Keith Urban Feels His Father’s Influence All Over ‘Ripcord’
Keith Urban's father, Robert "Bob" Urban, passed away in December, while Urban was making his new album, Ripcord. Since it was his father who began Urban's early love affair with country music, it's only logical that his influence is all over the upcoming project.
"Don Williams records, I grew up listening to because of my dad," Urban tells The Boot, taking the opportunity to demonstrate "that thing that those records have ... that sounds like my childhood." (Press play on the video above to watch!)
"My dad’s stereo -- that’s the first thing I think of, is that kind of strong downbeat, backbeat and little in-between rhythmic thing that is very, very Don Williams," Urban continues. "[It] really informed so much of how I play and how I rhythmically approach records."
On Ripcord specifically, Urban especially feels his father in "Blue Ain't Your Color," a song co-produced by the country star and Dann Huff.
"["Blue Ain't Your Color"] is a very, very stark, minimalistic way of recording, which really comes from those records that Don and Garth Fundis did," Urban explains. "And to go back now and listen to some of those -- which I do pretty often, just to be reminded of how little you need on certain tracks.
"Don also had that attitude, too, like, the song is the picture, and the record is the frame. You’ve got to find the right frame, not too much and not too little, to make the picture really work," Urban adds. "So for the songs that don’t need much, like "Blue Ain’t Your Color," my dad’s record collection obviously has informed that a lot."
The artist also learned his love of rhythm from his father, which he is now, a bit unknowingly, passing on to his own children, 7-year-old Sunday Rose and 5-year-old Faith Margaret.
"My dad was a drummer, so his very strong rhythmic influence on me as a kid is becoming even more and more apparent to me," Urban shares. "He was just banging on stuff all the time: the dashboard of the car, the table at home during breakfast. I find myself doing the same thing, without realizing it, until my kids start banging on the table and looking at me; they’re doing what I’m trying to do. I’m like, I didn’t realize I was doing it."
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