Philadelphia songwriter Avi Wisnia speaks to Jason Barnard about Catching Leaves, his first full-length album in more than a decade. The collection follows the passing of Wisnia’s brother, who first introduced him to the joy of music, and grandfather, a singer and Holocaust survivor who helped him rediscover its communal power.
Hi Avi, Catching Leaves, the first single and title track of your new album sounds like it could have been recorded anytime over the last 50 years. Is that something you aimed for and is that representative of this collection?
I wanted the whole album to have a timeless quality to it, absolutely. Catching Leaves is a song about the passage of time and the struggle to remain present in the life we are living. There’s a lot of interplay between the past and the present on this album, and I want the listener to be able to sit where they are but also to feel suspended in time. It all helps you get lost in the music.
Can you tell me about the recording process, where did you record and who you collaborated with?
I teamed up with producer Ken Pendergast to realize the songs on this album. I had performed with Ken many times over the years and I always appreciated his musicality and attention to nuance and subtlety. Much of the timeless quality of the album comes from the production and arrangements of the songs. We stuck mostly to acoustic instruments to get a real organic type of sound. We assembled a talented collection of Philadelphia artists and multi-instrumentalists at Morning Star Studios, including the core band with Erik Sayles on guitar and Chuck Staab on drums. We also brought in other local singer-songwriters to help lend their voices with gorgeous harmony: Samantha Rise, Jeremy Grenhart, Alexandra Day.
Sometimes when an artist makes a record, they build a sonic world for their album, there’s a kind of sound they are going for. Going into this project though, there wasn’t just one sonic landscape. For some songs, we invited in a trio of horns or a string quartet to bring out a lush and full sound. For others, we wanted an intimate sparse feel with unique and subtle sounds in unexpected places like the hum of a kazoo or the clack of a typewriter or the ping of my childhood FisherPrice xylophone. I wanted each song to have its own world, like individual planets orbiting in the same solar system. Each had its own atmosphere and composition – to extend the metaphor here – but they are all revolving around some similar themes and ideas and truths.
What are the overarching themes of the Catching Leaves album and what inspired you to produce this collection of songs?
This album was made at a time when I was dealing with a lot of grief and sadness and uncertainty mainly revolving around the death of my older bother. We were very close and often made music together, so I really felt this giant hole in my life when he passed away. I had all these pieces and scraps of songs lying around, and the ones I kept coming back to kept asking the same questions. Where do we find meaning, How do we move forward when we feel so weighed down, How do we stay grounded and make sense of the world when so many things feel out of our control? These were all things I had been asking myself and trying to figure out, and things I generally think about a lot. Bringing these songs to life was really a way to help me process and try to express some of these ideas, and ultimately to not just sit with these feelings but to make something beautiful out of them.
What do you think are its key tracks and why?
The first three tracks on the album really give you a taste of the genres that I gravitate towards on this album and that represent different parts of the whole. Catching Leaves is jazzy and impressionistic. Heat Lightning is a simmering pop/rock tune with catchy hooks. Come Home To is a sweet melody on a bed of roots and americana. Each one tells a story and paints a picture in a very different way, and each one gives you a good sense of the sound and perspective that you will find on the album. I’m also excited for people to hear my covers of Wilco and Neil Young, plus a reinterpretation of a bossa nova classic “Dindi.”
The album artwork is very striking – what and where is it?
I’m so glad you asked about the artwork on the cover of the album. During the process of writing and recording Catching Leaves, I would go to this park, Palumbo Park, down the street from where I used to live in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia. It felt very necessary for me to get out in nature to write lyrics and sketch out song ideas, or just to take a breather and clear my head when I was stressed out and having a hard time. I would get inspired by this giant mural on the wall of the Fleisher Art School. It’s so colorful and warm, and so serene you can get lost in it. When I was putting together ideas for the album art, I kept having visions of this mural, and I loved the thought of returning to the site where many of these songs were nurtured. The photos in front of the mural came out great, it just went with the very autumnal vibe of the music and the mood that the colors of the art evoke. I later found out the title of the work is “Autumn Revisited” – it all just came together in such a meaningful way. The artist David Guinn graciously let his artwork be incorporated into this project. I love looking at the cover of the album because it’s such a great visual representation of the music you’re about to hear.
What is your background, how has that influenced this album and you as an artist?
Wisnia is a Polish family name and Avi is a Hebrew name. I often describe myself as a Jew From Jersey, a good shorthand to sum up the area and culture I come from. My father is a rabbi and my grandfather was a cantor, so I quite literally grew up in the synagogue. Growing up in this community, there was a lot of emphasis on introspection and always asking questions, and on communicating through storytelling – all of that comes through on this album. In addition, having these family members as leaders of the community, I got to see them regularly lead and engage large audiences of people, always with such comfort and command, and I think that definitely had an influence on me feeling at home on stage, and my joy in leading a group of people in a kind of communal experience, which is exactly what a live music performance is.
What led you to create the My Polish Wisnia project, where you share the stories and songs of your grandfather? How has it been delivering those events?
My grandfather is a Holocaust survivor, and singing is big part of how he survived. I grew up knowing only bits and pieces of his story and what he went through. In 2015, he asked me to accompany him to Poland to sing at a big international Holocaust Remembrance event and it began a collaboration of us traveling and performing music together. We traveled to many cities together over the last few years, and along the way, he would tell me stories I never heard before and I would get to know him better and he would pass on all this musical knowledge to me. The power of music to help us remember, the way music opens a door for you to explore someone else’s story, the way we carry our emotions and histories in the songs we sing, I have seen the impact of all of that on audiences of every age and demographic. It’s heavy subject matter but it’s so important and makes a difference. It has also helped me understand who I am and where my family comes from, and the importance of education and empathy, promoting peace and tolerance, and standing against oppression. My grandfather passed away this year and so I hope to preserve as much of his message as I can with the My Polish Wisnia project. His message lives on in the music.
Which musical artists influence you and why?
I have always been in awe of those songwriters whose work is forever revered and in constant rotation everywhere you go, from Great American Songbook standards to contemporary music, artists like Cole Porter and Oscar Hammerstein to James Taylor, Carole King and Stevie Wonder. Their songs have had such an impact on so many peoples lives. I also love the way artists like Norah Jones and Jamie Cullum reinforce the staying power of classics and standards, showing how you can keep reinterpreting these songs, and that there will always be an audience for that. Growing up I probably immersed myself most in the music of Ben Folds. Not only is he a great storyteller, introducing you to characters in his songs in such a vivid way, he’s also really playful and inventive on the piano, very creative in his approach to the music.
And then there are artists like David Byrne and Jon Batiste who not only jump genre with ease, but are also very involved in different types of media, which inspires me to channel my creativity in lots of different projects. They remind me that you can influence and participate in the world around you in so many different ways.
Looking back at your debut LP, Something New, what are your key reflections on the record and that period in your life?
I will always be very proud of the Something New album, it was a way for me to introduce myself musically to audiences. I remember being so nervous going into the studio then. I still get nervous going into the studio – something about the permanence of recording and putting your stamp of approval on one version of a song. Looking back makes me recognize how much more confidence I have now in my own voice and my musical choices. This new album, Catching Leaves, feels like the natural evolution of where I was always meant to go.
You’re also known for your association with the Philly Songwriters Circle and annual No Brainer Benefit Concerts. Can you tell me about how you got involved with both?
When my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2007, my family got involved with the National Brain Tumor Society, which funds research and raises awareness to help people dealing with brain cancer. We wanted to give back and gather our community in a meaningful way. Since my brother and I were both musicians, creating and organizing an annual benefit concert which would bring together brain tumor survivors with performing artists made a lot of sense as a way for us to get involved.
In 2013, after having just moved back to the Philly area after spending a decade living and performing in New York, I brainstormed with my good songwriter friend Aaron Nathans about gathering our other artist friends to help each other work on our craft and harness the energy of the local songwriting scene. What started with just a few songwriters in my living room is now a network of talent over 500 deep stretching all over the area, touching on every genre and experience level. A lot of the songs on Catching Leaves were brought to the group for fine-tuning before making it onto the recording. Even during the pandemic, we’ve been able to find ways to keep our monthly songwriting sessions going and continue to motivate and encourage each other to create and stretch ourselves. It’s such a wonderfully caring and invested group of people, and it’s been so cool to see all different types of collaborations, co-bills and projects form from it. I’ve always appreciated the intersection of art and community, and both the Song Circle and the No Brainer projects bring art and community together.
Do you have plans to play your new material live?
Absolutely. I really look forward to getting out on the road more in 2022 and traveling with this new album. But first, I will be reuniting with my studio band and producer/bassist Ken Pendergast for a big Catching Leaves album release concert at City Winery in Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov 28. It will be my first show with a band in many years, and the first time I’ll be making music with others on stage since the pandemic started – I think we’ve all missed it. Being in a room making music with other people, experiencing music together, it’s transcendent, there’s nothing like it. I can’t wait to get back out to perform live again. I’m hungry for it.
Catching Leaves is released on November 5, 2021. Further information can be found at aviwisnia.com
