“It’s Spiritual Release, Like Outer Meditation”
What it feels like to be in the Patti Smith Group in 2022. By LENNY KAYE.
“THE PANDEMIC took us off the road for almost 18 months, and I realised how much we need to play music, not for the adulation but the physical and spiritual release, like outer meditation, it takes you to another place. What’s changed since the group started is our understanding of the material and how deep it runs, parallel to our growth as artists and humans. It’s not like sports where the body starts letting you down. I think, with musicians, there is a grace in growing older, and I understand better how to get to where I need to, and make each song new. What’s stayed the same is our commitment to our art and idealism, to bring a positive energy and inspire the audience to swim in their own sea of possibilities. We live in very difficult times at the moment, and what we offer is a beacon of hope and engagement, and by extension a sense of empowerment.
I love seeing that our audiences are not age-dominated. The first five rows are still mostly girls, who see in Patti a passion and encouragement and the sense that, even if you’re a renegade or idiosyncratic, you can find a way to make your art. Our band came from as far left-field as we could, with poetry and one guitar. We didn’t set out to be a rock’n’roll band; we just followed our instincts. We’ll play all sorts, from soft, intimate moments to ramping it up into a field of healing noise.
For me, our relationship to the songs hasn’t changed. I’m really happy to revisit our hits, because you understand the impact they have made, but I get the same rush from playing Free Money as I did in 1976 – we amp up the energy, follow its twists and turns, and I feel I can move a mile an hour faster than I did then! Land is still a jumping-off point for Patti to improvise a train of thought – as with Birdland, I love to see where that bird will fly! I still feel the emotional depth when we play Because The Night, specifically the love the lyrics embrace between Patti and [late husband] Fred, but it’s reflected by the audience as they sing it back to us.
THE BAND is myself, Jay Dee [Daugherty, drums], Tony [Shanahan, bass/keys] and [Patti’s son] Jackson [guitar]. Everyone brings different influences and strengths, but the music goes through Patti’s persona and sense of drive. We all try to get to the door and open it for her before she whisks through! Jackson’s a remarkable guitarist; to me he brings a sense of Chet Atkins, while I’m more rock-oriented. The band is like family anyway. Jay Dee’s been with us since 1975, Tony for over 25 years. Jay Dee is the backbone of the band. Tony brings a sense of McCartney’s arranging to enhance the music. Patti is the arrow, and we’re the feathers aiming the arrow towards the bullseye.
With Patti, you just seize moments in time. We’ll have our setlist but we don’t know where her imagination or vision will lead. I’ve been standing to her stage-left for 50 years, and I’ve never heard Patti sing a false note. She’s committed to making each song, and concert, relevant to that moment in time. We just played in Austin, and the Kentucky derby had been won by a little red horse, 80-1 odds, it just burst through from nowhere. We felt that night that we’d know how to pony when we played Land!
Backstage is quiet these days, because of Covid, but the band has never been into rock’n’roll bacchanalia – we’re workers. I like dancing to White Wedding at 3am as much as anyone but I also like to get up early and remember what our mission is. The challenge of touring now is the logistics of travel and time spent in a sardine can, from city to city and the lack of sleep. When I get home to Pennsylvania, I feel pretty beat up! Coming up is three and a half weeks in Europe – I wouldn’t want to tour for eight weeks any more. But once we’re at soundcheck, there’s a big sigh of relief. You get to play for yourself and a couple of thousand people. It’s every musician’s dream.”
As told to Martin Aston
“PATTI IS THE ARROW, AND WE’RE THE FEATHERS AIMING THE ARROW TOWARDS THE BULLSEYE.”