Jesse Terry has been releasing music since his debut album first appeared back in 2009. In addition, he has earned a degree from Berklee College of Music, worked as a staff writer on Nashville's Music Row and has won Grand Prize awards and recognition in several international song writing competitions, including the John Lennon Song writing Contest, the CMT/NSAI Song writing Competition, and the We Are Listening Singer/Songwriter awards. When We Wander is the seventh album that Jesse has recorded and before the pandemic hit he spent his entire time on the road travelling with his wife Jess, playing his music and running his self- made business model. As his life on the road, took a complete about-turn with the virus and lockdown Jesse found himself in a place where he could reflect on his journey so far and what the future may hold. We were very happy to catch up with this human dynamo and to talk about his career and future plans.
The new album, WHEN WE WANDER has been receiving very positive reviews. Have you been happy with the reaction?
Yeah, it’s been thrilling and humbling. Having to delay the album release in 2020 was a tough decision, so having folks react to it so positively is really gratifying. The songs have weathered a lot and I’m so happy that the album still rings true to me. If anything, the meaning of the album has deepened for me over the last 18 months.
Can you tell me a little bit about the recording process?
Neilson Hubbard is someone I love and trust. I’d trust him with anything, whether it’s an album, a photograph or a music video. That’s a rare thing to find in this business. So, when he encouraged me to record this album totally live in the studio, I took the leap. Neilson assured me I was ready for this and I believed him. I get the sense that recording live can be the best thing in the world or the worst thing. You have to trust the whole team, from engineer, to producer, to band, because there’s nowhere to hide on a live recording. And most of all, of course, you have to believe in yourself. We just had the greatest bunch on this album and they made it easy for me. Recording this music was a real revelation and the most joyful recording experience of my life. The recording process allowed me to be in the moment and get out of my own head. There’s no time to overthink things or to be overly critical of yourself. The only choice is to let go and be in the moment.
All the songs were written before the Covid-19 virus struck. Do you think that the songs reflect the actual emotions that events subsequently highlighted?
You know, I feel like I’ve learned more about these songs as time went on. The pandemic was probably the most transformational period of my life, so songs like Ghost Stories meant more to me after experiencing 2020. To be honest, I didn’t realize how much work I had left to do on myself. And if Covid-19 gave us anything, it was time. Sometimes agonizing time, but time nonetheless. Early on I was concerned that the songs wouldn’t stand the test of time, but the meanings have really deepened for me. I think a good song can make it through just about anything. For instance, a song like When We Wander had a fairly literal meaning to me when I wrote it, but after experiencing 2020, I feel like wandering fearlessly is not just limited to adventures and touring. We’ve had to wander into so many new places to get through this chapter of life. At the end of the day, I’ll think we’ll be better people because of it.
Can you give some insight into your song-writing approach? Do song ideas come regularly and does a lyric present itself before you build the melody?
I’m really careful to keep my antennae up and I’m always saving lyrical and melodic ideas. Those ideas often get me started when I’m staring at the blank canvas. There’s no steadfast song writing rules for me, but I do believe there must be a marriage between music, melody, emotion and lyrics for everything to be working at its highest level. I’m a big believer in the Paul McCartney school of singing gibberish as you’re singing new melodies. Often those phrases or rhymes or vowel sounds become the foundation of something special. I’m also a big believer in doing object writing and sense-bound free writing before sitting down with the guitar. It’s good to wake the mind up and really dig deep. I also think it’s vital to be a great reader, which is a good reminder to myself. Life gets so busy and you have to be disciplined with your craft and your art. Great writers are almost always great readers. I’m excited to enter my next season of song writing and determined to push myself into new creative places. I’ve been so busy releasing and recording albums lately, so diving back into song writing is going to be the greatest elixir.
Your previous two albums, both released in 2017, were very different, with the lush production on STARGAZER including warm string arrangements and an expansive production sound; complimented by the more stripped back, NATURAL album, featuring a series of duets with seven different guest female vocalists. Do you like to challenge yourself and take chances in your musical vision?
Yeah absolutely. It’s always more exciting when you’ve got a concept in mind. You can’t cover all ground on one album. If you’re recording an album live, the acoustic guitar is going to sound different, because all the mics are bleeding onto each other when you’re live. That’s a great sound, but it’s really different from a very isolated and clean sound, like you hear on STARGAZER. It’s not right or wrong. I think of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and compare that to Paul Simon’s Graceland. Both magnificent recordings, but captured so differently. I recorded STARGAZER and NATURAL back-to-back with the same producer, Josh Kaler, so our approach with those two albums was very deliberate. We were excited for those two albums to be totally different, even when we recorded some of the same songs on both albums. I’m already starting to think about the next recording concept, which can really influence the song writing. When I was writing the STARGAZER album, almost everything I was listening to was produced by Jeff Lynne. And you can hear that in the songs and in the production.
You spent a lot of years on the road, touring and exploring new places with Jess, your lovely wife, as your constant companion. The arrival of your first child, Lily, has now changed this lifestyle model dramatically. Can you tell me how lockdown has reshaped your plans going forward?
Lily spent the first 18 months of her life on the road with us before Covid hit – So actually, being locked down at home was foreign to all of us. Lily really thrived on the road before Covid, which was wonderful. I still love the idea of showing her the world and having her experience so many places and things. We’re lucky to be in a beautiful part of the world, on the New England coast, so being at home for so long had its benefits. I think with Lily’s age, it all happened at a good time, all things considered. We have a new love and appreciation for home. Now that we’re starting to see the light and reschedule tours, our plans moving forward are pretty much the same. My whole family is still committed to sticking together and really looking forward to our next adventures out in the world. With a child’s development I think things change on an almost daily basis, so it’s always a fluid thing. Jess and I are always talking about what’s best for Lily. When it’s best for her to chill at the hotel while I go play a show… things like that. We always agree that our family is in a better place when we can all stay together and that the pros of touring together greatly outweigh the cons. We probably are a bit unconventional when it comes to child-rearing, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
The reality of being more in the studio as a musician has led to you cutting back on the miles you have clocked up in visiting new territories. Will online performance become a key part of your new dynamic as a musician?
We were all so lucky to have livestreaming when Covid hit. Our online shows brought together this beautiful community of people and I’ll always be sentimental about that. We all saved each other in a lot of ways. So, I’m excited to continue that a bit and also do some hybrid shows as I’m performing live. I think that’s the future and I embrace that. But no, I don’t envision cutting back on touring to do more virtual shows. My first love is touring and performing live and nothing will ever replace that. There is no way to recreate the magic of a great live performance and the connection to a great live audience. I love the whole experience, even the miles on the highway.
How big an issue is the lack of royalties from downloads and streaming. Getting a sufficient income from what you do is becoming a much greater challenge?
It just depends on how you look at it, I suppose. I don’t think anybody is claiming that streaming is a sustainable business model for recorded music. But I view it as more of a discovery platform. Don’t get me wrong, it would be fabulous if artists made more money from recorded music, but that feels a bit out of my control. Things always change and evolve, so I’m sure in twenty years we’ll have a different music business model. With what I do, I’ve always made the majority of my income from live performance and live merch sales and that income has steadily grown for me over the years (excluding the obvious two years, 2020 & 2021!). So, I’m focused on just growing all of those avenues that I can and enjoying the ride. We also recently launched our Patreon page, with the exclusive early release of my upcoming covers album “Forget-Me-Nots.” I love Patreon, but it openly feels like a way to compensate artists properly for their work. In a perfect world, a platform like that wouldn’t be needed, but it’s really been a wonderful new addition to our career livelihood.
What role does Jess play in the overall issues of being a self-sufficient musician. With live tours being replaced by online gigs, what does the future look like when you try to tweak your business approach?
Things are continuing to change in real time and we are doing our best to be smart and to stay ahead of the curve. It’s a time of great uncertainty, so I feel like you have to commit to something and then stay focused on it. Life’s been a roller-coaster for everyone. Jess is always my rock and I lean on her so much. My manager is also a wonderful steady person, who I trust so much. We’ve been fortunate to have projects come in for us during this time - We recently signed a book deal with Schiffer Publishing for our first children’s book, If I Were The Moon, adapted from my song of the same title. And a couple of great fans/friends Rick and Marianne Chester, executive produced and funded two double albums for me that were recorded during the pandemic. We’re so grateful. People have been amazing to us, especially in the last 18 months, and that’s the only reason I’m still making music full-time right now. The kindness and generosity that people have showed us, is something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. Our business model and approach has been to follow passion, work hard and make your own luck. So far, so good. We’ve been running on faith, but it does seem like the road appears for us, when we put our entire hearts into something. That’s another lesson of the pandemic that I’ll always carry with me.
On the new album, you called upon the production talents of Neilson Hubbard, who also played drums on the recordings. Having used Josh Kaler on the previous two albums, what key differences does a new producer bring to the overall project and the final sound?
Neilson actually produced two of my earlier albums, EMPTY SEAT ON A PLANE and STAY HERE WITH ME, so working with Josh Kaler was actually a bigger departure for me. But that was a great experience for me too. Josh is a brilliant musician and producer, who had a different production approach in the studio for STARGAZER and NATURAL, partly because of my input and what I was going for. My recordings with Josh were done in a more layered, Jeff Lynne type approach, which also can work beautifully. I really enjoyed my time working with Josh. But yes, a producer can (and should) have an immense impact on an album. I’m not a producer per se, but it feels like a big balancing act. I think it’s important for a producer to understand you, so they can get the very best performances out of you. And it also feels like they should bring something stylistic to the table, while still making a record for you. You’re paying them to steer the ship and I enjoy leaning on people I trust.
Who were your greatest influences when you started out a song-writer?
Oh, so many great writers… but a few stand out – James Taylor, Springsteen, The Beatles, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty and Paul Simon. Those are the ones where I learned every song and really absorbed it. When you do that, certain artists really become part of your DNA as a songwriter. I remember learning how to play guitar after quitting art school. I was so mesmerized by the whole thing. I got these extra-large coffees from the 24-hour Dunkin Donuts near my house and stayed up until sunrise every single day. There wasn’t a loneliness there. Music and songs became a real friend and comfort to me. And it still feels like that.
Your debut album, THE RUNNER (2009), brought you to music media attention and have you been pleased with the arc of your career since that initial release?
I am quite happy and proud of my career path. It’s been slow and steady. The journey is not always at my desired speed, but it’s been a beautiful one. And when I am feeling discouraged, I’ve learned to not compare my story with others. That’s a recipe for unhappiness and unproductivity. This business will keep you humble and I usually don’t mind that. In the last few months, I’ve announced the publishing deal and a new booking agency deal with Strada Music to represent me in Ireland, the UK & Europe – This is literally the stuff of my dreams. And in those same months I’ve been rejected in places I didn’t expect. That’s the business. Being able to ride out those highs and lows is an important part of this job.
The new album is your seventh release and one that sees your song-writing reflect your new perspective as a father. Songs like, Innocent Ones, and, Is There An Answer, reflect concerns about the world that we are shaping for our children to inherit. How concerned are you?
Yeah, there are some real concerning things going on and also some real confusing things. When I travel around and play music for folks, I encounter 99.9% great souls. Where does all the division come from? I’m not sure why people feel the need to be enemies. I suppose that’s why I ask the question in the song. There’s some madness happening right now and also some troubling developments with the health of our planet. But at the same time, I’m an optimist and I can’t get down in the depths for too long. At least not if I want to be a successful father, husband and artist. If you believe Ghandi and strive to “be the change you want to see in the world,” how could we go wrong? I think my job in life is to be a model for my daughter, so I’m doing my best to improve every day and make her proud. Innocent Ones is about owning my shortcomings and realising that I must be my absolute best to be a great father. I know that kids don’t do what we say, they do what we do.
The studio musicians are different on this release, with the exception of former producer Josh Kaler, who plays some inventive pedal steel. Was this a conscious decision to colour your sound with different players?
Josh is such a genius musician, he played almost everything on STARGAZER and NATURAL, so doing this with a full band and recording live, is such a different approach and ensemble. I do enjoy working with new folks from time to time, but there’s also some old friends and favourites for me on WHEN WE WANDER. Danny Mitchell on keys and harmonies has been on every project of mine for last ten years. He’s unique. Danny also arranged all of the strings on STARGAZER. Eamon McLaughlin on fiddle and mandolin has also been on most of my stuff since Neilson introduced us ten years ago. At that point, Eamon was touring with Kathy Mattea I believe – For the last several years, he’s been playing with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. Not bad company to keep. Will Kimbrough is also out with Emmylou and many others and is someone I’ve wanted on a record forever. It finally lined up and we got Will on the upcoming covers album as well. Love him. The whole band was so great. Liz Longley and Mia Rose sang so beautifully on the album. Dean Marold was fantastic on bass. Juan Solorzano was another great Neilson recommendation and another fantastic player. And of course, I love Neilson’s feel on the drums. His drums feel so great but never get in the way of the lyrics or the mix. Part of the producer’s job is to assemble the right talent and I’ve been really spoiled with that. I’m aware of how lucky I am there and I never take that for granted. All of these players, singers and engineers are just so damn good. It’s like an all-star baseball team. When Neilson tells me someone is incredible, I never question it. We got this guy Fats Kaplin to play steel, mandolin, fiddle and dobro on the new covers record and he was just nuts. Fats played with John Prine, Jack White, Beck and many others but it’s never about the name with Neilson. It’s always about the player and what they bring to an album. I’ve seen Neilson with young players and he’s just as enthusiastic about a person with no credits. But eventually, when they are that good, the credits always follow.
You have been praised for your warm vocal tone and your richly smooth delivery. Is this something that has developed over your career or was it present from an early stage?
That’s really kind of you. I’ve really worked hard on my vocals over the years and I’m starting to feel some benefits. These days, I really treat it like an instrument and do fairly extensive exercises every day. There are so many muscles and physical things that go into singing. And so much of it is breathwork and muscle memory. Lately I’ve been doing more work with breathing, which is the fuel of singing, and the thing that can really produce a resonant, rich, powerful tone. It’s exciting to have some control of your sound and know that you can always get better. I really needed to push myself on my two lockdown albums, with one being a Christmas album and one being a covers album. I chose some hard songs to sing and I couldn’t have pulled that off even a year or two ago.
What are your immediate thoughts as America returns to a post-lockdown environment? Are you anxious about getting back to travelling regularly or will you focus more on home priorities and recording activity?
I don’t have the luxury of just staying home. I’m either touring for the majority of my living or I’m doing something else – And I don’t want to do anything else! I’m not anxious at all about traveling and touring regularly again. We’ve got good frameworks of tours in 2022 that are taking me to Florida, Southeast, Midwest, West Coast, Ireland, the UK and Europe. I’m only anxious about Covid and things not getting better. The current situation in US is not sustainable for most full-time artists and there is no more aid coming. So that’s the only anxiety. I just want to get back to work 110%. I love playing and I love working. I do feel confident that 2022 will be very different, but we’ve all been through the ringer for last 18 months. It will be a little while before I fully exhale. I think eventually things will get down to a level where it’s low risk and the majority of people can feel safe about going out and congregating. I miss that feeling so much and I know I’m not alone there.
Anything else that you want to say as we wave goodbye?
Really appreciate the lovely and thoughtful questions. I so enjoy a deep and thoughtful interview. Thanks for the support and the love for the music. Music lovers are really what keep this whole thing going and I’m grateful for all of them.
Interview by Paul McGee