Jason Evans Q&A With Jay
Odds are, that if you’re reading this you are more than a casual music fan. You probably look for something more than a hummable tune when delving into your playlist. You are not alone. Listeners such as ourselves tend to search for music that injects us with emotion and empathy. Music that leaves us with a sense of fulfillment. Music that doesn’t feel like a waste of our time. After all, we’re not searching for background noise. We’re building the soundtrack to our lives. In my experience, one crucial ingredient must be present in order for an artist to build the type of trust necessary to earn a spot on my soundtrack. That ingredient? Authenticity.
Jason Evans is pure Kentucky, born and bred. His music reflects his upbringing, life experience, and conveys his own world view. It oozes authenticity and gains your trust. The reason for this is simple. Jason Evans isn’t trying to be anyone else. He writes songs because it’s a part of him. He writes because it’s who he is. Not because it’s who he wants to be.
His debut record, “Rio Verde Wiseman” is a fully acoustic affair and a master class in blue collar songwriting. With the opening lines of “Kentucky Sky”, he sets the tone for the record and begins painting a vivid portrait of his world, lyrically. “Bluegills and Bumblebees” is a standout. Here he confirms our fear that today’s children are indeed lost in a maze of cellphones, iPads, and YouTube videos. He posits that as a result of this, they may be losing touch with the real joy this life can provide. He conjures beautiful imagery from his own childhood, one of barefoot adventures in the woods, baseball games, and familial closeness to offer a solution to this scourge. On “Mayonnaise Sandwich” he sings, “You know rich folks got poodles/We got ramen noodles/Give 200 dollars for a can of Manwich/But all we got’s a damn ol’ mayonnaise sandwich.” This ode to poverty is performed with a measure of jest. But that doesn’t take away from the songs impact on those that can relate to it. This is an album for those with callused hands, sore feet, and a work ethic that demands sweat. You come away from it feeling as if you know and understand its narrator.
The follow up album, “Green River Sound”, opens with just that. You hear the water of the Green River softly flowing, the birds chirping, and before the first lyric has been delivered, you’re transported back into Jason Evans world once more. On this effort, Evans is accompanied by a full band. Producer Joe Berry makes excellent use of the added instrumentation. He fills otherwise acoustic driven tracks with tastefully placed soft piano numbers, and weeping steel guitar. All of it compliments Evans greatly, and truly adds another dimension to his songs. “Dunbar Daze” beckons you to sing along to the chorus at maximum volume, just as the folks in the studio with Evans that day couldn’t help but do towards the songs conclusion. “You Don’t Wanna Know Me” speaks to the mutual shame that can be thrown around between father and son. It’s a gut punch, and Berry uses the fiddle like a surgeon’s scalpel to wring every drop of emotion out of it. The album closes with “Hillbillies Rock”. A toe tapper that would be right at home on a Jerry Lee Lewis setlist. He lets the band bring the song, and the album to its end. By now, it’s obvious that they’ve earned the right to do so.
Before I interviewed Jason, I was given fair warning that he had no filter. What you see is what you get. Based on his music, that did not surprise me. If anything, it validated every lyric that I’d heard him sing. I’m excited to share this interview. Jason Evans is an interesting character. He shared some great insight into his music, his life, and his creation process that folks will appreciate. If you’re new to his music, I urge you to give all of it a listen. Add it to your own personal soundtrack. Trust me, it won’t feel like a waste of your time.
I’ve gathered from your music that you are from Kentucky, and you love it there. Can you tell me a little about how you were raised, and why Kentucky means so much to you?
I was raised in Hart County. I grew up right here on the Green River. I grew up tobacco farming. Just working like a dog, for nothing. Know what I’m sayin?! Most of my songs are about real life, poverty, y’know real shit man! I don’t write fairy tales. I write my experience. It’s just down home, no knob turnin’, just a guitar and a folk song, you know what I mean?
When did you start playing music? When did that enter the equation?
I’ve been playin’ music pretty much all my life. I come from a musical family, in a way. My dads side of the family is all into it. My Papaw was on Sun Records and he played with Conway, Ronnie Hawkins, and Levon Helm. He done all that during the Sun years. But he stayed in Arkansas and I was raised in Kentucky, so I only saw them every now and then. My grandpa on my moms side, up here, played that old Hank Sr., Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, shit like that. So that’s kinda where I got it at.
How long has music been a full-time gig for you man? When did you go all in on it?
I pipelined for about 5 years, and maybe 4-5 years ago I started music fulltime. I’ve been gettin’ paid for it for like 10 years, but as far as 100%, no side work, nothin’ like that… Yeah, 4-5 years.
In 2019, you dropped “Rio Verde Wiseman”. The first song I remember hearing off that record was “Mayonnaise Sandwich”.
Hahahaha!
I was born in Mississippi, not Kentucky. But I know a bit about some broke southern living! When my parents had me, they were kids really. We didn’t have a lot then. I have vivid memories of eating mayonnaise sandwiches, man! I guess the point is, the first time I heard your music, I knew it was real. When I finished listening to that album, I remember thinking to myself, “Man, this guy lived that shit.”
Yeah, sadly! I wish I’d grown up next to a golf course with a lake or somethin’! But for real, I did live that shit!
Forget the golf course man! We’re all better off in the long run if we have to struggle a little bit!
That’s right, that’s right!
Tell me about “Rio Verde Wiseman”. How did that one come together?
Dude, that’s actually my 4th or 5th record. Some of the older songs just made it onto that one. See, for years I was anti-social media. I was playing shows and writing songs on music row with Big Tent publishing. I was cutting records, I was touring. I was just anti-social media for a really long time. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see that I still don’t need to be on that fuckin’ thing! I keep it real on that shit, all the time, 365! But yeah, “Rio Verde Wiseman” was the first of my records that people from outside the state really knew about, because I was on social media at that point. I had some of those songs in my pocket for a minute. I got to hangin’ out with one of my buddies, Jimmy Dennis. He is the Rio Verde Wiseman. He told me I should do a record, and kinda inspired that one. I wrote a song about him, used some old songs, wrote a few new ones and we just put it out there.
How was the recording process? The songs are acoustic, and I was curious if you recorded that in a studio?
I went down to the studio and I had 400 dollars. I just told them that, and said “Hey man, I’m just gonna record as much as I can for this money. When I’m outta time just tell me to stop.” Every song on that record was one take! Knocked it out in less than two hours! Hell, maybe less. Could been 30 minutes! I just laid all the tracks down, gave the dude 400 bucks and he gimme my shit, and I was out!
Damn, that’s wild!
Yeah man! It was actually David Barrick. Dudes like a legend. He produced Black Stone Cherry and The Kentucky Headhunters and a bunch of other stuff. But I wasn’t going in there with Headhunters money! I was like “Hey man… I got this 400 dollars.”. I just started playing. Picked my favorites and that’s how it happened.
So, the record was really done “In the moment”! When you write a song, is it the same? Does it usually come out all at once? Or is your writing process more spread out?
Man, it’s just instant. I cain’t sit around here like goddamn Edgar Allen Poe. I write a song when I’m mowing the yard. When I’m weed eatin’. Whatever it may be. My old lady will tell me to take the damn garbage out, and I may write a song about takin’ the damn garbage out! That’s how I write songs, dude. I’m a 5 minute guy. If it isn’t done in 5 minutes, I trash it, and move on. I ain’t gonna be writing no damn novel. I’m just tryin’ to write a song.
People relate to that kind of songwriting, man. You write about everyday things that people understand.
Yeah man! It’s all fastballs. If you think about baseball, I’m that pitcher that’s gonna give you the same pitch every time. It may look a little different, but it’s all fastballs, straight down the middle. Some people write songs, and they try to use all these metaphors and shit. Get all pretty with it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for that. Some musicians that I really like, do that. I don’t know though man. I just came up listening to Goose Creek and John Prine and Chris Knight. It was all straight down the middle. Y’know, “Here it is.”.
It’s funny you mention Prine and Knight as influences. I’ve shared your music with several folks that have said to me, “Did Chris Knight write this?”, “Did John Prine write this?”. They don’t say that you sound like them, per se, but those guys, like yourself, have/had that descriptive way of writing. Really puts you there as a listener.
I just tell the truth bro. There are people out there that can make up those stories. Jason Isbell can do that. He can make up stories and write songs and it’s awesome. It’s just beautiful. But that’s not me, man. I don’t write pretty music. Dude, I’m blue collar. I like fightin’ chickens, and rabbit dogs and coon hunting and fishing, playing horseshoes, and drinkin’ beers. I’m not gonna paint you a Picasso. I’m gonna talk about mayonnaise sandwiches and getting your food stamps taken away. Real shit.
I gotta ask. “Bluegills and Bumblebees”… Where did that song come from? Every time I hear that one, I want to delete a social media app!
My kids, man! I’m tryin’ to get em’ to go outside! Me and my wife, we got a little farm out here. It’ll be a sunny day, and we don’t just open the door. We tie the damn door to the deck and keep it open when its sunny outside. I’ll tell the kids, “Go outside. Throw a rock or somethin’, shit.” They’ll be in the house on this damn Playstation, XBOX, iPad, YouTube. I just got tired of it one day and wrote that song about it! Things have changed since we was comin’ up. Shit, you couldn’t have paid me to stay inside. I mean we had Mario and shit. We was on that Mario 3. We was on that damn Zelda and shit too, but not when it was sunny outside! If you had a Huffy or a Mongoose that shit was like havin’ a drivers license! A lot of kids today will never understand that. Back then, everything was a treat. If the ice cream man came by, that was a treat. Hell, fast food was a treat! Ain’t nothin’ a treat now. It’s all just normal. Hell, it’s expected.
You’ve mentioned your wife a few times. She helps you a lot it seems. Looks like she’s very supportive.
Kaelyn, my old lady… Man, she’ll book the shows, she’ll sell the tickets, and she’ll fight the crazy chick in the front row if she acts ignorant! I got me one of them country gals, boy! I love it. She supports me in everything. I cain’t complain one bit. If I ain’t workin’ on it, she is. Hell, she booked a show for me in Omaha today!
Omaha? Nice! I lived there for a few years. Loved it.
Where you at now?
So, I live in a suburb of Jackson, Mississippi now. Have for about 10 years.
Man, I got robbed in Jackson, MS one time! I was just passing through. I got off the interstate for 9 damn minutes to grab a Big Mac. Dude walked up to me in broad daylight, stuck a gun in the window and said, “Hey man, gimme that 7 dollars.”. Mississippi goes hard man!! Dude wasn’t even mad! Hell, he said, “Thanks man.” and just walked off. Took my damn Big Mac money!
Haha! That’s wild! Well hopefully we’ll get you to come back one day!
We’ll see!
Let’s talk about your newest record, “Green River Sound”. Sonically, it’s a departure from the last record. You brought in a full band for this one. The production is much more slick. How did that release come together, and what led to those changes?
The thing is, I fought that shit. I didn’t want to do that. I’ve always wanted to record my records like I’m sitting in your living room, because I don’t tour with a piano player, a bass guitar player, a steel guitar player, or any of that. But my buddy Adam Hill, he told me that I should do somethin’ different. Just to give the audience a little somethin’ different. I wrote the entire album in his camper over about two days. We went down to Steelhouse to record it. Andy Smith down there, he’s the shit. He didn’t have any problem spicing it up. It was different to me.
Well, it sounds like whoever you had recording/producing that one, really knew you. Everything they did really complimented your songs in my opinion. They added just enough. Nothing was overproduced.
I had my manager there, Joe Berry, producing. He’s not big on knob turning and all that shit really either. My buddy Adam was in my corner as well saying things like “Nah man leave that.” or “Take that shit out of there.”, just giving me his advice. My buddy Josh Johnson, probably the most talented musician I know, came with me as well and played some bass on it. He gave me his two cents throughout the process too. So yeah, I knew all those guys. It’s different, but I’m proud of it, man. I think it turned out well.
Well, I follow your social media because it’s funny as hell…
It’s crazy man! It’s like the wild west! Haha!
Yes, it is! But I’ve seen all of the dates you’ve added to the tour and it’s great to see. Seems like folks are really starting to sink their teeth into your music around the country. An exciting time for your career! Hopefully we get some new music once your off the road.
Oh, it’s comin’! This next go around is gonna be different too. When I come off the road this fall, I’m making a new record. It’s gonna be really well done and thought out. I think people will be into it.
Tell me about your record label, Green River Records. When did you start that label?
Started that August 16, 2020. So that’s all pretty new.
What gave you the idea to start your own label in the first place?
I just don’t like labels. I don’t. There’s only two labels that I respect and those are Oh Boy Records and Plow Boy Records in Nashville. I wanted a label that was Artist central. I just decided, “Fuck it. I’m just gonna start my own label.”. That’s just the way I am bro! Tomorrow I’m liable to start a AAA baseball team if I feel like I need one! I just do shit like that. I felt like I needed a label, and I needed one that I could trust. How do you find that? You make that shit happen yourself! How do you get the artists that you like? You do that yourself too. I’m more proud of that label than anything I’ve ever done with my music. It’s extending a hand to artists that may not have the resources they need. They may not get to use the studio they want. I love helping artists get what they need. When we bring in an artist, we don’t tell them what to do. We ask them what they want to do. Who do you want on the record? What songs do you want on the record? It’s not about us. It’s about using whatever reach we have to help artists. Theres people with more reach than us. There’s people with more money than us. But guess what? They won’t out work us. Growing up poor, you gain work ethic. You gotta be hungry. If you ain’t got the money, you gotta have the work ethic.
Our artists are killing it, man. We have Kadie Meadows, Ohio girl. Her record is Fire. We have James Reed. James Reed is somewhere between Lightning Hopkins and Justin Townes Earle. He’s doing great things. Ron Gidcumb. Ron was turning wheels in Nashville for years and he just didn’t have the sound that they thought he needed. He opened a show for me in Illinois. I told him he should come down and we’d make a record for him, and its killer. Breann young is unreal. She’s from Gary, TX, and we’re making a record for her. We recently signed Jared Hill. He’s from Alabama and he’s loaded with talent. We’re just paying it forward, man. I wish I woulda done this 10 years ago. I love working with artists that are out here grindin’! I’m not looking for the next Garth Brooks. I want to help people with work ethic. People that write their own shit, and ain’t letting anybody change them, or tell them how they’re supposed to sound. That what draws me in. That’s what I love about it.
Jason, It’s been a blast talkin’ with you man. Thanks for taking the time, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for you buddy!
I appreciate your time brother! We gonna hang in there like a hair in a biscuit and keep doing the thing! Thank you!