Meet John Atzberger, the winner of the Williamsburg Live Songwriting Contest 2007, a weeklong battle of the crooners that came to a finish last Saturday. Atzberger, the Ohio transplant whose Colin-Meloy-tinged old-timey folk songs won over the judges, chatted with us briefly about his recent win.
Alexis Swerdloff: What was the whole Williamburg Songwriting Contest process like for you?
John Atzberger: The competition reminded me most closely of a community festival. Like going to church festivals back home or something. I can't remember the last time I went to a show in New York where someone was playing some pretty quiet stuff and the whole room was silent. The whole event had that kind of respectful air to it.
AS: What did you do later that night after you found out you won?
JA: I can't remember a lot of it, but I remember being uncharacteristically excited and touching my head a lot. I drank far too much at the hands of my extremely happy friends all insisting on buying me a drink, I stuck around and listened to Nick Ogawa's band and then stumbled into a cab with my girlfriend and roommate back to Bed-Stuy.
AS: How do you think your singing career will change post-winning?
:JA Well I definitely have just a little more confidence now. I'd like to lie and say, you know, that I always believed in myself or what have you, but it always helps to have someone tell you you're doing good work. My music career is sorta bouncing around right now, I play in two bands and both are starting to pick up a bit so it’s kinda up in the air, as usual, but this time I know how I'm going to make rent.
AS: What's your day job?
JA: Sometimes I clean apartments. Sometimes I'm an actor. Most of the time I'm trying to scrape by with playing music. Wow -- I just called acting a day job.
AS: You play with Patrick Bourland under the moniker Indianola, yes? How did you guys come together?
JA: Actually, Pat moved to California in June so Indianola is pretty much caput. We went to high school and college together oddly enough, and kinda just started playing music together when I picked up the mandolin. I'm in two other bands at present though: Born at Sea with Ed Gorch Bob Smolenski, and Elephant Army with Drew Nix, Elijah Tucker."
AS: How did you get into singing and folk music in the first place?
JA: "The country I come from is called the Midwest"- Bob Dylan
AS: You're a recent Brooklyn transplant -- why/when did you move here? And how are you liking it? Is it all you had hoped for and more?
JA: I moved to Brooklyn from Ohio because I graduated college with a degree in acting and I've got a nice network of friends from school out here. I moved to Bed-Stuy becauseI didn't move with a whole lot of money or a whole lot of prospects, so I kinda fell into it on accident. I've been here a little more than a year now, and I think I'm finally getting it to make some kind of sense to me. It was really daunting for a long time, and cleaning apartments for mainly very wealthy people and coming home to my neighborhood was kind of jarring. But I feel like New York has taught me a lot and most importantly, it's taught me a lot about myself.
AS: How has moving to New York influenced your songwriting?
JA: It's made me want to protect myself in a way. I feel like Southern Ohio is so magical to me and I miss it every day, but I came here to bring something with me I guess. It seems like there are people who come here to take something from New York, and I’m hoping in my little way to bring something to it. So instead of adapting my interests to the city, I'm trying to make a space for them with my writing.
AS: Where can John Atzberger fans see you next?
JA: You can see me at the Lucky Cat on Nov. 27 playing double duty with both bands, and at www.Jezebelmusic.com or www.myspace.com/olentangyjohnsongs.
Photo by Bobby Teten
