Philly Plain Dealer

Philly Plain Dealer had the pleasure of talking to Tim Lopez, guitarist for The Plain White T’s, just a few hours before their show at Brooklyn Bowl on November 4. 

Kate Shuman, from the Philly Plain Dealer: The last time you guys performed in Philly was in February of 2024, right?

Tim Lopez, Plain White T’s: You tell me, Kate, I honestly don’t know! The last time we played here was in this building that reminded me of a church. Do you know which venue I’m talking about? There was this amazing guitar shop next to it, but the building itself had church vibes on the inside and out.

K: Union Transfer!

Tim Lopez: Yes.

K: What do you like about Philly, or, the East Coast in general?

Tim Lopez: I love coming out to this part of the country, I mean, I didn’t grow up traveling a ton anyway, so I can appreciate that there’s so much more history out here than in Santa Barbara, California. I mean, we have a little mission in town, a little Spanish mission, but not much else. But yeah, last time I was here, my wife was with me and we biked around and saw all the historical sites, which was great. I always love the food, I mean, you guys got it all.

K: What are you looking forward to in your career as far as touring or any side projects?

Tim Lopez: Tom and I each have side projects. I’ve got a country band in Austin and Tom has a hyperpop project that he does as a solo project on the side.

K: Who’s your favorite country artist?

Tim Lopez: Of all time, or currently?

K: Either, or both!

Tim Lopez: Well, in our house there’s only one answer for best of all time and that’s George Straight. But, I grew up listening to a bunch of 90’s country, so like Tim McGraw which was more on the pop side of things. Nowadays, I really like what Riley Green is doing as a writer–ever since I started writing country music I’ve been really impressed with everything that dude is doing. I started following him during Covid and he was hosting acoustic writer round events in his barn. He had no success yet, he was playing in small honky tonks out there…he didn’t sound like he’s had hits yet, and now, not only has he had massive hits, he’s writing them himself, which is rare in country right now. You use Nashville’s best writers to get you a great hit song and then you go out and tour it, but he’s doing it all himself right now. I love Zach Top, who I think just has a rad, classic, nostalgic sound. But let’s hear yours.

K: Of all time, it has to be Willie Nelson.

Tim Lopez: Yeah. Legend.

K: I think Billy Strings is the best guitarist of my generation, and my favorite currently.

Tim Lopez: For sure. He rules. I saw Billy Strings play before he had blown up *at all.* I saw him play during SXSW in Austin where I live. He was playing on a street corner, in like a bluegrass quartet and just…ripping. I was like “Holy shit dude, I’ve gotta work on some guitar.” I’ve got a buddy in Austin who I moved out there with and one of his closest friends signed Billy at that time. So she already had him under management, and he’s the only one she was managing. She was just like, “I found this guy, I’m gonna manage him.” A mutual friend who has just been crushing it with him since the beginning.

K: Where do you draw influence from? What are some of your favorite songs to play regardless of whether they’re written by you or not?

Tim Lopez: I always do sound checking with some Tom Petty song, that’s my go-to as far as songs that are not mine. As far as T’s songs, a song called The Giving Tree is probably my favorite, and the band has a song called Would You Even that’s a harder rock song that’s fun to play. As far as my solo stuff, a song called Smithereens that I wrote recently that I think feels like a hit, to me–not in the sense that it ever has to do anything, what even is radio anymore right? But when I play it live it goes over really well. I really like singing that song.

K: So, since this is the first time I’m interviewing a musician who isn’t local to Philly, I guess I just want to ask you what people don’t normally ask. What is something that is important to your relationship with the band members, or important to the music, or how you deem the music to be important to anyone. Just something you wish people knew.

Tim Lopez: I guess just thinking about when writing the songs, you’re obviously so in it, both lyrically and when you stumble on the right melody, you get that creative, almost endorphin-like rush, a hit of something or a high that you get from completing a song. Then you go out and play it and you do that for twenty years. I have some really broken-hearted songs, and I’m not broken-hearted. But the best part about performing those songs now is the fact that people are there for it. I can feel nothing when I play it, but there are people who are moved by it. It’s a unique relationship that you have with your fans, because your own art can start to feel stale to you unless someone injects their own personal love into what you’ve done.