“Being from California, as we all are, I’ve certainly digested more music in a car than anywhere else,” he says, reached on the phone walking through his hipster-mecca neighbourhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn after dinner. “A lot of it is being on tour and watching landscapes with new music.”
And in the coming months, Delta Spirit will have the opportunity to ingest and in turn create a wealth of new music, as the band heads out on tour for yet another bout with the road. Upcoming tours will see them share stages with the likes of Dr. Dog and Jeff The Brotherhood before eventually gracing Australian shores for Big Day Out 2013. For Jameson, it’s an exciting proposal. It’s where the tracks on Delta Spirit will find their own wings.
“We love live music and we love performing, maybe even more than recording. That’s where our songs really come to life. That’s the pinnacle for us. We’re going out on our second headline tour with Jeff The Brotherhood, who’s also playing Big Day Out, which is great,” he says.
“We’re sorting out all the logistics of it right now. But it’s exciting, because that’s what this band is all about: going out and playing in front of people without a lot of support from the radio and whatnot. We love coming to cities, playing to small crowds and then maybe coming back a year later and playing to a few more people. We love it.”
It hasn’t been hard for Jameson to embrace the idea of touring. After all, it’s one of the few immoveable aspects of his day job. “There’s only so many things that you really have control over when you’re in a band. You can’t count on the radio, for example. And it’s not like we’re above that, but the thing you can do is write a song and play it in front of people. That’s non-negotiable.”
Though Jameson insists the band hasn’t received much support from modern rock radio, that may soon change. With Delta Spirit, members of the band openly admitted that they discovered the sound they’d been searching for throughout past releases. Gone is the twang, but in its place is a powerful and emotive brand of modern rock. One could easily assume that the band was simply hitting their stride; Jameson is quick to give credit where it’s due. For Delta Spirit, a fresh set of fingers and ears was what it took to propel the band to great new heights.
“The biggest part [of the new sound] was bringing our new guitar player, Will McLaren on board. The last record was just the four of us. And while we all like it and we’re proud of what we accomplished, we’re the kind of band who likes to just get in a room, start jamming and see what happens. It always goes like that. There can be a spark to that. But in getting Will, we started to think a little bit more about our songs. Will has this certain understanding of how the guitar works and how it’s supposed to sound,” admits Jameson, shedding light on tracks like Empty House.
“We’ve never had someone who’s so dedicated to the guitar. We’ve always been lyrically and melody-driven. We hadn’t spent a lot of time experimenting with guitar parts and understanding how they can add to a song. And Will understood how to capture a mood or a feeling with a guitar. It was a little bit cumbersome, but at the same time, very exciting.”
Jameson’s admission shouldn’t be understated. Yet by integrating McLaren into Delta Spirit, Jameson and the band have emerged as a force in modern Americana. “We had to spend a lot of time together to understand how we wanted to share our ideas. And that was hard, because we all have very different perspectives on music. It took awhile, but with all five of us playing together, we were able to re-discover how much fun it can be just to play music, like when you first start a band. It definitely felt like a re-birth.”
Jameson believes songs on Delta Spirit are ultimately reminiscent of that highway you’ve traveled a thousand times before. They will eventually lead you to the same place, unless you dig a little deeper and take a longer look around.
“It’s a new record for us, but it still feels like a continuation,” he says. “It’s not a departure, but it is something fresh.”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
