INDOLORE – C’est pas la peine

NASHVILLE – This weeks Nashville Pick is INDOLORE and his single C’est pas la peine – This French resident from Paris had a dream of traveling to Nashville, and when he finally made the trip, he recorded several songs with a local producer and Nashville musicians.  We extended our Nashville hospitality here to include his music and video. Here is his story:

INDOLORE

“I had a dream of Nashville”

From my apartment in Paris, I wanted to be Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”. I saw him, handsome and lost, at the wheel of his worn pickup, criss-crossing the Southern roads, between shabby tours and unexpected encounters. Watching him dive, I felt my country soul emerge. The music was already coming to me, the story was starting. Stetson on my head, guitar slung over my shoulder, it was going to be a blast! Even though the film doesn’t take place in Nashville, that’s where I had to go, to the heart of music. A few months later, I was in action.

In Nashville, I only knew one name: Paul Howard, editor-in-chief of the local blog Music Mecca. “Paul, help me make this project come true.” And he did. He gave me a few studio contacts, including one at the Bomb Shelter on the city’s east side. On the other end of the phone, Grammy-nominated producer (!) Andrija Tokic listened to my demos and said: “Let’s go!”

On May 17th, I landed in Nashville, well actually on the morning of the 18th. I almost got stuck in Boston forever, with endless customs, a missed connection, a broken phone and every hotel in town fully booked. Thank God, a supercharged cab driver straight out of an 80s action movie saved my ass. After many adventures and a two-hour night, I was finally in Nashville, the aptly named Music City. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the house Andrija had lent me, I knew I was in the right place.

I sat on the front porch, American-style, just as I’d dreamed of doing. And then, I don’t know if it was the happiness of experiencing something strong, the thrill of being elsewhere, a new song suddenly fell from the blue Tennessee sky, right onto my guitar, just like that, in a few seconds. “Here I am in Nashville…”. Unplanned on the program, it naturally invited itself to the party, and I knew right away that it would be on the record.

The next day, the first day in the studio, excitement, stage fright, shyness, confidence, all at the same time. The musicians assembled by the studio for the recording sessions arrived one by one: Dave Racine on drums, Sean Thompson, and Jack Lawrence, accomplice and loyal bassist to Jack White himself (!). Drew Carroll was in charge. We got to know each other quickly, I told them about my troubles in Boston, they laughed and we started playing. From the very first notes, I felt like Johnny Cash for a day, but above all, just myself, lucky and happy. The band sounded amazing. We swallowed the songs, “C’est pas la peine“, “I Gotta Run Away“, “We Have a Song“, “Carina” . I was enjoying their playing. It was a dream come true.

On the very last day, once the musicians had left, I managed to record “Nashville“, alone, in the silence of that late afternoon.

My American record, my own country soundtrack and my crazy heart were now on tape!