Lawrence Rothman has spent the last decade moving from Los Angeles to Nashville, from rock ‘n’ roll bands to the Americana community, and from solo singer-songwriter to producer. His new album, Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust, is the final album in a trilogy of Americana-rooted records. But Rothman has also built a parallel career producing other artists, and he tells Variety that the two roles feed each other — that losing himself in other people’s dramas during production lets him return to his own work refreshed.
The album starts with “The Meaning,” a song that asks what music is for in the first place. Rothman considers the question across his own work and the records he has made for others, including Amanda Shires’ Nobody’s Girl, Maggie Rose’s Half Moon and Tift Merritt’s comeback Sugar. He speaks about his production method, his taste for women’s voices, and the emotional toll of sitting in a room full of other people’s pain.
The Trilogy Ends
Rothman calls Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust the conclusion of a trilogy of Americana-rooted albums that tell the story of his life and career to date. The music leans acoustic and singer-songwriter focused, though he hints that the next batch of material will have a jazz flavor.
The album opens with “The Meaning,” a song that asks what music is for in the first place. Rothman frames the question personally: if not what is the meaning of life, then what is the meaning of music? For many musicians and listeners, he says, those two questions are nearly identical.
The title track, “Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust,” carries the weight of the trilogy’s arc. Rothman describes the record as a completion, a statement of where he stands after years of wandering between bands and personas in Los Angeles.
Producing Others
Rothman produces albums once a month, and he says the variety keeps him alive. He has worked with Amanda Shires, Maggie Rose and Tift Merritt, each in a distinct style.
Shires’ Nobody’s Girl is poetic and sad, he says, with a sound he compares to Leonard Cohen. Rose’s Half Moon is celebratory and youthful, about being a mother and finding new energy from her family. Merritt’s Sugar is heavier and more lyrical, a look at the life of an artist.
“I’m a little Method when I produce,” Rothman says. “I have to feel like I’m in the band.” He loses himself in the sessions, he says, taking on everybody’s trauma until the artists have spilled their drama and their sadness.
“It’s like a little bit of a demon that you dance with, when you’re producing things,” he says.
Immersion Over Glass
When Rothman produces, he does not sit behind a glass. He stands in the recording room, not the control room, and he gets physical.
“If a singer’s singing, I’m right next to them,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll take my shirt off and dance. I’ll do whatever it takes to get it to have an energy.”
He taps along or plays something if he is not singing. The goal is to keep the session alive, not clinical. “There’s something so clinical, almost like a doctor, about being behind a glass, and they’re in the distance — it just feels odd to me,” he says.
He calls it a kind of Method acting for music. The artists he works with, he says, are all great people, and the sessions feel like acting in a film — crying, singing, laughing together — before everyone walks away as themselves again.
Women’s Voices
Rothman likes to frame his voice with a woman’s texture. His own voice is low, he says, and a woman’s range complements it well.
On Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust, he has Amanda Shires, Jillian Jacqueline and Katie Pruitt singing on some songs. He also duets with Sarah Klang on “A Fire Test.”
When asked if he gravitates toward women artists, he pushed back. “Yeah, I don’t look at it like that at all,” he says. “I have to just love the music.”
He is not doing production to become a millionaire, he says. He wants to help singers express themselves, and he finds Americana the most forward-thinking music right now because it accepts R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, singer-songwriter and jazz.
Gemini and Sadness
Rothman mentions the Gemini in him, a reference to his astrological sign. He has loved many kinds of music his whole life, and he says the production work helps keep him inspired.
“I don’t know if it’s the Gemini in me, but I’ve loved so many different types of music my entire life,” he says. “So to produce and to be able to add sounds, textures and treatments to things that are in a new style every month — because I produce something once a month — helps keep me alive, really, and eep my inspiration up.”
He enjoys sad music, and he says Shires makes some beautifully sad songs. After spending time in that zone, he says, it is nice to switch to something like Maggie Rose’s celebratory record about motherhood.
The Songs
| Song | Role |
|---|---|
| “The Meaning” | Opens the album, asks the big question |
| “Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust” | Title track, closes the trilogy |
| “A Fire Test” | Duet with Sarah Klang |
| “Take It Like a Man” | Produced for Amanda Shires |
| “Half Moon” | Produced for Maggie Rose |
| “Sugar” | Produced for Tift Merritt |
What It Means
Rothman’s production work is not a sideline. It is the engine that powers his own music. The emotional labor of sitting with other people’s trauma — crying, laughing, losing oneself — resets him for his own creative output.
He says the artists he works with get it out of themselves, and he gets it out of himself. The sessions are cathartic for everyone involved.
His Americana trilogy is personal, but his production work is communal. He takes on the pain of others, and that act of empathy clears his own head.
Key Facts
- Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust is the final album in Rothman’s trilogy
- He produces an album once a month
- The trilogy tells the story of the singer’s life and career to date
- The Americana-rooted records include Nobody’s Girl, Half Moon and Sugar
- He duets with Sarah Klang on “A Fire Test”
- He has worked with Amanda Shires, Maggie Rose and Tift Merritt
Rothman’s approach to production is unusual. Most producers sit behind a glass, making decisions from a distance. He stands in the room, dances shirtless, and sings alongside the artists.
That method is not efficient. It is exhausting. But it produces records that feel lived-in, and it keeps Rothman connected to the material.
The trilogy ends with Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust, and the record answers the question it opens with. Why am I breathing? The music, and the production work, is the answer.
Source material: “Lawrence Rothman on Their New Album, ‘Here Lives Love/Sawdust to Stardust,’ a Growing Legacy Producing Other Artists, and the Talk with Bowie That Changed Everything,” Variety.
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