Every once in awhile in this business one becomes lucky enough to get introduced to some gems early on.  I, for one, put a lot of faith in Adam Duritz to pick talent.  I’ve loved the Counting Crows since August and Everything After and so has our editor in chief, Rob, who actually got to hear it from Adam (when his band opened up for the the Crows) before it was ever put out!  We both got to hang out with Adam last summer at his Outlaw Roadshow, but more importantly we were introduced to two great bands: Field Report and We Are Augustines, both of which we now count as friends of Pittsburgh Music Magazine.  Let us add another great talent to that list in some ways via Adam…Runaway Dorothy.  These NYNY gents via the South are going to grace us with their syrupy sultry southern tinged folk rock tunes that feel like beautiful wood etchings, great textures, and multiple layers that leave you discovering more and more each time you go back to them.  We caught up with Runaway Dorothy while on the road before they hit up Pittsburgh next Friday April 5th…

We’ve been introduced to some awesome bands like Field Report and We Are Augustines by Adam Duritz of The Counting Crows. Tell us a little about your relationship with Adam and your experience with The Outlaw Road Show?

Well I guess my relationship with him started well before he even knew of me. I used to do really bad covers of Crows songs when I started out. I mean really bad. The first time we met was in a pizza joint in NYC. A random chance encounter. Ironically enough it was the day before the cmj outlaw roadshow. This was before we were even a part of the outlaw roadshow. Since then we have played all the outlaw roadshows except for the last one at sxsw. And we were invited to play but just couldn’t make it. But it has been great. And I am sure we will do stuff with Adam and Ryan from Ryan’s smashing life soon.

Tell us a little about the making of the video for “Hurry”, your dogs, and the studio experience in North Carolina…

That was all thanks to our bassist Sammy. We shot a lot of footage while in the studio and he put that together. We wanted to give a little glimpse of what it is like in the studio. And to show our kickstarter backers and our fans what their contributions did for us.

Most of the dogs in the video are the dogs at the studio. Only the little wiener dog is mine. He had to come along to make sure we didn’t screw anything up. You can’t make a country record without dogs around.

As far as the studio in experience in NC. It was great. It actually had come about last minute. We were scheduled in Nashville with Oran Thornton the producer of our last album, but schedules and finances kept that from working. We had already put aside that time in our life to record and so we decided we would self-produce and go ahead. My friend Price actually found the studio for us and he came in and helped us out tremendously in the studio.

How does hailing from the South influence your music?

I think I am just a musical product of the things that were around me. Country music, working class families, friends that stay your friends forever, farmland, and a distinct accent. I can’t hide any of that influence. I have tried, but even if it’s not all apparent it’s there. How I like my guitars to sound, what instrumentation we use, vocal harmony, and songs about heartbreak. I basically just watched an episode of Hee-Haw with my grandpa and decided I wanted to make my version of music like I was hearing.

How is the tour going so far and where have you had the best experiences?

We are actually in right now. Just doing some spot dates here and there to make sure we don’t get rusty. We have had a bunch of things going on away from writing and playing music. We have been using this time to set our strategy for releasing the album and planning the tour. We are very lucky to have a great management team that does a lot of this for us.

How did you pick Frank Germano to do the fabulous cover art for “The Wait”?

Frank actually designed a poster for us for a show we did for Ryan of Ryan’s Smashing Life in Boston and it was amazing. So our manager Nicholas approached him about designing the album. I had had the concept for a while and originally thought I wanted a photo, but after seeing what Frank did I can’t imagine the album looking any other way.

Do you still talk to Ryan Adams at all or at least get to thank him for his ‘push in the right direction’?

No. I only ran into a few times after we originally met. Once in Charleston and once after I moved to New York.  I wasn’t even sure he would remember me or the evening. But he did and he was very awesome about the whole thing. I am definitely thankful for the push. I needed it.

Can you describe the song writing process for the band?

That’s a great question. We have a formula and it looks something like this.

Dave + Girl + broken hearts = the new Runaway Dorothy album

What are the goals for the band with the new record and tour?

The goal is to reach as many people as we can. And see who likes it. And then pack up the van and go play for the ones that want to hear it. And hopefully the finances will fall in place so we can do that.

If you could collaborate with any artist(s) living or dead whom would they be and why?

I want to share the stage with Noel Gallagher. I learned everything I know about writing a song from him and it will be amazing to see firsthand what his process is for writing and recording.

So looking forward to these dudes coming in…hope to see you guys there!