Kyle Kellams: The annual two night Gar Holeidays musical event will launch tomorrow night at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville. The showcase features artists signed to Gar Hole Records, including Sabine McCalla, Nick Shoulders and Angela Autumn. Angela is performing the first night tomorrow night. Her songs often embrace an outsider's view, her voice and integration of her Pennsylvania Appalachian hometown and modern sensibility.
Her most recent release is the song “Millionaire Money.”
(“Millionaire Money” by Angela Autumn plays.)
Angela Autumn: What “Millionaire Money” means to me personally is that sometimes we are faced with transactional relationships in this lifetime. But I believe that every villain is also a saint and every character in our life is hopefully teaching us something. So I was playing with expectations and roles, and I was playing with the character of a millionaire and how they might feel isolated or like people are just using them for their money and not really for who they are.
(“Millionaire Money” continues.)
Kellams: Angela Autumn grew up in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, a town of about four thousand people. She says while it isn't a big city, there were sources of creative inspiration.
Autumn: Namely a blues musician. There was one guy that played the blues named Eugene. And yeah, my family really, I think they tried to take me out and experience music. But really outside of church, there was no one doing exactly what I am doing. And they were mainly men. So my guitar teacher was a woman, but other than that, I didn’t really know anyone.
Kellams: Autumn's first full length album, Frontierswoman, was released in 2021, and it highlights the wide path she can follow as a songwriter, from the classic country sounds of “Texas Blue Jeans” to the song “Sowing Seeds,” a tune she says she wrote when she was early in the development of her styles.
(“Texas Blue Jeans” by Angela Autumn plays.)
Autumn: Really just hanging with a lot of bluegrass musicians and working on flatpicking and that sort of thing. So the song was just right out of that style of music, and I think I was nineteen or twenty when I wrote that song. So it's an older tune for me.
(“Sowing Seeds” by Angela Autumn plays.)
Kellams: When you're writing, are you holding an instrument? Are you playing an instrument when you write?
Autumn: Yeah. Usually I would say I’m lazy. So if I have to come back to lyrics or something, that probably won't happen. But if I record it in one go, the chances are higher it's got a better life expectancy than all the dead songs in my notebooks that don't have music to them. Just a lazy writer. I do it all at once and then don't think about it.
Kellams: So then is it… are you a burst-of-inspiration kind of writer?
Autumn: Yeah, I think we all need to be. I think writing takes immense dedication. But sometimes I take breaks and I don't write. I don't force myself to write. I only write a song if it really feels like it needs to happen. And I go to my guitar, and it's an important moment. But yeah, I never force writing.
Kellams: Tomorrow night’s show at George’s might span the scope of Autumn’s career, but it will for sure be a crafted, unique set list. She says she doesn't like repeating shows.
Autumn: I feel like I'm a lot of different people, in terms of my different strengths and capabilities. And so I'm always thinking about what will be the most fun and the most impactful for the event. So usually an example would be listening to my fans online and if they want to request a song from my catalog, I will do that song. Or if I know I'm going to a place like Portland with a heavier scene, I'll probably play some of my heavier stuff. I’m just aware of the different places and what the vibe might be.
Kellams: As for vibe, she says she's pretty sure a holiday-time, multi-artist event — and many of the artists have been friends and fans of each other for some time — is likely to be a festive vibe.
Autumn: This whole region of the country really just feels welcoming to me. And the band is also in good spirits and it's the holiday season. And yeah, for the first time, I think in my life, I'm in full recognition of how important it is to gather and celebrate these times. So yeah, it feels festive as heck.
Kellams: Angela Autumn will perform tomorrow night at George’s Majestic Lounge on Dickson Street in Fayetteville during the first of two nights of the annual Gar Holeidays Winter Showcase. Also on tomorrow night’s bill are Sabine McCalla and Grady Drugg and the Kabong Band.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
