A Dirty Dozen with GEORGE USHER – February 2026

According to a recent press release: “Veteran New York singer / songwriter George Usher returns to action with a new album that’s been some 30 years in the making, Stevensonville. Twelve original songs, each about a citizen of the fictional town of the album is named for. Each is accompanied by a full color illustration and lyrics collected in a 12” x 12”, 28-page booklet. This is a limited edition, individually numbered 12” LP vinyl pressing of 200, being released March 20.” We get guitarist George Usher to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Stevensonville is a song cycle that takes place in a small town. Each song is a different character in the town. And there is a 28-page illustrated booklet, including a painting for each song/character. The songs inform the illustrations, just as the illustrations inform the songs. So, there is a lot of information being passed between the characters and the songs that invite repeated listening and deeper understanding.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

It’s a pretty ubiquitous and obvious answer. I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and told my dad, “That’s that I wanna do.” I had thrown together group of wannabe musicians called the Spyders within months. We were terrible and the personnel kept changing. But the die was cast.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Introducing the Beatles, the first album that came out on Vee-Jay. It was the first Beatles album I got. And to this day, its innocent, bold magic, and charm can still excite me in ways that their more sophisticated, polished work doesn’t always. I try to keep that fresh air of spontaneity in all my recordings, regardless of the arrangements.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

T-Bone Burnett. I’ve wanted to work with him, since the 80’s after I purchased his Truth Decay album. This is before he became well known as a producer, when he had only worked with Dylan and the Alpha Band. I was struck with how he managed to create such diversity of sound and lyrical perspective, while remaining structurally within specific musical boundaries. He made a “roots” album that jutted out in all kinds of directions. On a small, roots label. I admired that.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I’m a voracious reader. I tend to read 4-5 books at the same time. There are usually 2-3 poetry books, a novel, maybe some kind of non-fiction tome, a potpourri to keep things interesting and moving.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I write melodic songs that lyrically come from my particular perspective. I confess, it usually takes someone 2-3 listens for them to “get” a song of mine.  I bristle when my work is reduced to throwaway comments about dealing in “nostalgia, vintage or old school sound.”

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Well, nowadays, I only get together with my musicians when we’re working in the studio. I haven’t had a band per se for 25 years. And I don’t drink anymore. And even in those days, we pretty much kept to the work at hand. I’ve been in dozens of bands and none of them ever had acoustic guitar singalongs. It was usually, “get the work done and get back to the wives and girlfriends.” ha ha!

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I found myself standing next to Paul McCartney at a Buddy Holly party at the turn of the 2000’s. I didn’t engage him. I left him alone. No “thanks for the music” or anything. He knew I was there next to him, ha ha!

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best part is when the band is well rehearsed and it kicks into a gear you didn’t expect. When the music takes all the musicians to another level at the same time. I guess I’d be a playwright and watch actors do that on stage with my words.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

The one question I’ve always wanted an interviewer to ask: Can I buy you lunch? Obviously, that’s a joke! I just don’t think about things like that. I hope interviewers ask me anything they want. I’m not holding onto any secret that’s bursting to come out. I don’t do so many interviews that there are specific questions I’m tired of answering.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

The mystics say, “There are no mistakes.” Here’s a situation I wish had gone down differently: In the mid-80’s, I was in a band being scouted for a big management deal. They had two acts, Kiss and Billy Idol. We would have been the third. Lots of money involved. Our front guy decided to have an affair with Billy Idol’s girlfriend. I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t. The deal went south, of course. So did the affair. Of course. I’ll always wonder what would have happened if the deal had gone through. It probably would have gone south for other reasons!

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Recording sessions are work. They only take on “magical status” long after they’ve happened. I would have liked to have attended the Beatles’ White Album sessions. Yes, I know, they weren’t supposed to be “fun.” But I would have appreciated them struggling in 3-4 different studios in the same complex, working solo and working in teams of 2-3 to put together that double album. I would have understood the different personalities pulling in different directions, even if each day were fraught with arguments. Art and music are full of arguments. And in the end, they called the album, The Beatles.

Category: Interviews