Matt Connarton Unleashed: Cameron Sutphin

Read the skip name bas Mardian Street, to have a mom You're not next to me, and read the Gold Hunger and with the way in like a cake imself every day rad Nay in a crowd in fry can be there and read walk in the poetry in the walking in some and Nasi face read nighting to an old fell too. If find no, I can't destin you a man not see dat he didn't find you. And be by side a man sleeping in my lone and street to have a moment You're not next me.

Good morning everybody, welcome here go. It is that time again Matt Connerton unleashed and we are live from the studios of wm NH ninety five point three FM, Inglorious Manchester in New Hampshire here on Canal Street. Today is Saturday, June thirteen, twenty twenty four. We have a very very busy show for you today. We opened, of course with the brand new single from Hope the Rapper that what is called Heavenly Father is. We are in week five of our ten world radio premieres of new singles from Hope the Rapper.

Ten weeks of world radio premieres, and that is the fifth one in the series. That is Heavenly Father by our friend Hope the rapper, really really great stuff. And the track that we heard after that is called If I Can't Be with You and that is by mister Cameron Sutfin, who is here with us on this very humid Saturday morning. Welcome Cameron. Yeah, thanks for having me. Great to have you here, and I'm looking forward to hearing you play. You did bring your guitar. And by the way, so congratulations are in order.

I believe you're about to get married. Yes, married, So we're less than a week so I'm getting married next Friday. Oh, very good. Yeah, I saw, I saw your Facebook post. This is your last public performance before the wedding. So I'm doing the Sandown Summer Concert Series on Tuesday. Oh was My fiance and I are both working right up until the wedding. Oh no kidding. Yeah, yeah, good for you. Good for you. Well, I'm dying to hear you play something if you want to. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. So this is this first track on the album.

It was put out last month and it's called John Henry. This was my attempt at writing a John Henry song because being a folks singer. I wanted one because everyone else has one, all right. John Henry was a steel drap in Maine. John hen was a steel drap in Maine. He never looked for call because they tortured land. John Henry, it was a steel trap and main in the mountains. I beat torn down the mountains. I be torn down faster than John Henry ever swung his hand around the mountains. I be torn down.

There's dirty water in the streams. There's dirty water in the streams. Very good for men, but they only care about machinets. There's dirty water in the streams. John Henry beat the steam drill with only a hamber in his hand.

Blood. It'll take more than that two fred coal from this lane.

The air in the mountains saint clean. The air in the mountain saint clean. And you can't beat a steam drill if cambery. The air in the mountains saint clean. John Henry was a steel driving Maine. John Henry was a steel driving main. He never worked for coal because they torture than. John Henri was esteem draving main. John Henry was esteem traving main. Oh, I love it, I love it. Cameron Suttfit is with us a live in studio here, and uh, you sound great. Your voice is unique. I can't think of I can't think of anyone who sounds quite like you.

You get compared to anybody that I'm maybe not thinking of sometimes Bob Dylan, because I like I like Bob Dylan, and I also I'm a big Neil Young fan. Okay, but I don't have as high a voice as Neil Young does. Yeah, No, that's that's true. Yeah. Are those are those guys big influences of yours? Oh? Yeah, yeah, I got into I got into Bob Dylan when I was a teenager. So my first Bob Dylan record because I'm in my thirties was Modern Times from the two thousands. And then I had to go backwards. Oh okay, and and you know figure out that there was the free wheeling Bob Dylan, you know, Blonde on Blonde on the Nashville Skyline and all the other ones.

Did did going back and listening to those earlier releases did that kind of change? Like you did? You appreciate those more because you know artists who've been around for you know, decades, like Bob Dylan, who've had that kind of a career. You know, everybody always says, oh, I like the earlier stuff better. But I'm curious if from your perspective, because you you really discovered him late in his career, I'm curious if you feel that same way or I mean, I I like the early stuff. It's you know, I think I think most everything Bob Dylan does is genius.

But I remember going I saw Bob Dylan many years ago with my family in Amherst, Massachusetts, and I was sitting next to So I went with my mom and my dad and my brother, and I was sitting next to my mom and he started playing stuff from Modern Times on up to Temptest, which was the latest record at that point, and my mom looks at me goes, how do you know these songs? Said, because he's not doing anything from the seventies. I think at the end he did Tangled Up in Blue, and my mom I was like, oh, okay, I know that one.

Yeah, yeah, I know I've heard that he'll do that, like he'll kind of he doesn't necessarily want to load up his set with a lot of the earlier material, which is interesting because there were probably people, I mean, they might not have shown it but there were probably people in that audience who were actually not pleased that he wasn't leaning more on the earlier stuff, you know what I mean. There were behind usk where the band DAWs was opening for him, So there were some There was a couple guys there who I thought were older.

They were probably my age or mid twenties. Yeah, I was a teenager I was at the time, and they were there for DAWs and for the modern times up. So there was about about half and half of the crowd, yes, younger than half was was you know, wanted the you know seventies eighties material, right right, that's interesting, And tell us about this album. So you sent me Now this is your debut album, not your debut release because you have an EP that you have put out previously, but the song that we played at the the show, and we're gonna play another one of course later.

But these are from your thirteen track full full length album. Yep, yeah, yeh, yes, yep. It's a ten track and yeah, yep. I made it in a Rocking Horse studio in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. I'm bad at math. Rocking Horse. That's a name that comes up a lot on the show. Yep, they're really great. And then I so I went there and recorded with my guitar, and then I outsourced because I know some musicians in Nashville. I used to live in Nashville, Tennessee, and I so I had the bass player, the upright bass player was from upstate New York and he comes down to Rocking Horse once a month and does a whole bunch of sessions.

And then the steel players from Nashville. The fiddle player, Amy Alvey, now lives in Nashville, but she used to live in Boston. She's in a bluegrass too called Golden Shoals, and I met her on a tour called the Massachusetts Walking Tour many years ago. Yeah. And then I had my friend Kat Kennedy sing on a couple of tracks and she's out in LA. And then my my friend Mary Hastings, who's out of Conquered New Hampshire, where I am technically out of until August first, but after the wedding I will be there anymore.

She sang backing vocals in Rocking Horse, so okay. And we used to play in a duo called New Leaves, and we stopped that duo last year because Mary went back to school full time. Is that who I'm here? Because because there's a couple of songs where, yeah, I hear this female backing vocal that it's just beautiful or or actually on what track is it? Oh? I think it's Mansion on the Hill. Yeah, that's she. She sings with you and and you sound amazing together. Thank you? Yep? So so yeah, and that's that song I wrote in That's the only song I played that I wrote in college.

Really because because the because when you go to Nashville about your first writer's round, you realize you have to throw all your Oh shoot, that's not good, you know, I have to yeah, start over. What is that a writer's round For people who don't know, it's where you play, you get up with with it's you and two or three other writers. Yeah, and you play three to four songs and you just go around, so you just go right down the line. Is that unique to Nashville? Do you know? Or do they? I don't know.

Maybe I think maybe I've heard of that happening in New York too, but it seems like it's kind of an unusual thing. And I started in Nashville. There's a couple of places that do it in There was a place prior to twenty twenty called the Open Door Cafe and I played there. That was in near like Hillsborough, New Hampshire. They'd move locations, so they played basement of an old church that played on a farm, and they would have one feature that would get forty five minutes, and then they would have a couple rounds of people.

Okay, so yeah, people have you know, taken that. But that was a Nashville model that moved its way up to New York. And Okay, is that intimidating the first time you do that? Because I mean you're in Nashville, you know you're you're among some heavy hitters. Is that nerve racking or it it was? I think the second time? Oh no, no, the first time I did it. I did it. It was called the Commodore Hotel and the feature I didn't know who the feature was, and I was going after the feature. I was in the last round of the night because I was new.

And the feature gets up and he says, this song is a song that I wrote and it's currently in the top thirty on the country charts and plays it and they goes, this song was a top twenty two years ago, and I went, can I not, like, why couln't you put me on earlier? I don't want to follow that. Like this guy's got hits, he has kids, and then so he played like three or four hits and then he's like, this is a new song. I went, Thank goodness, that's intimidating it. I can imagine. I can imagine. Well, I'm dying to hear you play another one.

If you're just joining us. We have Cameron Suttfin here with us live in studio. By the way, is this the earliest in the day you've ever played live? Did when I moved back to when I moved back to New England in twenty nineteen. I think I did a radio interview near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I believe that one was seven thirty or eight in the morning. Okay, yeah that that think that was the earliest, yeah, ever I've ever played. Yeah. Yeah, it's not so much the plan, right, it's the singing that's the challenge.

I can in the morning. You sound great though, thank you. I've had my coffee. Yeah, yeah, I mean I can wake up and play guitar. You know, yeah, anytime in the morning, So we'll do this. One's called without her, all right? Every sunrise and set, every chord that I fret, it doesn't matter. It's all always without her. Every line then a I right, doesn't matter. On a lonesome night, there are all aways is without her. When I walk down the street, there's no one beside me. I'm alone in a crowd without her.

When I turn out my lights, there's no one to hauled me through the night.

When I get up in the morning, come there alone. And when I dream there's only darkness. It seems I can't see the light without her.

When I go to the bar, it doesn't feel right at all, because I try to forget I'm without her. When I lay my head to rest,

all I feel is empty nest. When I get up with the sun,

nothing matters now that she's gone. Every sunrise and set, every cord that I fret, it doesn't matter. It's all a ways without her.

When I laid down to sleep and Lorne calls me, will lie still be

without her? Oh that's beautiful, that's beautiful. I love it. If you're just joining us, Cameron Suttfin is here with us, alive in studio on this Saturday morning. It is, of course Saturday, July thirteen, twenty twenty four. And are you playing out a lot? Do you play a lot of shows? Yeah? So I'm lucky. So this is my full time job. And so like this afternoon and sometimes mornings a little late in this about ten thirty I play. I play nursing homes. That's my quote unquote day job. And then I play a lot of folk venues, a lot of coffee houses and library lawn concerts.

I've got a couple of those coming up in August. And you know, Farmers' Market's really any community event type thing where they want, you know, classic country and folk music. Yeah. Yeah. How long were you in Nashville when you lived down there? Three years? Three years? Yea, three years? What brought you back? There's no I wasn't making any money. Yeah. It's tough, right because it's you know, you're surrounded by all this great talent, but you're surrounded by all this great talent. It's kind of a double edged sword in Nationville, right.

Yeah. And so my roommate was a guy who played on the EP that I made named Ashton Lee, and he taught me a lot, and he moved out to Colorado, and then the following year I moved back up to New Hampshire. You know, I moved back to New England. I'm from Connecticut originally. Oh, okay, okay, yeah, because you know, it's a it's a hard scene. The rent is insanely expensive because Nashville is it's a booming city. And I do a lot better in New England. Yeah, in Nashville. So I'm quite happy here, Yeah, no doubt.

But I bet you wouldn't trade the experience, right, because I'm sure you learned a ton. Oh, I learned a ton. I got to make it out, you know, I got to make three song CD down there, and that was really nice, and I learned how to go into a studio. Yeah. So the second time I did it here, I wasn't as intimidated because I knew what I was getting into, right, right, that makes sense, That makes sense. Did you have mentors in Nashville? Did you have people who kind of took you under their wings? I mean the main guy and I just met him because I needed, you know, I needed a roommate.

Was my roommate, Ashton Lee. And he's my age, and he went to school for music and he knew way more than I did, Yeah, and he really helped me. And then I had this woman I met at a writer's round who was who was, you know, signific old than me, had been writing Nashville for about I think at the time seven years, and her name was deb Ziem's and she helped me learn how to lay a song out on a page and how to write, and we did a couple of co writes

and that really helped. Yeah, yeah, excellent. How did you get into playing at nursing homes? So I started playing in a church folk group. It was Holy Family Church at the time in Nfield, Connecticut, my hometown, and there were three nursing homes in the town and every Christmas one of the guitar players with the Lions Club would have us go play. And I asked somebody, I said, Hey, could I just play here? Because I was like thirteen and one at any gig And I said, yeah, you can play. And then I found out that they'd paid for it.

Yeah, and I was like, oh, oh, it doesn't just have to be volunteers, like, yeah, we'll give you some money. Yeah, and it just you know, and then I started calling more up and then I figured out, well, I can go make a living at it and you know, not have to get quote unquote a real job. Yeah, that's fantastic. Just go play a bunch of shows and then at night you can do all the folk type venues. That's fantastic. There's a lot of musicians. There's a guy who met playing the Biggie I played there a couple of years of Connecticut building a gun named Sean Taylor who's out of Connecticut, and we were playing, you know, late afternoon, and we discovered we did the same and we were doing the same thing.

He's like, oh, yeah, I was doing that the other day. And now I'm here, you know, doing you know, twelve to two and I was doing two to four after him, and yeah, oh wow, discovering we did the same type of thing, that's awesome. You want to play another one? Yeah, we'll do one off of the We'll do one off the Nashville one. Oh cool. This this this one, so this song called drive and I put this out so seven years ago this the Nashville EP came out called Heartbreakdown, and it was my fiance's suggestion I'll give Millicent all the credit for this.

She heard the songs and I had told her that I was going to put out this new ten track and she said, well, be a shame if you know, because they had like no streams. Oh yeah. And she said, well, you know, be a shame if you know they're good songs. Should do something with one of them. And so she said, you know, you should make a video. And so I made a lyric video to this song Drive, and I had someone in La make it, you know, for me. And it was lyrics and tour pictures of all the tours I'd done with friends and camping.

We camped all across the country with a couple friends. Yeah, and it got now has eleven thousand views on YouTube, which is my first, my first first video to have over ten thousand views. I was quite grateful to Milicent, my fiance, for making that suggestion because it worked. So. Yeah, it's called Drive. It's about driving around the country. I've been to now thirty two states in d C. No kidding, Wow, the only one I flew to was California. Yeah. That was last year to go to music festival with my brother, so we we both flew in and then flew out.

Oh okay, I didn't. So it was like, oh, you're gonna drive? I said, no, that's a hike. But I was playing the Merrymack Public Library a few years ago and I played this song and this woman bought the CD and she said she was doing a cross country trip and she was going to listen to it the entire time. And I said, well, it's only three minutes, so that might might want to throw in other songs, right, that's going to be a that's going to be on a repeat for a lot. I think she was going to either Nevada or Arizona.

She said she was driving out. Okay, so it's called drive. Here are ah Evan Drive? Don't you ever sleep counting down the exit signs like promises you can't keep, Like promises you can't keep.

Trivan drive, watch night turn into day. As long as you keep moving, you won't feel pain. No, you won't feel pain further long there's a new place to go. You burn through your life, won't you go up in smoke? But there's always a new roads. You just drive, hand dri and drive, triving round van New York City town like a desperado your never settle down, your never settled down. You sing your songs, pick your guitar, burn no fens of the candle, like you don't care if you fall, like you don't care if fall.

Further lot, there's a new place to go. You burned through your life, which you come up being small, But there's longways a new roads. You just thrive and drive and TI further lot, there's a new place to go. You burn through your life launching, come up in small funds, always a dude roads. You just try and draw. Evan tra traw, evan drawn. Don't you sleep counting down the exit signs promises you can't keep like prom says you can't keep like prom says you can't keep. Yeah, I like it, Thank you, I like it.

Cameron Sutfan is here with us, alive in studio here and uh sounding sounding great. And yeah, I can see where I can see where someone that is a I can see where someone would think that that was a good driving song. I can, I can. I can kind of picture it. But like you said, you know, not necessarily listening to it over and over and over. But I did even want to calculate it though the times you after repeat to get from here to the Midwest. Now, how did you how did you wind up working with Rocky Horse?

Like I said, that's a name that comes up a lot on the show and a very popular studio. How did you connect? It's Brian, right, yes, Brian, Yes, Ryan, I forget his last name. Now I know him too, and I'm blanking. I know a lot of Brian's I'm blanking on too. It's on the back of the album. That's the right Brian from Rocky Horse. How did you connect with him? I ended up, you know, googling studios in New Hampshire and it's about twenty minutes from where I live, and they had, you know, samples in their website.

And when I was making it, I was playing with Mary Hastings. When when we were playing with the duo, we're playing Market Days and the guy's running soundar in this band called Club Soda, and they their female singer was having a hip surgery and they said to Mary, they said, we're doing this gig in Maine. Can you fill in on a couple of songs? And then they said to me, oh, could you play two on some songs? And we were in front of those twenty one outside it was I think it was. They said just under a thousand people, which really nice of them.

And as we're getting set up in sound checking, I mentioned I was making an album and they said, oh where, and I said rocking course. They said, oh, my gosh, we've been there. They're great and they really are great guys. So I didn't know, you know, the reputation. I just heard the tracks they were doing and he said, oh, this sounds great, I'll go there. Oh it's Cooms, right, Brian Coome, Yes right. I knew it would come to me eventually. They were great. They were great. Yeah, yeah, fantastic. Yeah, I've been to that studio.

It's it's very impressive. Are you going to uh now, do you have more? I don't know how long has this album been out? Is this relative June fourth? June fourth? So this is brand new, brand new? Yep, June fourth came out, So you're probably not even thinking about the next one yet, or maybe you are. I don't know. I've got I've got I've got a handful of songs. Yeah, yeah, that I could. You know that I could put out you probably you strike me as someone who probably a lot you read a lot of Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just wrote last month, I wrote two, and so I don't have those memorized yet because I'm promoting a new album.

Yeah you know, I said, well, i've got these two, I've got you know, like, well I got those two, I got three over here. I said, okay, that's half a record. Yeah. Yeah. When you're working with Brian, because a lot of people have described this experience to me, does he become I mean, obviously he's you know, he's engineering, he's recording you. But does he also become sort of a de facto producer because I know he's got a lot of ideas. He does. Yeah, he does. And that was really apparent when so I did

my guitar and vocals and then I went in, I readd some vocals, a couple of tracks, and then when when Mary Hastings was in the studio, she sings on four of the tracks, and yeah, he was very much you know, saying try this here and try that there, and and then he you know, cut it together and okay, you know that sounds good over here, we'll move it around and yeah, yeah, then we've got you know, a good track. Doesn't surprise me he's known for being kind of a wizard. He can. You know, he's got a lot of ideas and oh yeah, he's very very creative guy himself.

Yeah. Absolutely, you want to play another one? Yeah, well, dude, this is this is one of So I had a friend of mine suggests, So there's when I told him I was making a record and he I told him I was having you know, backing vocals and fiddle, and he said, you should probably have one or two tracks because I play solo so much that are sparse, and so this one's foolish game. So this is one of the two. Oh, I have to tell you, this is one of my favorites. Thanks. I was listening to the whole thing last night.

This. I appreciate that this is one of my favorites. This one, this one really really kind of hit me in a certain way. Yeah. Thanks. I wrote it about sort of running away from relationships. Yeah that's when I was much younger. Yes, yes, when I was much younger. And you know, twenty year old me was not smart. A twenty year old anybody isn't smart. Don't feel bad, all right, Cameron sutfan Live. I hate to see a friend flying towards the sun, only to get burned in the end. Your sturdy song just like a chain, But there ain't no shame lying in the bedmain.

Can you fight the yurge to run? Would you make it further if you stay? Can you lie by my side for one more day? Where do you learn the loves foolish game? Maybe you're right. I put my heart on the shelf so high no one can tear it down because I remember a lie I was torn. Time will ease your pain and line your loan? Can you find anything urge to run? Would you make it further if you stayed? Can you lie by my side for one more day? Where you learn the loves foolish game?

And you hear the sound of a slimming door and you know you've heard it in your past before? Will you shooting me now? Like a canned barn? Will I see your face when the night turns down? Can you fight the urge to run? Would you make further if you stay? Can you lie by my side one more day? Where do you learn loves foolish game? Where you learn loves foolish game? Where you learn the loves foolish game? Very nice, Cameron sutt Finn live in studio with us this morning. Yeah, I really like that song.

Thanks, I appreciate that absolutely. Absolutely, we should uh for those just joining us, we should plug. So you've got you've got one more live show before the wedding. Yep, that's the Sanddown Concert Series next Tuesday, and that's in Sandown, New Hampshire. Now what do now Sanddown that is? Is that your a keen? That's that's yeah? Okay. Someone was posting on a Facebook form that they wanted musicians for this concert series. Yeah, and my message, you know, I just sent a private message to the people booking it and with you know, a track from the album and just my name and my bio and they said, yeah, you know, every Tuesday, and gave me a list of availability.

Oh excellent, excellent. So is that something they do throughout the summer every time? Yeah? Yeah, that's so. They have the so it's on Tuesdays and they have a farmer's market on Tuesdays with the musician and then that shuts down and then they have their concert series at night. Oh very cool, awesome, awesome And I've never heard of it before too this year and I was I can't wait to play it. Excellent. By the way, I can confirm a new fan for you, Hope the Rapper, who, of course we open the Today's show with this brand new single, Heavenly Father, because we're doing ten weeks of new Hope the Rapper singles World Radio premieeres, and he messaged me and was complimenting you.

Oh, thank you, I appreciate that, says you sound really good. So and if you missed Heavenly Father, the new single from Hope the Rapper, we'll play that again in a bit on the show as well. So, but you try to hit that. I try to hit that every hour with the new with the World Radio premieres here on Matt Connorton Unleashed. Have these studio tracks? Have these been playing on the radio before? So some of them have. Yeah. So I was on the show just where they all came out, called the Folk Revival. That's at a Wooster Okay.

So yep, that's a Nick Nobles show. So yep, he played a couple of them. I'll have to look that up. That's not a show that I'm familiar with, but that's that's on and with Yeah that' said a Wooster Okay. Okay, interesting, all right, very cool, very cool. By the way, So when you play out, do you ever is it always just you solo or do you ever have other musicians to join you. It's it's pretty much now it's always me solo. So I played in a duo with my friend Mary Hastings also played and do it with my friend married a proto.

That's that's many more years ago. I do have a the bass player actually at Saint John Jugon Church in the folk group. He told me to message in the tracks and he said, if you ever played locally, I'll play, So we might do something, you know after after I'm married. Yeah, and I'll have him backing me. But he doesn't want to travel too far. He's like, just local Connecticut, you know. Yeah, but it's mainly me. One of my favorite singer songwriters, Guy Clark, who said, you know, you can make a living if you can play solo because there's very little overhead exactly.

So it's yeah, it's mainly been just me, but you know that might change. I might have you know, backing musician or two sure come along with me. But there is there are advantages, of course, you know, practically and logistically to being a solo act. You know, I myself, I'm a musician, but I've only ever played in bands, so I know that. You know, with bands, it's always there's the challenges of working around even just for rehearsals, you know, working around everyone's schedules. And then when you're trying to book shows, okay, you gotta find out is everybody available to do it?

And this and that. So when it's just you and a guitar, you know you can. You know, that part's pretty easy in that in Nashville because there's you know, so many bands and so my So I'll give the example my roommate, Ashton Lee. So when he would book a show with his band, he had a guitar player, bass drummer, he and he would sing and play guitar as well. And if the drummer couldn't make it, because oh I've got another gig, yeah, he'd start calling around and then he'd send the new drummer for that night the set list no kidding, and go here you know, here, here's the covers, here's the originals, listen to the track be ready to go, and you're expected to just go no kidding.

Same thing for bass player, guitar. You know, here's the charts, here's the covers, here's the originals. Listen to him, and this is the set list for the two or three hour show. I'll be damned, no kidding. Wow. I suppose if there's a city where you know, you could you can pull that kind of system off, it's Nashville, right, I mean maybe they do that other places too. But they found a they were playing tourist spot lower Broadway, and they got done and then this guy from a different honky TNK runs over.

He says, can you guys come play another three hours because our band, just the band there just they can't make it. Something happened, yeah, and I said, well we can, but our bass player can't. He's got to go play over there. So they ran around, found a bass player and went, here's the set. Wow, And they removed the originals because the bass player had never heard. So they just said, here's the set and we'll do the substitute these others. Can you do it? He said, think So that's wild, that's incredible.

And they did another three hours and he said yeah, he said one okay, basically a new ninety percent of you know, it's the same country covers. Yeah, they do ninety percent of the set and there might be one song's like, oh, I don't know that one. They just tell them what key it's in. Yeah, okay, this key feels like that, and the drummer counts it off in a way they go, that's amazing. But so you've really got to have your chops though in that kind of a situation, right, because if you're in a scenario, or if a scenario might arise, I should say, where you're gonna be called upon?

You know, you got to either know these songs or you got to learn them really fast, like you've You've really got to be on your game. Oh yeah, I've seen I. You know, I premierly went down there to song right, So I was not you know, I was not playing in you know, a ton of bands and doing Lower Broadway much at all. But you know I went down there, do the writers' rounds and try the song right. But yes, this session players there are incredible m hmmm as to as to what they can do on the fly. Yeah, yeah, if you want a guitar solo, you said, well, there's a guitar solo right there.

They'll play you three guitar solos, go, okay, pick one, yeah, and it'll be in one take one, two, three, okay, pick one, yep, yep. That's amazing, and it's onto the next, on to the next thing. Yeah. Yeah, that's incredible. That's amazing. Do you want to you want to play one more live one? Yeah, we'll do. Yeah, let's see which one we can do here, we'll do. And if you're just joining us, Cameron Sutton is here with us live in studio, sounding amazing. Get the guitar tunes first. Yeah. Yeah. What's the name of the album.

By the way, It's called Part of Me, Part of Any any uh any story behind the title. So that's the that's the title track. And I I I just I named it that because I felt the album was pretty personal. Yeah.

Hm, we'll do so, I said. I play nursing homes. That's my day job. Yeah. So this song, this is the only pandemic song on the record. I promise I didn't overload it. I know we're four years out, but this song came from I was visiting a particular sisty living in Kennebunk, Maine in twenty twenty. They let me inside which was incredible. And this woman after the show and by came up to me, I meant eighteen feet away because the staff wouldn't let anyone go near anybody. Yeah yeah, And she said, you know, I understand that there's this virus out there, but I'm in my eighties and I would just want to see my family and I don't care because honestly, how long do I have to live?

And there's no end to this. And I went home that night thinking about it, and I wrote this song from her perspective and everyone there because there was absolutely no end in sight. In twenty twenty one, when everything starts to open up, those nursing homes were dead last to open up. Yep. Oh yeah. And people didn't. They're like, it's back to normal. I'm like, what there's there's this one population that they won't let do much still and even in gosh, it was just last year, some of them said no more masking in nursing homes.

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, they were pretty Yeah, they waited. They waited for a long time and navigating that and I knew a lot of people that were working in, you know, in those places that ended up, you know, moving on to other jobs, because that was never mind the residents living, that was just the employees that just said, I've had enough with healthcare. I'm going to go. I've got a new career. So this is my you know, this is the last time you'll be seeing me. I knew a lot of activities directors that just was that stressful for you.

By the way, I didn't it because until you brought this up, it didn't even occur to me, like during the you know, at the height of the pandemic, playing these nursing homes because in a lot of these nursing homes, like you know, once once COVID got in there, it just, you know, obviously it spread like wildfire because that's the most vulnerable among us, you know, eighty year old people. So the first show was I'll remember to day for It was April twenty ninth, was the first show back, and we did something outside in yeah lot, So those started happening, and then I did a ton of shows over Zoom and I pre recorded stuff and oh okay, and then Marry my friend and I we we made because we couldn't do Christmas shows, so we made Christmas DVDs.

Yeah, I paid my rent in Christmas DVD sales and I would so we recorded, burn them and I'd go down to post office every day a five or ten of them stacked going to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Nashville, wid want in Wyoming that didn't have the technology but wanted one, you know, to do a virtual show, and so I paid my rent that December and DVD sales interesting. Yeah, so I made it work. Yes, yes, it was scary for a bit, but then it you know, the you know, the zoom shows came out and it was okay, and then you know, it was well, okay, I can I can pay all my bills and you know, if this is the way they want it forever, I can pay my bills.

Once the public shows you know, open up more, you know, I'll do those. Yeah. Yes, it's called from a distance from the distans. That's how it's been for six months. Now knows when this sins canhn Maston Magraine kids on manage. It is a window vzy.

They told me if I'm hugging them, how mad get sick and die.

But right now I'll give my life to hold them one more time.

I don't know how I am going to make it through. This is lone son like I never knew. They can't tell me and I can kiss my son if they just tell me to be strong. He gets lonely every day.

I don't see anyone space. Had all my risking my life to hold my family one more time from a distance. That's how it spent for a year. Now no ones win their sense can hold my son, my grandkids. How am I supposed to leave? Black thing? Very nice? Cameron Sutfinn live in studio with us. Beautiful, beautiful, Thank you so much. Hey Cameron, before we run out of time, please let everyone know how they can find you online. Where's the best places to go to keep up with everything that you're doing? Get your music?

Check out your live dates? Yep. So it's Cameron sutfin Music on Facebook and Instagram and the days sure posted. The July days are posted there. We'll have the August dates up soon and then Cameron Sutfinn on Spotify and iTunes. And for the spelling impaired of course, s U T F I'm sorry, no, okay, I'm spelling impaired. S U T p H I N correct yep, okay. Then once you have that, you type that into Google. You can find everything about me. Yes, there you go, there you go. Yeah, it's not a particularly common last name, so no once.

Once you have that spelling down, that's it. It's it's all there. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And congratulations again on the on the nuptials. Thank you. Yep. We're excited. We're less than a week away, so that's exciting. Well, we're going to close the We're gonna close out the hour with one more studio track from cameeron. This is called what Makes It Great? Any anything we should know about this before we before we play it. No, So I wrote it. So I wrote it all the way back in it was twenty seventeen, and everybody in twenty sixteen there were a lot of musicians running protest songs with the line we don't need to be made great.

And I gave myself a challenge to use that line, but to not be specific. Okay, because Bob Dylan, when he wrote protest songs, was not specific. Anyone could use them for anything. That's true. You know, the time blowing in the wind was not specific. Times they are changing, was not specific as to what the senders or congressman before against it was just general. Yeah, you're right, and so I haven't thought about it. So I gave myself that challenge. I actually, can I write a song with that phrase in it and not make it specific?

Yeah? And it was about old car I used to own that got up to two hundred and ninety five thousand miles and it got trading for it. Oh my god. And the car out there just hit over two hundred thousand miles and it's still running. I've been very, very lucky with cars. What kind of car is it? I'm curious now, So the car out there is a Nissan Versaka and then the car and the song was a twenty twelve day Sonata, no kidding? Wow? All right, well, very good. So we will close with this. This is called what Makes It Great?

The Great Cameron sutfon and we'll have to have you back again. Thank you so much. This was really wonderful, and check this out and if you are listening live on Saturday, there's plenty more to come. But what makes It Great? Cameron suckfn. I've got this car, twenty twelve Hyundai bomb is missing headlines out, but it runs the same. The windshields cracked, but it's still drives. It's not what you see that makes it shine. But it used on Broadway almost a year ago. Of the day. It's traveled fifty thousand miles since, so then it's ready travel them again.

You don't need the flashing shine. You just need something to get you by. He detail, you crawl it fames. It's what Sunday need to makes it it great. Some men are rich and they'll let you know when on this leads put on show. But I know things. Man keep inside late at night they turned out lights. You don't need that fashion shine. You just need something to get you by. Keep details, you crawl it fames. It's what Sunday need to makes it great. It a fast, it's rusted. Food doesn't shine, It doesn't look new that.

I don't need something fresh off the blot. I'll stick what I got. You don't need that flash and shine. You just need something to get you by.

Keep eating, you crawm in the flames. It's what Sundayed masic great. It's what you do, not what saying. It's what Sundayed makes it great.

Matt Connarton Unleashed: Cameron Sutphin

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