There’s that old phrase about how a change of scenery can do someone good.
For Drew McManus heading home to Montana during 2020 not only helped him reinvent the sonic and lyrical makeup of Satsang, but it also changed his perspective on life. The reinvention can be heard on the band’s 2021 release All. Right. Now — an album the band is touring this summer. The tour will bring the band into Daydream Farm in Wall, New Jersey as a part of Elmthree Productions’ summer run there.
Drew McManus recently caught up with us to really dig into the spiritual and artistic awakening he had during 2020 and how it’s impacted the music of Satsang, their touring strategy going forward and what the most important parts of life are.
The music on your latest record All. Right. Now is a radical departure – musically – from your previous works. Can you explain why the sonic shift?
For me it wasn’t planned, it just happened. I was left alone for the first time in six years to just be the guy from Montana. Fishing, hunting, floating the river, climbing. I just got back to the roots of who I was. And in that I went back to a lot of music I grew up on that I hadn’t listened to in years. I think when I started writing the new record this sound was just kind of stuck in my head, and I try not to get in the way too much when something is coming through.
In your bio there is mention that the lyrics on this record were very personal yet were written in a spiritual language that taps into a universal experience. Where did you draw inspiration for the lyrical content of the record?
To be honest I just was writing without an agenda so it came out universal. I was doing so much self-work in therapy, training MMA a lot more than I typically can when we are touring, dabbling in psychedelics again. I wanted to go into writing this without any agenda, I wasn’t trying to tell a story. I just started letting my heart talk and kept my head out of it.
How much did recording in Montana directly impact this record?
I think it was huge. Having the guys see and be in the landscape that inspired all the sounds and feels really made a huge difference. I think after the first day of being out here everyone kind of went “Okay I get it now” It was a really special time.
How much did the pandemic and quarantine influence both the lyrical and musical changes in your approach for this album?
It was huge. Like I said, I feel like I haven’t been left alone in so long. There was nothing to promote, no shows to play, no anything. I just got to be home and be a guy again. Really settled into Dad/husband mode. It opened my heart in a way that I can’t explain, and I think it shows in the writing on this record
Is All. Right. Now an album that is indicative of a new direction for Satsang or is this just part of a necessary creative moment for you and the band?
We will forever evolve. That’s the nature of the creative process to me. I’m just riding this ethereal thing and seeing where it takes me. Musically though I think there is a shift. I am really turned on by classic guitar tones, pedal steels, harmonicas… that classic American sound just has me by the heart right now and I don’t think it is gonna let go anytime soon.
Satsang just began touring after a year off – if research is correct the band did not do any live streams. How good was the time off for the band creatively and emotionally?
I can’t speak for the boys, but for me… I needed it so badly. I wasn’t ready to leave my youngest boy and with this time we have built such a strong bond. My relationship with my wife is bulletproof, and as an artist It made me fall completely back in love with music. Not the business of playing it for people, touring, streaming etc etc. Just sitting down and writing a fuckin’ song. Sitting in my truck and listening to Robert Earl Keen or the Allan Brothers really loud. The break from all the haste just made me fall so hard for what I’m doing again, I am absolutely enamored with music again and can’t wait to tour now.
One of the first shows you had back was playing the legendary Red Rocks. That’s got to be a fairly daunting moment to be off a year and then play an iconic venue in front of thousands of people. Can you talk about that experience?
Those moments are always different for me. I have always known it would come, so the moment itself just felt like it was exactly where I was supposed to be. To be with my boys, my family, and back with the [Michael] Franti crew after such a weird 18 months was magic. There is this weird thing at red rocks though where you’re on stage and go “bob weir played here…. We are on the same stage that the Beatles, The [Rolling] Stones, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty … holy shit.” It was magic.
Did the time off from touring change your thought process about how you want to tour going forward?
ABSOLUTELY! Family is everything to me. And I don’t want us to burn out. I think we will just start splitting the country up into four sections and hit two in the fall for three weeks and two in the spring for three weeks and then just rock festivals in the summer. The time off made me see how many other things I am than an artist, and the most important ones are father and husband.
You’ll be performing at Daydream Farm in New Jersey this month – any fun stories playing New Jersey?
We played some big theatre there with [Michael] Franti years ago but I don’t remember where. I have never been to the shore so I am pretty pumped!
What is it that you love most about playing in Satsang?
The relationships. I love my bandmates/crew/manager like family. I have an entire second family, most people are lucky to get one. It’s amazing to have a group of people you love so much, and your purpose for being together is to make magic and put smiles on other peoples faces. Greatest blessing ever.
What are your ultimate goals you want to accomplish musically by the end of 2021?
I’m just excited to play. Obviously selling out all these shows would be great to bump up into the next level but really I just hope people let this new record into their hearts and come along with us wherever it is we’re going.
Catch Satsang at Daydream Farm in Wall, NJ on Saturday July 24. Click here for tickets.
