Acclaimed music star Wille Nile is releasing his new album "New York at Night" this week and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the title track. Here is the story:
New York City has always inspired me. I've lived in Greenwich Village for many years now, and I love being there. The energy, the grit, and the mystery of it all fills my heart with wonder. There's always something going on, and I feel so alive when I'm there. It's a great place for a writer. There are ideas and creatures of all kinds walking down every street. The lost, the lonely, the big shots, the bullsh*t artists, the visionaries, the good, the bad, the ugly, all living in this great metropolitan area with people from all over the world and all walks of life. I learn something new every day living there. Most of the songs on my new album were written in New York or were inspired by it in one way or another. One song in particular triggered the album title.
On a Friday night last summer I was getting on a subway train in Times Square around 10:30 at night. I had been to a concert at The Iridium, Les Paul's club, and was heading home. It was mildly crowded and as I walked towards the open subway car door I saw a tall can of whipped cream on the floor beside a man's foot as he was sitting in the corner by the door. As I got closer I could see that his legs were all covered in whipped cream, from the top of his thighs down to the tip of his shoes. I couldn't see his upper body. I didn't turn to look at him. I went to the other end of the subway car and sat down, never looking back to see what this creature was up to. It was clearly one of those New York oddities you see from time to time. I took the train to West 4th Street and got out.
As I came up the stairs from the underground world and passed by all the strangers, wanderers, tourists, homeless people, rich, poor, and everything in between, it struck me how unique and strangely beautiful a New York City night could be. That's when the title hit me like a brick, "New York At Night". It's a world all it's own. Lyrics were coming to me as I walked the few blocks home and as soon as I got there I grabbed my guitar, sat down and wrote the song. It didn't take long. After I finished it I immediately thought it could be a good title for the album I was putting together. I realized that this city has had a big influence on me and this particular collection of songs and it seemed like the perfect title for it.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here