Me: The band went from traditional bluegrass to a hodgepodge of genres, what led to this change?
Cadillac Sky’s Bryan Simpson: simply becoming more comfortable with who we are and more confident. We just realized after playing a little while together that we were the ones who were gonna have to live with the music we made on a nightly basis and we wanted to truly be excited about the music..so we just sort of stopped doing so much editing and naturally we started to create music that was a blend of all the stuff we listened to that inspired us…there was no big plan really, we just wanted to keep ourselves interested.
Me: How did the band start?
Bryan:I basically met Matt at a benefit concert we were playing separately and we talked about the possibility of doing something together. I had some songs, he had that banjo, and we both had a desire to do anything besides get a real job. Day after we met we got together and played a little more at my mother-in law’s house which was located in between the two of us - and C-Sky was born…for better or worse.
Me: When did David Mayfield join?
Bryan: Like Sept 2008 I think. Feels like he was always a part of the band. I don’t remember much pre- Mayfield.
Me: Who did he replace?
Bryan: Mike Jump
Me: What did he bring to the dynamic?
Bryan: Confidence. A sort of frenetic energy. A wealth of talent.
Me: What was the highest moment in the band?
Bryan: there were a lot of them. One, for me, was this little non-descript club in Des Moines, IA in like early 2010 we played on a Tuesday night. Our show was supposed to start at midnight. All day at this club they had speed-metal shows, death metal whatever…and so we pulled up and the place is packed with Metal Fest attendees - I remember we went on after Cattle Decapitation - and their show ran long. After we got there we found out we weren’t going to get to soundcheck until midnight and then there was also gonna be a band open for us that we didn’t know about, and I just figured that this was gonna be THE show - the one where its just us and the guy waiting to sweep up after us. We didn’t go on till like 1:30 and somehow, by the grace of God, there was this group of about 75 people that were at the show with an unbridled enthusiasm. They lived and breathed every song. and were crazy kind to us, and that’s when I knew - man, this thing has spread bigger than I ever dreamed it would.
Me: When did you guys become such good friends with Mumford and Sons?
Bryan: Telluride 2010.
Me: What was it like recording with Dan Auerbach (Black Keys)?
Bryan: Easy. Laid back.
Me: When making Letters of the Deep, did you know the immensity of the album?
Bryan: No. Still don’t. I knew we were making something that we liked- finally.
Me: You do most of the singing. Do you also do most of the writing?
Bryan: I wrote about 75% of the material. But once David joined the band we had another writer in the band - a great one in fact - and so me and him wrote some together, and then, you know, honestly, once you place a song in the hands of Matt, Ross, and Andy they change and become something new. So everybody sort of wrote all the songs we did - one thing that was cool, is that, unintentionally, every member had a song on Letters.
Me: When did you decide to leave?
Bryan: Telluride 2010.
Me: When Levi Lowery took your place, were any new songs written? If so were there plans for a new album?
Bryan: I think they had plans for a new album.
Me: What caused the band to realize it was time to end?
Bryan: It never ended - just stopped for a while. “On Hiatus” remember? I’m not sure why really - I wasn’t around…
Me: What is everyone else doing now?
Bryan: Ross is playing with Mumford and Sons, Matt is doing sessions, spending time with his little girl, and playing on the road with an artist on Arista; Brent Anderson. Andy is teaching - being a dad to his two little girls - and David is leading the Parade around.
From: https://folkthisblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/cadillac-skys-bryan-simpson-interview/
