Diali Cissokho & Kairaba performs on Sessions at Studio B
Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores performs on Sessions at Studio B
Sinful Savage Tigers performs on Sessions at Studio B
William Michael Dillon performs on Sessions at Studio B
Katharine Whalen & Her Fascinators performs on Sessions at Studio B
Skylar Gudasz and the Ugly Girls performs on Sessions at Studio B
The Charming Youngsters performs on Sessions at Studio B
Wylie Hunters & The Cazadores performs on Sessions at Studio B
Once and Future Kings performs on Sessions at Studio B
Peter Lamb & The Wolves perform on Sessions at Studio B
Ben Davis & The Jett$ performs on Sessions at Studio B
The Whiskey Smugglers performs on Sessions at Studio B
Katharine Whalen’s Lucky performs on Sessions at Studio B
Country music’s Jason Michael Carroll performs in studio B
Just a year after the release of their debut LP, Jack the Radio returns with Lowcountry, an album the band says was a full collaborative effort.
SetlistFast Country Girls |
“We’ve had a steady group of guys this go around,” vocalist and guitarist George Hage explained. “[On] the last album we were really adding members as we went, and this is the culmination of that progression. We even went so far as to add some members — we’ve got Ryan Chriscoe on saxophone and Kevin Schroeder on trombone.”
“Hopefully it’s bigger, hopefully better, a little more rocking.”
Hage says playing as a core five piece for more than a year has afforded the band the opportunity to learn about each other and build from what each of them brings to the table.
“Having all five of us playing shows together and figuring out who were are and what we can do as a band, I think definitely helped our song writing,” Hage said. “And hopefully A.C. [Hill] and I are better songwriters since the last album — at least lyrically and melodically.”
“That was the goal,” Hill added.
Bassist Chris Sayles, whose third show with the band was their Sessions at Studio B appearance in March 2011, says writing and recording Lowcountry was very much like being in a family.
“This is the first time we’ve all been like a family — it’s a family experience. So we all bring our own pieces and then bring it all together, and it seems to work,” Sayles said.
Of the writing process, Sayles explained, “A lot of times A.C. will come in with a neat little lick and some vocals to go with it. And we’ll take that, Brent [Francese] and I will come up with a groove, and Danny [Johnson] will do everything else.”
Lowcountry began coming together only a month after the release of Pretty Money, and was completed over five recording sessions with Al Jacob at Warrior Sound in Chapel Hill. But really, Johnson says the writing of the album began before Pretty Money hit the streets.
“I was really excited to record the next album before we were even selling Pretty Money because we had all of these other songs,” Johnson said. “We had a three-month spurt immediately after we put out the last album where we wrote six or eight songs that we really wished we could have put on Pretty Money.”
While Hage says he hopes that momentum continues, Jack the Radio’s focus is gettingĀ Lowcountry into people’s hands.
“We’ve been very ambitious with everything — we hand printed the 300 hundred sleeves for the vinyl and we’ve made 133 hand screen-printed posters for the release,” Hage said.
“We’re just really trying to push ourselves as much as we can with not just the music but the release show, some of the merchandise for fans. Just see what we can do.”