Two songs from one album can't necessarily capture a band's zeitgeist, but for David Wax and Suz Slezak, these true stories hit remarkably close to home.
"Guesthouse" and "Everything Changes," the third and 10th tracks off 2015's Guesthouse that essentially frame David Wax Museum's spicy mix of merry mayhem, global warmth and sonic quirks that work, succinctly sum up where in the world the husband-and-wife musicians are at the moment while raising their 2-year-old daughter, Calliope.
When asked which song best encompasses their current state of being, the titular leader of this Mexo-Americana band (left) said over the phone, "It's hard to choose between the two. I feel like the fact that we're living as a family of three is kind of like the most constant, kind of new part of our recent life. But once the tour hits and we're on the road trying to figure out where we're gonna stay every night, then 'Guesthouse' feels more like our personal anthem."
For a traveling band that treats the long highway like its group lifeline, lyrics from that bouncy song are a common theme:
I did what made my heart sing
I threw away the oars
Now I need a place to crash
Please open up your door
Home for the holidays
It's Calliope's nap time on the first Monday of 2016, and Wax and his personal and professional partner are enjoying a quiet moment at their Charlottesville, Virginia, home just a couple of weeks after completing the most ambitious tour of the band's career -- 50 cities in 50 days that stretched from Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles.
The final tour stop was on Dec. 19 at the Hi-Dive in Denver, where the music seemed secondary to a party-hearty crowd distracted by the festive holiday atmosphere.
Wearing the hot-pink jumpsuit that had a cameo in their "Guesthouse" video, Slezak (right) did catch the eye of guests who weren't too busy taking selfies near the front of the stage as she played fiddle, accordion, keyboards and a percussion instrument called a quijada, made from the jawbone of a donkey.
Primarily strumming his Mexican jarana (below), which looks like a cross between an acoustic guitar and ukulele, Wax fed off the crowd's manic but misplaced energy with a lively performance that began with a song sung in Spanish ("Yes, Maria, Yes" from 2011's Everything is Saved).
The set included most of his Guesthouse songs -- including the exuberant title track and "Everything Changes" -- and Wax showcased his wife on lead vocals and fiddle on "Let Me Rest" (from 2009's Carpenter Bird). Jumping off the stage to stand on a chair in the middle of the crowd, Slezak definitely got their attention with a bold, unplugged rendition of the moving spiritual number.
"It allows us to make a different kind of connection with the audience," Wax said. "You can focus the energy in a different way. ... We got our start doing that and playing acoustic in a house concert setting. And we would get off the stage if we thought the audience wasn't listening and we felt like we could win over a room in a different kind of way if we did that."
After the show, the Wax family drove to Columbia, Mo., to spend Christmas with his parents, then finally headed home. Wax babysat on New Year's Eve while Slezak enjoyed a "rare night out" to see their friends in Birds of Chicago perform in Charlottesville, her hometown.
The two bands have something in common besides music -- as husband-and-wife duo Allison Russell and JT Nero also tour with their 2-year-old, Ida Maeve. "They both started out on their first tour when they were just a couple weeks old," Slezak said of the two girls. "So they both slept in green rooms and eat all kinds of food, knowing more of the country than most American adults."
Everything changes when two become three
Everything changes everyone swears to me
Change of pace
In the most joyous way possible, Wax's chorus lines in "Everything Changes" valiantly describe the outside forces many couples face when moving into the parenthood phase of their lives.
Honestly conveying the relatable thoughts of a first-time father and mother in such a celebratory manner -- one verse ends with "Arms open towards the avalanche" -- takes David Wax Museum down a path that can be treacherous and tricky. Somehow they've been adept enough to avoid the danger zone since forming in 2007. Now Wax and Slezak are even willing to deal with nosy interviewers hoping to get to know more about them than their latest album.
"You know for many years we actually didn't talk about our relationship because we felt like we didn't want that to be the focus of interviews," Slezak said. "We didn't want the press to be focused on our relationship because everyone's so eager to know about that. We wanted it to be about the music. So it was only when our daughter was born that we felt like, 'All right, now it is important to talk about it. It feels like an important piece of our story. We're traveling with her. This is the situation.' It's a little bit new for us to talk about it."
So get ready to explore the wonders of David Wax Museum. More simple truths, brilliant discoveries and dynamic chemistry lie ahead.
Suz Slezak (left) and David Wax have a moment
of peace and quiet. (Photo by Todd Roeth)
Becoming Museum curators
After graduating from Harvard in 2006, David Wax studied music on a yearlong fellowship in Mexico before returning to Boston, where he met Suz Slezak. At the time, she was performing in two other bands (roots trio Mill Pond Nine with Greg Glassman and as half of an old-time bluegrass duo with fellow fiddler Alan Kaufman) while working in a development office at a psychiatric hospital.
Told by a mutual friend about a fiddler from Virginia who "grew up playing the old-time scene," Wax approached Slezak regarding the possibility of becoming part of a new project.
"I thought, 'Well, I don't know. A third band? That sounds like a lot. I'm not
sure,' " recalled Slezak. "But he hosted a house concert in his own living room with some musicians he had met. And I went to the show and sat in there and we started singing together. And then I really felt hooked."
After playing locally and regionally for a couple of years, she decided to quit her day job in 2009.
"I was ready to leave," Slezak said. "This was kind of an excuse to run away with the band. ... I didn't think I would run away for six years. (laughs) I thought I would do this six-week tour (to support Carpenter Bird, the band's second album) and then come back and figure out another job or start graduate school or something like that. But that never happened."
Instead, marriage soon followed. Then in 2013, Calliope Ruth became an unofficial member of David Wax Museum, joining an interchangeable cast of touring musicians that most recently has included Virginian Chris Dammann (bass), Brooklyn-based Charles Rivera (electric guitar) and Danilo Henriquez (right), a drummer who sings and plays trumpet and also is a member of the Boston-based Debo Band.
Traveling cross-country in a 15-passenger van loaded down by touring band members, musical gear and potential drama can be a heavy trip, so what happens when a tiny tyke joins the club?
Slezak and Wax can't imagine doing it any other way now.
"Well, for me, it feels like a completion," Slezak said of life with Calliope. "I've kind of arrived somewhere. Because I've always wanted to be a mom and so now, to get to do that and have a small family, but also continue to do the band feels very satisfying. And it is busy and it means there's never any down time on the road. ... But to me it feels like I've got these two pieces of life that are very important to me, doing the band with David and having a child."
Added Wax: "I think that there's something beautiful about this ... having the family and work integrated, especially because we're a touring band. Because it puts all the touring in a different kind of context. Because we stay with so many friends and family around the country. ...
"We're building a life doing this and building a community and staying connected to all our friends and family around the country. Having the family piece of it really drives that home and provides this whole other sustaining thread that keeps us strong and keeps us ... is a real grounding part of touring."
Like life itself, though, there are times when one's patience is tested.
"There's always challenges," Wax admitted. "And I think that maybe some of the long drives are harder now and so we've had to adjust the tour schedule or come up with some creative solutions around that. ... The most challenging thing is kind of having super early wake-up (calls) if our daughter gets up early after we've had a late night. Those can add up after a couple nights in a row."
A little help from their friends
Comparing notes with other bands with kids while lending or receiving advice has been a source of comfort and joy.
"We love telling other musicians it can be done," Slezak said. "And we feel like we got that, we heard that loud and clear from a few key people like Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She was a really strong mentor of ours and of mine and really showed us that you can do it. ...
"And people have already told us, 'Watching you guys bring your daughter on the road has made us feel like we can travel or do some sort of alternative career choice.' "
Giddens, whose powerful voice and riveting presence I first witnessed at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in August 2011, became a breakout star after her association with mega-producer T Bone Burnett.
Featured in a piece on CBS This Morning over the weekend, Giddens is seen with her two kids (her oldest, Aoife, was 2 when she attended that 2011 Colorado festival with her mom) and a luxurious "rock star" bus that is the current mode of road transportation after years of touring in vans.
Performing on the same bill a few years ago, David Wax Museum and Carolina Chocolate Drops struck up a friendship and, Slezak said, "It felt inspiring to us to see (Giddens) doing it. You know, there are other bigger bands doing it when they have a bus or two buses."
The Wax family even bought Giddens' family minivan, a Honda Odyssey that has surpassed 250,000 miles and "it's still going strong," Slezak said of their side vehicle she drives closer to home.
The write touch
Just as driven is the couple that released two albums in 2015, both produced by frequent playing partner Josh Kaufman, whose "test run" in the studio came on Slezak's solo record of lullabies, Watching the Nighttime Come.
"I feel proud of that, to have put out two records, considering one is enough to keep anyone busy, but we did that with our little 2-year-old," said Slezak, whose first shared composition with her husband was the title track, sparking the desire to write or co-write more.
Wax penned all 12 Guesthouse tracks, and considers it his most personal work to date.
"I think that's the record where I felt the most liberated in terms of being able to be more personal in the writing and being able to make decisions that felt like ... the artistic decisions were being kind of directed by the songs as opposed to some outside idea I was bringing," he said. "Whether the band was a folk band or a Mexo-Americana band, I felt unshackled by those terms or those ideas about identity."
Now that David Wax Museum is back in a 15-passenger van for a winter tour that began Jan. 14 in New York to be followed by South By Southwest and a spring string of co-headlining dates with Darlingside, thoughts turn again to the lyrics from Guesthouse's title track.
I've been living out of a suitcase
Sleeping in dingy rooms
I've never lived in L.A.
But I've always wanted to
Coming off an eventful 2015, Wax and Slezak have made one joint New Year's resolution: "Figure out when we we're gonna spend time in L.A. this year," she said of one of their favorite tour stops.
"We're deciding if we can rent our place here and go out and spend time there. ... We feel a connection to the art and music scene out there. There's an incredible Mexican music scene that really fuels David."
The City of Angels isn't listed on their tour schedule yet, and Wax promises it won't be as hectic as 50 cities in 50 days, but adds with a laugh, "It's still pretty intense."
Before their baby on board is old enough to drive, there's no telling how far this Museum on wheels will go.
Concert photos by Michael Bialas. See more of David Wax Museum from the Hi-Dive in Denver.