Musician and novelist Willy Vlautin grew up in Reno, Nevada and is currently based in Portland, Oregon. He formed Richmond Fontaine in the mid 1990s and they released 11 studio albums over a 20-year run, before forming his current band, the Delines, in 2012.
A prolific artist, Vlautin has also published 5 novels through Harper Perennial: The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, the Free, and Don’t Skip out on Me. The Motel Life and Lean on Pete have been adapted to the big screen, with his characters played by the likes of Kris Kristopherson, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, Steve Buschemi, and Chloe Seveny.
We spoke for a few hours and discussed a lot of music and books, so I’ll list the songs that wound up in the finished podcast here, and below that list I’ll put the reading material that we discussed, some of which made it into the podcast, and some of which didn’t.
Songs:
“Girl in a House in Felony Flats” (Richmond Fontaine)
“Northline” (Richmond Fontaine)
“He Told Her the City Was Killing Him” (The Delines)
“That Old Haunted Place” (The Delines)
“Night in the City” (Richmond Fontaine)
“Don’t Skip Out on Me” (Richmond Fontaine)
“Lost in the Trees” (Richmond Fontaine)
“The Boyfriends” (Richmond Fontaine)
“Miles From” (Richmond Fontaine)
“Home of the Brave” podcast by Scott Carrier
The Damnations- Amy Boone’s band before joining the Delines
Dalva by Jim Harrison
Faye by Larry Brown
Horseman, Pass By, Hud, and Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
Books that influenced the writing of Don’t Skip out on Me:
The Death of Jim Loney by James Welch, Fat City by Leonard Gardner, and Sweet Promised Land by Robert Laxalt
All episodes of Our Social Landscape can be found on iTunes, simply type oursociallandscape into the search box. If you have any questions or comments, email me at jr@oursociallandscape.com.
