Brantford, ON Americana Artist KC Armstrong Declares “I Don’t Care” in Brassy, Piano-Tinged Single from Finally Crafted
Brantford, Ontario-based artist KC Armstrong has had a long, illustrious career thanks to fine songwriting and fun, infectious arrangements that pack a wallop. And although the title might lead you to think otherwise, “I Don’t Care” is a great, Americana-laced barroom keeper off his Finally Crafted effort that proves Armstrong cares about offering finely-crafted nuggets that hit you in all the right places.
“I Don’t Care” is a beer-raising, brassy, and bouncy slice of Americana from its saxophone courtesy of Sean O’Connor and the ivory ticklings of keyboardist Steve O’Connor. From there, KC Armstrong’s vocals are accompanied by backing vocalist MaryEllen Allen, giving “I Don’t Care” a gritty but groovy vibe from start to finish. Guitarists Scott Utting and Barry Haggarty adds some great work throughout, while Armstrong and Jake Adams round out the rhythm section, playing bass and drums, respectively.
It’s a song you could see a craftsman-like Randy Newman, Nick Lowe, or the late Ronnie Hawkins performing, someone near and dear to Armstrong as his band subbed as the Hawks for the legendary barroom artist back in 2003. Armstrong’s then band Cadillac Ranch were slated to back Hawkins at the legendary SARS-Stock concert at Toronto’s Downsview Park featuring the Rolling Stones and AC/DC. Sadly, Hawkins’ health resulted in the appearance never being realized.
Armstrong, originally from Lakefield, Ontario, sings of being done wrong by his partner and simply not being too worried about it by the end of the evening. In fact, he knows that two can play this cheating game, so what goes around might just come around to his partner, ending up on the losing side when it’s all said and done.
Congratulations you’re the talk of the town
Conversations ’bout you running ’round
My old friends trying not to stare
But if you done me wrong — I don’t care
“I Don’t Care” is from Armstrong’s 2024 effort Finally Crafted, a record that took over two decades to complete as Armstrong worked slowly but steadily towards honing his production skills and talents so what he heard the songs to be in his head would end up being what came out during the recording and production processes. And while building the songs, he also ended up building something else. “Another reason for the long delay in completing the album was that I also had to learn how to construct my actual recording studio myself,” he says. “I had to learn to frame, insulate, and drywall properly (and to code).”
The musician, who also shared the stage with the late great guitar icon Jeff Healey, wrote nine songs for Finally Crafted, including “I Don’t Care.” In terms of his songwriting, Armstrong’s works often begin as poems, which results in “more interesting melodies” and with few “restrictions of having to fit the lyrics to the melody.”
A video for “I Don’t Care” was also created and Armstrong also launched short music tutorials on TikTok that he calls The DIY Musician which he reveals some tricks of the trade he’s learned through trial and error while in the recording studio. And with “I Don’t Care” being such a strong single epitomizing great Americana barroom brilliance, you would be a fool not to care about this tantalizing track.
Hi, KC! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi everyone, I’m KC Armstrong. I was originally born and raised in Peterborough County and relocated to Brantford ON, in 2005.
I have been playing all over Canada for many years, and have had a lot of interesting experiences while on the road.
I started songwriting at the age of 14 and have recorded two previous albums in professional studios.
During those past recordings, the problem was always that the meter was constantly running, and costs were mounting.
I have always thought that the end product suffered because of that.
It always felt like “one more take and we might get it right, but it is getting over budget so we’d better leave it as is.”
When I moved into my current home, with its cement-walled basement, I claimed that space and finally had an opportunity to build my own studio.
The first few years in the ‘dungeon’ produced some pretty terrible results (what with the cement walls, and the freezing cold) but were not a total waste of time since I also used that time to teach myself how to operate a recording studio.
Finally, one day, I had saved enough money and I made the decision to construct a proper studio. This meant learning how to frame, drywall, insulate, etc.
YouTube University came to the rescue, and over a 3-month span, the room was complete (and toasty-warm).
The result of that process is the ‘Finally Crafted’ album.
“I Don’t Care” has such a brassy, Americana vibe with a barroom feel. Can you tell us what inspired the sound and theme of this particular track?
The lyrics for the song were inspired by real-life events. They are exactly what they seem to be – an emotional response that has progressed past anger and is well into “I’m not putting up with this anymore” territory.
When arranging the song I wanted it to be light-hearted, fun, and in-your-face to match that theme.
Up-tempo and danceable represent how the protagonist would be responding to his new mindset of “getting out there and getting on with it”.
My musical tastes have always seemed to gravitate towards Southern Rock and the Blues.
I have spent a large portion of my career as a Country singer, so I’m certain that that is somewhere in the mix as well.
Fortunately, those genres jibe well with the lyrical content of this song.
The track features a stellar lineup of musicians, including Sean O’Connor on saxophone and MaryEllen Allen on backing vocals. How did you approach collaborating with these musicians to create such a cohesive, dynamic sound?
Because of time constraints and geography, our recordings usually progress like this: Bass, Drums, Acoustic Guitar, and scratch vocals come first. That would be Jake Adams (Drums) and I (Bass, Acoustic, Vocals).
Steve O’Connor (Keyboards) quite often comes next (and did on this song).
Because the piano and B3 organ are so hard to move, and because Steve is such a busy man (touring and recording with the Jim Cuddy Band, and George Canyon) I send what we have to him, and he records in his own home.
He then sends it back to me and now there’s another piece added to the puzzle.
Steve and I have worked together for so long that we seem to have developed a synergy between us. I rarely, if ever, change a thing that Steve sends me – it isn’t necessary.
The piano track on this song really is spectacular when you analyze it. It completely sets the stage for the rest of the arrangement. It is a great honky-tonk piano part.
Next, I send this arrangement to Barry Haggarty (Guitar). Barry still lives in Peterborough and runs his own studio there.
He is a VERY busy man.
Barry and I have been working together the longest. I’ve played in bands with him since I was a teen, and we’ve seen a lot of Canada together. Barry usually sends me a variety of parts (all going in different musical directions) and lets me decide amongst them.
MaryEllen lives near London On. And since she is close enough she comes here to do her vocal parts. We have developed a chemistry for working together and often finish each other’s thoughts and sentences.
For this song, I envisioned a trio of ladies all wagging their fingers at the girl who hurt the protagonist. I wanted it saucy with a hint of mocking. I love what MaryEllen did with her parts – it’s a huge part of the hooky chorus for this song.
Sean O’Connor (Steve’s brother) lives and teaches music in Toronto during the day and gigs at night. He has an innate ability to capture what I am hearing in my head (but don’t know how to describe), and then improve it in the translation.
I asked him to make the Sax, “scream a little on this one” and I think you’ll agree that he delivered that.
To me, the sax represents the protagonist’s inner voice – which is still a little angry at the betrayal.
We have done a lot of recording with this particular unit, and they are all such studio professionals that the songs always take on a life of their own and seem to gel somewhere in the mixing process.
Your album Finally Crafted took over two decades to complete. Can you share more about what kept you motivated through such a long process, and how you feel now that it’s finished?
Part of the reason this album took so long to complete is that it is actually a trilogy.
Parts two and three have already been recorded and just need some Mixing and Mastering before release. I intend to put the next two out in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
I’m not sure why I did it this way – I suppose the best answer is that I kept recording while simultaneously trusting that I would someday develop the mixing skills to at some point finish the project.
The motivation comes from some artistic bone in me that longs to actually see the finished product, and hopes that it might live up to expectations.
I felt fantastic when I held the finished CD in my hands…elated, relaxed, self-satisfied – for about 1 day lol.
Then my thoughts started turning to finishing the next album.
With comparisons to artists like Randy Newman and Nick Lowe, how do you feel about being placed in such company? Do you draw any specific influence from these artists in your work?
I grew up listening to both those artists, and I’m sure those influences are there unconsciously as part of the “stew”.
There’s a lot of other influences in there besides. People keep telling me they hear Little Feat in this song. I was thinking of Dr. John personally, what with the piano and Bass Saxophone, but who knows?
Being compared to any of these artists would be a great compliment and honour to me.
The one yardstick – the only yardstick, that I personally apply to my songs is “would KC download or buy this song” in this case I honestly believe that I would – so I am content (until the next album that is).
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