Key to the Highway: Ordinary Elephant

Ordinary Elephant photo by Olivia Perillo

Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road for music. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from Crystal Hariu-Damore and Pete Damore of Ordinary Elephant.

Americana Highways: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

Ordinary Elephant: Very strong black coffee. We do pour over at home and on the road, but also occasionally indulge in an oat milk cortado if there’s a good coffee shop.

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road for music?)

OE: The offer of “rustic” accommodations should have clued us in. After a show several years back, we arrived in the dark to an unfinished structure with single dim lightbulb hanging horror-movie style from the middle of the ceiling, a mattress on the floor, with a set of used sheets strewn about. Luckily, we could sleep in our van, so we went off to enjoy a nice campfire hang with another band that had also played that night. On the way back to our van suite, Crystal punctured her foot on a rusty mattress spring lurking in the darkness. It was a night not to be forgotten!

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

OE: Justin Farren’s Pretty Free is one of our favorite albums of all-time. Every song is deep and brilliant, and we’re constantly uncovering new truths tucked inside the folds between the words. It’s an incredible well of inspiration.

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?

Crystal: Slip-on shoes. I always have my Birkenstock sandals. When we’re touring in the van (which is most of the time) I also have my slippers.

Pete: Earbuds! I like to listen to music and podcasts while driving, and Crystal prefers the quiet hum of the road. I’m also dependent on certain favorite podcasts (a sweet spot of not too boring, but not too engrossing) to help my brain keep quiet as I drift off to sleep every night.

AH: What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there) ?

OE: We have a small kitchen that we built into our current van so we can prepare meals, but eating as healthy as we like to, with lots of fresh veggies, lean meat, and unprocessed foods, can be tough when we’re short on time. Pre-cut and washed vegetables, rotisserie chicken, hummus, avocados, and salad ingredients from supermarkets are staples for us on the road. We also love when folks along our travels offer us homegrown vegetables! When we need to get something from a restaurant quickly, a dependable stop for us is Chipotle. It seems to be one of the healthier fast spots, with fresh, whole food ingredient options. Can we get a sponsorship now? 😉

AH: If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?

OE: One of our favorite place discoveries was Silver City, a small town in southwest New Mexico. It’s been a while since we’ve spent any real quality time there, but we fell in love with its charm and welcoming community of artists and musicians. More generally, the openness and beauty of the western United States is inspiring, and we could spend many lifetimes exploring its nooks and crannies.

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

OE: Mary Gauthier is a wealth of wisdom, always imparting little things that are really big things – things that change the DNA of how you write. We’ve learned so much from her, but something that immediately comes to mind is her reminder that no one ever has to read what you write… you can decide that later. That puts your head in a different – and better – place for writing closer to what is true.

Find more information about their new album, and tour dates for Ordinary Elephant, here: https://www.ordinaryelephant.net

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Vince Herman Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Sadler Vaden )