Seattle-based singer-songwriter Rusty Reid creates lovely folk-pop tunes, such as his latest single release, Our Love’s With You. It’s a piano-led track, containing a great deal of heart and emotion. I absolutely loved Our Love’s With You – if you want to find out more about Rusty, read on below!
By Jane Howkins
We recently reviewed your track Our Love’s With You. What can you tell us about the song?
Thank you for the review. Yes, Our Love’s With You was one of my earlier songs. It was written for my younger sister upon her high school graduation and possibly leaving home for college. She was up in the air as to whether to go or not. I had experienced the same decision a few years earlier, and had elected to move 500 miles away to college in Houston, so I knew the mix of emotions this choice evokes, often the very first important decision a person makes as they transition into adulthood. I happened to be back at home as she was facing this all-important decision. I thought the situation might make for a good song, so gave this to her as a form of brotherly advice. It’s also one of my rare piano-based songs, written on our family’s old upright. She did in fact go off to college, by the way.
How has the reception to Our Love’s With You been so far, and where can the track be purchased?
I’ve been extremely pleased with the feedback from reviewers of the song. It is off my 2023 album Bayou Line: Songs from Houston. Though this song was written in my hometown of Midland, Texas, it was recorded when I got back to university in Houston. This new version is fairly true to that original recording. I was not sure what kind of reception it might get these days because it is so different from most of what is out there. I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it seems to have struck a chord, so to speak, with many. The CD can be purchased at my website: RustyReid.com. Or it can be downloaded from iTunes or Amazon. It’s also available at all streaming platforms.
Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
I released five singles off Bayou Line. That promotion is finished now. Next I have twin politically-charged singles coming up: The United States of Selfishness and American Villain. So I’m back to my philosophical-political-spiritual (not religious) tangent that harkens to my previous album and other new material coming up next year.
You recently released your third album, titled Bayou Line. What can you tell us about the album? What does the title refer to?
Houston is known as the ‘Bayou City’ for the five or so bayous, or swampy, slow-moving streams, that course through various parts of the city. I went to college there and lived in the city for about 14 years. That was the time-frame during which I was able, finally, after many years of trial and mainly error, to write some decent songs. Some of those songs appear on my first album, titled NWXSW. This latest album represents an effort to gather the best of the rest of those old Houston songs (either written or originally played/recorded there), and re-record them for public release. The title Bayou Line comes from the song, Oh Well, which starts out: “Down around the bayou line, a part of town polite folk never see.”
Have you started writing for your next full-length release?
Actually, I have the next three albums not just written but mostly already recorded. Kind of a logjam of material champing to get out. Keeping with my undermining strategy to not make it easy for listeners to pin me to a specific genre or niche, these projects are very different. One is another retrospective, this time the actual old recordings of my Houston band, the Unreasonables… pretty much straight garage rock and roll. Then I have what is really a double-album of cover songs, tied to a specific origin theme that will be a bit of an interesting surprise when it comes out. Then, following that, another long album of newer original stuff. So it’s going to be a busy next couple of years.
The track is quite unique, mixing an old school pop sound with the folk genre. What/who are you most influenced by? What have you been listening to recently?
The new recording of Our Love’s With You is basically an elaboration on the original recording. I can’t recall any specific act or sound that might have influenced that early track but it has a vaguely Beatlesque quality to it. Certainly they are my most important influence, especially with regard to genre hopping and blending. Lately I’ve been drawn into the artistry of Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real. He’s the son of Willie Nelson, a Texas legend, but has got a cool vibe of his own.
You’re from Texas but have recently moved to the Pacific Northwest. What prompted the move? What is the local music scene like at the moment with you?
Actually, I left Houston for Los Angeles. I had lived in L.A. briefly in 1973, and figured it offered more opportunity for what I was trying to do both in music and my “day job” – freelance journalism. L.A. was fun. I lived there for 11 years, and achieved some success in journalism but couldn’t find my place in the music scene (not that I tried hard enough). So I decided to slide right up the West Coast to the Seattle area. For the first 12 years up here I lived right on the water. Puget Sound was my backyard. It’s a great, pretty rootsy and real scene up here, lots of talent and venues. I’m generally holed up in my compound and home studio, but occasionally pop up here or there.
Do you have anything else exciting coming up this year?
Definitely. As mentioned, I have a bunch of things rarin’ to go. Hopefully those two political songs will stir somethings up.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
No, but I would dearly love to make that happen. Any helpers out there?
Any last words for the fans?
Thanks, always, to those who have hung with me all these years. It has required a lot of patience, I know. New fans are very welcome to get onboard. Hope to see you someday.