Get to Know, Borrowed Ashes
Sept. 19, 2022
By Ashley Altadonna
As a teenager in the 1990s, I can still recall coming home after school, turning on MTV, and watching the latest music videos. Each video was like a three-minute movie to go along with whatever radio hit was currently in rotation, and the art form was heavily influenced by experimental cinema at the time. It’s no wonder that shooting and editing music videos continues to be one of my favorite types of work. I was recently asked to create two videos for the band Borrowed Ashes. Afterwards, I interviewed principle songwriter and singer Bryan Thomas about the band.
1. How did Borrowed Ashes come to be? What’s your origin story?
For the last decade, I fronted a country band named Liar’s Trial (free CDs to all who heard of us and are reading this blog post – mainly because I have a bunch I need to get rid of). Andy, our bass player, was also the last bass player for Liar’s Trial. Anyways, Liar’s Trial started as a punk band that had a country sound, and over the years migrated to a much more straightforward country band – and when I say “country,” I am talking stuff like Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson. I always wrote these sad-bastard country songs that were deep album cuts, but I never felt they went over well live. Folks always wanted something they could dance to or that was more rowdy. It was like the slow song meant the bathroom/cigarette/bar run. But those slow songs were some of the most meaningful stuff I wrote, so it was always a little annoying.
Like many other bands, Liar’s Trial took a long break during the pandemic and realized that, while we had a nice run, it was time to call it quits. I had written a bunch of up tempo stuff because I thought that is what folks wanted to hear live, but honestly, it was all generic garbage. So I scrapped it and decided to go the songwriter route with what became Borrowed Ashes. The hardest part was that our guitar player, who I had collaborated with for over 20 years in a bunch of a different projects decided not to come along. Liar’s Trial’s drummer also couldn’t commit. So, we found pedal steel player, Harrison (Dole), on a Craigslist ad. He didn’t murder us during the first, or second, practice, and after a vigorous interview process (including uncomfortable inquiries regarding political affiliations), we decided we were ready to go ahead as a three-piece.
The fact that we don’t have a regular drummer was out of necessity, but also something that I embrace. Borrowed Ashes is a group that focuses on the songwriting. For all but a small handful of songs, I really don’t think drums would fit in.
2. Have you always been into country music? What country artists inspire you?
My mom raised me on 80’s country music, so it would be fairly accurate to say that I have always been into country music, however, the definition of what is “country” has changed. My mom loved Johnny Cash so much that she camped out in front of his house until he came out and gave her his autograph. We had a huge poster of Johnny Rodriguez in our basement, so that when whenever you would go downstairs, you freaked out thinking there was some guy standing behind the couch, but it was just a smiling Johnny Rodriguez. She also snuck into Ronnie Milsap’s dressing room one year at Fan Fair to get his autograph. Some of my favorite memories are of me and my mom listening to 80’s country music together.
That being said, a lot of what is called “country” nowadays doesn’t inspire me. I could go on a tirade, but everyone has heard those tirades before.
What does inspire me is country artists who are true to both themselves and their songwriting. For starters: Dolly Parton. I don’t need to say much more, but she is a bona fide saint in my opinion.
When it comes to songwriters and folks who laid a foundation, I look up to the storytellers and the one who can capture the essence of the true human condition in no more than a few minutes: Kris Kristofferson, Blaze Foley, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Billy Don Burns, Leadbelly, Jim Croce, Billy Joe Shaver, and Chris Knight, just to name a few. I have a hard time to getting into new music sometimes, but our contemporaries that inspire me are: Arlo McKinley, Justin Wells, John Moreland, the War and Treaty, Joshua Ray Walker, Paul Cauthen, and The White Buffalo.
3. What other styles of music are you into?
I am a lover of so many other types of music than country or folk – if you looked at my record collection, you may be surprised.
Punk, goth, and industrial are always a secondary mainstay: The Stooges, The New York Dolls, The Dead Boys, The Vibrators, Bauhaus, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Depeche Mode, The Cranes, and The Cure, are some of my absolute favorites.
Culture Club, Dead or Alive, Bikini Kill (and Le Tigre), Nausea, Type O Negative, Counting Crows, and Cattle Decapitation are also bands that I can safely say have contributed significantly to my musical life.
There will also always be a place in my heart for Tupac, Snoop, and Dr. Dre, but then again, who doesn’t. Some folks say they will never forget where they were when they found out that JFK had been murdered. I have the same memory about Tupac.
4. What kind of songs do you like to write, or listen to?
I can’t force myself to write a song about a specific thing or feeling. I’ve tried, but it just doesn’t work. As such, I only write from my heart and usually about things that are on my mind at the time or that I need to get out. Troubles have a funny way of not seeming so troublesome, or at least less burdensome, once I write a song about them. I have often joked that I have never needed a psychiatrist because I have songwriting. I think I have heard Dolly say something similar. It is true though.
My best songs are sad songs and I am a sucker for sad songs by others. I will generally say, the sadder the better, but every once in a while, a sad song is too sad for even me. A great example is this song named, “Love, Me.” Brilliant song written by a guy named Skip Ewing narrating a grandfather’s story to his grandson about how he and grandma fell in love. Turns out, he is telling that story at the grandma’s funeral. I first heard that song on the radio when I was a kid and it absolutely floored me. To this day, if I hear that lead guitar lick, I immediately turn the radio off. It actually makes me pretty mad sometimes because of how that song makes me feel. But then, that is an indicator of great songwriting.
5. Are there any particular music videos that stand out to you?
I haven’t really watched any music videos with any regularity since I was in my teens. I remember I used to record stuff off MTV and VH1 onto a VHS tape to watch later and thought all those videos were the coolest things, but in retrospect, most of it wasn’t that great. That being said, the ones that really stick out in my mind as great were The Dandy Warhols’ “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” and Tupac/Dr. Dre’s “California Love.”
6. What role do you think media and social media play in today’s music experiences?
I am so conflicted on that – on one hand, I love that folks can build an entire following using social media, for a reasonable budget, giving everyone the chance to showcase their art. On the other hand, there is so much out there now, that sometimes it is hard to check everything out. I love that everyone has a voice, but at the same time, it can just get overwhelming. Love it or hate it, it has become essential, that is for damn sure.
Speaking of social media, if you like what you hear either from us or others, please follow on Facebook and Instagram. That also means please interact and comment on posts because that helps to skew the algorithms. I admit I am bad about it personally – like, I don’t want to say “Sounding great” in a comment, when I can just hit a like button, but for the bots, apparently those comments and the interaction really means something.
For more information: www.borrowedashes.com
