This Friday, June 5, the Bumper Jacksons, a roots jazz, country swing and street blues band based out of the Baltimore/DC area, will be hosting an album release party for their new album, Too Big World, at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Vocalist, clarinetist and washboard player for the Bumper Jacksons, Jess Eliot Myhre, says that audience members should come expecting to dance, which is true for all of the group’s live shows. Jess adds that this performance will be “more of a listening affair,” with the band taking on a sparser, quieter sound than in the past. She notes that this will be the only Bumper Jacksons show to feature two drummers. “Also, we’ve hired a team of stilt walking flame throwers,” Jess says. Because, why not?
Too Big World will be Bumper Jacksons’ third record. Since 2010, the band has been cranking out lively traditional tunes, touring across the country, sharing their music with anyone willing to listen. Drawing on the old sounds of early country music, string bands, Western swing and New Orleans jazz, Bumper Jacksons put their own spin on traditional music, producing a unique sound all of their own. This new record will feature original songs by both Jess and vocalist and guitarist Chris Ousley, in addition to tunes the band picked up from friends and other musicians they admire, Jess explains. With the new music, Jess says, the Bumper Jacksons are beginning to traverse a more vulnerable, sparser, more introspective space. “This is our most intimate album yet,” she asserts.
The Bumper Jacksons started in 2010 when Jess and Chris met in Baltimore, with instruments in hand, on the lawn of a radical bike party and jammed until daylight, Jess explains. They have been making music ever since. “Inspired by New Orleans style jazz and brass bands, I brought early jazz material to the table, while Chris, the Biblically-bearded 5-sting banjo player, brought tunes from the old time and bluegrass tradition,” Jess says. The project began as an experiment in pushing the sonic limits of country two-steps and waltzes.
In 2013, the Bumper Jacksons organically expanded into a larger configuration as Jess and Chris met other musicians they enjoyed jamming with in Baltimore, Jess says. With their last album, Sweet Mama, Sweet Daddy, Come In, the band solidified into its current sextet. In addition to Jess and Chris, the Bumper Jacksons includes Alex Lacquement on bass, Dave Hadly on pedal steel, Dan Cohan on suitcase percussion, and Brian Priebe on trombone. Jess explains that the group now tours across the East Coast and to the Midwest in their tour van, which they have “lovingly dubbed ‘Olga’,” Jess says. Along the way the Bumper Jacksons have won awards such as “Best Traditional/Folk Band” and “Best Traditional/Folk Recording” in both 2013 and 2014 at the Washington Area Music Awards.
Jess and Chris, the two main song writers in the group, seldom write together because the two have very different writing processes. “Chris’ process is joyful, fun and social,” Jess says. He will often bounce ideas off of band mates and friends, crafting nonsensical, crude verses over scraps of melody, keeping whatever sticks. Jess, on the other hand, writes by taking long walks in the DC Arboretum, searching for melodies first, then chord progressions, and finally the structure and form. “It usually takes marathon sessions of listening to Tom Waits’ records to muster enough inspiration to get a song to cooperate lyrically,” Jess says.
When it comes to recording the Bumper Jacksons prioritize playing their tracks live with minimal isolation, Jess explains. “We are fundamentally a dance band and a traditional band,” Jess says, “and creating a live sound felt necessary to keeping our music authentic.” The entire rhythm section, vocals, and pedal steel were all recorded in one space over two days. The horns and additional vocal harmonies were overdubbed to a minimal degree, and the mixing process aimed to preserve the sounds created live in the studio. The band recorded Too Big World with Charlie Pilzer at Airshow in Takoma Park.
When asked what her favorite part of being in the Bumper Jacksons is, Jess replies: “We are silly! It’s a blessing playing in a group with such phenomenal, versatile musicians that are willing to be playful and improvisatory with each show… I love that we can make people dance and also make people cry; our versatility and playfulness keeps our shows fresh and exciting.”
The title of their new album, Too Big World, comes from a line in Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road, Jess explains. As the novel’s main character ventures across North America, reflecting on myriad of possibilities that life offers, he acknowledges the fact that we always have to leave certain things behind or undone, Jess says. Like Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical character in On the Road, Sal Paradise, the Bumper Jacksons intend to continue their musical journey across the globe. Jess and Chris will be Strathmore Artists-in-Residence for the 2015-16 year, and on July 25 they will be fulfilling a dream by headlining the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. By late 2015 they will be beginning a tour of the West Coast and internationally by 2016.
In the meantime, make sure to catch the Bumper Jacksons this Friday at the Creative Alliance and join them in celebrating the release of their newest batch of music which surely will not disappoint. You can get tickets for the show here, and find a list of all their performances here.
