Shooter Jennings Live At The Fine Line!

I went to my first live indoor show since the Covid pandemic began last night, and it was only because it was to see my good friend, Shooter Jennings play - at The Fine Line in Minneapolis, which is a proof of vaccination venue, so I took the risk. And it was well worth it (so far!).

Shooter and I have been friends since the days of his first band, Stargunn - and what days those were! I've rooted for him ever since, and am so happy to see him enjoying so much success of late. Grammys for producing Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker's albums have made Jennings a hot commodity in the studio, and he's been so busy producing for others that he's not had as much time for his own music, so last night was even more special to get to hear him strut his own - and awesome - stuff. 

The night opened with a set from Lillie Mae, a talented singer/songwriter who came up as Jack White's fiddle player. I was in the dressing room catching up with Shooter for much of her set, but did get to see her perform the title track for her most recent album, Other Girls - and it made me want to hear and know more. Dave Cobb had his mitts on her album, so that's the Jennings connection for this show. Excellent.

The crowd was packed in, and though they were presumably vaccinated, they were definitely not masked. I chose to head up top to the side stage balcony to try to keep away from the aspiration of others - in both senses of the word. Shooter and his longtime band took to the stage to huge cheers from fans that had been pressed up against the stage waiting in anticipation. Clad in a Brandi Carlile shirt and Jordans, Jennings yelled, "How you doin', Minneapolis?" - and it sounded like they were doing very well. Jennings sat down at the keys, and the band kicked of the show with "Bound Ta Git Down" from his Shooter album. The honkeytonk autobiographical banger got things off to a great start, and had me reminiscing about "Moving to California where the sun shines all day long"! Sigh ...

"Denim & Diamonds" showed off the great lyrical storytelling talent that Jennings has in abundance, and it had the crowd banging their heads in time and in appreciation for the outlaw stylings that they also loved from his legendary dad, Waylon. I has asked Shooter pre-show if he was going to play any from his outstanding concept album, Black Ribbons - in particular my very favorite song of his, "All Of This Could Have Been Yours", and that's the one that he played next - and said, 'This is for Carol." That was so special, because I love it, but also because it felt so absolutely great to be listening to a song I adore played live right in front of me by a friend that I deeply revere. Thank you, Amigo! 

Switching to guitar for the rocker "Steady At The Wheel" from his awesomely titled album Put The O Back In Country, Jennings first introduced his great and super-tight band. John Sheffler on lead guitar. Ted Russell Kamp on bass. Jamie Douglass on drums. Aubrey Richmond on fiddle and background vocals. Each of them are so good individually, but together they are something else, as the showed on "The Outsider" that featured just enough twang to keep the o in the country sound. Jennings again thanked the crowd, and said that Minneapolis has been good to him since Day One, playing places like The Turf Club and The Cabooze (Thank you, Mpls!). 

"Rhinestone Eyes" was a beautiful ballad written for Jennings' wife, Misty, from the Shooter album. She wasn't there, but it was very sweet because you could feel the love he has for her, even when she's not around. I love that. "Living In A Minor Key" was intended for a George Jones tribute album that never happened, but Jennings had taken it very seriously and still wanted to record it. It also found a home on the Shooter album, and when he introduced it by saying, "Just imagine a way better singer singing it, and it's like a George Jones song." Well, HE sang it perfectly, and it WAS like a Shooter Jennings song - as I believe he belongs in that same pantheon. And deserves to be playing way bigger venues like Target Center up the street. My two cents.

Everyone loves the 4th of July and everyone loved Jennings song of the same name. He threw out a "Those good old boys in Minneapolis", always a crowd pleaser, but he didn't need to do anything more to please this crowd. They were true fans, wearing the t-shirts, and knowing the words to sing along with. That made me so happy for him, because he's had a long career, been through a lot, and it's a joy to see him getting the reverence he should. "Loving County" was a Charlie Robison cover that Jennings has been playing for years, "Since my first band, Stargunn - Carol knows about that, she was there." I do, and I was. Very happily. Sheffler ripped off a guitar solo on that one that might have left blisters on faces. Wow.

"Don't Feed The Animals" (also from Black Ribbons) was a heavy rocker that showed shades of the Shooter that almost replaced Axl Rose in Guns N' Roses - and produced Marilyn Manson's most recent album. The crowd was loving it, as I think his fans are finally ready to let Shooter be Shooter, and play whatever the hell kind of music he feels like playing. Like "I'm Left You're Right She's Gone" from his Giorgio Moroder tribute album, Countach (For Giorgio). A kid growing up in the 80's has a TON of musical influences, and Jennings is open to it all. There aren't many people that can talk music like Shooter Jennings. For real. 

"Shades and Hues" was Jennings' personal tribute to Hank Williams Jr. and it had Jennings back on the keys playing this song that sounds as timeless as all the best country ones do. Aubrey Richmond really shone on this one, harmonizing with Jennings and completely wailing on her fiddle. "Leave Those Memories Alone" was dedicated to his late, great friend, Colonel Jon Hensley, who he wrote it for and with. A bluesy number ... you could tangibly feel Jennings missing his friend. 

Another one that sounds like you've always known it as a real classic was "Fast Horses and Good Hideouts". Extra gorgeous, with really pretty fiddle playing, if they didn't have the room in the palm of their hands before - they did now. "White Trash" got Jennings back on guitar, and got the people dancing! Here came the "I love you, Shooters!" and "Shooter, You're the shit!s" - and they were right. 

"I wrote this one about Nashville a long time ago," said Jennings by way of introducing "Outlaw You" - a perfect kiss-off to the baseball hat wearing wannabe country douchebags littering Nashville these days. They lyrics tell the story about how Waylon came to Nashville as an outlaw, changed everything, and now the suits are trying to package that kind of Outlaw - which, of course, you can't. So they should OUTLAW YOU! Yeah. There was a blistering jam between Russell Kamp on bass and Richmond on fiddle that foreshadowed the all-out band jam that came next, "Gunslinger". Big, epic, passionate ... clearly establishing the entire band as "motherfucking Gunslingers!" SO good. 

"Silver Springs" was the gorgeous ballad that would have people slow dancing in a different setting. I love watching Jennings on the keys, because he just BEATS on them and makes the most beautiful music. I feel like I'm kind of gushing about it all, but it just felt SO good to be listening to really great music LIVE again, that I can't say enough good about it ... especially as it's a friend who I think is vastly underrated for his own music, and I want to help blow it up even bigger for him. Because he truly deserves it. So there. 

That loveliness was the last tune of the regular set, and the band left the stage to chants of "Shooter! Shooter!" They didn't make the people wait like some lame bands, and came right back out to play "The Door', a George Jones cover that most likely never rocked as hard as it did last night with this band. It was awesome, and it was very clear that the whole venue agreed with me. We might all have been just happy to see live music again, but I think it was more just that good. "Thank you, Minneapolis!"

The band was sweaty, tired, and happy afterwards, all the hallmarks of a job well done. Shooter is off to Iowa to play tonight, and then off to Seattle to finish the next Brandi Carlile album. Lives are busy and scattered and very uncertain these days, but I think the power of friendship and music just might be enough to carry us all a little bit easier through these crazy times. At least it gives me hope. 

Thank you for that, Shooter. YOU are a class act. 

 

Shooter Jennings & Hierophant - Black Ribbons

The new album Black Ribbons by Shooter Jennings, and his new band Hierophant, is nothing short of jaw-dropping. It's a good old-fashioned "Concept" album, complete with between track narration by Stephen King, here playing the part of radio D.J. "Will O' The Wisp", on the last hour of free speech airwaves before they're taken over by the government.

Truth be told, I was impressed before I even played one track on the album. The packaging (beautifully executed by Sonny Kay) is super cool, original and heavy ... just like the disc inside. The American flag with its stripes turned into black ribbons - Whoa. Black crows and black ribbons tied around trees let you know that you're about to dig into something of weight. Then the bright orange disc itself printed with "Killing for peace is like fucking for chastity", instead of any title or name. So honestly, Shooter had me from hello on this one, but let's dig deeper together, because it deserves it.

From the opening track, "Wake Up!" and its throw-down of Atari-like electronica beats just moments into it, you know this isn't what some of Shooter's more country-style fans might have been expecting. Tough. I actually got into a little Facebook fisticuff with some of those fans that want Shooter to shut up and play his Dad's songs (if you don't know, Shooter is the son of Outlaw Country legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter). Basically, "What happened, Shooter?! Put the O back in Country!" - Them. "Artists are expressing their own visions, not yours. Go Shooter!" - Me. Having said that, it doesn't even matter what musical taste you have, as this album has it all ... Hard rock, ballad, country, electronica, punk rock ... It's a clear reflection of the multitude of influences someone growing up in the 80's that loves all kinds of music would have, and want to explore.

A gang of us from Venice went downtown the other night to the Grammy Museum to hear Shooter and his producer, Dave Cobb, discuss the making of Black Ribbons in the intimate and casual setting of the Grammy Sound Stage. In the program for the event, Shooter is quoted as saying, "I knew I didn't have just a record on my hands, I had a mission." That is absolutely clear, especially when you hear the dialogue from Mr. King/Will O' The Wisp (that was written back and forth between King and Shooter, who have still never met!). It's heavy, honest, quasi-anarchist stuff - all of which I whole-heartedly endorse. Government, Corporations, War Mongers, Media, Posers, Consumer Culture ... Shooter is on to you. And calls you all out, as you should be. ("They'll try to turn me against you, so that divided we'll turn to them" - Wake Up! "They create a problem so they can provide a solution ... there are guns instead of roses" - The Breaking Point. And that's just for starters.)

Shooter explained during the Grammy talk that he was going through a lot of personal reflection in the time leading up to this album. Having had his first child, Alabama, born to him and his lady ("High Priestess"), Drea De Matteo, and feeling like the world was falling apart as he drove their RV across the country, listening to radio DJ Art Bell trip him out, and the one Blue Oyster Cult c.d. they had along with them ("He definitely didn't fear the reaper" - Dave Cobb). As bad as things were getting in society at large, Shooter himself was feeling lucky for his own blessings, and the album was spawned out of that - and a need to get out all of these musings boiling over inside of himself.


Scott Goldman (VP of MusicCares and the Grammy Foundation) did a pretty good job of keeping Shooter ("I feel like Cosmo Kramer on The Actor's Studio") and Dave on course, but the beers soon delivered, and their obvious respect and sense of comfort with each other kept the evening fun and informal, while lending insight into to the process behind the making of such an ambitious project. Both Shooter and Dave are extra tech-savvy, so the conversation often went more down the path of the how's and why's of achieving different sounds with Analog, Pro-Tools, etc ... (to the point where Dave stopped himself in the middle of it all by saying, "Dork! Dork!") vs. getting into the meaty lyrics (I'd love to have seen a lyric sheet included in the disc package, as they pack a strong wallop) and between-song truth telling. There really may need to be a Grammy Museum talk sequel on this one ...


Shooter had the song, "Black Ribbons" to begin with (I first heard it on The Justice Tour that Shooter's friend, Tom Morello, asked him to join. He played it before a group from Iraq Veterans Against The War, and from that moment I thought it should be their theme song. With its chorus about "Man down, tie a ribbon 'round my soul ..." - the album version even ends with the sound of marching soldier boots - it couldn't be more apt for them). He began to define the vision to Dave Cobb, who Shooter said "Will get excited about any song idea I have, even if it's about a singing monkey". To which Dave responded, "All of his records are just Shooter being honest. An idea might be crazy, but it's crazy honest." And they were off.


Though it was a deeply personal journey for Shooter, this album was also a blast to make, it sounds like. They'd drink and play and experiment and have fun, but all the while they were creating something epic and BIG. Big like you can't help but think of Pink Floyd (especially David Gilmour) while listening. The main cheerleaders and support system for Shooter during the recording process were Drea (who came up with a slew of the album's ideas) and his friend, Danny Coakley. Shooter said one night they thought they'd re-invented music and created the new "Stairway To Heaven" - only to have Danny come in and just squirm and shake his head while listening. As Shooter put it, "It sounded like Yes (the band), but Danny let us know it sounded like No." Crack up.


My favorite track on the album - it's huge and beautiful and classic - is "All Of This Could Have Been Yours". Shooter played it on the Grammy Museum's grand piano, and it gave me goosebumps - again. He explained how Black Ribbons is a piano record, and he'd write lyrics on his Blackberry, propped up on the piano. He'd have to stop and roll the little ball to keep going, and then he'd pass it on to Dave, who "can spot what's good about an idea and get where I'm coming from, which is invaluable."


Shooter was also inspired by a book from the 70's called The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson. In it, she talks about the six archetypes we all live by: Innocent, Martyr, Warrior, Magician, Orphan and Wanderer, and how they change as different phases of our lives take center stage. Each Black Ribbons disc contains one of the six archetype cards (I got Warrior), and each song - musically and lyrically - does too. As I mentioned before, each song is different from the next. "Fuck You, I'm Famous" is a punk-ish party jam; "God Bless Alabama" is a little bit country, a little bit rock-and-roll; "Summer of Rage" has synth, horns, xylophone, choir, you name it; "Lights In The Sky" even has Autotunes on it (which I cannot stand, personally. It's a trend, and a lame one at that. It jolts me out of whatever I'm hearing, and to me is like Shooter taking the stage wearing orange Croc's - but that is the only quibble I have with the entire production)! I would suggest you listen to the album straight through, in its entirety - maybe on your own RV road trip - to feel its whole impact, and to recognize the enormity of its parts.

I deeply respect and admire anyone who stretches themselves out of the box they were born into, and Shooter has certainly done that with this grand in every way album. Upon multiple listenings, each time I am reminded of the famous Che Guevara quote, "A true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love." I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Black Ribbons is a revolutionary album - full of deep and important musings about the state of our world today, from someone who some may have thought an unlikely source. Revolutionary in thought, but also in his uprising against expectations placed on him. All of that aside - though it really can't be placed aside - the dominant feeling I'm left with after each listen is a true sense of love. Shooter's love for music, his family and friends, his country, and that feeling of, as Stephen King puts it, "Put all ten middle fingers in the air and dance, my Brothers and Sisters!"


Love and appreciation that we'd better express often, and while we can. Our world and our time is fragile, and it's an enthusiastic high-five I offer to Shooter Jennings and Hierophant (and Dave Cobb, Drea, Danny, and Stephen King, etal) for not putting their mouths where the money is, but where their hearts are, with this profound, genre-bending, statement of an album.

"The love of mankind may still come out on top. Our children's children might still live in a better, more beautiful world. Do I believe that? Yeah, with a glass of Jack in one hand, I manage." - Will O' The Wisp

Black Ribbons is available to blow - and expand - your minds. Right now.



*Photos by Paul Gronner