Full of grit, soul, and even some tenderness, Tennessee Jet is the alter ego/one-man band/tour de force of Nashville musician TJ McFarland. It’s a powerful, rockin’, badass sound, all produced by one talented musician whose own musical heroes are as diverse as Dwight Yoakam, The White Stripes, and Kurt Cobain. Tennessee Jet’s self-titled debut release is the ultimate in DIY. Other than a little pedal steel, one cover of a traditional tune, and some backing vocals, the album is the definition of a solo project – from songwriting, singing, and instruments to production, recording, and mixing. The result is a very cool and very eclectic 12 track-groove that, in McFarland’s own words, “feels like a mixtape.”
Jet cut his musical teeth as TJ McFarland playing country music in and around Oklahoma where he was raised. He came by his country honestly. His mom was a barrel racer, and his dad rode saddle bronc. “Growing up, I was usually riding around in a truck from a rodeo. My earliest musical influences, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Merle Haggard, they were staples in the truck.” McFarland attended his first concert at the impressionable age of five. It was Conway Twitty. “It was after the National Finals Rodeo,” McFarland explained.
After spending some time in Los Angeles, McFarland eventually landed in Nashville. A little over two years ago, he decided that a one-man band was the best way to combine all of his myriad musical interests. “It seemed like a great challenge,” he commented. “I’ve played so many years with bands and different configurations – everything from full five piece country bands to rock trios to solo folk shows. I just decided to combine it all and see if I could do it just by itself. To create something different and new.”
While flying with no back up as Tennessee Jet can be demanding and occasionally stressful, the return has been well worth it for McFarland. “Playing as a one-man band is the hardest thing I’ve ever done musically, but it’s also by far the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done musically…It forces you, because of the limitations, to come up with solutions, whether it’s something sound-wise or from a performance standpoint. You can’t rely on other band members to step in and fill certain needs. You deal with them yourself. It’s extremely challenging, but extremely satisfying when you can pull it off.”
While McFarland may be the only musician in this project, the audience is a large part of the performance. On a recent night in Cleveland, McFarland lost all sound from his guitar on the last song of the night. “It was basically just me up there. I can sing, and I can play the drums. That was the only instrument I had,” he recalled. Within minutes, the audience joined in “singing along, clapping, stomping” to make it the best song of the night. What could have been a disaster for McFarland was a huge revelation.
“I learned that the real point of Tennessee Jet is not for me to be Tennessee Jet. It’s an idea where the audience is just as much a member of the band as I am. I’ve just got to be that person that directs the songs for the night and leads the way, but really it’s on the audience to make it sound big and be a part of it…The ultimate goal is for the audience to feel like they’re just as much a part of the show as I am.”
*Photo Credit Kelly Kerr
–With permission from Red Dirt Nation.
