Iowa City singer James Tutson is back with new music, and he’s set to debut a new album this Saturday night at the Englert Theatre with some of his friends and fellow musicians. This has everyone at IPR thinking back to the last time we worked with Tutson. It’s always a pleasure to work with him, but frankly…it didn't go great.
A little over halfway through a live broadcast at River Place Plaza in Cedar Falls, we lost power. This knocked us off the air for what felt like an eternity, but Tutson wasn’t fazed. He grabbed his guitar and amp and moved closer to the audience so they could hear him playing solo.
“I remember that being really fun,” said Tutson. “Everybody had a lot of energy there, so I wanted to keep things going. I am used to going solo when I need to and was hoping to at least give people live [in person] a show there. We got it all adjusted and it was a fun show.”
Tutson is set to release a full album of new songs called Fool For You. He co-wrote the album with his friend and musical partner, Tyler Carrington, who also plays in Tutson’s backing band. The album is a collection of love songs, which is standard fare for an album, but Tutson and Carrington had no interest in simply writing songs about romance.
“(Tyler and I were) in a conversation a long time ago about love and love songs, and one thing that we don't like about when artists do love songs and love albums is that they're all very romantic,” said Tutson. “There's so many facets to love, and so many facets to a relationship to cover that they can't all be romance. It’d be cool to do (an album) that told the full story.”
Every story does have a beginning, and Tutson began this album cycle with the single “Somnolent Love,” inspired by his own experience with his wife.
“It’s about the first feelings you get with somebody where you don't want to do anything but just be with that person, and everything else takes a backseat,” said Tutston. “I don't want to say ‘puppy love,’ but it’s that part of the relationship that looks like ‘we could just hang out and do nothing else, and I would be fine with that.’”
Tutson said the chorus of the song drives this home: “I think you look like a dream/And I've been wondering if I should get some more sleep.”
“That line is just like ‘I don’t need to do anything else,’” said Tutson.
Even before hearing the song, it’s hard not to be struck by the title. Somnolent, if you don't know, means sleepy or drowsy... but who the heck uses a word like “somnolent” in a song? Well, James Tutson does.
“I sort of have a fixation with words, to be honest,” said Tutson. “I love to read, and I love taking notes on the words I don’t know and making a list. I'm a little fascinated by all the different types of words we have, and where they all come from and how they come to be.”
Despite his own fascination with words, Tutson himself didn’t realize they were creeping into his songwriting until it was pointed out to him.
“I didn’t realize I did that in songs very much until I was working with a producer, and he said, ‘You know, I've never heard a song where somebody used the word ‘taciturn,’” Tutson said with a laugh. “And I didn’t even think about the fact that I used the word ‘taciturn,’ but I love the sound of it.”
“I think sometimes you learn a new word and it communicates something in a deeper way than even the definition,” said Tutson. “Like you can say, ‘Oh, it's sort of sleepy,’ but something feels so much deeper and warmer about ‘somnolence.’ That just feels great on the tongue and the mind. I don’t know, I love it.”
Of the four singles released from the album so far, Tutson is especially proud of “What You Chose,” which is about another stage of a long-term relationship.
“I felt like it was describing when you're in a relationship with somebody for such a long time,” said Tutson. “You sort of get in this mode of operation where you know how to be a team. Know what I mean? Like the things that you need to get done, whether it's raising kids, seeing family and being really good partners. So it’s one of our songs that’s about how we’re in the partnership phase, but we also need to acknowledge that we still have those needs as individuals. We still both need affection and attention from the other person, and those are things that can just easily get missed when in the day-to-day.”
Tutson was very candid about the origins of “What You Chose.”
“I wrote it from the perspective of me after going to therapy, and looking at our relationship and understanding what my partner and I are learning about ourselves right now,“ said Tutson. “We are great partners, and we also both have needs. We both need to stop sometimes and just say ‘hey, we need some time to ourselves, and some time to be human again.’ It gets busy and life just moves fast. So I really liked writing that song... and I like that it's sort of really simplistic and straightforward. It’s one of my favorites from the record for sure.”
The new album was recorded at Golden Bear Records in Des Moines with producer Bryan Vanderpool. Tutson’s last two albums were recorded at his home studio, so perhaps in keeping with this theme of partners making each other better, he felt it was appropriate to work with a producer this time.
“I thought I learned a lot (from working alone), but I also think I benefit from having a voice of someone who can understand who you are as an artist,” said Tutson. “And then like I said, just like really focusing on a narrative, like really doing the work of processing through the years of my relationship with my partner, with my wife and trying to tell that story really well and really fully.”
Tutson estimates he wrote 25 songs for the album, which they narrowed down to 11. “I just really wanted to be complete and like ‘okay, here are some of the more significant phases, here's the whole narrative,’” said Tutson. “It was a new experience for me to build a record that way, build that many songs and then kind of edit it down and work with a producer and all sorts of stuff.”
Another first for Tutson was working with a horn section, which was possible thanks to a fellowship grant from the Iowa Arts Council. “I am so appreciative of it because it sort of helps you get rid of the caveat. You know, I always wanted to play a record with horns, but I never was able to do so. But when you have the support of an organization like the Iowa Arts Council, then you can say ‘I can get horns!’ I can sort of get closer to meeting my imagination for the record, in the reality of us doing it.”
Tutson and the band will be playing an album release show for Fool For You at the Englert Theatre Saturday night, Feb. 8. The show will open with Tutston playing short sets with some of his fellow Iowa City musicians, followed by a full performance of the entire album. The show includes a couple of opportunities for what Tutson calls “full circle” moments: he’ll be playing with his old high school friend Emily Phillipp, as well as with Deb Talan, whose music played an important role in the early days of his relationship with his wife.
Tutson thinks the audience will be able to connect with the themes of the album. “I worked really hard to be honest with my story, and hopefully give honor to my partner,” said Tutson. “I didn’t want it to be some sort of ‘spill the tea' sort of experience, but to be like, these are the ways that we've grown and changed and how our relationship has come to be.”
Speaking of full circle moments, Tutson and I are both hoping he can make it back to Cedar Falls sometime for another performance. In the meantime, tickets are still available for Saturday night’s show at the Englert Theatre, and “Somnolent Love” and “What We Chose” are both on streaming services, along with the rest of James Tutson’s music.
