Photo credit: David McClister
Trampled By Turtles
Sometimes a little time off can help one refocus and see the bigger picture.
For the Duluth, Minn. genre-hopping band Trampled by Turtles, that was the realization a few years ago, prompting them to go on hiatus. After a string of busy years recording and touring, they felt it was time for a break. Everyone went their separate ways, filling their time with their own music projects, including lead singer Dave Simonett with his project Dead Man Winter.
Simonett also had time to do some production work for several bands, including Wisconsin’s Horseshoes & Hand Grenades and Them Coulee Boys. He first became friends with both bands several years ago after meeting them at a small festival outside Winona called Boats and Bluegrass. Horseshoes & Hand Grenades released their album The Ode last year, while Them Coulee Boys are hoping to release their album later this year.
“I was off the road and they were going off to make records,” he says. “It’s just something I’ve been dabbling in a bit and the timing just worked. Both of those experiences were great. Both bands are full of great people and they made really cool albums. They just reached out and asked if I would be part of that process. It was a real joy to do it.”
“The studio is my favorite place so just witnessing and being part of the creation of an album is really special and probably one of my favorite parts of working in music.”
He’s excited to have Them Coulee Boys as the opener for the band’s Wisconsin shows this month.
“It’ll be great to see those guys again,” Simonett says. “Since I made their record, I haven’t seen them play any of that stuff live. So, I’m not only excited to hear the songs that we worked on but hear where they’ve gone since then, and to see them live since they’re such a great band.”
In 2017, the members of Trampled by Turtles decided it was time to pick things back up. They returned last year to the stage in support of their first new album in four years, Life is Good on the Open Road.
“Personally and creatively, it’s always nice to get a little space in any kind of relationship, especially a musical one,” Simonett says. “We’ve been busy together for so long, we wanted to make sure to recognize when it’s time to relax a little bit and be apart and do other things. We want to keep this thing fresh and that’s exactly what it did.”
However, at first it took some convincing to get Simonett on board to tour. He had been recording and touring heavily on his own and wasn’t sure he would be ready to jump so quickly into Trampled’s heavy touring schedule.
But as he started writing the album’s title track, he changed his tune.
“I had gotten so burned out on touring, but I had to remind myself that it’s a pretty special life and I’m pretty lucky to have it,” he says. “A lot of that song is me pointing to the parts of it that I really love about it and the adventure and unknown of it and keeping it fresh.”
That feeling was certainly felt when the band reassembled for the first time in several years in a Minnesota cabin in October 2017. It was a joyous occasion but also a sad one due to Tom Petty’s death. The band would later cover Petty’s “Wildflowers” for a Record Store Day release.
“It was the weekend that Tom Petty died so it was a little bit somber,” says Simonett. “It wasn’t somber being together. That part was great. We hadn’t been in the room for like 18 months. So, there was that joy of being back with these guys who are pretty much family to me now. Mixed with sadness of one of our music and songwriting heroes passing away. So, it was a bittersweet time.”
Sonically, the band sought to capture the energetic and loose feeling of one of their shows. Instead of going into the studio and seeing what happened, they simply sat in a circle and played the songs together live.
“We did a lot of it live, us with our instruments in a room together, which is how we started out recording and is still one of my favorite ways to do it,” says Simonett. “It felt very casual and easy. I think that was a good way to get back together.”
Trampled By Turtles play the Riverside Theater with Them Coulee Boys on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m.
