Nick Dittmeier: Companion
Midwest modernist poet, TS Eliot, wrote, “Home is where one starts from,” in a series of essays about life. Nick Dittmeier, when not away touring North America and Europe, has spent his whole life in the same southern Indiana neighborhood. A poet in his own right, Jeffersonville, Indiana is Nick’s home; where everything started, where he writes, and where he continues to create and evolve as an Americana artist.
Nick began playing guitar and writing music when he was in middle school. He knew that he wanted to write songs, and he needed a vehicle to communicate with other musicians. He was listening to and emulating the current artists of that time, like Nirvana and Soundgarden, in several of his bands and learning the musician’s ropes from his experiences in local venues. He interacted with people who were creating music and making their art without asking permission, and that was all it took. Once he got a taste of that life, and once he was able to do what he wanted and follow his passion, school became less of a priority. Nick described how difficult it was for him to “join the circus and then go back and sit in a classroom.” He just wanted to write and play music at that time.
After leaving school, he never stopped playing music, but his musical influences started to change in his early 20’s. He recalled that he heard John Prine’s self-titled album with a friend on a trip to Chicago, and from that point on, “I started to look at songs on a different kind of level.” He expanded into Steve Goodman, Townes Van Zandt, and Guy Clark and truly studied their songwriting craft, and at that point, he became really serious about his songwriting. Influenced further by a spectrum of artists: Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, Little Feat, and Hayes Carll, Nick honed his own style across two solo EPs: Extra Better (2013) and Light of Day (2014), and two full length albums, with his band, the Sawdusters, Midwest Heart/Southern Blues (2016) and All Damn Day (2018). Each album has been a testament to stories of life, love, and everything that goes along with it, and his newest from Eastwood Records will continue to showcase his honest and meaningful storytelling.
Photo Courtesy of Tom Wickstrom
Just a month after releasing, All Damn Day, he started writing again. He was touring in North America and Europe relentlessly in support of his newly released album, and had become a little burned out on the process of putting a full-length record out. However, while things started to calm down, and he was traveling to venues and braving the frigid Midwest winter, he found that in whatever spare time he had, he wanted to write and fine-tune more songs. He had more stories to tell, and his many creative bursts were captured in a productive compilation. He took the songs that were fresh in his mind, and that he felt were the most ready to share, into the studio sessions at the Ark Barn in Indianapolis. Between December 2018 and February 2019, Nick worked alongside Bob Rutherford (bass), Ryan Koch (drums, backing vocals), and Jason McCulley (guitar, dobro, keys) to record, engineer, master and produce this four song EP, Companion.
The first song, “It’s Gonna Break Your Heart,” was released as the first single of the album. Nick wrote this as a story about just trying to get an idea off the ground, but running out of money, which is a relatable scenario saying, “It’s gonna break your heart/ It’s gonna rock you to the core/ Gonna take a little time/ Pick yourself up off the floor.” The lyrics encourage resilience and have some hope to them, as it ends with, “I’m hoping it’s alright/ I’m praying that it might/ But I can’t say it for sure.”
Nick penned “Leaving Terre Haute” for a friend who was from Terre Haute and said he never wanted to play there again. He said it’s a song about managing contradictions in life, such as a college student who is paying back student loans working as a bartender, and how the geographically unremarkable Terre Haute is called the ‘Crown Jewel of Wabash Valley,’ yet houses the federal prison where notorious criminals who committed heinous crimes were sent. “My dad worked at the prison when they killed Timothy McVeigh/ His lawyer picked up his ashes/ threw them in the trunk and moved away.”
“Take It Slow” was something different in Nick’s creative palate. He wanted to do something in the studio that was different than anything he had done before, and the result was a sound that highlights his vocals more than instruments. With a steady beat and some psychedelic backing, he sings about moving forward through life as you grow out of your current existence. Advised by the patient mama to take it “one step at a time to make it go/ doesn’t gotta be a rush/ little baby won’t you hush.” That’s good advice when faced with uncertain situations.
The final song on the album, the uptempo “Wildcat Creek,” is set in a place in northwest Indiana, “Where the Vermillion River meets the Tippacanoe.” Not based on anyone in particular, Nick wrote the song that simply reflects the views of “someone who wants to get the fuck out of a small area,” but is waiting to be freed from obligations. “Gonna head north and get a job/ my brothers they’re all gone/ they left here one by one/ and I’m holding down the farm.”
While the studio recordings are fantastic, Nick’s live show is an energetic and all out good time! He is on the road touring, and will give you an evening full of awesome music, so keep an eye out for dates near you!
https://nickdittmeier.com/shows/
Nick Dittmeier- guitar, vocals, songwriting
Bob Rutherford- bass
Ryan Koch- drums, back up vocals
Jason McCulley- guitars, dobro, keys
Engineered by Ryan Koch
Mastered by Jason McCulley
Produced by Jason McCulley, Ryan Koch and Nick Dittmeier
All songs written by Nick Dittmeier & copyrighted by Lost Crossroads Publishing 2019
Get the EP here:
