|
|
|
|
| |
| |
 |
|
Sign up and
Get informed
with the RS
Launch Pad!! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted |
March 5th, 2010 |
|
|
|
Back
In 'Black' |
|
Shooter
Jennings
peers into
an
apocalyptic
future --
with Stephen
King's help
-- on his
ambitious
new album |
|
|
By Don Kaye
Special to MSN
Music and Parallel Universe
 Forget
everything you know, or think
you know, about Shooter
Jennings, the renegade
singer-songwriter who has
straddled both the country and
rock worlds, and who also
happens to be the progeny of the
legendary Waylon Jennings.
Shooter's new album, "Black
Ribbons," is unlike anything
else he's ever done and quite
possibly unlike anything else on
the current music scene. A loose
concept album that's equal parts
Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails and
Shooter's old man, it details
the decline of a future America
through the musings of a radio
DJ who's doing his last hour on
the air before government agents
come to shut him down.
In a coup for Jennings, that
DJ is voiced by renowned horror
novelist Stephen King, who's not
unfamiliar with apocalyptic
scenarios himself and who also
happens to be a fan of the
Jennings clan's music. King's
character, Will O' the Wisp,
devotes his last air shift to
the songs of a group called
Hierophant -- a fictional outfit
whose name Jennings has adopted
for his own touring ensemble,
just to add that extra layer of
meta conceptualizing to the
project. It is those tunes that
form the bulk of "Black
Ribbons," from the galvanizing
opening track, "Wake Up!" to the
wild-eyed, acid-tripping
"Breaking Point" to the somber,
gospel-tinged title track.
Two years ago, Shooter --
never quite comfortable in the
Nashville environs of the
corporate country music industry
-- found himself at a crossroads
in his career. Having left his
record label and not sure where
to go next, he and his fiancée,
actress Drea de Matteo, took off
from Nashville on a
cross-country drive in an RV
after baptizing their baby
daughter. What he heard on the
radio during some of those long
nights of driving is what
sparked the birth of "Black
Ribbons," as he told us on the
phone from his home in Los
Angeles.
MSN Music: So
"Black Ribbons" was born during
a cross country drive...?
Shooter Jennings: It was a
pretty crazy time. It was
September of '08 and we had
driven to Nashville for my
daughter's christening. The
economy had just collapsed and
we were driving -- I think we
were around Arkansas -- and
everyone was talking about it
and the fear out there was just
full tilt. I was driving at
night, so I'm listening to
late-night talk radio, which
I've always been a big fan of
anyway, and I think it just
impacted me in a certain way.
Everything outside of the RV was
a clusterf--- and everything
inside the RV was wonderful,
with my family and the people
that kept me hanging on all this
time.
What were some of
the guys on the radio saying?
When this economic
crisis happened, all these guys
were on the air talking about
the possibility of a global
bank, a global currency, the
loss of the sovereignty of the
United States because of this
economic meltdown, the riots
going on in other countries ...
so I started digging and reading
about money lines, bloodlines,
the people who control things.
It frightened me, but it also
fascinated me and it made me
feel like I needed to become
more educated.
Were you
worried about how your fans
would react to a project like
this -- a dark, apocalyptic
concept album utilizing a lot of
different genres of music?
Of course there were moments
when I would think about that.
I've always had this kind of
scenario where whatever I did
was too rock for country, or too
country for rock. They wouldn't
play my videos on the air and I
was basically told that unless I
started doing something more
along the lines of what was
musically popular at the time,
they were not gonna support me.
So I knew that whatever
I did wasn't gonna get any play,
and I just decided to do
something that was really
inspiring to me. Not that the
other records weren't, but in
this case all these frustrations
and feelings were wrapped up in
the inspiration for this record.
It's the most honest expression
of all my influences, from my
love of science fiction and
horror movies to my love of
progressive music. There's stuff
like that on all my older
records, but this really pushed
it to the furthest experimental
and most musically exciting
point that I could.
How
did Stephen King get involved in
the project?
When I
first had the idea to do a radio
personality, I actually reached
out to Art Bell, but then
immediately I thought it wasn't
what I wanted, because I wanted
an unfamiliar voice to some
degree. I knew Stephen King had
been a fan of mine and I'd
always been a huge fan of his. I
knew what his voice sounded like
from interviews, but then I
heard an intro he did on a Blue
Oyster Cult track and thought he
was perfect. I didn't want a
Wolfman Jack radio DJ. It was
more the brain attached to the
voice that was so important.
So I thought I'd reach out
to him and maybe he'd be
interested in doing this.
Somebody at Entertainment Weekly
passed my email along to him,
and he responded immediately. I
remember I was in a grocery
store and I thought, "Holy s---,
I've got Stephen King on the
line." He was so sweet, but he
also said he was really busy
finishing (his latest novel)
"Under the Dome" and working on
this musical with John
Mellencamp. But he added that if
I wouldn't be too discouraged, I
should send him some tracks. So
I sent him the record and we
emailed back and forth for about
three or four months.
What was his reaction to the
whole thing?
He liked
the record, but didn't know what
to make of it. He was like,
"There's no McMurtry or Waylon
here." He's a big fan of
harder-edged country music. So
he was a little taken aback, but
he liked it. I was open to him
writing the whole (narration)
and I definitely didn't want to
push my words on this guy, but I
think he was looking for a
little direction so I wrote a
mock-up of what I believed it
should be. He took that and
doctored it and made it a
hundred times better.
I
remember when I got the package
in the mail containing his
recording, I was like, "Oh my
God, I can't believe I have this
in my hands right now." I was
like a little kid. But he was so
gracious and generous and kind
in every way about all of it, so
it was kind of magical. We still
haven't met or spoken on the
phone to this day.
Do
you feel good about how the
album came together in the end?
I still don't have any
money, I don't know how well
this thing is gonna do. Drea's
been floating us for quite a
while because I've been touring
and going broke on the road, so
I don't have closure to that
unsteady aspect of my life. But
I felt like once I went through
this, it had changed me and my
perspective a lot. Having
Stephen King's support and
involvement was really helpful,
because it really made me feel
like I was doing something
important. Having all the
support I had really pushed me
to see this idea through to the
end. I'm really proud of it.
Having delved into
conspiracy theories and
alternate histories and
forecasting the future of our
society, what are your own
beliefs now about where we're
headed?
We're being fed
certain information that
benefits certain people. The
media is completely connected to
the banks, which are completely
connected to the politicians,
and we live in a time where
there's really a monopoly on
public perception. As far as
politics go, I think one day
someone will fight for the
sovereignty of the United States
-- I'm not saying Obama's not
fighting, but I think that the
string-pullers, you know, you go
two generations back and it's
the same people behind Bush.
It's the same people going to
these Bilderberg meetings; it's
the same people going to these
retreats in the Bohemian Grove.
You look at these crazy
things and whether you subscribe
to the conspiracy theory about
it all, I think the reality is
that we're not educated properly
on what's going on. The key is
staying close to friends and
family; the key is small
community, mom and pop style
stores, mom and pop style
politics. That's what built this
country and I think that's
what's gonna save this country
one day. But I also think that
at this point, the world is kind
of going down the s---ter, so
you've got to hold on to the
people that are close to you and
treat them with care and love.
Don Kaye covers genre
entertainment for MSN's Parallel
Universe. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
