Summary
This week's episode from 2015 features an in-depth conversation with the Nashville-based band Great Peacock, comprised of Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd. We delve into their creative journey, particularly focusing on their recently released debut full-length album, which showcases their evolution as musicians. Throughout the discussion, we explore the intricacies of building a cohesive musical team, the transformative nature of songwriting over time, and the unique recording experiences within Nashville's vibrant music scene. The dialogue is enriched by the band's reflections on their live performances and the diverse influences that shape their sound. Join us as we uncover the essence of Great Peacock's artistry and the dynamic world of contemporary music.
What We Wrote in 2015
Great Peacock blew me away during a live taping of their song, “Take Me To The Mountain,” nearly 18 months ago. I’ve been anxiously awaiting their debut full-length album, Making Ghosts, ever since. Recently released on This Is American Music, Great Peacock continues with the roots-based anthems and sing-along choruses, more Southern Indie than Americana.
Show Notes
- In this episode, host Sloane Spencer chats with Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd of Great Peacock, a Nashville-based band blending folk, country, and rock into a sound that’s all their own.
- The focus is on their debut album Making Ghosts, and the journey that led them there, everything from the ups and downs of recording to how their sound has evolved over time.
- Nelson and Floyd talk honestly about the challenges of making a record in today’s music scene. While modern recording tech offers a lot of options, they admit it sometimes slows things down more than it helps.
- They look back fondly on the days when recording was simpler and more immediate, and share a desire to get back to that kind of creative flow in the future.
- Live shows are a big part of where they see themselves heading. They hint at leaning more into an electric sound, which could mark a new phase in their music.
- Songwriting within Great Peacock is a true collaboration. They take a careful, selective approach—making sure each song really connects and adds something meaningful to their overall sound.
- Throughout the conversation, it’s clear that the band is focused on staying true to who they are, even as they grow and adapt. Their commitment to authenticity comes through in everything they do, both in the studio and on stage.
Links
- Great Peacock
- Great Peacock on Bandcamp
- You may also enjoy our conversation with Year of October
- After you buy music or see a show, please toss a few dollars in our Tip Jar
- Sloane Spencer now hosts a Gen X sleep podcast, Sleep with Rock Stars
Takeaways
- We got into how Great Peacock’s music has grown over the years and what it’s been like building their career in the Nashville music scene.
- A big part of the conversation focused on collaboration, especially with producer Dan Fernandez, and how that relationship helped shape their sound.
- The band opened up about some of the real challenges that come with recording and releasing music today, including the pros and cons of modern technology.
- They shared what it’s like to play live and how their dynamics as a band have shifted over time as they’ve evolved musically.
- Staying true to who they are as artists came up quite a bit. It’s something they’re clearly committed to, even as the industry keeps changing around them.
- We also talked about life on the road and how touring, while tough at times, brings a lot of joy through the connections they make with audiences in different places.
Mentioned in this Episode
- Great Peacock
- CMT
- CMT Edge
- Dan Fernandez
- Wes Floyd and the Daisy Cutters
- Drivin n Cryin
- St. Paul and the Broken Bones
- Apache Relay
Recommended If You Like
Country Fried Rock, Great Peacock band, Nashville music scene, Southern rock music, debut album release, music industry insights, live performance evolution, recording studios in Nashville, songwriting collaboration, folk and rock fusion, Americana music, indie music podcast, band interviews, music production process, touring experiences, album art design, music festival performances, audience engagement, music streaming platforms, Southern musicians.
Transcript
Speaker A
00:00:00.160 - 00:00:41.340
Welcome to Country Fried Rock. I'm your host, Sloane Spencer.
This week I'm finally talking with Great Peacock, a Nashville based band of guys from Alabama that I've been following for a couple of years. Andrew Nelson and Blunt Floyd are the core of Great Peacock in their debut full length album was just released in May 2015.
On this is American Music we talk about building a team, how songs change over time, and stealth recording studios in Nashville, a whole lot more with the guys from Great Peacock today on Country Fried Rock. My guests today conferenced in on the fancy phone are Andrew Nelson and Blunt Floyd, better known together as Great Peacock. Welcome.
Speaker B
00:00:41.500 - 00:00:43.020
Oh, thrilled to be here.
Speaker A
00:00:43.260 - 00:00:55.500
My pleasure.
We kind of run in some of the same circles, so I've known about you all for a very long time, but the first time I ever actually saw you was recording at the CMT studios for CMT Edge.
Speaker B
00:00:55.500 - 00:00:56.060
Yeah.
Speaker A
00:00:56.620 - 00:01:02.860
So lots has happened for y'. All. In the meantime, help us set the stage for what's going on with your debut record.
Speaker B
00:01:03.390 - 00:01:25.230
Well, it finally came out last week. We're thrilled about that. We waited forever for it to come out. It just takes a long time to get stuff ready.
You'd think technology would help out with that, but it doesn't. It kind of slows us down a bit.
I miss the old days or when I heard of the old days of making records and like putting them out quick, you know, doesn't happen anymore.
Speaker A
00:01:26.030 - 00:01:37.770
I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I know that you all have had this ready to roll for quite a while. So what has been changing for you all in terms of live performance in that G? I mean, it's been like more than a year since the record's been done.
Speaker B
00:01:38.170 - 00:02:15.880
The band has changed and evolved quite a bit for a while. We kind of always went through periods where we have like a four piece. Our bass player and our drummer are always with us.
And for a while we were had interchanging sort of melody instruments. Like sometimes we do a show with a fiddle player, sometimes we do a show with a pedal steel player.
And then we recently had somebody with us for a really long time playing electric and that person is no longer with us.
So we're actually kind of entertaining the idea of just being a four piece and being a little less folky and playing a little more electric guitar ourselves. But who knows, after this interview that might not happen. Yeah.
Speaker C
00:02:15.880 - 00:02:41.770
And we've had the guy who produced the record, Dan Fernandez, who actually played with us for a long time before that, has been out with Us for the last couple of runs, and it's been great to just kind of get back to kind of where it all began. And, you know, he's a great person to show off what the record is because he played pretty much all the guitar on it, so that's been fun.
He's gonna be with us this weekend also, and the next weekend after that.
Speaker A
00:02:41.930 - 00:02:44.570
That's cool. Well, how'd y' all initially connect with Dan Fernandez?
Speaker B
00:02:44.890 - 00:02:53.330
Dan lives with one of our best friends in Nashville. And I would go over to hang out with my friend, and I would hear this guy just, like, incessantly playing.
Speaker C
00:02:53.330 - 00:02:56.410
Lead guitar, practicing, practicing.
speaker B
00:02:57.370 - 00:03:08.950
And I was like, do you get tired of that, man? He was like, no, you just eventually drowning out. I was like, well, I guess the good thing is, at least he's really good at.
It's just, you know, 10 hours a day of lead guitar.
Speaker C
00:03:09.510 - 00:03:33.190
And way back when, when we had just started it, the band, because it was just something fun for us to pass the time as far as not getting out of music.
It was our first show, and that guy who lived with him was gonna play bass that show, and he was like, hey, do you mind if Dan comes to play mandolin? And we were like, sure. He hasn't practiced with us, but let's do it. And he nailed it.
And pretty much the only person that plays with us from that first show.
Speaker A
00:03:33.670 - 00:03:38.290
That's crazy. Where did it end up that Dan end working in the producer role?
Speaker B
00:03:38.610 - 00:04:04.290
He had just gotten into that role himself through just passing time. And it's kind of where his heart is, which is why he doesn't play with us all the time. And it just happened. It was really organic. It wasn't forced.
He was just kind of like, well, let's start working together. And I don't remember a single point where we were like, you know, had serious conversations about it.
We just turned around one day, and we were making a record. And then the serious conversations came much later.
Speaker C
00:04:05.090 - 00:04:35.710
Originally recorded Tennessee, actually a studio in Birmingham. When we were recording it, it was just like, all of a sudden, it's like, hey, we're not just producing this as the collective.
He really stepped up and took a spot where we were. We were like, wow, you know, you're kind of producing this track also. That's kind of where it came from.
We were like, well, we could do this whole record with you. And it makes sense because Nashville and we don't have to travel because you throw a rock and there's a studio in Nashville.
Speaker B
00:04:36.910 - 00:04:47.650
You always talk about like, these destination studios. And you're like, man, we had the money. We'd go to this place or we'd go to that place.
And then it's like, you think about it, you're like, well, honestly, why would we ever leave Nashville? Record a record.
Speaker A
00:04:47.650 - 00:05:02.370
Hey, y', all, this is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. We've had an incredible year with more people finding us on the radio and our podcast than we ever imagined. Thank you all so much.
Careful what you wish for. You just might get it.
Speaker B
00:05:02.530 - 00:05:07.570
Hey, this is Andrew Nelson and Bluff Lloyd. We're great Peacock. And we're on Country Fried Rock.
Speaker A
00:05:07.570 - 00:05:09.810
Where did y' all end up recording it, or was it all over the place?
Speaker B
00:05:10.130 - 00:05:12.370
It was actually in a sort of.
Speaker C
00:05:12.370 - 00:05:28.690
Nondescript backyard studio, exactly like you said. It was, like, probably used to be a three or four car garage back in one day. And then they just built it out, and it's just in a neighborhood.
And you walk in the backyard and you open the door.
Speaker B
00:05:28.770 - 00:05:45.000
And Dan's so well connected. He's such a people person that, like, you can't go out to grab a drink without him running into 20 people he knows.
As a result, I mean, it's like we weren't in a professional studio, but we had all the professional gear we wanted or needed. Dan made sure we had it.
Speaker A
00:05:45.080 - 00:06:00.840
I saw you once, then I didn't see you all for, like, a year playing live. And it was definitely folkier, twangier.
And then when I started to hear the later music, I was like, whoa, we got some, like, entire, like, fill the stadium kind of stuff going on here.
Speaker B
00:06:01.400 - 00:06:39.260
We love music. We love pop music. We love country music. We love rock music. We love it all.
I think the reason our music sounds like it does is just because as far as it being southern or leaning more towards folk or something like that, it's just because that's just who we are. But, I mean, we listen to everything and we absorb and soak up everything. So that was just natural. That wasn't planned.
We weren't like, let's be more commercial or popular. It's just we like having songs that people can sing along to, and we like having songs that hit people.
And sometimes hitting people requires more instruments. Sometimes it requires a guitar and a voice, and that's it. It just depends on the.
Speaker C
00:06:39.260 - 00:06:55.840
So everybody evolves.
And that's just kind of what has happened as far as from the EP to now, because there was really technically only one electric guitar part on that first ep, and they're quite A larger song. It just kind of naturally happened that way.
Speaker A
00:06:56.080 - 00:07:01.600
They're kind of anthems. I mean, like, you can hear it one time and, like, have your verse in chorus to sing along.
Speaker B
00:07:02.000 - 00:07:42.220
We're just really picky. I mean, we write together. Not as much as we used to. We need. We've been saying we need to write together more.
But Blunt and I, if we don't like where the song's going, we throw it out quick. I have a saying. I always say, you can't polish a turd. So, I mean, if it's not immediately something that feels really special, we just move on.
We've gotten overwhelming compliments from people that have heard the record, either friends or strangers and fans, and they felt like we didn't have any filler songs on the album. Covered a lot of musical territory, was easy to listen to because the songs were great. And that's not me bragging.
That's just we're so picky about what we'll put out as a song.
Speaker C
00:07:42.220 - 00:08:07.720
It's a great thing about always writing with the same person or another person is you wind up almost being a good editor.
More than, like, even, you know, working together songwriting wise is usually when you sit down to write a song as a regular solo person, no matter what, you're gonna sit down and you finish the song. But kind of the way that me and Andrew work will come with ideas to the table. And, like, that was not good. That one's good.
Speaker B
00:08:07.800 - 00:08:08.240
Wow.
Speaker C
00:08:08.240 - 00:08:10.040
That's it. Let's write that song today.
Speaker B
00:08:10.120 - 00:08:16.160
Blunt has a joke. He likes to always tell me that. He says, that would be a great one on your solo album one day.
Speaker A
00:08:18.240 - 00:08:19.840
Blunt, where are you from originally?
Speaker C
00:08:20.160 - 00:08:24.800
I'm from a small town in South Alabama called Dothan.
Speaker B
00:08:24.800 - 00:08:25.360
Oh, yeah.
Speaker C
00:08:25.600 - 00:08:32.720
Like an hour north of Panama City and kind of close to Montgomery. About two hours from there and two hours from Auburn.
Speaker A
00:08:32.720 - 00:08:34.400
How did you end up getting to Nashville?
Speaker C
00:08:34.560 - 00:09:25.120
Well, it was a little bit of a trek. I went to Auburn for a little bit and decided to go to another college because, well, at that point, really nothing interested me, job wise.
And I transferred to a school in Orlando to go to recording, you know, for recording. And I did that and moved to Nashville because that was where you're supposed to go after you finish Three Best Cities to go to.
My brother had already lived in Nashville, so I was like, well, it's obvious I'm gonna go to Nashville and conquer all the major recording studios in town. And wound up meeting Andrew along the way. And then, you know, one of those weird Things where you're like, oh, this dude's my best friend now.
You know, the first night that you meet, you know, we've been on a musical journey ever since.
Speaker A
00:09:25.280 - 00:09:46.680
Hey, y', all, this is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. Those of y' all who listen on our podcasts, it's a quick hit of just the conversation.
If you want the full radio program with all the songs that we talk about, ask for it on your local radio station, joining 20 other stations across the country. Get the [email protected] hey, guys, if y'.
Speaker C
00:09:46.680 - 00:09:54.200
All want to know more about Great Peacock and what's going on with us and where to see us, go see us at ww.grape peacock.com were you ever.
Speaker A
00:09:54.200 - 00:09:55.280
In bands with your brother?
Speaker C
00:09:55.760 - 00:10:13.130
Yes, we were, actually. Andrew was in that band also. It's called West Floyd and the Daisy Cutters. Yeah, we did a record and a half release DP with him way back in the day.
It was really good for especially me because we were young and we learned a lot. What not to do.
Speaker A
00:10:13.450 - 00:10:14.490
Those are good lessons.
Speaker C
00:10:15.290 - 00:10:19.050
Love my brother. Shout out to him, you know, just had his first kid, Gus.
Speaker A
00:10:19.290 - 00:10:23.610
I made his wife cry by telling him to listen to Daniel's song from Loggins and Messina.
Speaker C
00:10:23.690 - 00:10:26.010
Yeah, I heard about that. I heard about that.
Speaker A
00:10:27.130 - 00:10:34.250
And I only did it because it came on after I had my son, and I was, like, driving down the highway, like, bawling my eyes out, like, oh, my God.
Speaker B
00:10:34.250 - 00:10:36.090
I never knew how good this was.
Speaker C
00:10:36.490 - 00:10:48.790
But, yeah, it was great. You know, we learned so much from playing with Wes.
He is a wonderful songwriter in his own right and actually both helped kind of us on our journey to how we write songs today.
Speaker A
00:10:49.190 - 00:10:50.230
Andrew, where are you from?
Speaker B
00:10:50.630 - 00:11:21.170
I grew up outside of Birmingham in a small town called Helena. That was until I was about 14, 15. Then I moved to another town outside of big city in Atlanta, a town called Alpharetta.
And then I went to University of...