Pine County singer-songwriter Nathan Frazer lives 'between the wilderness and a scene'

As a longtime resident of northern Pine County, singer-songwriter Nathan Frazer has found himself living "between the wilderness and a scene" since he started playing music in the early nineties.

On Wednesday, Frazer joined WCMP for an interview to discuss his plans to record an album in May, his songwriting inspirations and process, and live music as a means of community connection.

Frazer pinpoints listening to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's rendition of "Mr. Bojangles" in his youth as a formative moment, setting the foundation for his love of music.

Years later, it's still a song that remains a recurring part of Frazer's setlists.

"I remember that song really just hit me, and I realized I had been gone for like three minutes," Frazer reminisced. "I had been in that song, in that story, with that character. So I guess that's where it all started; that's what I blame, is that song."

Frazer first picked up a guitar to "noodle around with" around 1991, playing in a couple bands as an East Central High School student.

"It wasn't anything that I was planning on making a living doing," Frazer explained. "It was kind of a passion, but I really wanted to be a writer and a poet."

Frazer recalled a lively music scene at Pine County bars in his youth. He and a coterie of high school friends would trek down to The Brass Rail (now Froggy's) in Pine City on Wednesday nights to watch a band called Milkbone play.

Milkbone's Wednesday night shows were as instructive as they were entertaining for Frazer, hearing songs by luminaries like Bob Dylan and Bob Marley that he didn't hear on the radio.

"That was just something we did on a Wednesday," Frazer said. "Watching a band play, and watching these people dance, and learning about music."

Frazer's focus shifted to songwriting in 2002 — it was a craft that paired his musical sensibilities with the poetic license he aspired to.

"You can be very economical, where you have a big concept or story to tell, and you have to distill that down to rhyme and meter, verses and a chorus," Frazer said. "There's all kinds of puzzle pieces to put together, and it's a fun activity. I really enjoy putting songs together."

Frazer said he comes from "a kind of folk singing school" of his craft, and borrowed an aphorism from Steve Earle, who taught a songwriting camp he attended: A song isn't finished until somebody hears it.

"A song isn't an artifact," he said. "A song is a living thing, and it changes as I change, and as I grow. A different audience, a different instrument, different musicians playing along with me can change a song."

Some of the songs Frazer has penned don't fit Earle's definition, sitting unfinished in stacks of notebooks.

But he said he's grown "in leaps and bounds" as he's honed his craft, seeing how songs land while at an open mic event or sitting around a kitchen table with fellow songwriters.

"Every song, even the ones that don't land, you put work into, and you believe in it in some way," Frazer said.

'Living fast where times goes slow'

"Living between the wilderness and a scene" is a concept pulled from the lyrics of a song Frazer is demoing for a new album.

Frazer said the song conceptually tackles the dichotomy of the equal-but-opposite pull of heading out for shows in the Twin Cities and Duluth, and existing in the solitude of the wilderness, playing songs to the wildlife in Bruno.

"The other lyric in the song that's in the chorus is 'living fast where time goes slow,'" Frazer said. "Thinking about, like, the bar scenes, and stuff like that, because the song is kind of related to being around our area."

The song is part of a collection of about nine or ten tracks Frazer recorded as a "rough draft" in a studio with collaborators Aaron Murray and Aaron Hagenson about two years ago.

"It kind of worked, but something didn't seem right about it," Frazer said. "And then life happened, and we couldn't get another date set."

A December date was set to record at Sparta Sound — the Iron Range studio where Frazer recorded his previous album with Rich Mattson — fell through, but Frazer has plans to go into the studio in May.

"In the meantime, I've been playing these songs, and they've been kind of changing," he said. "The arrangements haven't changed, but the vibe has kind of gotten more mellow."

He's hopeful to hit the ground running during May's studio session and hopes to release the record before Thanksgiving or Christmas. Frazer met a graphic designer while watching live music at SandRocks in Sandstone, who he's collaborating with on album art.

"It's a lot of work to prepare for an album," Frazer said. "You want to do it right, and know what you're doing when you're going in."

Frazer said gratitude is a thematic thread woven through the new songs; reflections on life while coming up on turning 50 in September.

"These are songs that are kind of more mature," he said. "I've lived life, I've been saturated in joys and sorrows, and here's my statement of where I'm at."

Frazer said he's also felt a rejuvenating inspiration to cowrite songs with kindred creative spirits.

"Sometimes when I sit down to write, I'm like, 'I've already said this,'" Frazer said with a laugh. "I feel like the bucket of ideas is getting pretty low, so it'd be nice to bounce ideas."

As a member of the music committee for the 210 Gallery and Art Center in Sandstone, Frazer is helping to keep the flame of live music lit in northern Pine County with free programming on Sunday afternoons.

"We have this great series coming together this year there," he said.

Frazer said that sometimes, when you live closer to the wilderness than a scene, making sure live music is accessible is an important mission statement.

You can find Frazer's music on his website.