Bill Jackson has staked a claim as a fine singer and songwriter (the latter with brother Ross) with a well-honed and unashamedly Australian sensibility and focus.
His 2015 release The Wayside Ballads Vol.1 is a ruddy mix of tales of colourful, historical characters, those larger than life and outside the mainstream. Jackson’s vision is to ensure that these characters are not forgotten, to keep their names and deeds alive. Songs like the captivating “Kate’s Pretty Green Dress” a poignant story of Ned Kelly’s sister and the impact Ned’s fate had on her life and the growling and prowling “The Last Buccaneer” which is a terrific and terrifying account of ‘Bully’ Hayes, the American-born ship’s captain who was feared around the Pacific due to his exploits.
It’s a tribute to the Jacksons’ storytelling and insight. With Bill’s aptly earthy and gruff vocals, together with the wonderful Pete Fidler’s commanding guitar work – it makes for a grand album.
Now, The Wayside Ballads Vol. 2 is on the way, with a planned release early in 2016 and, if one of the new songs “Rollin’ Into Rosine” is any indication, Vol. 2 will be a worthy successor indeed.
Here are some details about the forthcoming new release – The Wayside Ballads Vol 2.
Engineered & Produced by Thomm Jutz (worked with Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith, Otis Gibbs, John Byrd) at TJ Tunes in Nashville, TN
The Band:
Bill Jackson: Acoustic Guitar/Vocal
Thomm Jutz: Acoustic Guitar/Backing Vocals
Pete Fidler: Dobro
Sierra Hull: Mandolin (recording artist and player extraordinaire)
Justin Moses: Fiddle/Banjo (Alison Krauss/Emmylou Harris)
Dan Kimbro: Upright Bass (The Jerry Douglas Trio)
Lynn Williams: Drums/Percussion (The Wallfowers/John Hiatt)
The Tracks:
(All Songs by Bill Jackson/Ross Jackson except ‘Pink Jesus’ by Bill Jackson/Ross Jackson/John Hadley and ‘Ghost of His Own by Bill Jackson/Ross Jackson/Nigel Wearne)
01. “Pink Jesus”: Based around the iconic Pink Jesus that adorns the bar at The Family Wash in Nashville and a girl we met there.
02. “Gippsland Boy”: A song that turned into one about my brother and co-writer, Ross
03. “Silver Screen Cowboys”: A nostalgic look at days gone by and how some things never change
04. “Three China Ducks”: An obsession with China Ducks and how they symbolise a love triangle heading West
05. “Double Shot”: A song about hero worship and pretending you are something you are not
06. “Rollin’ into Rosine”: Written after a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe in Rosine, Kentucky
07. “Halfway House of the Broken”: Autobiographcal song about domestic violence
08. “Every Day’s a Drinkin’ Day”: True story about a street busker on Broadway in Nashville
09. “Ghost of His Own”: The cycle of young love
10. “Come As You Are”: A track harking back to the Dancehall days and Saturday nights
Jackson fielded a few questions about the new release.
Rob: Hi Bill, congratulations on The Wayside Ballads Vol. 1. It’s a terrific release, ruddy tales which are delicately arranged and packaged. Did you always envisage having a follow-up companionship piece to Vol. 1 or did that idea emerge as you were making the first album?
Bill: Well Rob – the plan was three volumes and still is. My brother Ross and I had a whole lot of songs that we had written over the past couple of years and we were finding it hard to choose the next record from them, so we came up with the idea of doing them all over a shorter time frame than usual and in volumes. Crazy idea probably but we are getting there and it’s feeling like a good thing to do now that Vol 2 has been completed in Nashville. Sonically, Vol 1 & 2 are quite different which I really like. Nevertheless, the lyric is still at the core of both records
The subject matter of Vol. 1 is colourful characters whose names and deeds you wanted to commit to song and keep alive. Is that much the same aim with the forthcoming Vol. 2? Will it have a largely Australian flavour, or will there be a broader subject matter?
When I look at a list of the tracks on Vol 2, yeah it’s still full of colourful characters but somehow the songs also have a wider context as well – pretence, domestic violence, infidelity, heroes etc…always trying to personalise things for whoever is listening with the other eye on the story.
I understand that the development of the new record was largely done in Nashville and that you used a host of talented, local musicians. I assume that your long-time music cohort Pete Fidler was involved. Tell me who else you have enlisted.
Yeah Pete was integral to this record. We have been playing together for a long time now and there is a synergy there that comes with that. We have also been playing some of these songs ‘live’ over the past few years. Pete played Dobro only on this record – beautifully. Thomm Jutz and I decided that this was going to be essentially a string band record with a rhythm section, so he put the ‘band’ together for me. We have Lynne Williams on Drums & Percussion (The Wallflowers, John Hiatt etc), Daniel Kimbro on Upright Bass (The Jerry Douglas Trio), Sierra Hull on Mandolin ( a legend at 24) and Justin Moses on Banjo and Fiddle (Emmylou Harris). Thomm also added some Acoustic Guitar and BV’s. The basic tracks went down ‘live’ with me playing acoustic and singing. We kept all of this. Sierra and Justin added their parts afterwards. It was a very seamless process and was essentially done on day 1.
You have been working with producer Thomm Jutz. Tell me a little about him and how you came to work with him
I first met Thomm Jutz back in 2008 through our US Agent. He liked my songs and so we stayed in touch with a view to doing something one day. During that period he has carved quite a name for himself in Nashville, as a Songwriter, Performer, Sideman (Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith etc) and Producer (Nanci Griffith, Otis Gibbs, Jon Byrd, The 1861 Project Vol 1- 3 etc). He is very organised, a beautiful musician and has a great ear for all kinds of music. I don’t think I could have made this record anywhere else or with anyone else. There is a lot going on in some of the tracks, however his ability to manage the ‘cracked mosaic’ and let everything shine is just outstanding. His choice of players for this project was just brilliant and it made the whole process a lot of fun. We charted on a Sunday and within a week the album was Mastered. Thomm managed the whole process which gave me the chance to concentrate purely on the songs.
I heard you say that the recent visit to Nashville was your sixth trip there. How difficult is it to establish yourself in a city that has so many players and songwriters and is so far away from home?
I recently read an interview with Mary Gauthier and she was asked what it was like to be overtly Gay and land in Nashville. Essentially she said ‘ she come town with “Mercy Now’ and ‘I Drink’ – they let her in and she has never left. It has always been ‘Song Town’ and still is…’. If you have the songs someone will listen. Having our song ‘Something in Blue’ covered on legendary Nashville songwriter David Olney’s most recent record was some vindication for us that we could be part of a wider community. It was a huge thrill to see him do it ‘live’ on our recent visit. Having said that, there are literally thousands writing in Nashville, which is both daunting and incredibly inspiring as well. There is a validation in the sheer numbers that this is a worthwhile thing to do. It hastens processes in your mind, makes you stop and think, gets you out of your shell, encourages sharing and makes you feel part of that community of ‘Song’.
I’ve heard the finished master of a new track “Rollin’ Into Rosine”, which I love. Is that a reference to Rosine Kentucky, Bill Monroe’s birthplace?
Yeah that song was written after a visit to Bill’s birthplace and home in Rosine, Kentucky by Ross, Pete and Pete’s partner Nat. Ross started this lyric in his head there that day and we finished it off sometime in 2011 – been playing it ever since and couldn’t wait to record it for this Vol 2. It was sort of the song that templated the whole project.
When can we expect to see the launch of The Wayside Ballads Vol.2?
Vol 2 is Mastered and ready to go. I will be releasing it around March, 2016 and maybe even doing some special packages of Vol 1 and Vol 2.
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