Q&A: Dan Navarro headlines Pumpstock 2021

Outdoor Americana festival returns Saturday to East Lansing

Back in 2009, East Lansing’s Orchard Street Pump House (368 Orchard St) was revamped into a go-to spot for live Americana music. The venue, booked by local Bailey neighborhood resident Dudley (Smitty) Smith, promptly expanded into hosting Pumpstock, an outdoor event at Bailey Park.

This year’s roster features singer-songwriter Dan Navarro (6:45 p.m.), bluesman Rev. Robert B. Jones Sr. (5:30 p.m.), Americana duo Gaines & Wagoner (4:15 p.m.) and acclaimed singer-songwriter Nathan Bell (3 p.m.). Opening the fest, at 2 p.m., is The Dangling Participles, Lansing’s jazzy indie-folk band.

City Pulse chatted with headliner, and Grammy nominee, Dan Navarro, about his life as a musician. From the British Invasion and ’70s songwriters, to the Great American Songbook and Spanish language music, his dynamic catalog is inspired by a wide net of sounds.

When was the last time you performed in Lansing? 
Dan Navarro: I was at the Pump House March 7, 2020. It was my next-to-last gig before the COVID-19 Lockdown. I’ve always done well in the Midwest, for over 30 years, so I come out this way at least annually.

What is one of the most important things you’ve learned while on the road?
That the most elemental path to success is persistence. The road will grind down the uncommitted, and the real connections to resonance and reward are made in real time — over and over again. The road taught me to show up, to pay attention, to take care of my body and mind, to work hard to aim to do my best work, and learn from anything bad that got in my way.

Your cousin is Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Did you grow up jamming with him?
There’s a significant age difference, and he was a kid when I was starting to play out. We got into different things, and I wasn’t around when he was getting started. Our different styles made it kind of hard to play together. He played on my first two albums, but we never sat down and did stuff together. We backed my brother Johnny once, on the Jimi Hendrix song, “The Wind Cries Mary,” for a party that Susanna Hoff’s then-boyfriend threw every week—back in the late ’80s. We called it The Navarro Boys. This January, we almost hooked up to celebrate David Bowie around his birthday/death-day anniversary. We found ourselves blissing out over “Quicksand” on the phone, because we were still locked down. I was ready to go to his house to shoot a live stream, but my car wouldn’t start from being idle for a year.

You’ve written a lot of songs for other artists. Of those songs, which one do you like the most? Are you able to choose?
It’s hard to not choose Pat Benatar’s 1984 version of “We Belong.”  It did so well. But the one I’m most proud of is Dave Edmunds doing “Test of Love” on his 1990 “Closer to the Flame” album. I was a huge Dave Edmunds and Rockpile fan in the ’70s and ’80s, and that cut makes me proudest. For a change of pace, I also love Nuria Graham’s version of “We Belong.” She’s a Catalan singer in her early 20s, and I found her version quite by accident. It’s gorgeous.

When and how did you first get into writing and performing music?
I started playing music in the school band. I was a trumpet player, and later a French horn player. I did that all through high school and college, when I played in the UCLA Band. It was my main thing. I grew up in a small town, Calexico, Calif., and it was something to do. I simply loved the feeling of music vibrating through your body when a big ensemble was playing.

When did you realize you wanted to sing?
I had always wanted to sing, because I knew I had a voice from as early as 10, from singing along with records. The Beatles put the spotlight on forming bands and writing, so my last year of high school, I started writing with a couple of friends I also sang with. I couldn’t play guitar, so I just wrote lyrics and sometimes melodies. Second year of college, I got tired of that limitation, and bought a guitar to learn how to play. I also had started singing in the college men’s glee club and I became obsessed. I was playing and writing constantly. By senior year, I won a songwriting contest UCLA sponsored and I was off to the races.

I hear you’re working on a new solo LP. What fueled the songs?
Songs are always coming out, so inspiration is from different places. Loss and uncertainty are big catalysts. This time out, I’ve been inspired by excitement about the future and the joy of having good people in your life. I’ve been around the block, and have been in a good phase for some time. Even in pandemic meltdown. I find myself persistently grateful. The presumed title track is “Horizon Line,” which says, “I’m refusing to sit still … and looking ahead to what is next.”

PUMPSTOCK 2021: A Day of American Roots Music
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2 p.m.–8 p.m.
Bailey Park, 300 Bailey St., East Lansing
$10 suggested donation, children FREE