Singer/Songwriter/Tromobonist Natalie Cressman is certainly well-known within our scene as a long-standing member of the Trey Anastasio Band, but her solo resume is extremely impressive unto itself. She recently released a new five-song album titled The Traces EP, which we’re preparing to celebrate on Friday, March 24th, at New York City’s American Beauty (purchase tickets here). Cressman’s album release party is co-billed with a performance by Omaha Diner, an all-star supergroup featuring Skerik (saxophone), Charlie Hunter (7-string guitar), Steven Bernstein (trumpet), and Bobby Previte (drums). Omaha Diner is dripping with talent, putting  a modern jazz twist on various #1 Billboard Top 40 hits from throughout time. To say that we are looking forward to this show is an enormous understatement.

A 25-year-old Cressman currently resides in Brooklyn and already has two self-produced solo albums, 2012’s Unfolding and 2014’s Turn The Sea, to go along with 2016’s Etching in Amber, a duo album recorded with guitarist Mike Bono. Cressman has some serious vocal skills to pair with her trombone playing, and is well-versed in a diverse array of musical stylings, including modern jazz, Latin jazz, Brazilian, funk, rock, and more. Take a listen to The Traces EP to get a vibe for the contemporary sound of Natalie Cressman, then read below to hear a more in-depth explanation of what she’s been up to.

Live For Live Music: I listened to The Traces EP the other day and absolutely loved it. It was really, really cool. How do you feel this record continues your own evolution as an artist?

Natalie Cressman: Well, it felt natural. Following the previous record I did with this band, which had more of a jazz vibe with improvised solos, I began veering in a more singer/songwriter direction where everything is more focused on the actual songs, more so than the jamming and the improvised elements. I think this takes it to another level with the lack of open solos and with the addition of more involved production and sound effects, ultimately building the songs to a different dimension than what can be done with a live band. From writing the songs to teaming up with a producer, I realized that this was the next step.

I think that even though it’s a very different sounding record than my past ones, it still feels like a natural step forward. I’ve been getting more into following what a song needs instead of focusing on just the individual musicians and the sound that comes from a live band.

L4LM: Totally. Your concentration on songwriting is really cool for fans to experience. Did you write all of those songs on the record, both musically and lyrically?

NC: Yeah, I wrote them all. The lyrics and the music. The songs started as my own demos in Ableton, but I dropped them to a producer and then recorded live instruments on top of that. I actually started out programming all the instruments myself and recording everything myself in my room, and from there we expanded it.

I didn’t actually play the drums, but I programmed them by sequencing the drums in a recording software. Then I put in a little bit of live bass, sang all the vocals, and played all the trombone parts. All of those I recorded, obviously. Then the keyboards I played using a midi keyboard and programmed the sounds through the software.

I took those demos to Ivan Jackson of Brasstracks, and he took some things out, changed some things about the groove, added his own layers, took some layers out, and then replaced a lot of the stuff that was really replicating live instruments. The drums, keyboard, strings, bass, trombones; we recorded everything live, including my vocals. Most of the time when I’m getting into the zone, songwriting wise, it’s like one or two or three in the morning and my voice is cracked. I’m trying to not wake my roommates, so everything had to kind of be redone. It was the first time that I’d made a record like that where I’d really mapped out each song with all their elements before bringing in the band to record.

In the past, I just write songs on piano and I bring in a chart to my band and that’s when I get to hear what it sounds like. This time I made a lot more decisions on my own about the groove and specific parts. It was coming more from me than from my band. Then, also, a lot came from Ivan, because he definitely spent some time with the music before we even brought the live musicians into the soundscape.

L4LM: Can you tell us about the inspiration for some of these songs?

NC: Well, I have to say not very many of them were autobiographical. There were some feelings that felt very genuine that I kind of put a story to. I’m definitely inspired by the more complicated side of love. Even if I’m in a really good place in my life, I feel like there’s more to say about the negative sides of love, like losing it and being torn between decisions. I think most of the songs are somewhat somber and reflective and have a little bit of tension to them. For me, it’s a lot easier to write those kinds of songs than like, “I’m happy, there are puppies and rainbows, everything is great!” There’s not enough meat to them emotionally for me, so I kind of enjoy writing sad songs.

One of the songs I did write more personally is about being in the music business and feeling very frustrated by the things I have to deal with being a girl in a boys club. “Radio Silence” was that song, which kind of dealt with how there are times when I’m not hired because I’m a girl. And, sometimes, I’m hired because I’m a girl as a novelty. Sometimes, I’d rather just have people listening with their eyes closed to what’s really important, which is the music. That was one song that was pretty close to me, autobiographically speaking. The rest, though, I was definitely using my imagination a lot.

L4LM: Do you have any specific song-writing processes, as far as when or where, or how you like to approach writing?

NC: I’m definitely kind of a slave to whenever inspiration strikes. I’m not someone that can sit down and write a song every day that’s great. These songs come about in different ways, depending on where I am and what kind of setup I have because I travel a lot. A lot of things come up, start out as these little lyrics that I write down. I keep a notebook when I travel with phrases or sentences and images that I really like, and then I look back when I’m trying to write a song or base a song off of that idea, so some of them kind of came from that.

I also sometimes would wake up in the middle of the night with a song idea in my head or from a dream. I’d open my phone really quickly and record a groggy voice memo, then check it out the next day. That sometimes is the way that certain melodies and hooks come about. Other times, I’ll play around in Ableton and come up with a good chord progression that I like or a sound that makes me think of a mood and a groove. I’ve built out songs that way, too. Other songs come from a snippet that two weeks later will go into a section of a song. Then, maybe I can’t finish the song that day because I don’t know where it needs to go. As more time goes by, eventually it’ll get finished.

The third song, “Love Me Blind,” is very loop-based. It started with just me playing around with this trombone melody, and stacking and looping my trombone so there were three different parts that I turned into the melody of the song. I was just in my sandbox musically as I was in my apartment, playing around.

L4LM: For “Radio Silence,” was there a particular moment that made you sit down and dedicate yourself to that emotion?

NC: Yeah, there are so many stories that play into the mood that “Radio Silence” is about. It was the feeling of just not being able to get it right. No matter what I do. Whether I try to be one of the guys, whether I try to be feminine, be myself, it doesn’t really matter. People still have their prejudices and there’s nothing I can do about it, and that’s frustrating. Yeah, there’s not one particular thing. In fact, the song kind of goes back and forth. The verses are like, “I’d rather be left out then held up like a token,” which is about the times that I’ve been hired and then get too excited because it’s a pop gig with artists I really like. Then it turns out, oh no, it’s like this all-chick horn section, and we’re at the bottom of the totem pole, even below the other musicians, because we’re just there to look cute and wear matching outfits. That feeling sucks because I really work my butt off to play my instrument well, and have musical and artistic integrity so that feels demeaning, and is just not why I got into playing music.

Then, there’s the double standards. The way that male musicians can behave a certain way and do whatever they want without any implications on their career, but if you’re a girl and you get involved with somebody, even if it ends amicably, you lose out on gigs automatically just because it’s awkward. People assume that it’s awkward, and they side with the guys because it’s all guys. I lost some playing opportunities in a situation like that and it was upsetting. I kind of was like, oh, all these musicians and friends who I thought were the real deal, all of a sudden, I don’t have that gig anymore. Instead, it’s radio silence, and it has nothing to do with my musicianship or even who I am as a person. It’s just the climate that it is when you’re in a boy’s club and you’re the only girl, or one of the only girls.

L4LM: In Trey Anastasio Band, you’re so obviously not there as a girl. You’re so obviously there as another badass on stage.

NC: Right, and that’s the thing. I’m lucky that most of the time, like 90% of the time, I’m around the best people that totally see me for what I bring to the table musically and who I am as a person. They’re not thinking that I’m any worse because I’m a girl or any less capable because I’m a girl. They’re definitely just judging me on who I am individually. But, there are times when people think I’m going to suck because I’m a girl, and girls don’t play trombone. Sometimes, I’ll get stopped on the street when I’m carrying my trombone and my bass, and someone will say something like, “Do you actually know how to play those instruments?” They’re not meaning to be condescending, but that statement in and of itself is revealing that the person doesn’t think that women typically do that, or are able to.

When I say, “Yes, I do play them,” and they go, “really?”, it’s like they can’t even believe it. It’s so frustrating, because any woman I know kind of feels like they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves. It seems so silly.

L4LM: Yeah, definitely. The more that you’re able to get out there and get those gigs that are totally random. The more you put yourself in front of those new audiences, you prove that yeah, you can play the fucking trombone, and the bass, and you can sing too. Oh, and you’re a woman.

NC: Yeah, that could be the fourth thing that someone notices, not the first thing that you’re judged on. Your gender doesn’t really come into music as much as people like to act like it does.

L4LM: When you walk into a club, you hear the music before you see the stage. You can tell from the door if you want to stay. Let’s all just wear masks from now on and see what happens.

NC: Let’s do it!

L4LM: Tell us the story of how you got the gig with TAB.

NC: Well, back in the day, around 2005, my dad did a tour with Trey [Anastasio], and he got the gig through one of his oldest friends, and my godfather Peter Apfelbaum, who was in the horn section at the time. My dad loved it, and Trey really enjoyed my dad’s playing. He’s just a great guy. When Trey was putting his band back together in 2009, he gave my dad a call and offered him the job. My dad also has had a long touring gig with Santana, and so he wasn’t able to make the dates work with what he already had going on with Santana. Apparently Trey and his manager had been looking for someone who could play trombone and sing, and they hadn’t found that, so they were excited to call my dad and just get a great trombonist.

Then, they asked my dad if he had any recommendations, and my dad said, “Well, there’s this girl who lives in New York City. She can sing, she can play, she can read music, she’s very professional. She goes to Manhattan School of Music and she happens to be my daughter.” Lucky for me they didn’t just laugh at that and keep looking. They actually followed up, and I was only 18 at the time. I hadn’t had any touring experience and only some performance experience. They gave me a call, and I sent them some music. My audition was essentially just showing up at a gig that Jen Hartswick was doing on the upper east side. I met her right then, came up on stage, and sat in on a song I’d never heard before, but I was able to jam with everyone and hold my own, even though it was a completely alien unfamiliar setting.

Me and Jen just really hit it off as friends, as people, so Jen called Trey that night and said, “I think this is our girl, I think she’ll be great.” That’s how I got the gig.

L4LM: That’s so awesome. Especially that you hadn’t had any previous goals to perform in that sort of improv-induced setting or to go on the road. 

NC: Yeah, I mean I’d done a bunch of dad’s gigs with Peter Apfelbaum, and I’d played professionally, but never on the road and definitely never in the jam world where it was something at that level. It was definitely super cool of them. Talk about model behavior. They just saw me for the musician I was, and not how old I was, or what I looked like, or even what gender I was. That was really awesome.

L4LM: Had playing music and touring always been part of the plan for you? Was that something you wanted to do growing up watching your family, or was this kind of a total left turn for you?

NC: Well, I always have been involved in music. My parents are musicians, so it was definitely a very familiar setting being backstage and going to my parents’ gigs. Actually, until about halfway through high school, I really wanted to be a ballerina and I was training really hard to do that. I’ve always liked performing arts, and as a kid I sang and did musical theater. Then, I got super into, like, hardcore ballet dance. I was on that path for a while, but I got injured and had to take a couple months off. Then, I really got the music bug super hard. I ended up playing in a rock band and doing more stuff with other advanced musicians my age, and it was just super motivating.

There’s definitely more of a sense of warmth and community in music than there is in ballet. I just fell in love with that idea and changed gears and changed courses. I decided that I wanted to go to college for music, and I’ve kind of just been all about music ever since.

L4LM: That’s so awesome. OK so – we want to know about your experience performing with Phish on New Years.

NC: Yes. It was such a treat. It was pretty amazing to be part of such an insane production. I’ve seen the gags before from past years, so I knew it was going to be something really amazing, but it wasn’t really until we were there rehearsing with the dancers that I realized how expansive the whole thing was and how perfectly choreographed it was with all the lighting, and all the rain. I saw these big balloons up above waiting to be released, and I had a feeling it was going to be amazing, but actually being in it, during the actual performance, it was really hard to keep my jaw off the floor. I was just in awe and trying to take it all in but also not forget to play my part in the music too because there was so much to enjoy about it. It was definitely a really great way to start this year.

L4LM: I’m sure that even if you know a little bit about what’s going to happen, you could never possibly know until it’s happening just how crazy it’s going to be. Especially with raining cats and dogs.

NC: Yeah, I know, it’s like a whole other level.

L4LM: It’s something that a lot of people don’t understand, and it’s basically impossible to explain. It really is something you had to be there for. Speaking of New York City gigs, your album release party is coming up in a couple of days, at American Beauty with Omaha Diner, which I’m just learning is a really cool band.

NC: Oh yeah, and also, Skerik and Charlie Hunter, who I love, and Steven Bernstein, who is one of my dad’s oldest friends who he’s known since elementary school along with Peter, so that’s pretty cool. It’s going to be a hang and a half. Honestly, anything is possible with those four musicians. It will be a treat for sure, I’m excited.

L4LM: So are we!

Tickets are now on sale at this link.

– SHOW INFO –
Artist: Natalie Cressman ‘The Traces EP’ Album Release Party w/ Omaha Diner
Venue: American Beauty (251 W. 30th Street – New York, NY 10001)
Date: Friday – March 24th, 2017
Ages: 21+
Tickets: $15adv / $20dos (purchase tickets here)