About That Song: Abbey Janii & Mike Lee of Goatroper
About That Song #1
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In our first installment, I talk to Abbey Janii and Mike Lee of Twin Cities country band Goatroper. They’re set to release their third single this Friday and will be performing that evening at Green Room in Uptown.
Mike Lee & Abbey Janii of Goatroper. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Sarah: Hi Abbey and Mike, thanks for joining me! I’d love to learn about songs that influenced you as writers. Do you remember the song that you heard that first made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Mike: The song that did it for me was “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” by Bob Dylan. I was about 15. I remember wanting to write songs before that—maybe even trying—but those attempts don’t exist any longer even in my imagination, thankfully.
Abbey: I started writing little melodies when I was 7 and finished my first song at 13. I’d have to say musical theater inspired my first songwriting endeavors. I remember wanting to write a musical. I grew up watching Rodgers and Hammerstein and Sondhiem, and I loved the music from Chicago. My first song was catchy as hell! The lyrics were trash, but it would’ve made a good theme song in a musical. I played one of my first songs for my brother Tommy when I was 15. He told me once you start writing songs you never really stop. That always stuck with me. He was the first person I ever played a song for.
Sarah: Musical theater is one of my first loves as well. Was there a particular song in Chicago that really struck you?
Abbey: “All That Jazz.” I still get that song stuck in my head. It’s kind of weird honestly. It randomly pops in there from time to time.
Sarah: Once you began writing, did you feel like a writer immediately? It took me a few years of writing before I believed it. Was there a song that gave you that “a-HA! I am a songwriter” moment? Tell us about that song.
Abbey: Writing songs was something I simply did; I didn’t really think about it much. It just took me forever to decide what to do about it. I started a rock band called Julie Fur with my friend Justine when I was 26. That experience taught me how to write songs on purpose instead of waiting for one to randomly come to me. However, It wasn’t until I wrote my solo EP, Prairie Roads, that I had the confidence to go at it solo. The melody, lyrics and arrangement were right on that EP. I’m not the least bit embarrassed to play it for people. For me, that’s the mark of a good song: when you have no doubts.
Mike: I grew up in a singing family, and in the summertime we’d go to the Missouri River in Pierre, South Dakota, where my grandparents lived. I was coming into my own as a player and a singer, singing other people’s tunes. I remember my uncles coaching me one morning and they were really excited that we might “best” their buddies in the song circle that afternoon. But the other musicians in the group really shut down the idea that music was any type of competition, and this was an ethos I took to heart and still try to live by.
I spent that day playing every single song I knew, not an original in the bunch. At my grandparents’ house that evening, PBS was showing No Direction Home. There’s this famous scene where Dylan meets Donovan in a hotel and they trade songs. Admittedly, there’s a little competition, but also present is the unmistakable respect these two had for each other and the beauty of sharing a song you wrote with someone who “gets it” from the perspective of the craft.
I sat up that night and wrote what I would probably call my first real song. I’m happy to say that song doesn’t exist anywhere except in my mind, where it will stay locked away. When I went back to school that fall, I started my first original music project in my parents’ basement. Those songs made their way to MySpace and I still hold onto those first recordings. I had a lot to learn, but that summer is where I got the idea that I was a songwriter.
Sarah: Do you remember the title of that song?
Mike: I’m not really sure what I would title it today! But the “hook” was “heart aches for the sea,” which fits—I always end up with long-winded titles to this day, and that sure sounds like it’s from the mind of a 15-year-old with big feelings!
Sarah: Let’s fast-forward to the present now! Where can we find your music or see you play?
Abbey: You can stream Prairie Roads on all the platforms. Julie Fur’s music is out there, too.
Mike: We’re premiering our new single alongside a funky animated music video on June 30 at the Green Room in Uptown Minneapolis. Eli Gardiner is headlining, and we’re joined by The Willow Creek Brothers. Should be a really fun show in a super cool new venue.
Sarah: Oh yeah, the new single! Can you tell us about that song?
Mike: The line from those first influential songs to my new tune “When the Sun Goes Down” isn’t a neat tidy path, but one thing I hope I held onto is a sound that Dylan perfected in ’65-’66: that thin piercing electric guitar and a looseness that feels like a party. In some ways, this first Goatroper record is my “going electric” phase, and the sound we’ve worked out in the studio has a little bit of that mid-60s Dylan thing going on. I’m really happy about that!
Abbey: Mike wrote our new single, so for me, the song was an opportunity to put a couple blues solos on it. When we started Goatroper, I didn’t have the faintest idea how to play honkytonk keys. Learning to write piano parts for his songs has made the arrangements to my own songs a bit more fancy. We’ve learned quite a bit from each other and have both come out better songwriters for it.
“When The Sun Goes Down” Credits
Mike Lee - Vox/guitar/songwriting
Abbey Janii - Piano/vox
Tim Evenson - Drums/bass
Produced by Pleasure Horse
Mastered by Silo Recording
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
