Judson Claiborne – “A Song or Dreaming”
Barefoot on a stage, Christopher Salveter sings with a soulful southern drawl. It’s the type of soul that only a southerner can seemingly possess. Slow, steady, filled with pain but also optimism—it’s a voice that can shake rooms, bring tears and also bring light to the most melancholy oh folk. This is the quality that made legends out of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Johnny Cash, and it’s what lacks most severely from manufactured corporate pop music.
Salveter established himself in the early 2000s in the Chicago music scene with the heavily overlooked Low Skies. Salveter provided the unique electrified post-rock-like sounds of the band with a unique voice relatively unfamiliar to such music. Upon first listen, songs like “Margaret” and “Sad Hymn” struck me as deep as anything I had ever heard. These songs were passionate, emotive, and modern, during a time when modern music equipment seemed to be stripping away the raw, emotive elements that make songs so relatable.
From Low Skies, Salveter moved on to Judson Claiborne—a more personal project where the electric guitars have been stripped away and the percussion beats more softly. On his website, he explains “Judson Claiborne is the reclamation of a name given to me by my father. On a personal level, it means rebirth into a greater consciousness.” With Judson Claiborne, Salveter’s voice never has to battle for position with guitars. Because this, his words are more meaningful, and his emotions are better understood.
Heavily moved by his music, I spoke to him about where this passionate music stems from, and the voices that do for him what his do for me…
The song that hit’s me hardest on Time And Temperature is “My How We Change.” Every time I hear it your vocals sweep in and my eyes immediately become misty. It’s undeniable that you have a highly emotive quality to your voice. Has it always been that way?
I suppose, the voices that inspire me are those that transcend our crazy complicated experience as humans. There’s something in Sam Cooke’s or Roy Orbison’s voice that i picked up as a kid early on that I feel is the best example of this. It has a reverence for life and is light and beautiful, but the kind of love and laughter you reach after you’ve been through some hard times, which IS the human experience. Constant death & rebirth, reflected in the voice, it’s a communal thing.
When actors want to cry they often dig deep into their subconscious to past memories. Is there a place you go in your mind when singing those sadder parts?
To extrapolate on the answer to my last question, I want to connect with a room of people. I recognize that we all come from different traditions and trajectories and experience art in different ways, but at the same time, I want to find that the things we all share. we all have varying degrees of sadness at any given time, so when a song is sad, this is where I go.
What’s your first memory of yourself singing with emotional resonance?
In the bathtub, maybe fifteen years ago, singing for an hour or so, wandering around the internal wilderness with my voice as my lantern, something unfamiliar but trustworthy guiding me through.
How did people react?
I was alone in the tub that time but people have told me all sorts of things after watching me perform. I’ve made folks peaceful, turned on, pissed off, bored, happy, sad, etc.
Are there any singers who can bring you to tears?
oh yes. most recently, Percy Sledge & Lisa Gerrard of dead can dance
Are there any recurring themes in your lyrics that came subconsciously to reveal things about you that you weren’t completely aware of?
This sort of thing happens all the time. One of my favorites is the ol’ “no matter where you go, there you are” situation. You take all your baggage wherever you go, even when you think you donated it all to the salvation army.
What types of music were you most directly experiencing while growing up?
I grew up in Missouri on a steady diet of Elvis & REM
Do you agree with the theory that artists need to suffer a bit to create?
I do, because the reality is that a good deal of life is suffering. I think in order to be humans we have to be okay with this and sometimes make art or do some creative thing to better understand and deal with it.
Judson Claiborne will be playing The Rock Shop in Park Slope tonight with Jeremy Messersmith.
Twi Spi (2009) from jodie mack on Vimeo.