Embark on a captivating odyssey as we chat with the incomparable Justin Wells, tracing the arc of his musical voyage from the Southern Rock vibes of Fifth on the Floor to his solo achievements. With a frankness that's as refreshing as it is rare, Justin elucidates the nuances of his artistic evolution, favoring heartfelt self-expression over the rigid confines of traditional genres. We navigate the sometimes hazy territories of Americana and Southern Rock, with our guest offering unfiltered insights into the essence of his sound and its place within these musical landscapes.
Reminisce with us about the bands that shaped our youth, an in-depth discussion about the Boss, Bruce Springsteen, and his most impactful records. We dissect Metallica's polarizing "St. Anger," celebrating the courage it takes for artists to experiment and push boundaries. Throughout, Justin's rural roots remain a touchstone, revealing how they've influenced not just his music, but also the shared experiences of our listeners from similar backgrounds.
Wrapping up this melodic journey, we delve into tales of collaboration, spotlighting the alchemy of co-writing and the magical synergy of working with talents like Shooter Jennings. As we tip our hats to unsung heroes behind the scenes, we also share personal stories that inspire tracks like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Three Quarters Gone," painting vivid pictures of family and the working-class life. Finally, we whet your appetite for an anticipated West Coast rendezvous, promising seafood and stories with the one and only Justin Wells—whose genuine talent and authenticity in the music scene are as undeniable as they are celebrated.
Instagram:
@justinwellsmusic
https://www.instagram.com/justinwellsmusic?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Linktr.ee
https://linktr.ee/justinwellsmusic?fbclid=PAAabRJzH4sLHp9ogeTkxGvVG5MRB8trXCm5ENiR2QN9b7YR40ppojgMvQ5Y0_aem_AStBFMJt5PJknoV68hdQlZQou1B1N3dEKSEb67M1n4Ix3hP8rJJycJ7XXH1rIExvHBk
Shoutout to:
Justin Wells
The Wells Family
Marty Bush
Dusty Rust
Matt Woods
Abby Hamilton
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
Embark on a captivating odyssey as we chat with the incomparable Justin Wells, tracing the arc of his musical voyage from the Southern Rock vibes of Fifth on the Floor to his solo achievements. With a frankness that's as refreshing as it is rare, Justin elucidates the nuances of his artistic evolution, favoring heartfelt self-expression over the rigid confines of traditional genres. We navigate the sometimes hazy territories of Americana and Southern Rock, with our guest offering unfiltered insights into the essence of his sound and its place within these musical landscapes.
Reminisce with us about the bands that shaped our youth, an in-depth discussion about the Boss, Bruce Springsteen, and his most impactful records. We dissect Metallica's polarizing "St. Anger," celebrating the courage it takes for artists to experiment and push boundaries. Throughout, Justin's rural roots remain a touchstone, revealing how they've influenced not just his music, but also the shared experiences of our listeners from similar backgrounds.
Wrapping up this melodic journey, we delve into tales of collaboration, spotlighting the alchemy of co-writing and the magical synergy of working with talents like Shooter Jennings. As we tip our hats to unsung heroes behind the scenes, we also share personal stories that inspire tracks like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Three Quarters Gone," painting vivid pictures of family and the working-class life. Finally, we whet your appetite for an anticipated West Coast rendezvous, promising seafood and stories with the one and only Justin Wells—whose genuine talent and authenticity in the music scene are as undeniable as they are celebrated.
Instagram:
@justinwellsmusic
https://www.instagram.com/justinwellsmusic?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Linktr.ee
https://linktr.ee/justinwellsmusic?fbclid=PAAabRJzH4sLHp9ogeTkxGvVG5MRB8trXCm5ENiR2QN9b7YR40ppojgMvQ5Y0_aem_AStBFMJt5PJknoV68hdQlZQou1B1N3dEKSEb67M1n4Ix3hP8rJJycJ7XXH1rIExvHBk
Shoutout to:
Justin Wells
The Wells Family
Marty Bush
Dusty Rust
Matt Woods
Abby Hamilton
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
Background Music plays Justin Wells. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well, Nick. What's going on, man?
Speaker 1:It's going, man, it's going. You know it's been a moment. We've been trying to get together for quite some time. This is my first show of the year, so welcome and thank you for being there. I wouldn't say it's a writer's block, I would say it's a podcast block. Right now, just a lot of things going on in my life and I appreciate you helping me get out of the slump. So thank you for being patient and thank you for spending your Saturday evening with me.
Speaker 2:Of course, yeah, thanks for the invite.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of New Year, how was your New Year, man? How was your break?
Speaker 2:Very chill, very relaxing. No politics at the dinner table, man. I call that a win. No, everything's cool, man. Everybody's healthy and about as low key the beginning of the years I've had in recent memory. I'm kind of here for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what she said, so like you've been in the business for a while, yeah. And it's surprising, and it's not always it wasn't solo at the beginning, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was in a band called Fit on the Floor that I started 100 years ago no, in 2006,. We got together. Then we're together for just shy of a decade before I started my solo career.
Speaker 1:Can I ask you how does one go from Southern Rock Band to solo where you're at now?
Speaker 2:Do you mean sonically, or like the logistics of how do you kind of like switch from?
Speaker 1:Like, the more I get down in the rabbit hole of musicians and everything else. They all started in a rock band Especially. Yeah, it's crazy. And then they go solo and then they do country like Marty Bush, dusty Russ. Those guys and you guys have a unique sound and you guys are killing the sound. Man, when did you know you had what it took to go solo and to stay solo and be successful the way you want to be successful?
Speaker 2:Well, that's a tricky question and I think I need to kind of like answer a couple aspects of it, one of which is, without coming across like combative, country music as a genre takes me in and I'm appreciative of that. And people call my music country and I'm appreciative of that and I'm a country kid in that I'm from the country and then, past that man, I hope I never dishonor the genre because I love the genre. But I don't sit out to be country. I don't necessarily know why I fit in that box, other than just, I guess, my accent and especially the spotlight on our state that I'm sure you're aware of in that genre. But you know, man, I was a rock kid. The kids that picked on me and mine, which were the weirdos in my little school out in the county, listened to a lot of country music, and that was in the late 90s and a lot of that music was terrible, and so I just lumped all that in. So I grew up on George Jones and Hank Williams and then so much rock and roll and so much Motown. So I was never a country fan and you go talk to anybody I went to high school with and I'm sure they're quite surprised that, that I found myself in this genre.
Speaker 2:But I don't say any that to be mercurial, other than to to be honest and not be an imposter, because you know this is a genre that's steeped in traditionalism and people that love the music take that seriously, and I don't. I don't ever want to step on that, but also I will not. I will not cater, you know I'm I'm expressing myself and my viewpoint, so that's part of that question. And then as far as fifth on the floor is kind of the same thing, man, like we were, every version of that band seem to be a collection of guys that came from almost any genre but country. I learned a lot from those guys.
Speaker 2:You know my bandmates, my brothers, from a lot of other aspects, and you know we got called Southern Rock, which is probably, as I guess that's as fair a moniker as as it could be. But I don't know, man, I hear Bluegrass songs, I hear country songs, I hear your rock and roll songs that aren't I don't. You know genres, tough yeah, and I, and I hate answering those questions because to answer them truthfully, I don't think there's any way to answer them truthfully without sound like a massive asshole.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I wouldn't, I wouldn't say you fit the script of plain country, though. You have that Southern feel, that Southern rock. You have just that raw feel. I mean, you don't have one bad song, and when I say bad, it's that pop stuff that I don't listen to, right, it's that Americana and Folk is where you fit in, I believe, because it's not so much country, it's not Nashville.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's what I would say.
Speaker 2:No, it's, it's Lexington AF. Yeah, right, ok, kentucky, kentucky and but you know, some of that shit's good too, man, it's. It's really hard to sorry if this is a family audience.
Speaker 1:Oh no, you're good, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I have a terrible mouth, but all that's tough, and you know it's. It's a cliche at this point. But like what is Americana when I when I think of Americana, I often think about Pretentious kids dressing like their own brother. We're art, though, but it also includes, you know, Uncle Tupelo, which is rad, and you know Emily Harris, which is An angel, right, you know, I don't know. All this is tricky and I'm terrible to answer these questions. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:OK, ok. So how does 2024 look? Right now, as we're talking, going on tour, you got a new album.
Speaker 2:Nothing announced with the tour. I do have a new album. I have a new album that's been done for some time and we're we're shaking the hands behind the scenes to, you know, hopefully reach more people than we ever have before. I look back on, you know, the fifth on the floor, discography, and in my sense, and from album to album. You know I put out my first album in 2007.
Speaker 2:So you know, yeah this would be my seventh album when it comes out and I hear, I hear growth. I hope you and listeners hear growth, but really they always seem like very, very different things. Like you know, I feel like I'm being kind of challenging answering your question, but also think that I'm challenging myself making these records to not get in in these ditches that I've dug as an artist. You know, I'm not really interested in you being comfortable defining my sound or me being comfortable defining my sound. I want each album to have its sound and, you know, not not be restricted. You know, I'm kind of. I'm kind of to my detriment sometimes. I want to, I want to just go my own way.
Speaker 1:What makes this new album different than the others?
Speaker 2:I think that I struggled with and I think a lot of people struggle with. I think a lot of songwriters struggle with being happy and and and really specifically like love and being in love and and and writing about love songs and especially in these genres that you're talking about, that we're talking about. You know it's a lot of heartbreak and that's dude. You know some of my favorite songs or heartbreak songs, but you know that's a well-mined, you know situation there. So anyway, during, during, during, lockdown, you know. So here I here.
Speaker 2:I've been a guy that's almost my entire adult life been to a musician. I'm a musician and I've got a family Pretty good at keeping those worlds pretty separate. But you know, then all of a sudden it's like hit the brakes completely and we're going to be home, and we're going to be home every day and it's so quickly. I saw how much work and I knew this and we know this intuitively but how much work my wife puts into my dream, not hands-on, but making sure everything else is done. I get all this glory. I get my name on the marquee and she should have her name on the marquee because she's doing the real work.
Speaker 2:I'm just out here playing man, here I am, up under her feet, right in this house, in the kitchen, not knowing what to do with my hands. I just started writing about that. I started writing out of that truly humbling place, I feel like, and just wrote this love record so sonically. I wanted it to be that the last record was this big, huge wall of sound thing. I wanted this to be appropriate to telling your partner that you love them.
Speaker 1:A lot different than your previous sound.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, the United States was. I've been kind of thinking in terms of dawn. The distance was a very selfish record. There's a lot about me and the United States was me trying to go outward and really trying to think about everyone. You know, as we were kind of bombarded with just vicious headline after vicious headline, yeah. And then this one I wanted to be about her man.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome, man, because, man, I was listening to it today. Man, you're, you know all your songs, you know during my run, and I'm like man, there's not one. I mean, yeah, you have that love song, but it's not really a love song, it's, it's a heartbreak. It's a heartbreak.
Speaker 2:The whole hook is oh yeah, that's kind of the tongue in cheek is like I could. I was trying to write one at that time, man, and failing it. It's tough dude, it's tough to do it and not and not be hokey, you know.
Speaker 1:Right, and you're not hokey, you're, you're not. And with that heartbreak, man brings angst, and you have that deep voice and, man, you can just feel it. Oh, man, it's just. Oh, my dude, you're preaching, you're preaching, and that's what I'm saying, man, and this that's the kind of country I enjoy.
Speaker 2:And for you to struggle doing a love song and to make it about your wife, a God gave it a listen, yeah, yeah so that was a cool record and or that single, and also man, I'm going to totally, I'm about to bomb this real hard, but no, it's not Washington, okay, uh, oh, his name escapes me, but there's a band from Eugene, oregon, called Horse Feathers, kind of for this indie, indie to indie pop, beautiful songs. Singer's name is Justin. Oh man, I want to say the fiddle player's name is Nate and and man, I'm really sorry I forgot your name wrong. I don't, I don't really know him personally, but he came and played fiddle on that thing, so there's an almost connection to you. Okay, up in that Northwest.
Speaker 1:All right, shout out to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man Shout out to Horse Feathers. Great, great band. Y'all checked them out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Would you consider yourself, your sounds, you as a musician, underrated?
Speaker 2:On my, when my ego is big, sure, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I guess I mean we always want more because that's the society we live in. But you know when my, when my gratitude is where it ought to be, I'm pretty stoked to, you know, have bought a house and have the cars we have, and you know we do.
Speaker 1:Okay, tell me about our vinyl sessions. Man, a lot of people are going raw. I mean, your songs are raw as it is, but you took it down acoustically and made it even raw. Or like, tell me about it. Like, what made you do the four, five songs? Was it five songs? Four songs, yeah. What made you do that album?
Speaker 2:Uh, so that's a, that's a group of folks down in Nashville that are doing this kind of you know, that kind of you know to video and to audio thing. I think that I think that there is an authenticity fetish happening, and that's not an original concept, but I think that, as we have gotten so enamored with our screens and things like that, um, you know, the, the heart of us, the soul of us actually, probably more specifically, is kind of rebelling against that, and so I think that there's a lot of drive towards music I can't speak to other genres, but more in this kind of thing that, uh, you know, they want uh what is authentic, and so they see some of these things where, again, I'm picking on people, but you know, people are dressing like they're from the 1920s and that kind of scratches that itch to them. They see a microphone out in the holler and that scratches, that itch. This is a real thing. And uh, sometimes it may be.
Speaker 2:I can tell you from this side of it that, uh, with production being what it is, that they can make that sound however they want to. It doesn't matter if the microphone is out in the holler. I think the only way to get anywhere near, uh, knowing if that's true or not is to go buy a ticket to a show and go see it and listen to it. But honestly, does it matter? You know, uh, some of my favorite records ever made were great studio records. So I don't, I don't know what this kind of obsession is, um, but I just think at the end of the day, if you nick like a thing who gives a shit, you know good, it doesn't matter what it is. Um, I feel like I'm being really heavy handed when you're just asking a question about the Arvano and to speak to that specific, thing,
Speaker 2:bro, I had COVID that day and didn't know it and then they had me in a 95 degree uh warehouse. Uh, I was actually supposed to have a, uh, a piano player for that session and the person that was setting that up failed me. Uh, so I did it by myself and uh, and we did several takes and they were all beautiful people at Arvano, man, very patient, very helpful and uh, kind and uh, you know, I hope, I hope, I hope the thing, I think we did good work, but, dude, I was miserable. It was so I'm a big guy, it's hot as shit.
Speaker 2:It was like 95 degrees and uh and like I said, got a positive COVID result uh the next day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you know you jam your, your, your answers, but you know it just uh shows a lot of uh character from you man. You're basically outlaw yourself, man.
Speaker 2:I guess Bad ass dude You're bad ass, I don't know man, I just I want to be honest you know I want to be honest and and it's, it's something that's been eating at me, that, uh, some of the other things. I'm not Arvano's rad as shit, but uh, you know, the anything with the mic in front of it out in the holler is suddenly this massively authentic thing. No, dude, we can. We can pull the wool over you any way. We want to out here. All right you got my prayer on you.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, you got this sound, man, and you said George Jones, when I heard, when I was listening to your music, especially on my runs I listened to a lot of country music on and runs, especially, you know your guys is because the beats per minute I try to stay beats per minute, you know, and you guys stay around the 130, 140 range and that's where I start. I try to stay and I'm like and I try to pinpoint your guys' sound and I hear a lot of George. I do, I do, and I and I listened to George back in the day, went to Opryland as growing up as a kid, and I'm like, ok, there's another thing too. And then just, I wouldn't say Williams, I wouldn't say you know, you know junior, but I'm like you threw me. I hear a lot of Southern rock, mm. Hmm, there's, but I hear the joke, the Jones, I do, so it's.
Speaker 2:So you stopped me a bit, but, man, I got, I'm trying to get the rock down, mm hmm, the rock is, you know, from my youth and into this day, man, you know, metallica was huge. James Hadfield is one of the greatest frontmen of all time and I don't even think that's remotely debatable. And CCR was huge. So, like you know, I kind of like came to country in this very roundabout way. You know, I got interested in songwriters in high school and they weren't country writers, guys like Matthew Ryan, who's a friend now, but really like my top guys. You know it's George Jones, it's Fogarty, it's leave on helm. You know this kind of thing the band is.
Speaker 2:You know, when people talk about Southern rock and that that can be difficult to devon to, I think the band is the best of that. And for those dudes, you know we're Canadian. So yeah, I don't know, I think that I'm a hodgepodge, but I did. If I've done anything right ever and usually I have to throw 100 darts to get one to hit the board it's that like very early on, selfishly or ego or whatever it might be I felt like it was more important to figure out who I was as an artist and as a performer. Before I was even worth a shit man, I knew I wanted to sing from in my heart, and I do a lot more of that than writing songs that are story songs, which I also love. Yeah, you can hear it.
Speaker 1:You can hear it, man People. If you guys I mean, when people know that I have Justin Wells on they're going to be like how did you manage that? You are looked up to man. I just want you to know that. Oh, thanks, man.
Speaker 2:It's just because I'm six foot six yeah.
Speaker 1:And a badass.
Speaker 2:That's my wife.
Speaker 1:She might debate you on that, just check them out the people that know, you know of you know, but the people who are listening, the listeners that don't hit the genre and just finally getting into this genre because of this podcast. You guys have to check this out, man, this guy, it's unbelievable. It's not the hokey country, as you said. So with the rock, the southern rock, you almost have a it's from second album, not the first album. Seven Mary three, fill to it.
Speaker 2:That voice, that guy's voice, you know who I'm talking about yeah, man, that was when I was in high school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, same here. You and I are almost the same age.
Speaker 2:I think I'm older by a couple years, three years.
Speaker 1:I'll be 42 this year, okay, I just turned 42.
Speaker 2:So okay. Oh, right on. Happy birthday, man. Yeah, happy early birthday to you. You look a lot better than me, man.
Speaker 1:I climb a lot of mountains. I do my best. I try to do my best, thank you. I'll say that keeps your head right, yeah, I try, I try, man, I try, but no, I was trying to get it. The angst, I think, has that rock feel of the voice of Seven Mary, three, man, I grew up listening to them religiously and just can't get enough of it.
Speaker 2:You know who I always thought sounding like that dude is my good friend. I don't know if you're familiar with him. He's from Knoxville, tennessee. His name is Matt Woods, a great songwriter who I've banged around the country a lot with. But it's just funny that you mentioned that band because I don't know that I've ever been compared to that guy or that band. But I remember the first time I heard Matt's stuff I told him that you know, he's a little bit older than us, like a couple years. I don't know if that was an influence or not. It might just be that part of the country. I think those dudes are maybe East Coast guys, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I believe Florida.
Speaker 2:Oh, ok, I was thinking, ok, I thought like Virginia.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think he went for Virginia.
Speaker 2:Now we're going to have to go look out Seven Mary three. That was an interesting record to come out when it did, man, if you think, because that was like what, like 97. Yeah, there's a lot of like post-grounds getting into that really garbage slick Yarl-ing new metal kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, yeah, I think they went from Virginia, I do believe, and then they went to Florida.
Speaker 2:They stayed in.
Speaker 1:Florida afterwards.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:All right, man, a lot of people in your genre. They hit boss Bruce Springsteen the greatest. Yeah, it is, it is. You know that Garan hit Atlantic City when I saw him. You know there's a couple people that have done others. You don't go that route, man. You go somewhere different. You go to Dire Straits, man, the great Dire Straits.
Speaker 2:Well, I would cover Bruce. I'd cover anybody if I felt like I had something to add. Bruce is one of my favorites man. My wife just got me a book of his for Christmas. We saw him at Wrigley this past summer before he heard himself. We saw him on Broadway a couple of years before that. I'm actually kind of surprised I didn't mention him, because I usually can't shut up about Bruce.
Speaker 1:Yeah, favorite album.
Speaker 2:Favorite album is going to be tough. I'm going to say something that's going to be criticized and heavily popular. My favorite album is maybe the record that got me to Bruce, which is Wrecking Ball, which is about four records, oh yeah, oh yeah, and it's very slick and it's it's not as cool. Maybe it's a lot of those records, but there's some very rad production choices on that. You know what, though? No, no, that's not my favorite. Western Stars is, hands down, my favorite, bruce.
Speaker 1:Bruce Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't, that's okay. Yeah, hands down. There's nothing like it, man, it's. It's a soundtrack to a movie.
Speaker 1:I got. You know that doesn't exist. Ok, you mentioned and I forgot to ask James Hetfield Metallica. What are your thoughts on, say, anger man? Is it that bad in your eyes?
Speaker 2:I feel like this podcast should have come out 20 years ago. Hey, it's pretty, it's pretty. St Anger is pretty bad dude. Yeah, my opinion, I mean, I'm in defense of load and reload, though, man, I think that load and reload or like like it's kind of clown shoes, how people dunk on that, because there's some songs on that, and had that been any of those dorks in that kind of new metal scene, everybody would have lost their minds. Whatever man.
Speaker 1:I just thought I'd ask, man, because you said you're a huge Metallica fan and St Anger took me by surprise. The snare is it takes a minute to catch on. I think it. You know they were on to something, but the lyrics alone. If you listen to the lyrics, that was James Hetfield's time when he went to go to rehab and just the angst in his voice and the lyrics, man, I don't know. Give it another. I hear that. Well, you know what I don't like that album?
Speaker 2:I don't, and I try it. I wanted to. But I will say this, going back to kind of what we were talking about earlier I'm so much more interested in artists trying and failing, like reaching for something different and failing, than I am anybody that's just going to get in the well worn thing, and those guys could have done that at any point. It is insane that that band is as massive as they are. You know, 40 years later, having gone through all the changes that they went through sonically and playing heavy music, man, I mean, yeah, it gets like classic rock play, but like you know, like our moms are not listening to Metallica. Man, you know what I mean? It's not you too. No, I don't know that's. If I'd have been on the coast I'd have been a punk rock kid, but Metallica is as close as we could come out. And Po Donk, harrison County, kentucky, you know.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah, so Dire Straits.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So far away. You don't hear that often, but you mastered it. It was a less than three minute song, right?
Speaker 2:Mine are the original, I'm not really sure Yours.
Speaker 1:The original is like five. Yeah, because they have a pretty long outlet or outro.
Speaker 2:Well, you know that song. So I grew up on Dire Straits. Man, like dad was a big, you know petty Dire Straits, pink Floyd, pink Floyd's like my favorite band of all time. Dire Straits wasn't his rat. Mark Knopfler is one of the best to ever pick up a Fender Stratocaster. Yeah, that song particularly.
Speaker 2:I remember hearing it in this weird kind of limbo time which is about a year between fifth on the floor breaking up and and I started writing songs from my first record. And I remember hearing that song and just thinking that you know that that band gets a little bit dunked on because that 80 sound is definitely there. You know that kind of arena rock thing is definitely there. But come on, man, these are great songs. Yeah, delivered like kind of too effortlessly.
Speaker 2:And hearing that song, if you don't pay attention to the lyrics, man, it's a pretty like uplifting thing. Those lyrics are. You know that's a Hank Williams song and that's like that. That really struck me for some. You know, after having heard that song hundreds of times, I'm like these lyrics are brutal, man, yeah, I think. I think that there is a lot of sadness to be wrangled out of this song and that arrangement came to me in a red roof in and wherever we were I want to say Charleston, west Virginia so quickly that I spent a lot of time looking across the Internet trying to make sure I wasn't ripping off something I'd heard, because I'm like this is certainly this is. It came to me too quickly. You know what I mean, but the good, the good stuff tends to do that.
Speaker 1:What was it about that song that you put on your album? Because you could have done so many. You could have done Romeo and Juliet. I'm just saying, Well it fit within the record.
Speaker 2:To me it fit within that kind of like OK, so kind of talking a little bit more about that time and I just I didn't know what I was going to do. We just had our twin girls and we were broke. We were as broke as we've ever been. This band that was really just starting to get good kind of like national attraction. It imploded rapidly and it's like that whole thing. I'm like man, I guess I need to go get a job at the Toyota plant, like I got to. This has got to get done. I got she signed on to this, like the babies didn't sign on to this. I'm not going to let them down, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:And so if you listen to that record knowing that that came from my punk ass and a Chevy Equinox by myself with an acoustic guitar and just trying to go to some of these markets that we'd had and seeing how many fit on the floor fans were going to stick around, which is less than I had thought. Anyway, so to that Dire Straits song, that fits in there, man, those lines, you know I'm tired of making it work over the telephone that that was all there and I don't know if fit in that narrative that I was trying to tell, which was everything I just said out of my mouth in song form, you know missing my wife, missing my new babies, not knowing what the hell I was doing and being incredibly massively alone you know feeling I got you, yeah, man, yeah, yeah, I jammed your elbows.
Speaker 1:Man, I'm just like these guys.
Speaker 2:That song, that song on that record like I'm trying to put myself in that because that was we recorded that in 2015. And there's two songs on that album that we did in one take. That was one of them and you can even hear it. There's a vocal part that happens late in the song that that I'm not thrilled with. My voice kind of cracks, and you know we went to do it again and I sang it quote, unquote right, and that hurt was there was less of that hurt. I'm like that's got to just stay and hopefully nobody ever bust my ass on it.
Speaker 1:No, I would say it was emotion, emotion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:So 2024, when do you think that album is going to come out, man?
Speaker 2:The new one. I don't think that. I think that that album will come out in the summer or in the fall. Any I wanted out last year. I'd love for us to be talking about that record right now.
Speaker 1:Is it tough just to sit on a record?
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I'm like incredibly impatient if you, if you hadn't picked that up yet. So like and I think I think a lot of artists like this man you work hard on a thing and once you get it to where you feel like it's ready, then you're you're ready for it to get out there, you're ready for people to hear, and, especially as you kind of like Release albums the way you're supposed to, with a team behind them and stuff. There's just there's so many damn hands in them Excuse me, too many, you know, chefs in the kitchen and that can make things come out a little late, almost to the point where it's almost like hey, I want to start talking about the one after that, you know, but yeah, Now the 2024 summer, how are you not biting at the bits to like hey, I want to like, give him a taste, put out a song here.
Speaker 2:It's tough. It's tough to the point too, man, that you know I don't it's not like I'm going to be up there doing hip hop yet, but but like it is, it is enough. It's a significant enough sonic departure from the last record that I want to have. The guys you know I want us to be presenting that way now, because that's what I'm interested in and that's what's going to serve these songs. But I ain't trying to blow that top either. So we're going to take this downtime to start setting that up and getting that into place and it'll be a little different. But trust me, man, I am I am perpetually the least patient of all of us.
Speaker 1:OK, that doesn't seem like it, but I just moved.
Speaker 2:I just moved slow. It's not my choice, it's just gravity.
Speaker 1:All right Touring. Will you follow up with the tour? Will you start it up with the tour?
Speaker 2:If we land the, the relationship that I think we're about to land, I'll be on tour plenty.
Speaker 1:OK, ok, thoughts of coming out West.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, like I said, that tour last summer not by my choice was was cut short to the tune of three weeks and I was going to hit the West Coast for the first time. I've never been out there, which is frankly embarrassing at this point in my career, but I'll be out there.
Speaker 1:OK, ok. Well, I, I I've been sitting on this one episode of Dusty Russ and I said somebody looks up to you. He said where's he?
Speaker 2:I met him at Kansas City, but is is he from? Where's he from?
Speaker 1:I believe he lives in Oregon, but I believe he lived in Kansas as well.
Speaker 2:But he's from Oregon Originally. You're saying yeah, yeah, yeah, he was sweetheart.
Speaker 1:Oregon, vancouver, portland area. But yeah, he, he mentioned you and he's like I would love to you know tour with Justin Wells. I was like all right, all right?
Speaker 2:Well, dusty, let's get it done. Brother, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 1:Good guy. I think I'll be putting it out soon the episode now. Collaborations Any. On any coming up? Have you thought about it Any like? If, what's your collaboration?
Speaker 2:So what are you talking about? Like if, like somebody else singing on a track, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Duets, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:No, no, but in the writing process on this record there are two collaborations that I'm infinitely proud of and that's another kind of. That's another way that you know I don't want to say how I frame this, Just that's another way that some intimacies are showing themselves on this new record. I've never been a co-writer. I've got some co-writes, you know. I've co-written with some homies Jason ED comes to mind but that's always, you know, Jeff Shepherd but that's almost always been somebody else's thing. It's rare that I let people into my thing, and mostly because of what we talked about earlier, that I'm speaking from my heart, so it seems kind of like silly to co-write. But speaking to the collaboration, I wrote one with that guy, Matthew Ryan, who I first heard on FM radio when I was a freshman in high school and who, maybe single-handedly, or maybe him and another artist, got me into lyrics and got me into songwriting as something other than just to fill up the verses you know like taking lyricism seriously.
Speaker 2:So we wrote one together that's gonna be on this record. And then my longtime friend, one of my favorite people in the world, one of my favorite songwriters in the world, guy named Adam Lee, who now is my tour manager, which he's incredibly overqualified for and should just be out there touring himself. But we wrote a couple for this record that I'm immensely proud of. So, yeah, and everything's collaboration, that's something I wanna speak to. Earlier too, man, and I'll tag it here.
Speaker 2:You asked what was it like going from the band to solo, and I feel like that is very unfair, only because I mean I'd say, if anything, there are more hands involved in my art now than ever before. There are so many kinds of unsung heroes, and I really tried to focus on them with the United States and in the artwork. You know I had pictures of everyone that touched that album and I think there's like 40 photos on there. So I just get all the credit, man, and it is my art and ultimately I make the call. But, as you I'm sure know, and any of your listeners that care about the music business, there's so many, so so many people, not just in the studio, but even in the studio.
Speaker 2:I think there were 10, 11 musicians that played on this new record.
Speaker 1:And man, you're just a guy, you know. But man you have some friends and one produced. You have a producer, another badass, I mean, he's quite the guy. I could only imagine partying with that guy. But Shooter Jennings, man. How was that? How was that? How did you get that? If you don't mind, you know, just quickly discussing how did you get him to produce your album, man?
Speaker 2:I just asked him.
Speaker 1:And he's just saying yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, we had become friends, kind of via Twitter and at that time, man, he was really ringing the bell for a lot of independent artists and the music business was infinitely different then. This stuff that is kind of like selling out arenas now, was this very, very, very underground thing and there were a couple of festivals that would have a lot of us types, but, and even you know so that was a very small scene. But so we just kind of bodyed up. Man, he's a sweetheart, he's an incredibly, obviously incredibly talented songwriter, producer, but, dude, he similarly is not restrained by you know what you have to do. What traditionalism is this, this, this, this, this? And that really drew me to him.
Speaker 2:That was, you know, a couple of those records are very kind of like guitar heavy, what you might call Southern Rock. I don't know if that was pushed out of Southern Rock. I think they were kind of calling him country. But here it is bunch of LA guys, you know, long hairs, man, and anyway we struck up a friendship and then just kind of, you know, in our cups one night I said, man, we're, you know, kind of shopping producers, like I know that at that time he'd only produced his own work. I think he'd maybe done one of his mom's songs, but I don't even know if he'd done a full. I'm pretty sure he'd not done any records other than his own, and so I asked him and thinking you know we're drinking thinking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was gonna ask you just did you party with him?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we partied, you know, yeah, we partied. But I asked him and he said fuck yeah, man, and I'm thinking that's a bullshit. You know that's a bullshit. And I think it was like two days later he texted me and said yo, send me those demos, let's get to work. And I said okay, man, okay, and that was a beautiful time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It was short. You know, we had a week out in Louisville and then I think we kind of touched things up for a week in Lexington and I'm really proud of that record. Man, we charted that record. That was a different time.
Speaker 1:So you doubted. You doubted too. What's?
Speaker 2:that.
Speaker 1:You doubted yourself as well. Does that happen?
Speaker 2:No, I doubted him just because I still had a lot of that ego of youth and just that kind of mistrust. Man, there's a lot of silly fools in this business. I didn't think that that a shooter, but there's a lot of bullshit talk. Man, yeah, I got you. Homeboy was ready to get to work and that fired me up.
Speaker 1:Did you fan boy when he said let's do it?
Speaker 2:No, because no, because we I mean like no, because, honestly, because he's not that guy dude, and I'm not that guy either, but like he's a human being like us man. I mean, we bonded over fucking arcades. You know old computer games and shit and He-Man, so you know he's just a dude that loves music. I've not met a lot of people that love music as much as Shooter Jennings and it's clear in the work he's doing to this day man.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right.
Speaker 2:No, I don't fan boy. Dude, If Dave Gilmore walked in the room right now, yeah, I probably fan boy, but other than that, no, I don't.
Speaker 1:I kind of fanboyed you in front of my wife the other day. And it's like yeah, man, I got this big name coming. You know, she's like who? I didn't say the name, but I'm like yeah, and then you said the name and she's like who? Yeah, no, no, no. So we're almost done. Now, is it true? You had another rendition of another cover of Elton John?
Speaker 2:Um, we did, uh, I did a seven inch uh project where we uh, there's a series called need to know out of uh, california, this label, and um, they just wanted to uh, I think the thing was always like you know, there's other folks that I think Todd Snyder had done it at that point, Um, that guy, matthew Ryan, did it after me, um, some folks, whatever, uh yeah, but but it's like a seven inch right, like so you know, seven inch vinyl you got. You got room for one song on each side and I think I think, at least, as it was told to me, that was the style, excuse me, was was uh, one side was like a song of yours.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it kind of stripped down fashion. And then the other side was to be a cover and uh, yeah, man, elton John again another artist who I'm surprised I didn't list one of my favorite. Uh, every, probably the greatest showman of all time. Um, yeah, and I did Mona Lisa's and Matt Hatter's, my favorite Elton tune.
Speaker 1:Uh, yes.
Speaker 2:It's like lyric, it's like lyrical Muhammad Ali man, it's.
Speaker 1:It's outrageously good so my question, my question to you is it's only on seven inch, there's no digitally.
Speaker 2:No Dang.
Speaker 1:Hand All right, Because the I got a handful of them in the office right now. So okay, the killers do a great job on the revamp and then the restoration. I mean I love the revamp.
Speaker 2:The revamp is good Is that the big one they did. He did like one that was a bunch of like kind of all genre, and then one was like kind of specific country, right, yeah, and some of that was awesome and some of that was kind of not.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't. I don't remember the killer, so the killers did that song. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it is perfect. And, uh, marin Morris did it on the restoration, which was the country side, which was good too, but man, the killers, I mean dude, I'm a huge killers fan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure, I've seen the killers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they, they, they do an awesome job. So I'm just like, okay. When I heard that you did that, I'm like is there any way? Because I looked and looked on YouTube, I looked on every platform for that and I'm just like, dang it, I need to get that and you get that taste to see what I'm surprised it's not on YouTube Because I have, uh, performed it.
Speaker 2:But that's one of those things, man, uh, not unlike the you're talking about. It's cool that you know. I appreciate you. You listen to all the stuff, man, because you're talking a bunch of these singles that have kind of dropped sporadically here and there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, but sometimes it's a really interesting thing. Sometimes you make a thing in a studio and you love it and I'd say it's true of both that and that love song and just for whatever reason, it doesn't make its way into the set. It's not even necessarily by choice. I've had songs that are my favorite, songs that don't work live, and then I've had live songs, many songs that uh would, I would dare say you know, ordering on fan favorites, definitely songs that people loved. They just we get in the studio and it's just not inspired and I'm not going to just slap a thing, you know, out there, uh, haphazardly, um. So yeah, I don't know, I was, I was trying to think, as we were talking about this, what is? Yeah, dude, miranda Lambert did my father's gun, that's right. I couldn't remember what song she had done on that, on that Elton tribute, but uh, dude, she murdered that. I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not a fan. What uh what, Miranda Lambert?
Speaker 2:Yeah, on that, elton John yeah.
Speaker 1:No, I have the album I. It's good, it's good yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I need to go re-listen that, because I kind of listened to that on a family vacation, not really giving it the yeah, you're telling me, I would like to yeah. Yeah, I definitely would have heard it and I'm sure I loved it.
Speaker 1:Moms does a good uh cover as well. Oh, I love that one man. Yeah, that's, that's pretty good. Uh, the mom Ferdinand Son. Oh, yeah, yeah, they do a song of his, and it's just the band or just Marcus? It's not, it's the band, it's the band.
Speaker 2:What song did they do?
Speaker 1:I can't.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go back and I'm going to listen to this as soon as I can.
Speaker 1:It's one of my favorite. I listened to the killers and that one over and just so yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, got man Dude, he had that banger on that Ted Lasso. Uh, that Ted Lasso theme song, that was a hook.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I haven't watched Ted Lasso man it's a different comedy.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, it was fun at first. It started sucking quickly, okay.
Speaker 1:If somebody, a listener, had to pick up you know Spotify or Apple or an album, you know just any album what song would you have them listen to to get the whole feel of who you are as a person? A musician, lyricist, family man, what's that? That's challenging.
Speaker 2:That's a good question. Uh, huh, well, you know, man. Hmm, that this is maybe the best answer. I have right this second. That's a really good question. Thanks for asking. Uh, is a song off my last record called temporary blue, and uh, that song is about my daughters.
Speaker 1:but if I got three of them, you're going to hit the feels. Uh, uh, the feels.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, if you're asking me to kind of like, best find a song that encapsulates what I'm trying to do, I think that is the country of song on that. Well, first of all, uh, my friend Abby Hamilton saying on it, uh, an artist you need to know immediately Abby's blown up and doing really well Um, and she crashed it and that was a great experience. But uh, that song, I think, is really the country's thing on that album, which is an otherwise decidedly not country album. But it goes from that into this big weird insane pink floaty thing in the middle, uh, intentionally in I and then comes back out of it into that kind of country shuffle. Uh, I think that lyrically is one of my best songs I've ever written. But sonically, getting in and out of genre um is kind of my personality to a T, so maybe maybe start there and then listen to everything.
Speaker 1:All right, I have my three. Okay, tell me I'm going to start off. I'd be more interested in hearing yours than having to tell you mine, oh, I just try to get the have people you know, get you Now, you didn't ask me three, you asked me one. I have a question, Okay Well now we'll.
Speaker 2:we'll first give me one, All right.
Speaker 1:Three quarters gone. Okay, yeah, talk about your dad and life right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:That was a hard. That was the other song, by the way, that was done in one take. That what you hear is is the only version that we, that we sang and played in the studio.
Speaker 1:And it hits, it hits. I haven't really said anything on social media about what I'm going through, but it's good Now, the rock and roll, the dogs man, the voice, the voice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then that's the song that connected me with a bunch of folks. You know the dogs.
Speaker 1:And man, I really live. I lived in Kentucky, I went, I lived there, I know it. I went to college in Indiana, so I know the Midwest. I love blue moon of Kentucky. Man, yeah, it's a whole different side of you man from the dog. It's like night and day, you know, and uh that's why I have three just to have the people to check you out.
Speaker 1:Just the different sounds you don't have a different sound but just how you take of those songs and just make it your own, and gritty and raw, and just the lyrics, and you being the person that I enjoy listening to. Man, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not hokey, you're not fake, you're just dude. You're the man of your word, man. And that's why I put those three down and wanted to share it with you, and that's meaningful.
Speaker 2:Thank you, man. Uh, three quarters gone and it holds a really special spot in my heart. You know, I mean it's it's about my family, but I, you know, talk about you know, dad's. Uh, I wrote that when my dad retired and he, you know his factory man his whole life and, uh, I think, somehow inexplicably works harder now as a retiree. But uh, you know, he'd given his whole body to the kind of American dream, the nine to five, the 401k and, um, not, you know, a little while before he retired I saw his, you know the, the the market collapses, 401k was halved. And here's a dude who is the hardest working man and the, the most American dad dad you can imagine, loved his kids, you know, provided, did the thing that you're supposed to do? Right, yeah, you go, you go clock in, clock out, and you're supposed to be taken care of. And uh, I didn't quite see it as much that way. Now he would probably argue that.
Speaker 2:but, um, right, you know, so he had just retired and he's in this new phase in life and I was thinking about how, how, uh, you know, you age, man, things, things change and people come and go and, uh, families, what's the most important? Yes, yes, so I appreciate you man.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate you. Thanks, I'm glad, I'm glad we line this thing up.
Speaker 2:Do the stars aligned? Yes, yes and uh and uh.
Speaker 1:I want to apologize you know the, the, the tag here, there and everywhere in between. I really appreciate your patience. Yeah and dude, your music speaks volumes, especially to me. That song does. My dad's been 24 years in the army, so you know when you started off that line on the, on the, on the, on the four years in the army, so you know, when you started off that line, I was like okay, I feel it. You know, I, I hear it, I saw it, I, when you were explaining, I can just you know, vision, what you went through as a kid, as as myself. You know what I mean and so, uh, it's heartfelt. Man, I appreciate your music. I want others to appreciate it too. I know the people who know of you do, and they're going to get a kick because I get to interview you.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I just appreciate you having me on on your podcast and and uh and introduced me to your fans, so you know. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, man, thank you for your time. Man, I'm a lifetime listener, a fan. When you come out West, I will be seeing you. I'll probably be messaging you.
Speaker 2:You don't have to answer, but I'll be like, dude, I'm in, I'm in the crowd, I'm yelling, you know now you're going to have to show me the good eats, although Adam, I think, knows him cause his his dad is from Seattle, so I think he knows a bunch of some Washington area hangs. But yeah, man, I'll get out there, probably this year, and we'll and we'll meet in person.
Speaker 1:Yes, um, you can't go wrong with the seafood here, man. Yeah, hey, listen, dude, I'll tear up some seafood, let's go. I'm originally from.
Speaker 2:Louisiana. It's a different kind of sea. It's a nastier seafood but but even better.
Speaker 1:Still still, justin, keep killing the music scene. Man, keep being you. I see it, others see it. What you stand for, just be you, man All right yeah, hey man, grab me on brother.