Bruce Springsteen

Author Brian Panowich On How Musical Exploration Fueled His Writing

Van Halen's "Fair Warning"

Van Halen's "Fair Warning"

Editor’s note: Last week, I noticed authors Brian Panowich, David Joy, and Michael Farris Smith having a lively discussion about music on Twitter and I butted in like a teenager looking to crash the cool kid’s table. I pitched them an idea for a post on writing and music and our new landing page The Writer’s Guide to Music was born. Since Brian’s entry landed in my inbox first, he has the honor of leading us off. Be sure to tune back in for David on Thursday and Michael on Friday. If any authors, writers, or musicians are interested in submitting a post for consideration, email admin@writersbone.com or tweet us @WritersBone.—Daniel Ford

By Brian Panowich

First of all, the entirety of my novel, Bull Mountain (due out July 7), sprang from the first line of The Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek.”

“When I get off of this mountain, you know where I wanna go…”

So knowing that, let me give you a little history behind my love affair with music and how it’s part of every word I write.

The first record I ever bought for myself was Van Halen’s “Fair Warning.” It scared the shit out of my mother, and although my father was deeply rooted in the Outlaw Country movement of the 1970s, I could still see the devil smiling through my old man as he watched his little boy try to get his head around something that would soon alter the rest of his life.

Eddie Van Halen and his band didn’t call that album “Fair Warning” for nothing. It was all sex, violence, excess, and debauchery. All the shit my mother had hoped to shield me from, but from that point on, it was off to the races. “Fair Warning” served as my gateway drug, leading me to my current state of being a hopeless musical addict, or as I like to think of myself, a musical explorer. I dig though copious amounts of regurgitation in search of my next obsession. I can never settle on default favorites. Sure, there are bands I love, and songs that I can compile into lists I consider to be the best stuff ever written, but I have a burning need to discover something new and challenging on par with my need to breathe, or eat. It gives purpose to my free time and more often then not saps my not-so-free time. 

I spent a lot of time in my youth trying to make music. Armed with three chords and the truth, I tried to channel the passion of Bruce Springsteen and the utter cool of Joey Ramone. The results were less than stellar. There’s a reason those two guys are who they are, but still, I used music as a way to pay the bills and separate myself from the herd. I called it a badge of honor back then, but realize now that it was more like a protective barrier that kept me safe and blind from the frightening world of adulthood. I liked being Peter Pan and I liked the heft of a Telecaster. It was a good life.

But goddamn it, everyone has to grow up at some point.

In the second act of my life, much like my father, I find my musical taste somewhere between Jennings and Jones (hat-tip to Jamey Johnson). It was a natural progression for me, like father like son, from the punch-in-the-face of rock-and-roll to the snide swagger of Americana and country.

Son Volt, The Drive-By Truckers, and similar artists, serve as the soundtrack to my current incarnation as a novelist. I don’t need music as a shield anymore. My skin is thick and worn. So now my music is more akin to a comfortable chair. A small plot in the universe I can sink into that exists just for me.

The funny part of that is I write in silence.

So to set the mood of whatever scene I’m fixin’ to dive into, I binge on whatever record I need to fuel it. Bull Mountain was written to a soundtrack as varied as it’s characters. Clayton Burroughs, my protagonist, was written to classic country songs by Waylon, Sturgill Simpson, Hank Jr., and Jamey Johnson. They helped me voice him. His brother Halford’s themes, on the other hand, were a little more brazen, like Whiskey Meyers, Skynyrd, and Blackberry Smoke. Another main player in the book, Simon Holly, wasn’t raised on Bull Mountain, so his soundtrack was equally as unique to him. Live and Northcote, Chuck Ragan, and the post-punk of Frank Turner helped me form his personality.

I built Clayton’s wife, Kate Burroughs (my favorite character in the book) directly out of Maria McKee’s unparalleled voice, and Brandi Carlile’s “Bear Creek” record. I even named the main waterway that cuts through Bull Mountain after that album. Like everything else in my life, Bull Mountain, the novel, wouldn’t exist without the music that inspired me to write it. It flows through the whole story.

David Joy once told me that the last chapter to his debut novel, Where All Light Tends To Go, was the closest he’d come in his life to writing music. I get that. For me, there is only a slight shift in pitch between the two mediums. It’s easy to see the influence through the genre as well. Look at all the thinly veiled references to Waylon Jennings and the Drive By Truckers in Bull Mountain, or in Frank Bill’s Donnybrook (What? You didn’t see them? Go look again). Whenever I read something like that, I feel like the author is speaking directly to me, like I’m in the club. And it’s fair to say, that feeling of inclusion is the best reason to read anything.

Every now and then I revisit that Van Halen album. I pull it out of the sleeve and listen to the vinyl pop under the needle, and just for a second I get just a brief glimpse of that little kid who thought his dad was made of steel and that girls were made of stars. But like some asshole said once, “You can never go home again.” So I march on, always looking for my next fix.

For those interested, check out the comprehensive playlist that inspired Bull Mountain. Maybe a line in one of these songs will inspire you to write a novel of your own.

Brian Panowich Photo credit: David Kernaghan

Brian Panowich 
Photo credit: David Kernaghan

To learn more about Brian Panowich, visit his official website, like his Facebook page, or follow him on Twitter @BPanowich. His debut novel Bull Mountain, a southern crime saga, is available July 7, 2015 from Putnam Books. Look for our interview with the author closer to his Pub Day.

Writing Fuel: 5 More Songs to Jump Start Your Creativity

It’s a short holiday week for some of us, but we all know writers can’t really take days off. Our minds aren’t wired to relax because the muse could come at any time or place and force us to start filling up Word docs, notebooks, and journals.

The Writer’s Bone crew came up with a few more songs to add to your writer’s playlist and help you get the most out of your writing session.

Sean Tuohy: You can only do two things when listening to a Johnny Cash song: Listen to the story that unfolds and creating something damn good.

Robert Hilferty: I find that anything with lyrics is really distracting to me so I typically end up listening to a lot of classical music. Chopin in particular is a favorite of mine. It may be snobbish, but it totally works and keeps me focused.

Lisa Carroll: I'm sitting here listening to the Sara Bareilles Pandora station. It’s a mellow mix that doesn't distract me but warms up the environment. I’m Too ADD to work in silence.

Danny DeGennaro: Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats is good "in the zone" writing music. They sound like Thin Lizzy if Thin Lizzy did LSD instead of downers and worshipped Charles Manson.

Daniel Ford: Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust” album is completely underrated. If you’re in the mood to kick the crap out of your main character (or at least give him a few reasons to brood) this is the song you want to start with. There’s a tinge of hope in this song as well, which makes you think that not all is lost.

Writing Fuel: 13 Songs to Get Your Words to the Weekend

Does anyone else feel like they’ve had four Mondays instead of the normal Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday routine?

Well, it’s Friday afternoon, so we all deserve something fun to take the edge off.

Here are 13 shots of inspirational adrenaline from the Writer’s Bone team:

Sean: Any time I get tired and don't think I can type another word or send another email I blast this song and it gets me back in to the Writer's Bone groove.

Daniel: My writer switch turns on whenever I hear this song or watch Jed Bartlet march out of the White House with his staff to deliver a nuanced “Fuck you, I’m running” to an awaiting press corps. I get chills whenever I hear John Spencer’s Leo McGarry utter, “Watch this.”

Emili Vesilind (Editor-in-chief for Washington Flyer, badass writer, once wrote about Nirvana’s influence on fashion):  I listen to this when I really need to focus. But I like electro-y stuff!

Sean: If it's good enough for the Boston Bruins to get pumped to it's good enough for you!

Lindsey Wojcik (Associate editor at Pet Business, city dweller, former barista, and future Writer’s Bone contributor): This the first song on a playlist I compiled inspired by songs I heard every single day when I worked at Starbucks. Music like this was an escape for me in a very stressful work environment. When I hear the first chords of this song, and the songs that follow on the playlist, it's soothing in that same way. I can focus on what I want to write about and my mind starts going.

Daniel: Ask anyone who used to work at JCK magazine and they’ll tell you I needed just a small cup of coffee from Pret a Manger and this song dialed up to full blast in order to fully embody my web editor persona.

Dave Pezza (Providence College grad, writer, future Writer’s Bone contributor): Usually it’s a White Stripes song, for example “Take Take Take” off of their fifth album “Get Behind Me Satan.”  The bluesy tempo keeps me creatively on point. I get easily distracted and tired mentally without a rhythm. Secondly, Jack White always hits home, making me either pissed off or horribly depressed.  And emotion is the only substance that can make me not produce absolute shit.

Sean: AC/DC is pure and simple rock! Their power rifts get you pumped for any activity: writing, driving, walking your dog! 

Hailey Reissman (Blogger for TEDx, literary genius, Daniel’s debate foil): This is just a jam. It goes through so many phases.

Matt DiVenere (Once coached by Daniel in Little League, sports writer, future Writer’s Bone contributor): When I had a paper route as a kid, my dad would help me deliver the paper if it rained or snowed. He would only play Billy Joel's greatest hits and somehow “Movin’ Out” was always on. The song helps me write because it’s an easy song to have in the background. You can both listen to it and kind of not listen to it, but still know when to blurt out "IIIIIIII'm movin' out."

Daniel: I am going to catch all kinds of abuse for choosing this one, but I don’t care. The musical episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was a great hour of television then and now, and “I Want the Fire Back” spoke to a bunch of crap that was going on in my life when I first heard it. #fuckthehaters

Sean: The bass line in this tune is foot-tapping good and is backed by some great vocals. It gets you pumped for some afternoon writing.

Writer's Bone: Okay, this isn't a song, but every week should end with Elmore.