Doug Seegers was homeless on the Nashville streets busking after years of struggling with drink and drugs. Swedish country star Jill Johnson heard him sing his song ‘Going Down To The River’ which led him topping the Swedish charts, kick-starting his recording career. Doug shares his remarkable life story with Jason Barnard as he comes to the UK with new album, ‘A Story I Got To Tell’.
Hi Doug, it’s great to speak to you. You worked with Joe Henry on ‘A Story I Got To Tell’. What was it like working with him given he’s produced top artists like Bonnie Rait and Elvis Costello?
Working with Joe was great. It was in California and he told me that Ray Charles had recorded in our studio. That was one of the highlights of being there. He had a lot of good musicians there with our pedal steel player travelling with us from Nashville.
Although your sound has got country at its heart, you touch different genres.
I’m very amused by trying different styles of music. I have a rockabilly song on my new album which was the first attempt at doing writing rockabilly. So it was a challenge and that’s the thing that really spurs me on the most as a songwriter. I want to go places I haven’t seen before. I started writing when I was sixteen years old. I don’t write a lot but I do it when the feeling hits my heart.
So you must have a well of songs to draw on.
Yes. For all my albums I’ve recorded songs that are years old and mixed it with brand new ones. And there’s songs by other artists. I think it’s really important to pay homage and show who has inspired me.
One of them on the new LP is ‘White Line’ by Willie P. Bennett.
That was a song that I learned after hearing Jonathan Edwards doing it back in the late 70s. That’s about life on the road and all musicians can relate to any song about that. It’s not always a fun thing when you’re out making a living travelling from town to town with no one else. I was out in Austin Texas in the late 70s playing with Buddy Miller and I quit that band because I got tired of travelling. It takes like a half a day to get to every town. I got real tired of the road life real quick back then.
You’re originally from New York.
Yes, Long Island.
How did you develop a love for country music over there?
My mother and father were playing country music back in the 50s. And so I grew up in a country music family. They had a band, my mother played played the bass rhythm and my dad played guitar.
And you eventually moved over to to Nashville but were you travelling around before then?
No, I wasn’t really. I was pretty much working a day job most of my life. I was a cabinetmaker for 40 years, interior woodwork. Once I retired from that I decided to try to get back to playing music. When I first moved to Nashville I was still a drug addict and an alcoholic. When I first got into town I spent the next three or four years still a living my whole lifestyle you know – which wasn’t getting much done with music.
So these were issues that you had before Nashville. You came over and it kind of just carried on.
Yes, exactly. Well my life has been a roller coaster ride in between working a day job and then getting laid off and playing the guitar.
And there’s that incredible moment documented in film. The Swedish country star Jill Johnson heard you play.
That was a day for me. That was when this career really got a really, really good kick start. I don’t mean to brag about it. It was six years ago when I wound up with a number one song on the Swedish iTunes. I think everybody went into shock for a couple of weeks. The first thing that happened to me after that was a phone call from a booking agency in Sweden. I had no clue who he was. So he gets on the phone and he tells me that ‘We got to do something about this hit song. We want to get you over here as quick as we can’. He said ‘We want you to record an album first and then book like 60 shows’. I was just getting off the street. So I told them ‘Bring it on. Let’s do it.’
Your song ‘Going Down To The River’ resonates with people and touches their soul.
I don’t know what it was about that song, but with Jill Johnson it just hit her real quick. When I played it during my first year of touring in Sweden I was getting that same response from everybody after the show. They’re coming over to me and saying stuff like ‘Oh it raised the hairs on my arms when I heard that song.’ I’m like ‘Really?’. I had no clue about how effective that song was until Jill came along. I think the timing thing was good for me too because I had only been free from drugs and alcohol for probably not even a month. And then all of a sudden she appeared in my life behind the church in Nashville at a food pantry.
And that’s such a contrast. Getting over drink and drugs, being discovered and being like a superstar in Sweden in just a few months.
It was crazy because I got on a plane in America a homeless nobody then got off got the plane, as you say, an overnight sensation. It was crazy. All my friends were saying ‘Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this?’ I’m like ‘I’m going to give it my best shot.’
And you’ve documented your life in a book.
I have. I guess that’s been working out pretty good so far. I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback.
Am I right that it was at this time when you did a duet with Emmylou Harris?
Yes, I did a song with Emmylou on the first album and another with her a couple of years ago. ‘Walking On The Edge Of The World’ was another song she helped me with.
That’s another very strong song of yours.
I think so. I was wanting a Tom Petty feel when I wrote it. It’s always fun to just try to go to different places. That’s one of the challenges and the joys of being a songwriter, just trying to conquer a certain feel with the music.
And you’re doing a lot of touring.
Not at the minute, but it’s going to start once we get to the summertime. I think we’re going to probably do some in the UK. I’m hoping so. I’m hoping to do a little bit more touring in America too because I’ve been spending most of my time in Sweden and in other places in Scandinavia. That’s pretty much where my momentum has been strongest for the past five or six years. Those people fell in love with ‘Going Down To The River’. I touched lot of people with that song. That’s pretty amazing for me.
Looking back on your life, you’ve talked about discovering God. Has that being pivotal in terms of shaping where you are now?
Well it’s not like I had a recently discovery. My mother was in the choir and we had to go to Sunday school and church. So I’ve always had a strong walk with God. The only thing was that the drugs and alcohol got in the way. Once I got rid of the drugs and the alcohol God came back a little bit stronger in my life. So at this point right now I realize that he probably has intentions for me to go out there and try to inspire people with my music. I feel like he wants me to be a living testimony and turn my story to music. He wants me to deliver the message with song about how my faith has made it easy for me to walk away from 40 years of addiction.
Thanks for your time Doug, what an inspirational life. It’s brilliant that people over here are discovering your story and music.
I’m very excited about that Jason. Thank you so much.
For more information visit dougseegersmusic.com
