Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has settled in — in the best way. You can hear it in the relaxed cadence in which he describes the events that led to “Salutations,” his latest album, and in the soothing songs of its counterpart, “Ruminations.”
He’ll take the stage at Prospect Park Bandshell Friday, backed by The Felice Brothers, and said fans can expect a sampler of the Bright Eyes and Oberst catalogs. Brooklyn’s own Big Thief and Philly-native Hop Along will open the show.
Oberst took a few minutes to chat with amNewYork, and discuss his latest work as well as his love the city.
Can fans expect to hear more “Ruminations” or “Salutations” on Thursday?
I have The Felice Brothers, a friend’s band who’s acting as my backing band, so we’ve been doing mostly the band versions of the stuff on “Salutations,” but then also a bunch of old Bright Eyes songs, so we’re just trying to mix it up.
Where did the idea come from to record two albums in two different styles with almost identical track listings?
I was making the ‘Salutations’ record and that was what I really was planning on being the record. I had recorded the session that is “Ruminations” earlier in Omaha. At that point, it was sort of just the demos that I was going to give to the band and people working on the record. David Bither at Nonesuch Records got a case of “demo-itis,” as they say, and he really fell in love with the versions I made that were really stripped down. He thought it would be interesting to put out some of the songs in that really bare-bones fashion.
Are there songs you prefer in one style or the other?
I think I prefer the band versions, just the sound of me playing guitar or piano by myself isn’t that exciting to me. But I get it, listening to other people’s music, I always enjoy hearing songs in their earliest form. Those songs were really fresh when I made that recording in Omaha, and so I was still figuring those out myself. There’s an immediacy to that recording that I think people connect with. I think it’s cool that both versions exist.
What do you think is so powerful about that type of raw recording?
I think there’s just not a lot to water down or confuse the song. At that point you’re forced to focus on the words and melody because there’s really nothing else happening. The people that enjoy that sort of lyric-driven music, that’s probably what makes it enjoyable for them. There’s just nothing to get in the way of the song.
Knowing that “Ruminations” was intended more as a demo, why the harmonica and not just piano/guitar and vocals?
I was kind of a late bloomer when it came to harmonica. For whatever reason, I just kind of took it up a couple years ago, and really it was just a way to have some other instrument accompany in the instrumental sections. With the band record, we did take some of the harmonica solos out and replace them with other instruments, but to me it was just a placeholder for the instrumental sections.
Having been in and out of New York City over the years, what is your relationship with the city like?
I mean, I love it. Besides Omaha, where I’m from, it’s the only place that’s ever really felt like home. I traveled so much, but I paid rent there for 13 years [laughs] a long time. I don’t get back as much as I like to, but still — every time I go, I remember why I miss it.
Any chance of another Monsters of Folk album?
You know, we’re always talking about it when we get together. I still see those guys quite a bit. I’m doing a show with [M. Ward] in the fall, Jim [James of My Morning Jacket] is out in LA a lot now. I think everyone wants to do it, it’s just the start of the line, hard to get everybody’s schedules, you know.
IF YOU GO: Conor Oberst performs with special guests Hop Along and Big Thief, Thurs., 7 p.m., $46, Prospect Park Bandshell, Ninth Street and Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, bricartsmedia.org. $1 from each ticket sold goes toward Planned Parenthood
