Shane Smith and the Saints are a vibrant, dynamic band known for blending a diverse range of genres into their soul-stirring sound. Formed in Austin, Texas, this five-piece ensemble has been captivating audiences with their heartfelt lyrics and high-energy performances for a decade now.
Rooted in folk, rock, country, and americana influences, Shane Smith and the Saints have crafted a unique musical identity that defies easy categorisation. Their music tells stories of love, loss, and life’s adventures, often infused with a sense of spirituality and introspection and new album, ‘Norther’ is perhaps their best to date. In the UK to appear at the Highways festival in London, the band also played the Gorilla club in Manchester – two very different and very contrasting venues and experiences. Our 5 star review of the Manchester show is right here.
Great to talk to you today, as always, Shane. How was it playing the Royal Albert Hall in London last night? (The band played the Highways festival alongside The Cadillac Three)
It was incredible! It's such a beautiful venue. I'd heard of it before, obviously, but I'd never really realised the scale of it and how respected it was. I didn't realise just how big of a deal it would be to play there. At the bar we met a bunch of local London people and they asked us why we were in town – when I told them we had played the Royal Albert Hall, everyone was, like, ‘What the fuck, man!!!' (laughing)
The show went great too. I wish we could have played for longer but it was a festival, right? It's hard with the in-ear monitors in to tell whether people were enjoying it or not and it was so dark up on stage that it was difficult to see folks too. We just see the lights rather than what people's reactions are to the show so I hope people enjoyed it. It seemed like they did and it felt good to play too.
What a huge year it's been for the band. A new album, more shows at Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall in London, the Stagecoach festival and your Opry debut. Which of those events was the most significant moment for you?
As far as moments go, they were all significant and totally unique in their own ways. They are all as equally monumental as each other but in different ways, you know?
The Opry was a very powerful moment. The venue is amazing but it's the history of the show and the production that stretches all the way back to the Ryman that has import. When you think about the history of the whole event it then becomes amazing to have been a small part of that.
Did you get nervous playing the Opry or are you experienced enough now not to get nerves as much?
I didn't think I would be nervous at all and I actually was! Once the show had started and we were in the green room watching the show on the TV in there, the weight of what we were involved with in a sold out show sunk in. It was a powerful moment and there is something to be said for performing in a live production like the Opry – it's such a legacy show that is live on air, there is no redoing anything!
My wife had told to me to try and stay present in the moment and try to take it all in because it was going to be one of those things that will just fly by. I tried to be present in the moment and tried to take it all in because there was a lot happening and a lot of positive energy around.
Congratulations on the release of your new live album recorded at Red Rocks. When we spoke around the release of ‘Norther' you said that you felt like you had never really captured the spirit of the band in the studio – i know this is a live album but it really does capture the spirit of the band.
I'm very happy with that release. It really does capture the live energy of a band show and the interaction between the performers and the crowd. We played a little fast during the show, it's a fast-paced album and that's the only little thing I regret about it – I wish we had kinda controlled our tempo a little more. Regardless, that's just a minor complaint. It was our first time headlining such an amazing venue so the energy levels were bound to be high. It's our punk album, for sure! (laughing)
You can also hear the energy of the crowd too – it's incredbile.
Now that ‘Norther' has been out in the world for a couple of months and you've had time to digest that, do you feel like you've captured the spirit of the band on that album too?
Yeah, I think so. It's by far the best sounding record we've put out. There's a lot of really powerful messages within the songs on that record. The two big elements that we have to juggle as a band are being able to give a very powerful musical experience whilst also delivering very powerful songs that have weight to them with meaningful lyrics. I think we did that on ‘Norther.' At the end of the day, that's the most important thing.
It must be hard choosing which songs to filter into your live set because there's a case to be made for each one on ‘Norther.; How are you feeling about the ones you've chosen to play verses the ones you've left out for now?
It's a really difficult decision to make. I feel like everybody has their own individual favourite song on ‘Norther' – there doesn't seem to be clear favourites across the board! (laughing) They all seem to be conflicting with one another!
Some people wanna hear tracks like “Wheels' and ‘1000 Wild Horses' which we haven't played much yet. If you looked at the streaming side of things a song like ‘1000 Wild Horses' would appear to not be doing as well as some of the other songs on the album, which informs our decisions. At the end of the night, it doesn't matter which song we leave out – somebody will be seemingly upset! (laughing) How do you win? It's really hard. We're still navigating it right now.
In order to play something like ‘1000 Wild Horses' we'd probably need to rest something like ‘Dance the Night Away,' or ‘Feather in the Wind,' or another of those foot-stomping songs, right? A lot of people are still stuck on hearing a lot of our older songs and as much as we'd maybe love to pull ‘Dance the Night Away' from the set for a while we would have all kinds of people mad at us – it's something like our third most streamed song!
Did you record any songs for ‘Norther' that didn't make it onto the album and might see the light of day somewhere else down the line or do you as a writer not really work in that way?
Everything we recorded ended up on the record, I believe. It's hard to remember because we've been, technically, putting this album together for the past two and a half years. I consider the sessions we did with Beau Bedford as the album – the stuff we did with Ben O'Neill early on was just us working on what singles we could put out at that time. That ended up being ‘Fire in the Ocean' and ‘Hummingbird,' both of which ended up making it onto the record.
You told Rolling Stone magazine that you wouldn't make it as a writer in Nashville because you are too slow a writer and can't churn out enough songs fast enough. Do you need particular conditions in order to be able to write music or are you just more considered and discerning?
Particular conditions help significantly. They aren't always required but it helps. Being in my own mind and in silence is when I can process way better and I can focus more. There's a touch of ADD there for me as a person I think. Having noise around can be a big distraction for me.
I haven't ever been in that publishing house, sitting with a bunch of other writers in a room situation really. You know, they've got a 3pm appointment to be somewhere else and everyone is just trying to bash out the song. I've never written or existed in that way…….
Have you never been tempted just to try it for an experiment?
I have done it as an experiment once and it was the worst interaction. We still ended up with a good song but it took me going back to the motel that night and spending four hours by myself working on the song to finish it. It is something that I need to force myself into – that whole experience of co-writing – because I think it's a very important part of being a good writer. I've never had to do it or chosen to do it so therefore I don't have great muscle memory or motivation to do it! (laughing)
Shane Smith and the Saints have both new studio album, ‘Norther' and the ‘Live at Red Rocks' album out right now in all the usual places.
