WITF Music: Vincent Yarnell

"I just soul vomit all over my guitar."

• Joe Ulrich
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe has been interested in audio and music since he was a kid. What started as a fascination with his parents’ vinyl records and cassette tapes turned into a love of both performing and recording. He grew up in Elizabethtown, Pa. and moved to Pittsburgh in 1999 where he majored in Photography at the University of Pittsburgh.
  
  In 2004, he attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Tempe, AZ. He returned to Pittsburgh to work at a recording studio.
  
  In 2008, Joe arrived at WITF, where his skills have found a good home as an on-air host, audio engineer and producer of WITF Music. In 2016, Joe earned a National Edward R. Murrow award for Best Use of Sound.

 Jeremy Long / WITF

Vince Yarnell performs in the WITF Music studio on Wednesday July 19, 2023

Joe Ulrich: Tell me more about your career as a musician.

Vincent Yarnell: I was in a three piece rock band for a little while. After that fizzled out, I just started really diving into the acoustic guitar. Really dived into fingerpicking and stuff like that. And listening to some music where artists were just really opening themselves up.

And I was like, I didn’t even know you could do that. I thought you had to make it cryptic. So I practiced that and played in my room a lot, did a lot of open mic nights. And then met the guys in Rivers, Matt and Joe, and we started playing. But I always had songs that I put to the side.

Joe Ulrich: Listening to these songs, they’re upbeat-sounding and yet they’re also pretty heavy, aren’t they?

Vincent Yarnell: Yeah, my writing process is, I call it soul vomiting. I just soul vomit all over my guitar and it helps me get stuff out. And then after I write a song, I look back and I’m like, what the hell am I talking about? I learn stuff about myself through writing songs.

Joe Ulrich: We were talking about recording and you like a recording style that’s a little more raw and authentic. What is it you get out of that versus a super pristine recording?

Vincent Yarnell: I don’t think every single thing needs to be polished down to quote unquote perfection. I think there’s mistakes or little flubs or something that add realness and human touch to it. I mean, that’s what we’re doing. So I don’t know why we’re all trying to hide that we’re doing it. And it’s not a jab at anybody. It seems like everybody’s so used to these perfect computer made songs.

Joe Ulrich: I think there will always be a market for the sort of raw and imperfect stuff.

Vincent Yarnell: I find that stuff and I love it, and I know I’m not the only person out there that does.

Joe Ulrich: What is the hardest thing about being a performing musician?

Vincent Yarnell: You gotta really love it. And I do love it, but there’s a lot of places that I wish cared about original music more. There’s some cool places, but I know there are places that are [like], what are you doing?

But that’s all I’m going to do. I’m not going to give in. I’m just going to be stubborn and just fight my way through it. And I feel like the area has gotten better since 10 years ago. There is a community of people that care.

A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.

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