Singled Out: Chuck Westmoreland ‘Sharp Rocks’

Who: Chuck Westmoreland

From: Portland, Oregon

Song: “Sharp Rocks”

Latest record: Long Winter Rodeo (Out June 1st)

What about it:  ““Sharp Rocks” is about a codependent relationship.This was the last song I wrote before we went into the studio and I wrote it really fast in my kitchen while my wife and kid were at the grocery store.  When the band rehearsed it we felt like it was pretty “meh” so I wrote a bridge right before we recorded and it kind of came alive. We all got pretty pumped up on it and “brought that excitement with us into the studio.  We recorded drums, bass, guitars, and vocals live, kept the first take, and jumped around the studio “high fivin’ and doing karate kicks while Garrett overdubbed the organ part.  I was also, for some reason, listening to “In A Big Country” a lot when the song was written and I really like the way the guy from that band yelps in the song.

I wanted to shoot the video for the song at a rodeo grounds on top of a ridge that I drive by a lot when I’m fishing and managed to get in touch with the old rancher guy that owns the property. Talked to his wife a few times on the phone before I actually got ahold of him.  I told him that I’d really like to shoot this video up there and it’s been the backdrop for a record I’ve been working on and the first thing out of his mouth was “Oooooooooooooooh, shit.” There was a long pause and he said: “Son, I’ve got cattle coming in from Pendleton, I’ve got cattle coming in from up north, it’s a fucking shit show up here!” Another long pause, “Of course you can shoot your video up here!”