Doug Kleiner: COVID Solitude, The Spark, the Stage, The Music.
- Editorial Board
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
A lifetime of playing others’ songs led to one moment that made everything real.
GHR: Hey Doug, great to have you here. What first inspired you to start making music?
Doug: Well, the writing part took me a long time before I had the confidence to share original music. I started play music at 8 or 9 because of my Dad. He was a great guitar player and taught me so much. He took me to my first concert to see Johnny Cash!! I remember seeing him on stage with these big knee-high boots and long black leather coat with a black guitar and I was hook, that's what I wanted to do! All that being said, Covid was the kick in the ass for me to go solo and put out my own music. I’d been in bands and on stage for year playing and singing other people’s music but something in those weeks and months isolated at home changed my priorities. I’m sure Covid was the catalyst for a lot of people to change priorities.
GHR: Do you remember the first time you performed your own song live?
Doug: The very first time I looked out at the crowd and heard them sing my own song back to me just blew my mind. I have been on bigger stages in front of way bigger crowds in my lifetime but, that was a goosebump moment for me.
GHR: How would you describe your songwriting process?
Doug: The songwriting process for me is, there is NO process.. It is just all so new to me that I try not to frame it into any sort of form or method or schedule or anything. The song Broken, I woke up from a dead sleep at 4 a.m. with basically the complete song in my head. I got out of bed, picked up a guitar and pen and had a demo recorded on my phone by 5 a.m. and I think it’s one of the best stories I’ve written so far. Then I have songs like Green Eye that I struggled months to finish, and I love that song just as much.
GHR: Who are some of your biggest songwriting influences?
Doug: I have always been drawn to storytellers and the story in the music. I love songs with lyrics so visceral and graphic that you can just close your eyes and the video play across the screen in your mind. Everyone from Johnny Cash singing ‘Give my Love to Rose’ to Eddie Vedder singing ‘Jeremy’. Guys like Evan Feller from Turnpike Troubadours and Jason Isbell inspire me to keep the realness and rawness in the music.
GHR: What can fans expect next from you?
Doug: The next release is kind of a continuation of the EP ’2’. I had a hand full of songs recorded at the same time as the songs on 2 so there is a thread but different storyline, so I wanted to keep them separate. We are back in the studio right now with plans to have the new material out by mid-December.
Follow Doug Kleiner on Instagram @dougmusik and stream his music on all platforms.
