Dougie Poole tells us about the influences behind his new album 'The Rainbow Wheel of Death'

Brooklyn country singer Dougie Poole just released his excellent third album, The Rainbow Wheel of Death, today via Wharf Cat. Where his 2020 album Freelancers Blues had tales of urban ennui and vaping on the job, Dougie aims a little more for the heart this time, more direct, more personal, but still from his unique, thoughtful angle. Read our review here and can listen to the whole thing below.

We asked Dougie to tell us a little more about the influences behind the album, and he sent us a list featuring songs by Bobby Womack, Johnny Paycheck, Joan Armatrading, Dennis Wilson, and more. Read his list and commentary below.

Dougie will be on tour this spring beginning April 6 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. All dates are listed below.

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DOUGIE POOLE – INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘THE RAINBOW WHEEL OF DEATH’

Bobby Womack – BW goes C&W

My understanding is that this album was not well received when it came out and isn’t held in super high regard by fans of country music. Pretty sure his label dropped him after he put it out too. To me, it’s a classic and I return to it all the time. He is one of my all time favorite electric guitar players.

Johnny Paycheck – “Sharon Rae/I’ll Leave The Bottle on the Bar”

This video is what inspired me to pick up a nylon string guitar and tune it open D, which ended up being the basis for a lot of the tunes on this record. Country music can be a lot of simple chords, so it can get easy for me to get stuck in repetitive patterns. But watching how Paycheck played these simple, classic country tunes in with classic country chords in different voicings shook stuff up for me.

Joan Armatrading  – “Woncha Come on Home”

Here’s another tune that inspired a more stripped down approach to the acoustic guitars. I really love this song and how Joan’s voice follows the guitar melody – how they weave in and out. Also, structurally, it’s very strange which is always inspiring.

Rosanne Cash – “Seven Year Ache”

This tune blends synthesizers with more classic country instruments in a really brilliant and subtle way. I think on my previous records, I made a point to make some the more unconventional sounds stick out a lot, but I wanted to go with a lighter touch on this record when it came to the synths.

Dennis Wilson – “Farewell My Friend”

I just threw this in here cause it’s what inspired the synth sound from the song “The Rainbow Wheel of Death”. In the band we refer to it as The Whale.

Doug Sahm – “Wallflower”

What I love about this record is how you can hear the space they’re in, and the people that are in it. My previous records had been put together piecemeal, and sometimes when you record something in a lot of takes in a lot of different spaces, you can lose the sense of a room. I knew when we recorded this record, I wanted to hear the room and the people in it.

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DOUGIE POOLE – 2023 TOUR DATES
APR 6 THU – BABY’S ALL RIGHT @ 10:00PM – BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATES
APR 7 FRI – THE DOLPHIN @ 7:00PM – PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES
APR 8 SAT – COMET PING PONG @ 10:00PM – WASHINGTON, D.C., DC, UNITED STATES
APR 13 THU – HAL & MAL’S @ 8:00PM – JACKSON, MS, UNITED STATES
APR 14 FRI – GASA GASA @ 9:00PM – THOMAS DOLLBAUM – NEW ORLEANS, LA, UNITED STATES
APR 16 SUN – DADA DALLAS @ 8:00PM – DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATE