Shooter Jennings has never been afraid to do his own thing. From starting — and fronting — the hybrid, energetic, almost indescribable Americana rock band Stargunn in his early 20s to declining an offer to be in Velvet Revolver to establishing his own idiosyncratic corner of country, Jennings — who is the only son of Waylon and Jessi Colter — has kept his fans perpetually guessing which way he's going to jump off the beaten path next. And at 33, it's probably just the beginning. Before swinging into Toledo to play at Toledo Harley Davidson for Almost Oktoberfest, TCP caught up with Shooter to talk about his new record, what it was like to portray his father in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line and collaborating with Willie's son, Lukas Nelson.
You bounce around a lot of genres. What can we expect from your forthcoming album, The Other Life?
For the most part, it's a country record. When we recorded Family Man, we recorded 17 tracks, 12 of which ended up on Family Man and the other five kinda fit elsewhere. That's how it started. When I did Family Man, I was in a place where I wanted to record a traditional country record and when it came around to finishing this record, I felt I needed to mix everything up a little bit. I think that's who I am and at this point I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable not really caring what lines are crossed. It's a darker record, though; it's kinda of the flip side of Family Man.
After Stargunn, you were asked to front Velvet Revolver. How did you know a solo career was instead the right choice?
I was asked to audition for them and, frankly, I didn't think it was real. I did a couple shows with the guys. Then I got an email: 'Would you be interested in jamming with them." But it didn't come from any of them, it came from someone else. So I was kinda like, 'Uh…ya know, I'll do my own thing.' Later, they were looking for someone after Scott [Weiland] and they sent me some demos of instrumentals and asked me to come up with the lead stuff. I did, but I was too embarrassed to turn them in, because it just didn't feel right. As a singer, it's harder for me to hit the higher stuff. I guess I felt like I wouldn't do it justice and I also didn't know if it was the right thing for me. I couldn't commit to that being the next step.
As a kid you were on the road a lot with your parents. Do you bring your kids on tour?
I have with my daughter, but not with my son — he's only one and a half. We brought my daughter, Alabama, for a short period of time. That was one bus run, but it would be hard to financially afford that [on a consistent basis] with two kids, a nanny and everything like that. But I would love to. Ideally, I would love to bring my kids to work with me.
While we're on the subject of family: What was it like to portray your father in Walk The Line (2005 biopic on Johnny Cash)?
I met the director and he was cool. We went out and had some drinks. I auditioned for it and got it. I kinda felt like I was going to be able to walk in and act naturally like my dad or something, but it was way harder than that. I got in there and was just trying not to screw it up. I remember in a lot of parts, they would be like, "Slow down." It was fun, man. The whole experience was a lot of fun, I will say that. But I don't know if I see acting in my future.
I heard a rumor that you're recording with Lukas Nelson. What do you guys have planned?
Yeah, we're doing a record together. What's cool about the record is that we're playing everything on it: I'm playing drums and keys and he's playing bass and guitar. We're taking turns singing, so it's just the two of us. But we have had a blast so far. I think in October we're gonna try to finish it. We both have gotten a little busy. But we both came out of it kinda shocked, because it's sounds like Southern/English rock or something like that, more than country. We don't know how it will all turn out, though. We both showed up to the studio with a couple of songs each and we just kinda went for it and we have never collaborated or anything and it went smoothly — and fast. It was great, dude. He's such a good musician and we have a lot in common, like the kind of music we listen to. It was one of those things that was kind of natural.
Shooter Jennings performs at Almost Oktoberfest, from 4pm-midnight, held at Toledo Harley Davidson, 7960 W. Central Ave. Tickets are $10. For more info, visit www.sylvaniachamber.org/AlmostOktoberfest.
