At 58, Mike Mullis, guitarist and songwriter for Southern rock band Sons-N-Britches, is at “a certain age where I don’t feel like I have as many years as I’ve already lived, but I do still feel like I’m growing up.”
It’s About Time captures not only some of the anxieties of growing older, but the beauty of maturing and enjoying life. Pairing those things together makes the album a rare fully explored picture of aging well, one that doesn’t gloss over the harsh realities of mortality. Instead, Mullis confronts the notion quite directly. Mullis tends to take quotes and conversations and turn them into songs that explore some fairly deep concepts. A member of the band requested that “Blue Sky” by The Allman Brothers be played at his funeral. A songwriter coach advised that songs about death sound sad, as “nobody dies in a major key.” Mullis took the two and combined them into “Ain’t Leaving Here in a Minor Key,” where he insists that the last years of his life are meaningful and joyful: “I live in the moment with the end in mind,” he writes, before telling anyone planning his funeral not to “bury me with no lame ass song.”
“I realise people will be sad, but I want to leave here in a major key. I want to leave here with happy memories. I’ve been to a few celebrations of life that leave you just like that,” said Mullis, citing the fact that he’s able to process the loss of a friend in a fairly positive way. “I just remember so many great times, it’s almost like he’s still here in those memories.”
He’s still quite determined to make a positive impact and better choices. Though his two older sons are married and out of the house, he’s raising a 13-year-old daughter with a second partner.
“I’m 58 years old, but I’m not dead yet. It’s learning how to look at the area around you and how to impact it for what I think is good,” said Mullis. “That’s primarily why I write music. I just want to bring something good into the atmosphere.”
There are hints on the album of a much less positive past. He mentions struggling with addiction, and writes “your redneck ways attract blue lights” on the title track. His desire to be a better man for his children led to the most gutsy track on the album, “Raising Hell,” in which Mullis goes over some of his struggles before putting it all in the context of parenthood: “It ain’t about me/I won’t pass down this curse.”
“I can see how patterns in my life, let me put it this way, created more hardship than I needed to go through,” said Mullis. “As I got older and started to have kids, I started to see I’m raising them now. I’m not going to raise hell. I want to raise somebody who understands who they are, who understands my mistakes, and who understands how to grow up in a healthier way than I did.”
Again, Mullis was able to point to the specific moment that his song was born.
“A friend had posted on social media that you have to face your demons or they will raise your kids,” said Mullis, who admitted he’s told his kids he is totally okay with them talking about some of his mistakes in their therapy sessions. “You have to face yourself. I realised that my kids are going to have to face themselves too. None of us are exempt from it.” His determination is captured quite well on “Late in the Game” as he writes “I can be the change” despite entering what he feels in among the final chapters in his life.
Speaking of therapy, Mullis seems to have found a much healthier way of dealing with his problems than substance abuse.
“I have a walk. Before the sun comes up, I get up and I like to move while I’m thinking. That’s been one of the things that’s grounded me,” said Mullis. “It also helps me to think through things. It’s probably about a two mile walk and I carry my coffee with me, sometimes talking to myself.”
He also carves out time to have a conversation with his wife every morning and feels like it’s a great thing for their relationship. He’s entered meditative states, read self help books, but still maintains a deep love for at least one of his outlets of youth.
“I say I’m going to see my therapist, and that basically means I’m going to play my guitar,” said Mullis. “I think we’re all meant for creativity. It’s such a small thing, but if that brings you peace, if that brings you joy, if that makes you feel complete, then do it.”
He’s still thrilled about playing for audiences and with his friends in the band, all of whom he’s known since elementary school. Some reading he’s done about the physiological effects of sitting in a drum circle seems to explain to him how playing music leads to such deep friendships.
I’ve been reading a lot about something called synchronicity,” said Mullis of musicians playing together. “The more you’re in that, the brain waves, your heart rate, your breathing, tends to get a little more similar to each other. It almost seems surreal, but it’s been proven.”
He feels it allows him to have unspoken communication while rocking out at a show. And make no mistake, this album does deliver some gritty Southern rock energy. Even if the topics are a little more tame and self-help-based than something more typical of the genre, Mullis crafts songs with urgency and a sometimes a genuine sense of fun.
Closing track “The Shed,” a celebration of playing music together, gathers up many friends. A friend who grew up in the Black church told him about jam sessions after mass in which older musicians would teach young worshipers some new tricks. Mullis managed to recreate the feeling by bringing in friends playing instruments like the saxophone and several other vocalists to build a sort of choir. “Shake the walls like Jericho/make a joyful, joyful, joyful noise,” he writes. Being in the music industry, for all its difficulties, seems to be quite the blessing for Mullis.
“I don’t think I’ll ever retire. It’s not because I’m a workaholic, I just love it. I think it’s a part of who I was meant to be,” said Mullis. “It helps me to remember that I’m alive and I still have something to say.”
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Mike Mullis of Sons-N-Britches and the songs we discussed, starting with Raising Hell, which details having to grow up to help his kid grow up. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live alternate Wednesdays at 8am on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://sonsnbritches.com/home for more.
