I’ve been hearing about this duo from Bisbee with the unusual but cool name Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl for a while now, though I’d never seen them play until last week at the Trunk Space. I’d heard some of their music, a few songs from an unreleased album of non-traditional covers by mostly Arizona artists.

_{Photo by JB}
Amy and Derrick Ross playing May 25 at the Trunk
Space in Phoenix.

John De La Cruz from Fatigo had been talking about them to me and popped in the covers album one night and I really enjoyed it. So when I heard the band was playing Trunk Space I knew I needed to check it out. And I am glad to say that I enjoyed the show even more than the CD I’d heard.

Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl are Derrick and Amy Ross, and together they perform intimate ballads that are equal parts humor, hard times and cool stylistic musical structure that harken to another time without seeming overly affected. Derrick plays acoustic guitar and other string instruments like banjo (though at the show he only played guitar). Amy plays keyboards and sings with her powerful voice that at the Trunk Space show would have projected fine without a microphone.

To steal a line from their Web page (www.727records.com/site/nmwg), which is something I almost never do, “They play to sepia-tinged memories, sunkist daydreams, and simple pleasures,” and there is a timeless element to their jaunty compositions that draw inspiration from the singer/songwriter ‘60s and ‘70s, the current psych-folk scene and dusty ghost towns.

The performance at Trunk Space also featured sets by Lonna Kelley and Sonorous, but when Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl played, the place was reverentially silent, except for a few jokes from their friend De La Cruz. The music and Amy’s unaffected voice are conducive to storytelling and the images and musical nuances are clever without hitting you over the head.

They communicate with sways and looks and little internal musical jokes, and enjoyed each other, the music and being onstage. After one song, it looked like Amy was clapping her feet below her keyboard in excitement.

A little background on the band:

They formed in Bisbee and lived there for a number of years and has also spent time in Nashville and Oregon before landing back in Arizona, this time living in Tucson. They have released one self-titled album of originals that was recorded by Craig Schumacher at Wavelab, as well as the album of covers that is pending release.

If you see their name on a bill in Tucson, Phoenix or Bisbee, do your best to see them, they really have an original fusion of old fashioned melody, good language and minimal playing, which when combined, make for a great show.

I sent some questions to Amy and what she sent back is very much in keeping with the band: Funny and serious, playful and real.

AZNightBuzz: I am a little confused about where you guys call home. I think you live in Tucson, but used to live in Bisbee and possibly Flagstaff. Tell us where you’ve lived in Arizona, why the heck you’ve moved all around.

Amy Ross: Well, we’ve never lived in Flagstaff. We met in Phoenix and then somehow ended up in Bisbee. We moved to Nashville from there, and now we live in Tucson. Not sure why we keep moving around so much, we just can’t seem to feel comfortable settling somewhere. Bisbee feels like home and that’s where we’d like to end up eventually. Although we are pleasantly suprised with Tucson, it’s been good to us.

AZNB: I’m fairly new to you guys and the site has never covered you before, so please indulge us in some band history and what’s going on with Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl currently.

_{Photo courtesy of www.727records.com}

AR: We started as a full band called Briefcase, back in 1999. We played mostly in Phoenix, but played a few gigs in Flagstaff. We changed the name to Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl after we moved to Bisbee – we had scaled down to a duo and the music had changed a bit and needed a new name. Currently we’re not up to much, we’re sort of jobless and trying to figure out our lives. We’ve been fortunate enough to make enough money playing to scrape by the past few months. We’re trying to avoid getting real jobs.

AZNB: What does your name mean?

AR: It comes from a Gillian Welch song, although we had never really heard her music when we named ourselves that. When we heard it, the name just fit. It’s a little long, especially as all one word.com, and we usually have to say it twice when people ask our name. And I like whiskey.

AZNB: How often do you play out? I have seen your name on a couple of Phoenix bills but not very often. Are you playing in Phoenix or Tucson anytime soon?

AR: We’ve had a few roadblocks, but we’re trying to play out as much as possible. Over the past few years we’ve toured a bit around the West Coast. Currently we play a couple times a month at Delectibles Restaurant in Tucson, and at Plush. We played at the Spring Street Fair and play in Phoenix occasionally. We also play in Bisbee at the Copper Queen and at the farmer’s market. Our next scheduled event is June 9 at 36 Chambers in Tucson with the World Class Thugs from Phoenix, along with a couple local groups.

AZNB: Do you consider yourself a Bisbee band? Your sound fits the town. Are you from Bisbee originally and if not, how did you find yourself there?

AR: We’ll take that as a compliment. We definitely consider ourselves from Bisbee. We were living in Oregon and had gotten tired of the rain and wanted to come back to Arizona, but not Phoenix. We had heard a little buzz about Bisbee being an artist’s town and moved there on a whim. Most people that live there have similar stories, they somehow just ended up there. It’s a pretty crazy, magical place. Probably not for everybody, but we’d love to buy some land there eventually. It’s our favorite place we’ve lived so far.

AZNB: You’ve released a self-titled album and have another of favorite covers; do you have plans for another release of originals?

AR: We have a lot of new songs that we are getting ready to record. We have a small budget, so we can only do a couple songs at a time. But we’d like to release another album of originals. Possibly by this time next year we’ll be able to finish it up. We’re actually still waiting on the artwork for the album of covers. It’s ironic because we recorded the covers album in three days over a year ago and it’s still not officially out yet. It’s a label thing. Although were not complaining. 727 Records has been very kind to us.

AZNB: How did your sound evolve?

AR: Well, the songwriting is pretty collaborative. Usually they start with a little guitar riff of Derrick’s, then I think of a melody, then we either use a poem that Derrick had already written for the lyrics or he’ll write something to fit the melody. Lately I’ve been dabbling with lyrics. Neither of us have really written a song from start to finish all on our own.

AZNB: You’ve had some serious health issues lately that have affected the band. What’s going on and how are you?

AR: I have systemic lupus, which is an autoimmune disorder. It has been acting up lately and recently I ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. But i’m feeling great and am recovering quickly. I’m tired of my health interfering with my grand plans, so Ive decided to stop allowing it to. Things finally got serious enough for me to start taking it seriously.

AZNB: What are five things the readers should know about the band?

AR: 1. We’re not to be mistaken for the infamous Nowhere Man of Tucson; 2. Derrick is skinny; 3. Amy is stubborn; 4. Derrick has a degree in music therapy; and 5. Amy likes gas station hot dogs.

AZNB: At the Trunk Space you played a song that I think was called “Snore” about a favorite Spanish teacher. The song has a great line that went something like: “I was his favorite/but he didn’t know he was mine.” Can you please tell the story behind the song?

AR: S’nor is Senor O’Hare. He was my high school Spanish teacher who passed away a couple years ago and even though I hadn’t been in his class for years, it really affected me when he died for some reason. I felt guilty that I got straight A’s all four years of his class but I still can’t speak Spanish. And it’s one of those situations where you wish you’d had a chance to let someone know how much you cared about them and now it’s too late. But it’s all good. I’m sure he knows.

AZNB: There is a kind of emotional tug of war going on in some of the songs – a bittersweet tragi-comic element to some of the storytelling. Does this come from personal stuff or just good fiction?

AR: Most of the songs are non-fiction and pretty personal. Writing some of the more serious ones like “Lung Lady” were good therapy. Some of the others are abstract poetry and others are just silly. Like “Blue for Two” is all about crayons. We’re trying to write more lighthearted songs for the next album. We’ve had a lot of tragedy in our lives and we know most people can relate, but there’s enough depressing stuff out there. We could all use a good laugh.

AZNB: Anything coming up, a release, a big show, a coronation or bronze cast about to happen with you guys?

AR: No coronation or bronze cast in the near future. So far just little shows here and there. But we’re up for big things, if any opportunities should arise.