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Recently nominated for the 2009 Texas Music Awards, Texas based Dewveall have created a pleasant but haunting musical cornucopia that is a winner whether they tour.  The husband/wife duet are also pioneers in the new entertainment format of the “House concert” which is sweeping the country and returning live music to the living rooms of America.  We were delighted that they could connect with us at Java City for a performance on February 17th.  As someone recommended them to me they said “these folks are a perfect fit for Java City” and they are indeed.  I recently had a chance to talk with Jonathon and Melanie.

Can you tell us a bit about your personal and musical history?

Whether or not we’re playing as a full band, we are essentially a husband/wife duo. We were married five years ago and started making music together shortly after. We both dabbled in music all of our lives, but never really did anything original until we were together.

Many husband/wife duos stick with a cutesy musical style and write a bunch of feel-good songs about their love for each other. We’re not that duo. While we love each other tremendously, we find music to be more interesting when it’s not so cute. Melanie doesn’t really like this analogy (so don’t tell her I said it), but we like to put on a show that’s more like “Everybody Loves Raymond”.

We are really excited about your appearance at Java City and WKU.  Can you tell us a bit about your personal and musical history?

Whether or not we’re playing as a full band, we are essential a husband/wife duo. We were married five years ago and started making music together shortly after. We both dabbled in music all of our lives, but never really did anything original until we were together.

Many husband/wife duos stick with a cutesy musical style and write a bunch of feel-good songs about their love for each other. We’re not that duo. While we love each other tremendously, we find music to be more interesting when it’s not so cute. Melanie doesn’t really like this analogy (so don’t tell her I said it), but we like to put on a show that’s more like “Everybody Loves Raymond”.

How did you get started?

We started playing our own tunes shortly after we were married. The local Starbucks was offering 50 bucks for someone to play original music on Friday nights. A good friend convinced us to do it, so we did. We had a handful of songs at the time, and only one or two of them were even halfway good. More than anything, though, we all had loads of fun on those nights.

Who influenced you as musicians?

Ian Moore. You pretty much have to be from Texas to know who he is, but his music is amazing. 

What is your favorite sort of gig?

This is a really hard question to answer. Each type of gig has pluses and minuses. It’s obviously very fun to be in front of a large crowd. There is a tremendous amount of energy that accompanies that type of show.

A small, intimate, gig can be just as rewarding though. The large shows can feel like a monologue sometimes; whereas, an intimate show becomes more of a dialogue between the artist and the audience – a format that promotes a deeper sense of community.

Your music seems a blend of traditional and modern folk, how do you define your sound?

Our recorded music thus far has definitely been pop-folk. Now, we’re more rock and soul – a mix of Amos Lee and the Black Crowes.

I know you write a lot of your music, where do you get the ideas for your songs? What is your songwriting process like?

I don’t really feel much like an artist most of the time. I don’t keep a journal or jot down ideas for songs. I don’t even write out lyrics during the writing process, or after the song is finished. I’ve always operated on this idea that if a melody or lyric wasn’t good enough to be remembered, then it wasn’t good enough to be there in the first place. I’d probably write three times as many songs if I wrote stuff down, but, honestly, I’m just not that organized. When I do try to write stuff down, I usually lose them anyway.

As far as ideas go, it’s all over the board. Many songs are about people I know or experiences I’ve had, others are based on books and stories. It’s a good thing to step outside of yourself sometimes and write from someone else’s perspective.

I see you all have become involved in the “House Concert” scene. How does that work? What is it like?

House concerts are exactly like the intimate gig we described earlier, a dialogue between the artist and audience. No house concert is ever the same as the last. It becomes a unique experience that absolutely cannot be replicated. It’s incredibly easy to host a house concert too. Not much different than a typical party, but people are there to engage in the music instead of standing around, making small talk.

Where do you want to go with your music?

We’ve always said that we don’t care about making it big. We’re happy to just make it medium. I mean, how many Bentleys does someone really need? No more than two for sure.

Tell us about your latest album, “The Water EP”?

The Water EP is more about justice than music. Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. So we believe that everyone, no matter what their economic status is, should have access to safe, clean water. So we came up with the idea of recording a basic EP that we could sell at shows and donate the money to drilling water wells in impoverished countries around the world. All of the money is given to Living Water International, a well-drilling organization based in Houston.

I see you got some nominations for the 2009 Texas Music awards. What was that like?

This was a tremendous honor for us. We’ve performed in many places, but we’re Texans. Like most people from Texas, we have a lot of pride and an annoying amount of love for our home state (a.k.a. the Promised Land). So to be honored with nominations from the Academy of Texas music was very cool.

At first we felt like outsiders at the awards show, because our music is very different from most of the artists who where there. Before the show began, I was washing my hands in the bathroom and another artist walked in and said, “Y’all are the s***.” Very confused I said, “What? Why is that?” He said, “Cause you write good songs and you sing purdy.” After that, there was no need to feel like an outsider.  

Are you working on another recording?

We’re not currently working on another album, but we are recording. We might release a single sometime this year, something that represents the direction we’re heading musically. We’ve also been throwing around the idea of releasing music in subscription form – something like a song every month.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just that we’re really excited about playing on campus at WKU. We’ve got some good friends in Bowling Green and it’s a great city. We’ll probably try to get a round of disc golf in too. So if anyone is interested in joining us, let us know.

About the author: Jack Montgomery is a librarian, author and associate professor at Western Kentucky University where he handles bookings for musical acts in University Libraries, Java City coffeehouse. Jack has also been a professional musician since 1969 and performs with a celtic quartet called Watersprite. Visit him at MySpace/shadowdancerjack or on Facebook.