Grammy-nominated soul singer Devon Gilfillian opens up on his new album, finding middle ground and Wawa vs. Sheetz
There’s a notable dichotomy at play in soul singer Devon Gilfillian’s new album, “Love You Anyway.”
At times, he delves into love and romance, with songs like “The Recipe,” “Brown Sugar Queen” and “All I Really Wanna Do.” But on other tracks, he tackles more serious topics, like voter suppression in Georgia (“Let the Water Flow”) and finding equal ground (“Righteous” featuring Nathaniel Rateliff.)
With the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as other social inequality issues, on his mind, Gilfillian began work on the follow-up to 2020’s Grammy-nominated “Black Hole Rainbow.”
“All of the (stuff) that was underneath the rug was coming out, and people were seeing it. There was a lot of focus on the tragedy of the Black experience, and that’s a real thing,” Gilfillian said recently from his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
“And I’m glad that people’s eyes have opened up to see that. … Black people have been fighting for their right to vote since we were brought over here on slave ships. There’s a lot that needs to be heard. But also I wanted to highlight the beauty of the human experience and that human being me and being a Black man, a half Black man who is seen as a Black man in this world, and falling in love and just loving the cook and making love with ‘The Recipe.’
“Just fun, silly things, you know? I wanted there to be that balance and for just people to come in and be like, ‘Man, that was heavy!’ But also for them to dance away the cares a little bit and also take something with them that they can hopefully spread some love as they walk out the door or out of the concert.”
Gilfillian will put those aspirations to the test on his Love You Anyway tour, which hits Pittsburgh on Sept. 21 at Thunderbird Music Hall in Lawrenceville.
The title track from the album, which was released in April, attempts to bridge the gap between political sides. He said it’s not about ignoring the reality of evil politicians or people exerting undue influence on the government via money, but finding middle ground instead.
“Unfortunately, there is (Florida Gov.) Ron DeSantis and he is erasing Black history in schools, and there are a lot of people like him,” Gilfillian said. “It’s not ignoring that, but it is saying that our friends and family that voted one way, that voted Republican, they voted for (Donald) Trump when so clearly there’s so much divisiveness going on. Not only on the Republican side, there’s divisiveness at CNN, too, on both sides.
“But we have to humanize each other first in order to have conversations, so that we can get to middle ground, so that we can convince our Nana that ‘Hey, don’t vote for that guy,’ at least not this time, man, please,” he said with a laugh.
“Our democracy’s at stake. It’s real. Trump, at this point, there’s been an insurrection. We have to realize that people have been sucked into their bubbles, into their media bubbles, and there are people who are only exposed to that, to only one thing. We have to educate, we have to pull them out. In order to do that, it’s a weird thing. It’s like gently waking somebody up from their sleepwalking so they don’t freak out or whatever.”
Gilfillian cites artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix — “That’s the Mount Rushmore, right there,” he said — as massive influences on his career.
“(Gaye’s) ‘What’s Going On’ album, to me, it’s scary how relevant that album is, when I think about it. ‘Save the Children,’ ‘Inner City Blues,’ all of it’s like, ‘Wow!’” Gilfillian said. “I wouldn’t be a musician if it wasn’t for Stevie Wonder. I don’t think I would see or hear music the same way if my dad hadn’t been a Stevie Wonder fan, hadn’t shared his music with me. To me, Stevie is music. He was like the first voice that I wanted to sing and wanted my voice to sound like when I was singing. And Jimi is that with the guitar for me. I wouldn’t be a guitar player if it wasn’t for Jimi Hendrix.”
With several career highlights this year — like opening for My Morning Jacket and playing Bonnaroo as well as the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville — he has made sure to enjoy his successes.
“The summer just flew by. I stop and I look back always and I’m like ‘Whoa!’” he said with a laugh. “Just the summer has been insane. Looking back at the year, since I started putting this album out, I try very hard to just, like, do some yoga, meditate and take in the present.”
On Dec. 16, 2018, the Philadelphia-born and Nashville-based singer performed the national anthem before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the New England Patriots at Heinz Field.
“Singing the national anthem is probably the most stressful thing in the world for any singer,” he said with a laugh. “I was like, you know what, I’m down to go and hit up a Pittsburgh Steelers game. It was so fun. … Steelers fans are just so much more peaceful than Phillies fans, than Eagles fans, oh my god.”
While Gilfillian had good things to say about his Steelers experience, his Philly roots showed in the commonwealth convenience store clash.
“I will say, in the Wawa/Sheetz battle,” he said, “I’m for sure a Wawa man.”
But overall, he actually prefers the Texas-based convenience store chain, Buc-ee’s.
“They’re kind of like if a Walmart and a Wawa and barbecue/brisket spot had a baby. And there’s hundreds of gas pumps, they’re like super-gas stations. And they have, honestly, delicious brisket and delicious pulled pork and taffy and kolaches,” he said. “They’re insane. They kind of put everything to shame.
“They go to Wawa and Sheetz and they’re like, ‘Aw, you so cute. That’s so cute. You nice.’”
Original post: TRIB Live