Swift finds a comfortable place, and pace

Richard Swift makes music better suited for your great-grandfather's Victrola that your iPod. With flourishes of ragtime and baroque and strokes reminiscent of pop songwriting's pantheon, Swift's tales often acknowledge he is a man out of time, both as an artist trying to find a seam in the music industry and as a husband and father trying to sidestep the cracks in society.

His sophomore album, "Dressed Up for the Letdown" (due Feb. 20 on Indiana-based indie label Secretly Canadian), includes material he wrote during his three or so years living in Southern California, a period of professional frustration for the multi-instrumentalist. Now safely ensconced in a small town (Cottage Springs, Ore., pop. 9,016) more in step with his rural Midwestern upbringing, Swift is putting the finishing touches on the album. We asked him a couple quick questions while he and his band prepared for a show tonight at Spaceland.

Los Angeles was tough on you and your family. Do you miss it much?

Swift: I miss certain aspects ... the people. I don't miss the city, but only because I don't miss any city.

I could never get my mind around the clutter of the city. My wife and three daughters love it up here -- we have everything we need.

The song "Artist & Repertoire" -- "Sorry, Mr. Swift, but there's no radio / that likes to play the songs of your lover's sorrow" -- tackles everything head on. But you had me scared; I mean, in the last line, the narrator has a gun to his head ...

Swift: A lot of this took place in the two years I spent driving around the city from record company to record company. We know a lot of people who could have written that song. "I know it's not funny / so I'll try not to smile ..." I just had the blues, and I had to let it out somehow.

It's a going-for-broke and growing-up kind of record. My time in Los Angeles ... you have to go away and cut your teeth, pay your dues. The whole concept of death is addressed too, but I talk about life just as much. It might seem to be a bummer of a record, but there's a lot about it that's hopeful.

"A&R" is about 2 minutes long and it took me a minute to write. It's not just about the music industry's A&R, it's about everyone's evaluation of you and who you are -- it's about everyone's repertoire for your life."

||| Download "Kisses for the Misses."

||| Watch the video for "Beautiful Heart."

||| Richard Swift opens for the Broken West tonight at Spaceland. Free.

Photo: Richard Swift, by Lance Alton Troxel.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tonight's touts: Mondays mean no cover charge at the Echo (for the Submarines residency, with Nick Castro supporting) and the Silverlake Lounge (for the Pity Party). ... It's a free night at the Troubadour, too, with Long Beach's the Secret 6 headlining and Silent Treatment, Polus and the Happy Hollows supporting. ... And at Safari Sam's, the Outline are playing with Lo Mass Republic and Wired All Wrong. ... Oliver Future and Bloodcat Love anchor the Indie 103.1-sponsored lineup at the Viper Room. ... The Delta Spirit and the Colour continue their Monday residencies at the Detroit Bar.

For your downloading pleasure, Cold War Kids' "Hang Me Up to Dry" is the iTunes freebie this week.

Comments

[wayne]

Richard Swift is one of the most original, intriguing songwriters of this generation. I've been a big fan for years.

[jeff]

wayne is one of the most original, intriguing songwriters of this generation. i've been a big fan for years.