Where are we from? Where am I from?
What does that even mean?
My mother's side of the family is from Delaware and Pennsylvania. My father's side is from Virginia and North Carolina. I grew up all over the place. I was born in Pennsylvania, lived overseas as a kid, spent my adolescence in the midwest, and have lived in Colorado on and off for thirty-five years now. In my family history are plantation owners, confederate soldiers, Quakers and abolitionists. Thats quite a mix.
I'm a fifty-seven year old white guy who has been the recipient of every bit of unearned privilege our society has to offer. My life has had it's challenges, but I've never worried about how I would be received based on my skin color, or how I present gender, or how I speak.
I suppose all that and then some was in my head when I wrote the song ‘American Son.’ The song in no way covers all of that, but that's what I was thinking about. Once a song is started you have to sort of let it be what it want's to be. So I'm not nearly as in charge of the final version of the song as you might think. But I'm really glad I wrote this one and really happy that it's on the record.
We recorded this without a whole lot of rehearsal- it wasn't a song we'd played out much, which makes the recorded version a bit unique in that this was how we conceived it in the studio. After we did the basic tracking, Brian and I I felt like it was still needing something, and Scott Coulter, of the Gasoline Lollipops, was gracious enough to come in and play the organ parts. I really love how his understated playing binds the whole song together. Now that we have played it live a bunch, we amp up the rock vibe a little more, and John really digs soloing on this song, so we lean into that.
Just a reminder- you can still get pre-sale orders on CDs and vinyl with the exclusive release tshirt in the store, and if you're nearby, you can come to the release show in Longmont on July 18! We'd love to see you there. It will be an awesome night.
-JS