How did you come across T Bone Burnett’s radar, and what led to such a powerful place on what I thought was a great series? I know a lot of people bashed the second season of True Detective, but I loved it.
You know, it’s so funny, I keep hearing people say exactly what you just said. I think the whiners just whine louder, or something. I’ve heard more people say they liked it than say they didn’t like it. My manager worked with T Bone when he was doing the Raising Sand record with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, she helped coordinate the release of that, and they developed a professional relationship. She just stayed in touch with him, and had been sending him my music, and he heard the title track of an EP I released last March called Lying in the Sun. He wanted to have lunch in Nashville to discuss the possibility of using that song in True Detective, which I was very excited about. We met up, obviously I was pretty nervous, I didn’t know what to expect. But he was an easy-going, fascinating guy, lots of ideas, lots of knowledge of lots of things. He told us a little bit about the show and asked if I’d be interested in possibly collaborating with him, or writing some for the show. Of course, I said, “hell, yeah.” So, he flew me out to Los Angeles a bit after that, and we wrote and recorded four songs in two days. He played those songs for the writer of the show, Nic Pizzolatto, who was very hands-on with everything to do with the show. I was really impressed with how present he was, making every decision and overseeing everything. The producer was also there, and they loved the music that we had done, and T Bone said, “What do you think about having her play the songs in the show?” And they said, “Hmmm, we’re going to have to give her a third eye or something, but OK.” And the rest is history, kind of like a dream. It was really fast, and fascinating to see how the whole thing works, and to see the level of talent and skill involved with everyone that’s on the set, the actors and everyone behind the cameras. It was really a very interesting experience.
Do you really play dive bars with no one in them but damaged detectives and gangsters?
(Laughs) I play dive bars, I don’t know if they’re the cool dive bars where damaged detectives and gangsters hang out. I’ve done my fair share of that, for sure.
Every scene you were in was pivotal, and the music really contributed to that. Also, it was a very plum spot for the song “Lately” in the final scene — that was very powerful. What did you think when you first saw the ending?
I thought it was beautiful. I knew nothing about the final script; I watched it just like everyone else did. I thought it was really beautiful and, yeah, what a great use of the music, I feel very lucky for that.
How has being part of this changed your life?
The most obvious and significant change I’ve noticed just right off the bat is record sales, and just interacting more with fans. People are become more aware of my music outside of the show, as well. The tour coming up will be the first big tour I’ve done since the show; we’ve been doing small runs here and there, and one-offs, and ticket sales have increased. That’s been really great, to show up to a town I haven’t played in a few years and there’s a bunch of people there waiting.
People beyond the detective and gangsters.
(Laughs) Yeah. Although I guess we wouldn’t really know, would we?
Posted from:https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/true-detective-lera-lynn-interview-6663918/
