Jun 10, 2019
Jun 9, 2019
Jun 8, 2019
From the Archives: An Interview With Shooter Jennings (Real)
ORIGINALLY POSTED APR 11, 2012
Today, singer/songwriter/country music ambassador/country royalty/actor/producer/jackass Shooter Jennings sits down with FTM for this incisive, sharp-witted interview. We really cut through the b.s. and get down to some profound answers.
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FTM: Hello Shooter! It was nice of you to take a break from your busy Tweetingschedule to make time for us!
Shooter: No problem. It's hard out there for a pimp. Most of the time I'm keeping up with your love affair with modern country.
FTM: Yeah, I know. Well, I'm gonna skip past formalities and get to some pressing questions. Does musical talent run in your family?
Shooter: Well, you would think it would, but these days I'm not so sure! But love of music definitely runs in my family. From all my brothers and sisters to my aunts and uncles, music and records have been very important in our lives. Obviously we all like Waylon records a lot too!
FTM: Obviously, that was a reader question. I ain't neerly that stupid.
Next question: Do you consider yourself an outlaw? Could you kick Brantley Gilbert's ass?
Shooter: Haha! I certainly think I could give the guy a run for his money. I'm little and I bite. But at the end of the day, the outlaw thing has been so overdone at this point I like to think I'm an outlaw-outlaw. A double outlaw. Because I wanna outlaw outlaws, get it?
FTM: Speaking of outlaws, just what the heck is XXX music? Are you that big into porn?
Shooter: Only the kind that you can get at ammo stores. But seriously, the website we set up last year GiveMeMyXXX.comwas originally a petition to try and get folks to pay attention to what I felt was a very big and very unfair gap in modern music. This contingent of artists don't fit into Nashville or Red Dirt circles really, and they're too hard edged for Country radio, and they're too Country for Rock radio. I always felt I fell in that gap, and artists like Hank 3 did as well. But that gap has grown considerably, and I wanted to create a resource page for people to hear, read about and find more of these bands. Then we started releasing compilations which I think really got people into a lot of artists they'd never heard before. By the end of it all, I felt pretty proud of the work we did last year. Now we're trying to create some more active resources to help people find music, as well as playing shows and working in the studio with them. I just think there's a tidal change about to come with Country. I think we're gonna start seeing more and more of these bands get closer and closer to the mainstream until it cracks. Most people I know love Scott H. Biram and Hellbound Glory. It's like the new rock and roll in a way too. So to answer your question, the XXX moniker isn't something that we're trying to force on anyone, it was just a way of categorizing it… but at the end of the day I think we got some people's attention.
FTM: Who would win in an arm wrestling match: You or Hank 3?
Shooter: Probably Hank 3. He's got really long forearms. But I do hear he's sober now. Maybe I'd have a leg up if I smoked some meth and got all fired up on Mountain Dew.
FTM: I once listed you as one of the 10 worst vocalists in music. Is your friendliness towards me just an attempt to draw me in close and then have your trenchcoat-clad henchmen layeth the smack down on me?
Shooter: No, no, no, man. It's more of a birds of a feather thing man. You're one of the worst writers in music and I'm one of the worst vocalists, and we finally came together. So happy together.
FTM: Touché! Your new album is called Family Man and you are, in fact, a family man. Coincidence?
Shooter: I'm shocked you put that one together. I love being a father so I can proudly say I am a family man. Not to get too serious, but I definitely feel like (the irony of the title aside) I've definitely been changed quite a bit by my family. For the most part, I don't have to sit around and dream up songs about getting high or why new country music sucks all day. Now I write songs about why it's hard to be high and be a good father and why new country music sucks all day.
FTM: You didn't name your kids typical stupid celebrity baby names like Apple or Blisterpack. Why?
Shooter: Blisterpack! Wow. I should have thought about that one. Alabama and Blackjack are pretty normal names where I come from. But fuck man, my name is Shooter. As a kid Shitter, Tooter, anything but fucking Shooter. So at least Blackjack sounds like he's gonna fuckin' rob you if you fuck with him. He acts that way too. He's a little shit hook with a great sense of humor. Alabama runs the show. If you've ever seen True Romance, you know that.
FTM: Be honest. How many Ed Hardy shirts do you own?
Shooter: Zero. That's for sure. In fact, I've ended many a friendship over Ed Hardy shirts. Just last week some guys broke into my house and left three Ed Hardy shirts. We were devastated.
FTM: What is a "double-talkin', chicken-lickin', meaner-than-the-dickens, sick and wicked, hole-diggin' son of a gun?" Licking farm fowl sounds pretty unhygienic.
Shooter: You do what you have to do to survive man.
FTM: I've read a few comments saying that "The Deed and the Dollar" is a wimpy, whipped song. I don't agree, but don't you think that if these people were married to the lovely Drea de Matteo, they'd be pretty whipped too?
Shooter: We ain't married yet! I think that's how she's kept me so whipped all these years, by NOT marrying me. But for god's sake man, I never understood how it was supposed to be cool to "love em and leave em". I mean, don't get me wrong, I like waking up in a house the smells like old beer and dirty pirate socks as much as the next guy, but keeping a woman is a hell of a lot harder than keeping Barney sober enough to drive home in the morning so you can have your "youporn" time.
FTM: Not married yet, huh? Larry Lee would not be pleased. You have another album (The Other Life) coming out this fall and you've said another will follow not too long after that. Are you in competition with Ryan Adams for who can put out the most albums before age 40?
Shooter: I never believed in cramming records down peoples throats, and I am definitely NOT as prolific as a fellow like Ryan. With these two records, we really cut 15 songs in the original batch, so I'm only having to come up with five more. We're almost there… But I do think in this day and age that the two year record cycle doesn't work anymore. People talk too much with social networking and an artist gets lost in the fold. When we finished the record (in 15 song form), i sent it around to a few people and a good friend of mine Jay Frank told me that the move was splitting it up and doing em 6 months apart. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right as rain. So we're putting these two out in 2012. I think album 3 with The Triple Crown will roll thru next fall hopefully, and then after that my plan is to attack another Hierophant album (like it or hate it, bitches).
FTM: Here's another reader submitted question: What is it like to work next to Ted Russell Kamp's pants every night?
Shooter: Hahaha. Profound. Moving. I miss his pants. And his mustache.
FTM: Despite the Colt Ford song on the last tribute, I think you and your mom have done a great job maintaining and respecting Waylon's legacy, much in contrast to a certain other country legacy and family that won't be mentioned here. So, I'm guessing there won't be any Waylon boxer shorts or emo cover albums coming out any time soon?
Shooter: No there won't. In fact I didn't really have much to do with the tribute records. That was really Witt Stewart and her. But even when my dad was alive, he never went down that road. It may have hurt his legacy in the long run, but I've finally gotten to a place where I really feel like taking on his legacy and doing the right thing. We've got some great new shirts and stuff coming from this great company we partnered with Blood is the new Black, and I'm in talks about a Waylon movie, and I've been (slowly) revamping waylon.com. I'm hoping to see a rise in his remembrance over the next few years. And don't worry, the movie will be NOTHING like any biopic before. I'm on it like flies on shit and am heavily involved in the approach and the entire concept was mine… His legacy will be protected for sure in the best way.
FTM: You'll be playing Lucero's Family Picnic in Arkansas in May. What's your favorite picnic food?
Shooter: Beer
FTM: Mine too! Say, who could take down a fifth of Beam faster, you or your mom (Jessi Colter)?
Shooter: My mom's pretty damn badass, but bourbon ain't her thing. She'll crush me in tequila though.
FTM: Your baby mama plays Wendy Case on my favorite show, Sons of Anarchy. How bout some spoilers for the upcoming season?
Shooter: She's coming back. That's all I can say and know. They don't tell us anything.
FTM: Who are some of your influences, besides your dad, Jason Aldean and Danzig?
Shooter: Haha. It's crazy because of course as a kid I loved and listened to my dad's music, and Willie and all those guys because they were around in my life so much, but I was born in '79. I was a MTV kid. The first records I bought were Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' and G'N'R 'Use Your Illusion 1 & 2'. When I first heard 'Broken' by Nine Inch Nails, I went nuts. I thought it was the coolest most aggressive music ever. I was also a computer nerd as a kid and I played piano and drums from a young age, so I saw a lot of inspiration in Trent Reznor. Then when 'The Downward Spiral' came out, it was the coolest sounding record I'd ever heard! Truthfully, it was the record that really inspired me to start playing music. Then thru NIN i got into Bowie, and from Bowie the glam scene and then Beatles and Pink Floyd and then it all started snowballing from there. It wasn't until I was about 20 that I really got into country music because I hadn't really related to the lyrics yet. Early Hank Jr was and still is one of my biggest influences. His music really spoke to me at a younger age (more so) than most country artists.
FTM: Okay, after all those stupid questions, it's time for a bunch more! Here's the non-famous Lighting Round!
Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood, and why?
Shooter: Taylor. She writes her own shit and has the edge in height.
FTM: Natty Ice or Steel Reserve?
Shooter: Natty Ice
FTM: What's the last "so bad it's good" movie you saw?
Shooter: Hobo with a Shotgun
FTM: How many times have you been arrested …that you'll admit?
Shooter: 2. Once when I was 17 for shoplifting, and then Busted in Baylor County.
FTM: Do your kids make you watch Caillou? How awful is that show?
Shooter: I quickly got off Sprout and onto Nick. Yo Gabba Gabba is much more my speed. Nice Caillou reference. I do miss the Good Night show with Nina tho.
FTM: Are you ever going to cut your hair and move to Nashville?
Shooter: Yes. Next week.
FTM: "Outlaw You" is one of the better anti-Nashville songs released in recent memory. On a scale of 1 to Chris Brown, how angry does pop-country make you?
Shooter: Adam Lambert mad.
FTM: I don't even know what that means. What's your favorite Tyga song?
Shooter: Who is Tyga?
FTM: Exactly. Have you ever gone chillin' on a dirt road and swerving like you're George Jones?
Shooter: (silence)
FTM: Does Drea have any dangerous mob boss relatives who you'd best not cross?
Shooter: Yeah, her whole family.
FTM: Uh, I was kidding with that "baby mama" crack earlier.
Next: Better late-night-drunk food: Waffle House or Krystal (White Castle)?
Shooter: Don't you (White Castle) me you fucker. If I don't know what Krystal is, I shouldn't fucking play country music. Krystal. Close (to) tie tho.
FTM: Language! Okay, one serious question before I let you go. Gimme 2 albums from 2012 that we really need to hear:
Shooter: Here's three: Fifth on the Floor's new one (shameless promotion, I produced it, but it's pretty smoking') Hellbound Glory 'MericA' (which I'm hoping to get in and produce in may) Bob Wayne 'Till The Wheels Fall Off' (Which I didn't have a thing to do with but he played for me and it's fucking amazing) and Jack White 'Blunderbuss' (cuz it's fucking rad)
FTM: Shooter, that was 4. You fail the math portion of this exam. You pass overall though, especially due to the coining of the term "double outlaw." Thanks so much for joining us today for this penetrative interview.
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Shooter Jennings' Family Man is available for purchase in several different packages through his website and an mp3 download is just $5.99 at Amazon.
Jun 7, 2019
From Amtrak to The Misfits: How I Made it To Chicago
By Robert Dean
Chicago is a place with a lot of memories. It's the city where I was born, and where I'll always cite as home, no matter where I live. It's a complicated, working-class city that takes zero shit. Humble Midwestern town, Chicago ain't.
When the bat signal went into the sky that the Misfits were playing a show in Chicago, I went numb. They'd played two years prior at Riot Fest, but the impending birth of my second son, Luke prevented me from hopping on a plane to witness Glenn Danzig, Doyle and Jerry Only play together for the first time in forty years. Because our child was on his way, within a matter of days, I watched via live stream in Target. My fellow shoppers were not impressed with my shrieks of joy upon hearing "Skulls."
This time around, a Misfits ticket was my Christmas present.
Because I lucked out on a cheap flight home, I pulled a few freelance gigs out of the ether. Going up to Chicago from Austin, I took an extra day and booked a roomette on Amtrak. I'd fantasized about writing on a passenger train; I didn't know what to expect.
Amtrak is not what you think it is. It's ramshackle, a lot of weird, and the experience leaves you to think about the mortal coil. One thing I immediately learned: you're at the mercy of freight trains. I was five hours late getting to Chicago thanks to long haulers clogging up the tracks.
As the Texas Eagle pulled into the station, I was ushered into my room. While not the most up to date accommodations, the room was clean, and the porter was genuinely pleasant. Whatever millions Joe Biden secured for Amtrak, that cash hasn't funneled down to Texas.
Riding by train as you might expect is steeped in tradition rather than expectancy. It's not for anyone in a hurry, but instead, is meant to spend the time watching the American landscape whip by from a window while sipping coffee.
In the dining car I was seated with two older gals from somewhere up in the nether regions of Wisconsin. It’s a pleasant experience mixing it up with complete strangers, people you'd never met in any other circumstance. I had the burger and was surprised at the quality.
There's something romantic about a sweeping conversation with strangers about love, politics, and our future as collective when you've already forgotten the names of those you're riding with. It becomes less about the pretense of the subject matter and more about honesty. While a steady sound of Motown rocked the car back and forth, the meal was one of the most honest experiences I'd had recently.
Throughout the trip, I'd stumble my way to the observation car where people talked over hands of low stakes poker, old men chatted up anyone willing to sit down for a cup of joe, and I met an old trucker who told me I was 'cockblocking' him because I was reading and working, but the young stripper who'd just got out of jail wanted to talk to me about what I was reading. "I got my rubbers, and I'm gonna fuck, youngblood.”
I massaged his ego for serving in the infantry and finished my one beer. I gathered my books and laptop and split. Something about a guy who brings crackers and mini-bottles of gin for a train ride doesn't seem like the kind of dude you want to argue with over intention as you're inching somewhere in the middle of a murder dark Arkansas in the rain.
I met a lovely couple from Belgium, finishing their cross country odyssey through America, sampling our endless supply of meats covered in cheeses and salads topped with fried chicken.
The more meals I took in with the dining staff, I was entertained by their lack of fucks. As soon as we broke past St. Louis and picked up new passengers with every stop toward Chicago, they grew less and less patient. Requests for tape, (does this look like Home Depot? Why would I have duct tape in a dining car?) or something free to drink (there's a little store full of chips, sandwiches and plenty to drink. If you're not sitting down for a meal, you can shop there for ten Cokes.) As a whole, though, the Texas Eagle staff were wonderful and accommodating, at least to me.
Waking up in my roomette, my anxiety was in full bloom, I missed my family. Laying there, watching a fog hover over craggy hills of nowhere, Missouri, I battled with existentialist, "what does life mean" moments. Dogs roamed property unchained, staying far from the muscle of the roaring train. People sat behind the wheel of rusted out Toyotas, annoyed they caught the train, but thankful our small convoy wasn't hauling freight. Reaching Union Station in Chicago hours late, I was happy to see the skyline.
Chicago was a hurricane. I had one healthy meal while visiting. In preparation for the Misfits, Preston, my best friend and our friend Ben from New Orleans ate with little scruples in regard to our well-being. We had sloppy beef sandwiches at Al's, hot dogs at Superdawg, along with pizza standing with our friends celebrating the opening of Rocket Tattoo. I chowed down on breaded steak sandwiches with my great aunt at Ricobene's. And I successfully avoided Malort.
We hit Rainbo in Wicker Park, witnessed the awful yuppification of one of my oldest watering holes, Tuman's. We downed cold ones with my editor Jacob in Bob Inn, listened to the classics at The Exit, and paid homage at the wondrous Old Town Ale House. If there's anything you need to know about Chicago, we appreciate a good tavern.
Pre-gaming around Wicker Park, we took the EL train to the venue out in Rosemont, but two stops away somewhere near Harlem Avenue, those tall Old Style's needed an exit strategy. Racing off the EL through the one-day "only in Chicago snow-cum-sleet" we ran to a Wendy's bathroom for a three-man race to the finish line pee in two toilets.
Because my brothers, friends, and other randoms were all in the house, we didn't go in till just before Fear took the stage. While I love Fear, Lee Ving and Co. didn't translate well into the room full of onlookers dressed in black, ready for one thing: to hear Glenn Danzig belt out the hits.
When the Misfits came out at 900 MPH, complete with Jerry Only coming from a fucking coffin, it was one of those few times in life that when you want something so bad, to see it actually deliver. It's was a transcendental moment, the songs I'd loved since I was a boy, hearing them, "20 Eyes", "Who Killed Marilyn" or "She" – I've still got the setlist saved in my phone. I was so happy with the performance, the vibe in the room, that it wasn't a bunch of corporate dudes there to drink beer and sit in the suites, I cried. I was that happy.
Relentlessly, the Misfits delivered. Danzig sounded a little beat up when he spoke to the crowd, like the throat pipe might burst, but as soon they counted off in their signature “1-2-3-4,” Danzig didn't miss a beat. It actually looked like he was enjoying himself, like sure, I'm making a fuckload of cash happy, but a legitimate joy that I hadn't seen in any of my times catching him previous.
Spending the $150 for the tickets felt like a fair exchange to hear all of my favorite songs in a row as the encore, including my all-timer, "Hybrid Moments," followed by "Attitude" and finally, "We Are 138."
I accidentally punched the guy next to me in the face, and Preston's glasses were knocked off and we spilled a few beers. Anything is possible when you're high on seeing Jerry Only do a bunch of power slides across the stage. I mean, those shin guards have to serve some kind of purpose, right?
Despite my utter joy and later elated drinking with my friends at the Exit, the significant moment of the trip came from the bond between myself, my brothers, and Preston.
My brother Brandon was tight on cash since finding out he was becoming a dad, Preston stepped in and bought him one, which facilitated him and his girlfriend Katie attending. That was a class move so he could be there with me and my other brother Bryan.
Bryan, like me, is a huge Misfits fan, we both have crimson ghost tattoos. When I rolled into the show, I had my eye on one of the posters. At $30 a pop, it was a pricey piece of memorabilia. I ponied up the cash and bought one, but immediately following found out, they had signed ones for a cool $100. Being that I was already on vacation, spending that extra $60 seemed like a bad idea. I went without. My brother and his wife Samantha knew how much the show meant to me and bought me the signed poster. When they gave it to me, I was touched by their act of kindness. They didn't have to do that. So, by accepting the gift, I gave my $30 unsigned poster to Brandon.
And now, sitting in my office, I have that poster framed on my wall. It's a reminder that while yes, I had the best time at the show, the bonds with my brothers are unbreakable, despite living across the country. Getting to share that experience with them and Preston and Ben will be a highlight at the end of my movie. A guy can only be so lucky, devil lock or not.
“In hybrid moments, give me a moment.”
Jun 6, 2019
The Three Amigos Country Reaction Gifs
If you had to name one Dan + Shay song to save your life, which one would it be?
When a Nashville bartender sees some Kane Brown fans walk in
When you have the perfect Americana singer name; now you just gotta grow a beard
I'd rather do this to my house than have Mitchell Tenpenny music play in it
Drive-by Truckers reunion tour 2042
Still more country than Sam Hunt
When somebody says Thomas Rhett is a country singer
When one of your friends says Dustin Lynch is actually pretty good
You don't like Tyler Childers??
Important: CMA Fest Bag Policy!
None of these bags can be brought to CMA Fest!
(Because they're not clear.)
Jun 5, 2019
New(!) Video / Tanya Tucker / "The Wheels of Laredo"
From her upcoming Brandi Carlile / Shooter Jennings produced album, While I'm Livin'.
Say 'How Do' To Austin's The Barnyard Boys
by Robert Dean
Definitely not taking themselves too seriously, The Barnyard Boys have dropped their debut e.p. Barn Yesterday, that covers everything from taking out the trash to just hanging out drinking some beers. And you know what? It's sweet as hell.
While most of the stuff we write about is always super serious and driven by artistic integrity, The Barnyard Boys ain't having any of that. It's fun to hear a band that patently doesn't give a fuck, that isn't chasing stages or streams, instead, these are the kinds of dudes psyched to play their local bar for some friends and drinking plenty of beers in the process. If The Barnyard Boys were a drink, they'd be a cold tallboy of Lonestar; it's accessible, goes down smooth and you can always grab another to keep the party going.
There are tunes about tractors, getting laid, recruiting new members via song and a whole bunch of other lighthearted concepts. But, while the lyrics aren't serious, the musicianship is top notch. The Boys' don't miss a lick and continue to keep the listener's attention, no matter what rabbit hole they venture down.
If you're around our fair city of Austin, Texas, you'll probably catch The Barnyard Boys stomping around a local brewery somewhere, or maybe just out playing you know… in the barn.
Apparently, they play in it every weekend. They even wrote a song about it. Just be sure to bring enough to drink for everyone, it seems like that's their vibe.
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