It took the “Sight & Sound” of the past to allow Chatham County Line to “Tightrope” walk into the future.







For over 15 years, Chatham County Line has carved its own path through the world of bluegrass and folk music.







Last year, the quartet from Raleigh, North Carolina, released its sixth studio album, “Tightrope.”







The album saw the band refine and refocus its sound and that was due in part to the band putting the setlist together for 2012’s live album “Sight & Sound.” In compiling the live album, the band was able to take time and reflect on its music and where the band wanted to go with “Tightrope.”







Recently The Swerve Magazine had the chance to talk with Dave Wilson (lead vocal/guitar).







The Swerve Magazine: “Sight & Sound” seemed to inform the band on how “Tightrope” was supposed to be. What was it about putting the live album together that led the band to this decision?







Dave Wilson: Picking that set list for the live album was a great chance to look back on all of our output through the years and take stock of where we were in the world; the songs that we had written and the ones that we like to keep playing. It was a really cool way of looking at putting out new music. It still affects us to this day, we want to put songs out there that we love playing night after night for years and songs that we feel can stand the test of time.







SM: And that leads to “Tightrope,” what led to the song (“Tightrope of Love”) becoming the title of the album?







DW: It was a banjo instrumental the Chandler (Holt, banjo/guitar) had written. There was something about the figure that he played on the banjo that really just pushed this picture of a tightrope walker into my mind.







We recorded it at practice and I took it home and sat there and listened to it. I wrote these words out really quick. I brought it back to the band. It was nice because I write a lot of the songs on my own, then bring them to the group and we shape them. This was a really big group effort to put this song together. We really feel like of all the songs on the album it represents the band as the band is and what we are doing these days more than anything.









It became the title track just simply for that reason, because of what it represented to us.





SM: Keeping with the idea of looking at the past, there is even a sense of history at play on “Tightrope” as shades of the Civil War are cast over it.







DW: It is really impossible to be from the South and not feel that slight shadow of that great war. I had read ‘Gone With The Wind’ a couple of times and just kind of did a little research (on the war). John (Teer, fiddle/mandolin), our fiddle player, is actually related to a famous confederate general. There are all these bloodlines running through all of it. For however terrible a conflict it was, and it is a very dark time in our nation’s history, I don’t think we would be where we are today without it occurring. It is these cataclysmic world events, which that certainly was one, that serve to shape the modern world, we hope for the better.







SM: The closer of the album is the haunting “Final Reward,” which is like a closing commemoration of the war. Can you talk about how that song came to be?







DW: Greg (Reading, piano/bass/pedal steel) and I for many years, before Chatham County Line existed, we were in a band called Stillhouse. We had gone to a friend’s general store in Southern Virginia and set the rock band up to record and just sort of goof around for a week. I had these lyrics and we rocked the song up, sort of like a Neil Young ‘Cinnamon Girl’ style take. We liked it and almost included it on that Stillhouse album that came out (in 2013), but we really felt like there was more to the song. We tried it in that formation with the acoustic band and it was always a little too much.







Greg came to rehearsal one day and he sat down at the piano. He worked more of a gospel, Southern gothic influence into the piano part. As soon as he started playing that party, we knew it was perfect. So, we completely scraped the song as it was and started over, basing it on the piano figure that he was doing. We really love how it came out. It is a great way to end the album.







SM: One of the hallmarks of the band over its 15-plus years is constantly being on the road in front of and behind every release.







DW: We love playing shows and to travel. We love getting out there and playing our songs for people and spread the love for acoustic music. There is so much great music out there that we are also trying to get people to check out some of the older artists, people who are no longer with us, to discover some great players and some great (music). I think a few people get swayed by our music and end up downloading a Bill Monroe album, which is a super cool thing.







We have an amazing respect for those forefathers that came before us. We don’t pick like The Del McCoy Band and we don’t sit up there and play a bunch of traditional songs. We have carved our own little path out in whatever this world of this kind of music is. We really feel good being able to play in front of people in the classic style around a single microphone while wearing a suit.







We see bands like us that plug everything in and they try to be louder than the audience and then the audience just gets louder. I’m happy to play for just 120 people that really want to hear what we are doing.







SM: In this day and age, that is refreshing to hear someone say that. It seems that a lot of people are in bands today just for the hip awareness or to make a grab for some cash.







DW: We look at ourselves as like your local hardware store. For example, you can go to Lowe’s and get all the crap you need for a really good price. But if you go to the store down the street, they might know you name. They may have a higher quality product that they will stand behind and that is the way we look at ourselves.





