNA: When this era eventually ends, what do you think you’re going to have the hardest time letting go of?
ATWATER: The color. Honestly, I’m like, “Damn, I’ve got so much red in my wardrobe now because of this.” Not that I can’t wear red anymore. But now I have an excuse to wear a hint of red in everything (laughs).
LUNA: You could still wear some red or involve some red in your next era.
ATWATER: I know. There are no rules.
