 by Rob van Alstyne
Proof of the transformative powers of collaboration, Strays Don’t Sleep—the new ambient pop project from Nashville singer/songwriters Matthew Ryan and Neilson Hubbard—sounds virtually nothing like either of the prior solo records from the involved artists. Inspired by a mutual love of cult ’80s Scottish mood rockers the Blue Nile, Strays Don’t Sleep’s self-titled debut certainly sounds more like music rooted in rainy Glasgow Mondays during the cassette era than its actual birthplace in the American South during the twilight of the Bush administration.
“I sort of knew Matthew from around town ,and Brian Bequette had played guitar with both of us at different points, but we weren’t really close or anything,” recalls Hubbard of the Strays project’s humble beginnings. “We both were big Blue Nile fans and there aren’t too many of those in Nashville. Matthew approached me saying he wanted to work on a little EP-type project maybe just for us to self-release on the web, and when he talked about it he mentioned the Blue Nile song ‘Over the Hillside’ as a point of reference—I immediately knew what he was talking about because I love that song. He felt like I would get what he wanted to do and vice versa. It’s weird; I don’t know if on paper it’s the most logical pairing.”
 Outside
of common geography there’s little reason to assume Hubbard and Ryan would
become musical bosom buddies. Despite forays into more layered pop, Ryan’s
still best known as a rough-hewn Americana artist, a disciple of the Steve Earle
set and duet partner with Lucinda Williams, whereas Hubbard has tended to favor
far slicker terrain over the course of his three prior solo albums and production
work for such artists as Toad the Wet Sprocket’s Glen Phillips. It didn’t
take much time in Hubbard’s Nashville studio, however, to find out that
the unlikely pair gelled perfectly.
“To be honest I think right there on the first day we both realized it
was going to become something more special then just a one-off tiny thing. We
wrote down the names of a bunch of songs we had written on little pieces of
paper and just drew them out of a hat to see what we would work on. By the end
of the day we already had the first song on the record [the gorgeously lilting
mid-tempo shuffle ‘Love Don’t Owe You Anything’] completed.”
Boldly swapping lead vocal duties despite completely disparate windpipes, the
contrast between Ryan’s Springsteen-rubbed-raw-with-sandpaper-grit and
Hubbard’s classically boyish and angelic croon is surprisingly effective
when set atop a musical background consisting of muted drum machines, gently
strummed acoustic guitars and atmospheric keyboard gurgles.  The
moments when both singers’ voices take off in wobbly flight together—Ryan
staying low to the ground while Hubbard heads straight for the ether—have
an eerie chemistry so powerfully spine tingling I couldn’t help but wonder
why more male artists aren’t collaborating together like this vocally.
In a further twist, throughout most of the record Ryan sings the Hubbard-penned
songs and vice versa; perhaps this explains the uniform excellence of their
vocal performances—I know if I was karaokeing the tune of a close friend
for all the world to hear I would be loathe to bungle the job. “The whole
process for us became centered around stepping out of our old routines,”
recalls Hubbard. “Singing each other’s songs really made us step
outside of ourselves and rethink how to approach the work.”
The collaborative nature of Strays Don’t Sleep’s debut album was
taken to the next level when Hubbard and Ryan fleshed out their numbers with
mutual music city acquaintances and morphed from a studio project into a full-fledged
band (guitarist Bequette, bassist Billy Mercer, drummer Steve Latanation) committed
to taking their show on the road for multiple tours both stateside and abroad.
 “It’s
funny because even though Matthew and I have been doing the solo thing for nearly
a decade I don’t think either of us ever really relished the singer/songwriter
spotlight,” says Hubbard. “I mean, I got my start playing in bands
and so did Matthew. Matthew has a saying I’m fond of quoting which is
that being a solo artist requires an almost toxic amount of ego. I mean it’s
a weird thing to be up there on stage and basically attempting to command people’s
attention; that’s why I have a tendency to be really self-deprecating
whenever I talk onstage. I know I never felt comfortable with it and he doesn’t
either. We’ve both really desired the idea of being back in that gang
mentality that kind of defines being in a band. That sort of, ‘Five guys
that have your back, and it’s us against the world’ attitude—the
Clash had it; U2 have it. Having those guys and becoming a real band feels empowering.”
Although Ryan and Hubbard aren’t abandoning their musical bread and butter—both
have solo albums due out in early 2007—it appears that Strays Don’t
Sleep scratches a particular musical itch for both men that ensures the project
will be far from a one-time collaboration.
“It still feels very much like the beginning,” says Hubbard of his
take on the project and its now year-old debut whose domestic release was delayed
until this week pending label negotiations (the UK’s been enjoying it
since July of last year). “My hope would be that we could operate Strays
kind of parallel with our other work. We’ve already talked about doing
another record and the support is in place now from the labels. We’re
still evolving as a group and there’s definitely more to say and more
to reach for.” ||
Strays Don’t Sleep play on Sat., June 17 at the Ascot Room of
the Quest Club with opening act Peter Bradley Adams. 8 p.m. $10. 18+. 110 N.
Fifth St., Mpls. 612-338-3383.
For more information on Strays Don’t Sleep check out their official
website at www.straysdontsleep.com.
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