Langhorne Slim is a singer-songwriter based in East Nashville. His new single “We the People (F*** the Man)” is a jubilant reminder to cast a wary eye on our supposed political overlords and instead focus on those things that make a society a place worth living in: loving our neighbors, looking each other in the eye, being *actually* alive on planet earth in this our once and mysterious life. Listen on your favorite platform or scroll down to watch the complete episode on YouTube.
In the a career now approaching its third decade, Slim has become famous for both his rootsy blend of rough-hewn sincerity and the raucous celebratory atmosphere that seems to follow him everywhere. Among his ardent fans are Conan O’Brien, on whose show he has performed no less than three times.
Slim has toured with a whos who of musical heroes: The Avett Brothers, The Violent Femmes, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and The Lumineers, to name a few. He’s played Newport Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Fest and he sang “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at a ballgame between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida Marlins.
We kick off the conversation with a peak behind “We the People” — what moved Slim to write it, what he hopes people get from the song. “I know Trump supporters, and I know Harris supporters” he says, but the full-throated adulation of any political leader tends to leave him cold.
“I really like Bernie Sanders a lot. And (during the 2016 election) I was asked to sing at a couple of his rallies, which I did and was excited to do. And even for somebody that I was excited about, when I saw the — just like the flags waving for one person, there's something about it that…“
But Slim makes a connection between the “We” in a political rally versus the “We” in a live show. In the latter, there’s an emotional catharsis, he points out, and in that context the We is “validating in an immediate and eternal way.”
We talk about what got him into music in the first place, establish a little common ground in terms of early motivations, and then get into Slim’s evolution as an artist, through his years of addiction and sobriety (he celebrated 5 years clean yesterday) and now in his latest chapter: fatherhood.
This was rewarding and inspiring conversation with an artist who’s managed to channel that chaotic electric unshaped genesis of a creative spark into a meaningful career, one that continues to evolve, delight and surprise.
So of course we asked him to play one live in the studio. Enjoy this episode!
-Korby
P.S. We are offically in our new studio! This was our first taped episode so, a little more spartan for the moment, but it’s a beautiful space with a ton of potential, and accordingly, we’ve got a ton of plans for it ;)
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