Episode 5: A Conversation with The Rails

If you’ve ever wondered how much passion, dedication, patience, and determination goes into writing a great song, I give you the Rails. Consisting of James Walbourne and Kami Thompson, the Rails are an English rock duo with three albums to their name since 2014—each one written and recorded under vastly different circumstances. In this episode of For Songs, Kami and James dissect four of their tunes with disarming candor—Grace of God and Borstal from their 2014 debut Fair Warning, and Dictator and Ball and Chain from 2019’s Cancel the Sun. Listen in as they discuss how much they’ve learned from working with such legends as Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Shane MacGowan, Jay Farrar, and many others. Kami and James talk about how their writing style has evolved and and how they’ve come to find a strong place after making a critical lifestyle change. And stay until the end when we get into social media and receive a visit from one of their cats. So all the way from Camden Town in London, here are the Rails…