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Folk Interviews Podcast

Talking Tracks: Rêver by The Copper Trees

The LP is an 11-track joyride through a relationship informed by voice memos, sunlight, and paint.

Dan Ray May 20, 2021
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Talking Tracks: Rêver by The Copper Trees May 20, 2021

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Danny Ngan

Twice a month on Talking Tracks, we interview local artists about their latest drops — song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more in depth, and it’s all the people who live right in our city. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Now, we’re teamed up with LiveMo to bring you special, live set editions of the podcast.

Seattle folk duo The Copper Trees (comprised of visual artists Kate Neckel and London Bridge Studio Owner Eric Lilavois) released their debut album, Rêver, on April 9, 2021. In this live episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and The Copper Trees break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — an 11-track joyride through a relationship informed by voice memos, sunlight, and paint.

This episode was recorded at the Fremont Abbey, with sound by Sean Aragon.

Listen and subscribe to the full interview below, and then click through our photo story for all the best moments. Download the LiveMo app on Apple and Android to stay updated on future live episodes.

Track listing:
1. Concrete Veins – 13:55.
2. Us – 23:55.
3. Hidden View – 33:50.
4. Lay Down – 44:50.
5. First Light – 55:15.
6. Three Pages In – 1:05:40.
7. New Lane – 1:15:15.
8. Nails and Tires – 1:26:40.
9. Take a Seat in My Heart – 1:35:50.
10. Paint a World with You – 1:44:35.
11. Eyes – 1:55:45.

This episode of the podcast, recorded at the Fremont Abbey, features The Copper Trees, a brand new folk duo made up of Kate Neckel (left) and Eric Lilavois.
The band formed when Neckel came to Lilavois looking for a producer for her solo EP. As they started working together, Neckel said she wanted Lilavois on all the tracks, and the partnership grew from there.
Dan Ray hosts the podcast. This episode, she asks the band to name a color and tree they feel like matches each song.
Neckel's first musical experience was a joint visual and sonic collaboration with Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCreedy, Infinite Color & Sound.
Rêver opens with "Concrete Veins," a track Neckel wrote for the solo EP she originally asked Lilavois to produce. The song references her time living in New York. With lyrics about following your own gut like, "This is not for you," the band said the song cuts to the heart of what they stand for.
Lilavois, a Billboard top 10 producer of the year in 2020, also owns Seattle's London Bridge Studio.
The Copper Trees's instrumentation is full but sparse — instead of drums they use thigh slaps and guitar taps. They said they wanted to focus on the bones of the song rather than production.
Track three, "Hidden View," carries the first reference to cars in the album: "a rusty old car." Lilavois said he views the rust as a metaphor for tattoos and scars — they're signs of what we've been through.
The album traces the journey of a relationship through a road trip: On "Hidden View" the characters are on a ride in that "rusty old car." On the next track, "Lay Down," it's time for a pit stop.
The duo writes mostly through voice memos and texts. Lilavois wrote fourth track "Lay Down" when he woke up one morning and sent it in a voice memo to Neckel. Instead of producing it, they decided the voice memo was the finished track.
Ray digs into the lyrics on "Lay Down." She asks Lilavois about the line "colors on changing sheets," which she interpreted to mean blood or sweat on sheets. Lilavois says the line came from watching the morning light play off the sheets on his bed.
The Fremont Abbey Arts Center is a space managed by nonprofit arts events organizer Abbey Arts. Abbey Arts also manages the Ballard Homestead and partners with St. Mark’s Cathedral, Uheights, and more to create accessible arts events.
Rêver dances with themes of light and dark. Fifth track and lead single "First Light," relatively peppy in tone for the folk album, tells the story of not wanting to go to bed mad.
Talking Tracks is streamed live on LiveMo, with sound by Sean Aragon.
"Three Pages In" is the shortest track on the album. More of a linear chant, the song echoes the themes of "Hidden View." It references getting older while still having a lot of life left to live. Neckel wrote it while having her morning coffee.
"Three Pages In" concludes side A of the record. The band is awaiting vinyl.
The band plays an edited version of "New Lane," without the final repeated verse and chorus. Neckel wrote the song about London Bridge Studio. The line, "I wanna play where you play," is a reference to all the musicians who have gone through the studio before her.
Eighth track "Nails and Tires" concludes the road trip of the album. The band said it wasn't intentional to write car metaphors, but the urge to get out during the pandemic may have been a reason so many made their way into the record.
"Take a Seat in My Heart" was a line written by Neckel. She sent it to Lilavois, and he was so inspired that he finished the rest of the song.
Final track, "Eyes," is the most produced track on the album, featuring piano and electric guitar. Neckel said she brought it to Lilavois on the guitar, but it didn't sound right. He took it to the piano.

Photos by Danny Ngan.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).