Photo by Pat Wright

If you’re a regular here at The Blue Indian, the name “Austin Crane” should ring a bell. However, the name “Valley Maker” probably doesn’t. And there’s good reason for this. You can remember when Austin Crane’s second full-length, “Place at the Table” received the ONLY 10 out of 10 that The Blue Indian has ever given in a review of a record. You probably also remember a pretty extensive interview with frontman, Austin. One of most respected songwriters in his area, Crane is quickly receiving the same amount of attention around Georgia. With this interview with Austin, I introduce to you his lastest and perhaps most dazzling project entitled, “Valley Maker.” Birthed from his senior honor thesis course during his last semester of his undergrad tenure, Crane certainly ends his college career with a bang, as “Valley Maker” might just go down as his greatest musical effort to date. I’m not going to review the record; I think it’s pretty obvious how I feel about it.

The Blue Indian (Luke): Austin, the minute I thought you couldn’t possibly top “Place at the Table,” you prove me wrong. Can I just personally say Valley Maker is amazing? You’ve got me like a school girl over here.

Austin Crane: I’m not sure if that was the reaction I envisioned this eliciting, but thanks Luke, I’m really glad it is meaningful to you.

Luke: To avoid losing all professionalism by giving you another 9 out of 10, I simply had to refuse to review Valley maker. So, I passed it along to another TBI writer. For people who have no idea who or what Valley Maker is, introduce them.

Austin: Valley Maker was born out of my honors senior thesis project.  I studied economics and Russian language/literature for my undergrad, so I wanted to do something for my thesis that reflected my interest in music and songwriting. Having already written two “Austin Crane” albums with largely personal lyrical content, I wanted to strive for a more narrative approach here. I also wanted to develop a somewhat different sound, a separate project, hence the new name. I originally wanted to write on the whole Old Testament, but soon realized that either I was going to need to make a 6-disc collection, or it might be best to just start at the beginning.

Luke: Is it accurate to say that Valley Maker, as a whole, reflects your personal fascination with the stories in the Old Testament portion of the Bible?

Austin: Yes that would be accurate to the degree that it spurred my interest toward wanting to write on this text.  It’s a pretty loaded book that deserved further exploration for me.  In terms of the record itself, I would say that Valley Maker strives to reflect the stories not as I see them or would want to see them, but as they are presented in the text itself.  When a perspective is taken, it is always the perspective of a character from the stories and not myself.

Luke: When did you acquire such rich knowledge about these stories? I mean, a large group of people seem to become bored with the old testament.

Austin: Well I grew up going to church, so I’ve had a degree of familiarization with these narratives from a young age.  This was certainly a major reacquaintance for me, it honestly felt like a new encounter in many ways. I guess we are always learning what it means to be human and thus finding ways out of that to relate with what is before us. Spending five months writing songs on these stories was a very rewarding exercise in that respect.

Luke: So, did you surprise your professor with making this record? Was he expecting a long paper (essay)? I mean, he had to smile when you broke the news that you’d be recording an album for your senior thesis.

Austin: I actually selected the professors I would be working with based on this idea, one from a Religious Studies/English background and one from Southern Studies, so no major surprises there.  However, my main advisor did ask if I was done after completing four songs, I think he was surprised when I told him I wanted to do a full-length album.

Luke: Where in the writing/planning process did you make the decision of collaborating with the Georgia songbird and always amazing, Amy Godwin? Clearly your wisest move, Austin.

Austin: Well, Luke, this is where you guys come in to the story. We (Austin Crane) were actually playing a Blue Indian showcase in Macon at The 567 sometime in February or March and Amy was on the bill with us. I was already well into the writing process at this point, nearing the end actually, and I knew that I wanted these songs to have prominent background vocals as a defining attribute.  I basically made the decision to ask Amy after the first song of her set, I just felt like it would be right. We talked after the show and she was willing to come to Columbia a couple weekends later and record, then we had an album.

Luke: We’ll certainly take credit for that. Tell us about what it was like to work with Amy.

Austin: She literally did all of her vocal parts in less than a day’s worth of work, she is a fiercely talented vocalist.  For all of us in the studio that weekend, we just kept getting more and more excited about how it was coming together.

Luke: I’ll be honest. When I first heard you’ll be collaborating with her, I wasn’t sure how that would turn out. I had my doubts. I mean, you have Austin Crane: Harsh vocal sound with the in-your-face(ness) comparable to Bob Dylan. Then, you have Amy Godwin: Milky vocals with silky smooth delivery. How does that mix? To me, that’s the dazzling part of this project. It worked… I mean, big time. Looking back, could you have looked the world over and found a better person to collaborate with on this record?

Austin: Amy has an otherworldly quality to her voice at times; she was able to build off of what I had already done vocally to create the moods we wanted to realize for these songs.  The bridge on “Babel” is a great example of this. I was so honored to have her as a part of this project. I hope more people will discover her songs through this as well.

Luke: How should major Austin Crane (the band) fans digest Valley Maker? Any pointers for those not aware of what you’re doing here?

Austin: Just listen. I don’t want to inform the experience any more than what’s already been done by recording it. I expect this record, due primarily to the subject matter, to elicit very different responses from different people. I believe that is a good thing.

Luke: Tell us about the future. Can we expect a mixture of Austin Crane (the band) songs and Valley Maker stuff at the live shows? Will you book these sets separately? Are the fellas down with backing you live with the Valley Maker stuff?

Austin: That remains to be worked out later this year. I’m really excited about continuing to play shows and hopefully writing more in the future as the band “Austin Crane,” we will just have to see where life takes all of us at that point. We are all great friends and we love writing and playing music together. I’ve been trying to hash this out recently, thinking about playing live as Valley Maker, and I imagine that every show will look somewhat differently.  I hope that Amy can join whenever possible, I’m sure that I will play solo some as well, and I hope that sometimes we can do a bigger production with more people and different instruments on stage.

Luke: You’re doing a ton of traveling in the next coming months. Where will you be?

Austin: I will be traveling a good bit for the next four months or so, here and abroad. I leave in a couple of weeks for Colorado to do an internship with a non-profit that does international development work. Hopefully I will get to play some Valley Maker shows out there.  In September I’ll go to Bulgaria to work on some projects with the organization and then on to Ukraine to visit my family. I should be back in the Southeast by November.

Luke: When will you and the fellas be working on new Austin Crane stuff?

Austin: Well as soon as “Place at the Table” came out last October I started writing the Valley Maker songs, so maybe by the time I’m back in November we will be able to look at writing new material.

Luke: Well, Austin. You’ve dazzled us again at The Blue Indian, brother. Keep up the stellar work.

Austin: Thanks Luke, I appreciate you guys very much. Anyone who wants to get a hold of the Valley Maker record can do so online at valleymaker.com. It is downloadable on a pay-what-you-want basis, according to your ability. I’d like to thank anyone who listens.