Art begets art, says Greenwood musician Dan Splaingard.
Just as he was inspired by other musicians, he said he hopes to inspire others to make their own music by listening to his.
At the very least, he wants people to come out and have fun.
Splaingard, who performs under the name “Small Trucks,” will have a release party for his first album, “Moon Burn,” at 7 p.m. July 30 at Turnrow Book Co.
There is a cover charge of $5, with admission free for kids 12 and under. Copies of the album will be on sale for $15.
Splaingard, 40, said the 12 songs on the album have an eclectic but familial relationship.
He teaches at Mississippi Valley State University in the engineering technology department. Additionally, he does independent architecure work in his free time.
He grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee but has lived with his wife, Rachel, in Greenwood for six years. He has also lived in Chicago and South Africa.
He said he has played music for close to two decades, and it has long been a passion project for him.
“I kind of picked it up, doodling around a little bit in high school,” he said. “Nobody in my family really played. It wasn’t like my dad plays guitar. I had a great-grandfather who was a really good accordion player who came over from Europe. He was an immigrant and ended up working in the coal mines.”
Growing up, he developed a respect for music even if he didn’t always see it performed.
While pursuing an architecture degree at Auburn University, he was given his first opportunity to learn music from a spontaneous playing session in a dormitory stairwell.
“Some guys were strumming guitars, and I liked to sing,” he said. “We were singing in that chamber of the stairwell. I just thought, ‘This is so much fun.’ I was watching these guys play, and they were really nice guys who said, ‘Yeah, you could do this. We can show you a few chords.’”
That was his entry point into playing music, and he experienced what he called “convert’s delight” in finally being able to participate in what he always loved to observe.
Some of his influences include Hank Williams, Radiohead, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks.
His stage name, “Small Trucks,” comes from an appreciation of small trucks, as well as the desire to free himself musically from his other roles as a teacher and an architect.
Still, he found difficulty in the production aspect of music.
“Every few years I would make a little fake album for myself,” he said. “I’m always writing songs. I have just a heap of songs, but I never was good at producing or recording. It’s just not my thing.”
He said he often volunteers at Turnrow, helping with organizing concerts at the store and seeing a variety of musicians. He said these concerts made him realize he wanted to produce his own music.
“The closest parallel as an architect is when you’re designing a building, you do a ton of sketches,” he said. “You do a whole lot of ideas in sketch form. At some point, you’re dissatisfied with just making cool sketches. You want to make a finished building. You want to see something realized.”
He reached out to a friend, blues historian Scott Barretta of Greenwood, who recommended Dial Back Sound, a recording studio in Water Valley owned by Matt Patton of Drive-By Truckers.
Splaingard said he sent a collection of demo songs to the studio’s engineer, Bronson Tew, who invited him to come record.
“We scheduled a time at the end of last July to come up there for the better part of a week and just do it,” Splaingard said. “They did a great job. Bronson in particular, he’s such a pro. He does this all the time. He has no trouble recording something well.”
He said he was fortunate that his job allows him a summer schedule to do individual projects.
He also is grateful for Dial Back Sound for allowing him space to record although he is “kind of the new guy on the scene” compared to other more prominent acts.
He said he wants his music to be relatable.
“I kind of like being a guy who filters from the experiences of everyday life certain essences and then puts them into song,” he said. “It’s very much somebody out, doing things in the world. It’s not that I’m a touring musician all the time talking about being on the road. That’s not my thing. It’s taking notice of the everyday and hopefully making it more recognizable.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
A guitarist and singer, Dan Splaingard compares making music to working as an architect. Both are artistic endeavors that rely on conceiving and realizing a finished product. (By Kevin Edwards)
