BY LESLEY HASTINGS
It’s always a pleasure to chat to Jackson Dean, such a talented, creative artist who burst on to the country music scene back in 2022 with his debut album “Greenbroke”. Those fortunate enough to have seen him and his superb band live (his UK debut was at the inaugural Highways Festival at the iconic Royal Albert Hall) will no doubt agree that they put on a phenomenally exciting show.
With his eagerly anticipated sophomore album “On The Back Of My Dreams” due out via Big Machine Records on Sept 6th (pre order/ pre save here https://jacksondean.lnk.to/OTBOMD_UK) I was eager to find out more about his new music over an all-too-brief 15 minute Zoom chat.
Jackson is currently out on the road supporting Lainey Wilson so I began by asking how that was going ….
“It’s going wonderful! Her shows are great, we have a 45 minute set. We just go at it! “
He has already released 3 tracks from his new album including “Big Blue Sky”, a song inspired by his childhood dog, the video for which saw his current dog Elk making his acting debut. Did that go to Elk’s head and has he upped his biscuit demands since becoming a star?
“Ha a little bit! He’s up at the cabin right now, loving life and chasing rabbits”.
I mentioned that I was aware what a labour of love the upcoming album is as we’d discussed it at all our previous interviews, and I was excited that it was finally being unleashed into the world ….. a big body of work, taking the listener on an emotional and sonic journey. What does Jackson hope people will take from the album?
“That every single emotion and characteristic that is derived from that project lives within me. And not only me ….. inside all of us. It’s not about capacity or capability. That’s the point of all of this and why I started making music. I hope they let this record score awesome moments in their lives. ‘Jane‘ and ‘Another Century‘ are pretty epic … they’ll take you from one place to another! How you get from A to B. Yeah, there’s a lot of things I want them to feel. I want to inspire feeling in people. “
Jackson’s songs aren’t as literal as a lot of other artists in my opinion. He leaves things open to the listener’s interpretation just as we try to interpret the album’s titular dreams …. here’s what he said in response to that observation of mine
“I want people to be able to feel what they need to feel. Strictly on the lyric they’re really great, beautiful descriptions … the score behind it is all that the words cannot say. ‘Betsy’ is a prime example of that, it’s a song that’s beautiful written down, heartbreaking, but the music behind it is all that man died with and didn’t get to say. And that’s why you come at it so hard, why you give 110% on the emotion and the vibe“ .
So which of the as yet unreleased tracks is he most excited to hear people’s interpretation of and find out what feelings it evokes?
“‘Jane’, honestly. It’s just something that hasn’t been done for a little while, you know that style, that programme … witchiness aside! That song is like a little nursery rhyme, it reminds me of something my mother would sing to me as a kid, like ‘Ten Tiny Turtles’ but in a witchy way! But it’s kind of just like this beautiful little poem …. But there’s a few others on here, like ‘Duct Tape Heart‘ which I thought of as a cool little visual, a beating heart with duct tape or a band aid around it … But yeah, this record is going to require the listener to give it the time of day “.
My next question was whether having such a successful debut album as “Greenbroke“ put any extra pressure on him for this sophomore release?
“For sure. To thread the needle through these songs and conceptualise it as a body of work was fun too, a whole! It’s been two years since ‘Greenbroke‘, a long time, and these songs have been written within that time. As it reads right now on paper the album is split right down the middle between light and dark. It starts with the light (‘Big Blue’, ‘Duct Tape Heart’ etc ) with ‘Betsy‘ in the middle, then it changes over to dark. To thread that needle and have ‘Century‘ be the end of it, was really fun to work out. But yeah, these are all scores of vignettes of life that I have either lived myself or watched be lived by others. Again, these are written in a way for people to step in and see and feel what they need to” .
Did working with largely the same creative team on both albums help with this one, as they are now more familiar with how one another thinks and works?
“It was a really great time putting this together. Pretty much the same crew in the studio, a fun time. It was done over three separate sessions, whenever we could get into the studio as I’m on the road indefinitely!! I always love rocking the studio, it’s an intense time but also a really wonderful time“.
I noticed that there were co-writers I’d expect to see (including Luke Dick who produced both albums) and Jackson’s band members but a couple of different collaborators stood out this Time, Josh Osborne and Laura Veltz. Laura was the only female co-writer in either album … did Jackson just find it easier to write with men?
“No! I think most of the writes I have the majority is me and Luke. But I’ve written a lot of really great songs with Laura, and Jessie Jo Dillon. Laura and I wrote a song with Luke that’s pretty dang good! I’m really thinking about cutting it. But it just hasn’t been a fit on either of my projects “.
I wanted to ask about the album’s title, which comes from a line in the aforementioned track “Jane“ …how far into the creative process did he know that was going to be the title?
“Probably about a couple of months after we wrote ‘Jane‘. That song settled into my head . It was probably one of the coolest lines on the record that I could pull off, and I was thinking what are these songs all about and how can I put them all together. That’s when my thoughts of scoring the vignettes of life came in. These are all daydreams, nightmares, fever dreams, some are good, some are bad, but you have them nonetheless”.
I wanted to know if “Heavens To Betsy“ (which has seemingly taken on a life of its own in its various formats) is now Jackson’s “must perform song“ at his live shows, the one the crowd are waiting for? Possibly taking the place of “Fearless”?
“ ‘Fearless’ is still big for us. We put ‘Betsy‘ right before the middle of the set … here in the last 6-7 months there’s been so many phones in the sky, so many people singing it back to us … a really beautiful moment”.
I was running out of time but wanted to find out if there were plans for a headline “On The Back Of My Dreams“ tour? And if so, would it be coming to the UK?”
“First part … we are working on next year, getting ready to put that together.
As for coming back to UK, all I can tell you is ‘soon’ “
(And Jackson gave a wry, knowing smile as he gave that last answer …)
Finally I asked about how album 3 is shaping up, knowing what a prolific writer and creative Jackson is……
“It’s going to be a really, really nice challenge to take on. I’m very excited for that and really excited for the songs on this record to have the life they’ve about to. More is coming! “
My parting words were to thank Jackson for the interview, and wish him a great release day as I was sure he’d be celebrating somewhere …
“Oh yeah! Thank you so much for the time, it’s always good to talk to you” .
More artist information at https://www.jacksondeanmusic.com/
On The Back Of My Dreams Track List:
- “Big Blue Sky” – Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer
- “Duct Tape Heart” – Jackson Dean, Casey Beathard, Luke Dick
- “Talkin’ To Backroads” – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
- “Daddy Raised” – Jackson Dean, Tucker Beathard, Bryan Simpson, Ryan Tyndell
- “Long Goodbye” – Jackson Dean, RL Burnside, Trent Dabbs, Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde
- “Real Real” – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Josh Osborne
- “Heavens To Betsy”– Jackson Dean, Benjy Davis, Driver Williams
- “Train” – Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Luke Dick, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer
- “Free” – Jackson Dean, Blake Chaffin, Luke Dick
- “Sweet Appalachia” – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
- “Jane” – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
- “Heaven” – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Laura Veltz
- “Another Century” – Jackson Dean, Brian Koppelman, Jon Sherwood
