Willy Vlautin at Rough Trade East

Willy Vlautin in Conversation

Rough Trade East, 17 June 2026

It was England's first World Cup match tonight, but I was far more interested in the fact that my favourite author, the incomparable Willy Vlautin, was doing an instore appearance at Rough Trade East, talking to journalist Kate Hutchinson about his new book, the wonderful The Left & The Lucky, and what a delightful night it turned out to be.

Given there was an anticipated football match on at the same time and the event wasn't sold out, I did wonder how well attended this Rough Trade instore would be but I needn't of worried, as even though I was once again the first there, the Vlautin faithful soon started to turn up, looking cheerful. And then when Vlautin himself turned up, he was carrying a guitar case so, while it was billed as "In Conversation", I was thrilled to know we would also be getting a song or two (or as it turns out, three!).

For some reason it took them ages to let us in, I think it was at least 20 minutes after the 7pm opening time listed , but once in I was happy to see there was seats and even better it started early, with Hutchinson coming out onto the small stage first to give her little introduction.

Vlautin jumped on stage and took a seat, looking very smart in his Western style shirt and jeans, holding a copy of his new book, which I am currently reading myself and only have a few pages left (I really don't want it to end and I told him so later on!).

I really can't stress enough how much Vlautin's work has meant to me. I only read his first book, The Motel Life back in 2006, because I was curious about the fact that the frontman from the Richmond Fontaine had written a book, and I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was. Over the years I've come to anticipate every single book that he's written and I'm genuinely sad when I finish them, even though the stories are often heartbreaking. But they are also tender, full of kindness towards humanity and feature so many interesting characters, often down on their luck people who aren't often written about with such feeling and compassion.  I remember when I first read The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers I felt I had never read a book before that aligned so much with my world view and that's how I feel about Vlautin's work.

Hutchinson began by asking him about the new book, The Left & The Lucky (his eighth so far), a tale about the wholesome relationship between an eight year old boy called Russell, who comes from a dysfunctional family, and his neighbour, a house painter called Eddie, who feels so much like he's based on Vlautin himself (he later talks about how he was a painter and decorator for years right up until he was 37 years old). 

He spoke about how the men he worked with and the "jackassery" and tall tales they told, were an inspiration for the characters in the book, and despite how much crazy stuff they got up to and often were complete fuck ups, how much he loved them and chatting with them every day. "Being around that kind of people bullshitting all day long, it's really fun. Eating breakfast with a bunch of weirdos is really fun: that's why I learned early on to take great joy, that's the victory, those little things that you can attain. And I think that's in this book to the nth degree."

He reflected on the character Curtis in the book, Russell's tormented brother who takes his anger out on him, and the rage he's seen in many young men and the guidance they need but don't often get. He had an interesting analogy about telling someone to go towards the light and while they tell you of course they are going to do that, they instead run the other way and hit a brick wall, and how some people keep doing that and just can't be helped.

Vlautin clearly had a lot of love for the characters in his new book: the steadfast Eddie, the self-reliant Russell and even Curtis, who you could tell he had a lot of compassion for despite being such an unlikable person in the story. He was particularly enamored with the quirky and fun Houston, who he admitted had a far smaller role in the story initially but he quickly took over a lot of the book because he liked him so much.

I thought it was interesting that Vlautin said he always has a whole story plotted before he sits down to write his novels (which I genuinely don't know how he makes the time for given all the touring and recording he does with his band The Delines), and that other authors have said they write just to see what happens. Vlautin says that when he does that he writes himself into a quagmire that he can't get out of. He reflected that he thinks he writes that way because he's always had to be more economical with his time when writing as when he began writing stories he was working full time as a painter, so couldn't just waste time seeing where a story would go. 

Hutchinson also asked him about how his work as a songwriter and author intersected, and he spoke about how his early books and stories were often inspired by songs he had written in Richmond Fontaine, particularly The Motel Life, while Northline (his second novel)  is literally a song title on Winnemucca. Whereas his later work the stories came first and later inspired songs, because while writing them in was so involved in the story that he would pick up a guitar and write songs that came out of those worlds. It's a fascinating process and I can't imagine there are many authors that have these two ways to express themselves, although Vlautin's songs have always had something deeper going on in their storytelling.

There was a lot of discussion about various characters in the book, which may well be a spoiler if you haven't read it yet, but Vlautin definitely seems to take a lot from people in his real life. Before the whole thing started I was speaking to a lovely woman from Portland, where Vlautin lives, who had regularly seen Richmond Fontaine back in the day and had many nice and eventful encounters with him. She told me that speaking to him you had to be ready to listen to plenty of stories, that he's always been like that. Obviously all those stories live in his head and he's able to mine them for his books, which is an incredible thing.

Vlautin also spoke about The Delines and how much he enjoys being with the band and spending time with them all. He particularly had high praise for singer Amy Boone, not just for her voice, but for the fact she never gets mad at all. But Vlautin himself seems like an even-headed, down to earth guy himself, so it's clear why they hit it off so well. The one thing she teases him about though is how many sad songs he writes and how she implored him to write a love song for once, one in which no one died! For a while he says he enjoys the challenge of writing something more upbeat and less sad but eventually he returns to his old maudlin ways. 

He was also asked about the fact that he said he can write a song hungover but not a novel, and he said when he is feeling terrible after a night of drinking, he can pick up his guitar and, because he's feeling bad, he can then write the saddest song. But feeling terribly hungover while sitting in front of a computer doesn't work. In fact, when he's lost inspiration or has writer's block, he instead gets super healthy, starts going on walks and making smoothies and his wife gets out self-help DVDs for him!

After the chat about the book and his work, Hutchinson left the stage and Vlautin moved over to another chair where a microphone was set up and his acoustic guitar, that we saw him carrying in earlier! I had hoped he would play a few songs but the "In Conversation" title of the event make it seem like it was very much about the book only, but then Vlautin's books and music are so intertwined it just makes sense that any evening with him would have both.

The first song he said with a smile was about brothers (like, I guess, the brothers in the new novel) and he began to play a very heartfelt and haunting version of the old Richmond Fontaine song Willamette, which is indeed about two brothers, one who abandons his younger sibling, leaving him with a wayward mother. The bleak tale does feel very similar to the story at the heart of his new novel, but then that's probably exactly why he played it tonight. It feels good to hear one of the old Richmond Fontaine songs and reminds me of just how good they were. The stripped back version only makes it even more atmospheric I must say.

Next he plays  Mr Luck & Ms Doom, the title track from The Delines' 2025 album, which is one of the more upbeat love songs he wrote when urged by Amy Boone. It does indeed provide a warmer, happier note after the melancholy of Willamette.

Finally, still thinking of his good friend Boone, he plays Kid Codeine, which he says is a nickname he has for her because she is so level-headed and impossible to rattle. Even though the song itself tells a different story about a boxer and his girlfriend, the rendition he gives tonight is full of warmth and feeling and sends us all off on a good note.

Hutchinson briefly returns to the stage at the end with one last question for Vlautin, asking him why he found it so hard to part ways with the characters in the book. He took another seat and pondered the question, speaking about the affection he had for them all and he enjoyed being in their world. Which is certainly how I feel when I read his books. 

After Vlautin signed books for people and I had some really lovely chats with some fellow fans in the queue who felt the exact same way about his writing as I did, which of course was heartening. I got to witness too how Vlautin treated every person like an old friend, chatting away with them, again telling stories. I told him how sad I always was to finish his books and he reassured me that he was already working on the next one, which is good news for us all. He also chatted again about how wonderful Amy Boone was and how The Delines are playing The Barbican in London next year. He was so friendly and warm, just like Eddie in the book in fact. I can't deny it made me feel so happy that my favourite author is as nice as I had hoped he would be.

So all in all, getting to listen to Vlautin speak about his new book while I am right in the middle of reading it, hearing him play some songs old and new and then getting to meet the man himself and have him sign  a copy of my book (and The Motel Life too), it really was a wonderful evening.