Welcome to Jimbo Mathus’ world of interplanetary honky-tonk: a place where twang and zen and tube amps and good karma and hoo-doo and doo-bee dom dom dwell in perfect harmony. The latest dispatch from Jimbo’s parallel universe (rooted within the four walls of his Delta Recording Service in Como, MS) is White Buffalo … and it is his best album to date.
There are three keys to what makes White Buffalo so good. First you have Mathus’ ever-growing talents as a songwriter, combined with a knack for nailing complex emotions and philosophies with an economy of words. Also essential to the album’s vibe is the synchronicity of Jimbo and producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel – who locked in on what White Buffalo was intended to be from the beginning, leaving Mathus free to sing and play his ass off. And then there’s Mathus’ team of killer players, The Tri-State Coalition: Terrence Bishop on drums; Ryan Rogers on bass; Eric Carlton on keys; and Matt Pierce on guitar. The single best word to describe their sound is “authentic” – whether the tune they’re playing at any given moment would be more at home at the Opry or the Fillmore East. Just as the Mississippi River’s waters have traveled a long, long way by the time they reach the Delta, Mathus and The Tri-State Coalition’s sound is fed by everything they’ve absorbed in their lives … and it appears they’ve absorbed a lot.
We recently had an opportunity to talk with Mathus about the new album – a chat with off ramps that (naturally) led to many places along the way, including sweet ol’ mandolins, wives as best friends, gris gris, and Jesse James.
Our conversation begins with Jimbo calling me – and when I answer the phone, I hear music. It’s definitely Jimbo, doing an a cappella version of … well … I can’t tell what it is, but it sounds like something you’d hear on a Sunday morning. I let him go for a few moments and then …
BR: Jimbo!
JM: (stops mid-verse as if he’s surprised there’s someone on the other end of the phone) Hey! What’s up, Brian?
Checking in on you, man. How’re you doing?
Good! How you be?
Doing all right up here in the frozen north. (laughter)
Listen: I sure do appreciate what you and Jambands and Relix have done for us – this piece and the album review and premiering the “White Buffalo” “video.”:http://www.relix.com/blogs/picks-and-pans/2013/02/19/video-premiere-jimbo-mathus-white-buffalo
It’s all much appreciated, man, and I want to thank you.
Well, as far as my part in any of it, if it wasn’t a great album, I wouldn’t be writing about it. You and the boys should be awfully proud of White Buffalo.
We are. It’s really woke me up and made me realize how I have to be pretty serious about things this year. Just try to see the thing through and see where it leads us, you know? Everybody in the band is fired up and it’s a good place to be.
To me, the Tri-State Coalition is more than just a band of great players; it feels like they’re in tune with where you’re coming from.
You hit the nail on the head. That’s the difference between this record and probably any solo record I’ve ever done. Instead of having different players coming and going out of my space, this is a team. It’s all live. People tell me it sounds so polished, and I tell ‘em, “Man it’s all live. No overdubs.”
I was going to ask you about that, as there are things that I’m hearing that feel like reactions to what someone else is playing at that moment; no gimmicks – just emotion.
Yeah, and there’s a lot of good space in there. I turned the reins over for this one – I’ve been a producer and I’ve done a lot of that on and off for the past couple of decades – but I turned the reins over to Roscoe totally. He used my studio and my sort of philosophy and technique – no headphones; you just pile up in a good-sounding room – and he tweaked it from there. He sculpted the sound with more space in it and just made sure that every note was where we wanted it. He did an incredible job.
We’ll talk about specific songs in a minute, but one thing I wanted to mention is the thread of spirituality that I’ve long felt has run through your tunes. You have a knack for writing about some pretty heavy stuff in a manner that doesn’t seem heavy.
(laughs) Yeah, I don’t hit you over the head with it. I’ve learned how to do that over the years. I’ve always been interested in the spiritual life that is this world. It’s just something that I was seeing at an early age and pursued on my own … and it’s always been a part of my music; what I read; my travels; the people I gravitate towards. And it’s hard to express sometimes what it is … it’s like an illusion, but it’s the only illusion we have. (laughs) Soul music is music of the soul; the intangible, the unreal side … and that’s just where it’s at for me.
And as far as writing about heavy things and making them not seem heavy, that’s what I try to do – I know I’ve done a good job with a song when I do that. And it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do; you don’t want to preach to people and I don’t want to be rambling on and on – I like to get the job done in a couple of verses, you know? (laughs) Pack the words and verses with meaning so that they’ll tell a story that’s beyond even what the words are.
You manage to paint big pictures on White Buffalo without wasting any words to do it.
Thank you; I think it’s a good, straight-forward batch of material and I’m very, very happy with it.
Well, how about we take a look at some of that material. That’s a brave little mandolin that ushers in the album on “In The Garden”. What are you playing there?
That’s my original mandolin that I got for my birthday when I was 8 years old. It wasn’t my first one – I learned on more of an inexpensive model when I was around 6 … but then they could see I was going to stick with it so they got me a nice one. It’s a hand-crafted Alvarez from … ’76, I guess. They don’t make ‘em any more but they’re very nice. That was my first instrument.
It was actually Roscoe’s idea to bring the song in with the mandolin rather than the guitar riff and I think it’s great. It takes the record off in a great direction.
And the way that everybody folds in behind you is like a cross between the Celtic Highlands, a Tibetan mountaintop, and a little bit of E Street Band, too.
I love it! (laughs) Plus a little bit of swamp in there, too.
I know you co-credit Reverend Reed on that tune. Tell me about him.
Oh, sure: his name is Robert Earl Reed. He lives in Sardis, MS and he’s been a collaborator of mine since 2008 or 2009. He’s one of those people who I know what he’s going to think before he even thinks it … and it’s the same for him. He’s an artist – a visual artist and a songwriter and a photographer and a writer – and he enjoys all of it equally. Reverend Reed’s never really done it in the spotlight; I guess you could say he’s a private artist.
I would advise you to look him up; he has a lot of great art of his own. He’s one of the few songwriters that I’ll hear and say, “Wow – I wish I’d written that.” (laughs) Or maybe say to him, “Reverend, I’d like to steal that.” (laughter)
I appreciate you asking about him; you’re the first to do that. I usually don’t have any other writers, but with the Reverend, I make the exception. We balance each other out well. On my website, you’ll see three different videos that he and I have created, including the “White Buffalo” video.
“Satellite” is a great example of the band at work: Eric’s cheesy-toned organ is just right; Terrence and Ryan are driving the beat, but they’re not in your face about it; Matt’s Esquire has got that nasty bite, but he’s keeping it on a short leash – and everybody’s in on those cool doo-wop vocals. When you came up with the original tune, how were you hearing it in your head?
Just like that – just exactly like that. And that’s Roscoe playing the second guitar – the baritone guitar. On some of the songs Roscoe said, “I’m going to sit over here by Matt … you just worry about singing.” And he’d basically sit about four feet away from Matt and just stare at him. (laughter)
The song itself was just one of those things that comes out of the blue, man. I had that, “Doo-bee dom dom … dom dom bee-doo-bee dom … I wanna be your satellite …” you know? And I thought, “Wow – what a ridiculous song. I bet Roscoe might like this.” (laughter) He liked it immediately when he heard the demo I made. It sounded pretty much like that right from the beginning.
It’s just a simple song – and not the normal kind of song that pops into my head. I knew that it was unusual and I knew it was going to have some touches of pure, clean … pop rock, I guess you’d call it. It just materialized and presented itself to me. I think it gets the biggest response – that and “White Buffalo” – at the shows so far.
I don’t know as you wrote it as a love song, but I’ve adopted it as one.
(laughs) Well, it is. But see, it’s also about the unknown. It’s about loving the alien in a way … we’re moving through satellites right now, you and me … and we don’t know how they work or if they’re looking down at us from somewhere up there. (laughs) So it’s almost like a new type of God, you know? (laughs)
I hear you. I’m looking up in the sky as we speak. (laughter) “Tennessee Walking Mare” is a lovely story and lovely lyrics – but the harmony guitar break with Matt is the real heartbreaker as far as I’m concerned.
Yeah – it’s very understated … and elegant.
Yes: that’s a good word for it. What were you playing for a guitar on that one?
I was playing my sweet ’67 Gibson 330 that I bought back in the ‘90s. I was born in ’67, so I’ve always gravitated toward ’67 guitars. I don’t take it on the road anymore – it’s too nice to be on the road.
I’m glad you enjoyed that song. The story’s about my mom – she’s the Tennessee Walking Mare – and everything in there’s true. My father was a great outdoorsman; I grew up with walkers and hunting dogs and stuff … and that all ties in with my mother.
It’s a great tribute to her.
Thank you – I was glad to do it while she was still living, you know?
She’s …
Oh, she’s still alive. She’s probably listening to it in her truck right now. (laughter)
Good, good! I was worried there for a second.
No, no – she’s doing great. (laughter)
I knew a little bit ahead of time that the song “White Buffalo” was going to be about Tukota, a rare white buffalo calf who died. I was prepared for it to be mystical and powerful – which it is – but I wasn’t prepared for this band of Hendrix Delta gypsies thing …
(laughs) I know! Everyone that knew what I was writing the song about thought, “It’s going to be kind of folkie …” (laughs) It does have a Mississippi Fred McDowell guitar lick in there, so it’s folk in that regard, I guess.
But no, I’m sure you were surprised – I was pretty surprised when we first played it and I heard what it sounded like.
Over the years I’ve heard people debate about how limited a Telecaster is in tone – Matt Pierce’s picking on “White Buffalo” is living proof about how wrong that statement is. He may even be on his single-pickup Esquire on that one, right?
(laughs) Yeah, it’s either his Esquire or his Nash Telecaster … I think it’s his Nash. Oh, man – Matt can do anything. On that song, Roscoe brought in a pedal for Matt to use to get that swampy waaawomp sound. Roscoe sat there and worked the pedal while Matt played the guitar. And then I played the other side – the Mississippi Fred lick – and it’s all purely live.
Cool.
(laughs) It just felt like it had to be something … something like a charging herd of American bison, you know? And vengeful, too – thinking about how capitalism works; how America works; and how whatever you can bankroll is legitimate … whether it incurs genocide or whatever, you can do it, by God, ‘cause it’s America.
You’re right – nobody likes to hear it, but …
Oh, yeah. You gotta talk about it. Money’s a religion, and if we can embrace that, maybe we can talk about it and do something about it, you know? That’s what I wanted to express in the song: just because that’s the way it is doesn’t mean we have to fuckin’ like it. (laughter) But I didn’t want to overdo it with too many verses, either.
Right on. It’s like a guerrilla attack the way it gets in and out of there –
Ha! I love it! A guerrilla attack! All right! (laughs)
When I first listened to the album, I remember thinking you had the Holy Trinity of rock ‘n’ roll: “White Buffalo” was the song with the Jimi vibe, followed by one of your Hank Sr.-style tunes, “Hatchie Bottoms”.
A Hank tune – yessir.
“Hatchie Bottoms” sounds like a place that’s both beautiful and scary at the same time.
You’re reading my mail, buddy. (laughs) It is that kind of place. If you say the name, the first words out of the mouths of people that know are, “Oh, hell – you don’t want to be down in_ there _ after dark …” Uh-uh. I know that and it is true to this day. But it’s a real place up in northeast Mississippi – it’s the big drainage coming off the Appalachians. And those are all real people in the song – Uncle Will, Aunt Viola – everybody.
And that part about your Uncle Will having Jesse James’ pistol?
Yessir – that’s what he claimed. Now, some people didn’t believe him, so that’s why I say “claimed” … it was hotly disputed. (laughter) But I get a lot from the family stories – the truth, the lies, the half-truths … all of it.
Are you playing harp on that one?
Yep – that’s me. I had it on a rack and playing my Martin acoustic. Roscoe and Matt played behind me.
And then we have the third part of the rock n’ roll Holy Trinity with your Keith Richards tune: “Fake Hex”. That’s some fine Some Girls -era Stones right there.
Oh yeah! (laughs) You know, it’s funny, ‘cause several people have mentioned those three in a row and how it kinda fills the bill for them. But yeah – “Fake Hex” definitely has some attitude.
The credit has to go to the band to be able to keep up with all these different styles and play them with such accuracy and conviction, you know? Nobody’s phoning it in – we’ve got this thing by the neck. (laughs)
“Poor Lost Souls” is another one that channels ol’ Hank Williams. If you’d mixed some AM radio static behind that one, it could’ve been a tune off one of Hank’s “Mother’s Best Flour” shows.
Put a fiddle in there …
Right!
Hell, yeah! (laughs) Well, you know, that’s the honky-tonk beauty of it. Certain songs are made to be in the honky-tonk format, you know? And when we do it, we’re gonna make sure that rhythm section is playing it properly and the piano man is doing his part. It’s classical music, almost – there’s a form you take.
That’s a story that feels like you had to have been there to write it.
Oh, yeah – absolutely. There’s not one line on the record that I wasn’t there for … and that one’s no different: I’m sitting there on the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard early in the morning, watching the homeless people wake up and the tourists roll in. It’s as simple as that. And I’m thinking, “Wow – in this land of affluence with all these movie stars and movie moguls and industry people that live like feudal lords, you know … some of the most handsomely-paid people for doing the least amount of meaningful work, as far as I’m concerned … and then you have these people with no place to go and nobody to love them. There you go. I like dealing with those contrasts and try to figure out why it’s like that … all the different sides of life.
The guitar break is lovely, too – with the pan from one to the other.
Yeah, that’s Roscoe playing my 330 on the first part, and then he hands the lead to Matt for that bendy part. It’s a gorgeous song … I really am proud of it.
“Self” is a study in introspection, honesty, and crunchy guitars.
(laughs) Yes – it is all of that.
That one’s like someone looking inside of his own head and poking himself in the chest.
I like to call it the world’s first song about breaking up with yourself. (laughs) There are all the stereotype things you do when you break up with a mate – change the lock on the door and everything; or all the conversations you try to have with people when you’re not communicating – talk all you want without saying anything … but this one’s with yourself.
That song came in a dream … I really have no concept of why I wrote it. I just woke up with it in my head. (laughs)
Sometimes you just have to accept things like that and not question them, right?
Yessir – you are right. (laughter)
“Run Devil Run” – I think I wrote in the review that Ryan and Terrence are like the Karloff and Lugosi of swamp rhythm on that one.
I love that. (laughs) I fucking love that.
That’s a creepy song, man.
Well, I’m doing a series of songs based on spiritual candles that you get in these gris-gris shops, you know? And they have different names for different outcomes.
Oh – I remember talking about that when Confederate Buddha came out …
We were talking about “Kine Joe” – yessir. That’s another in that series and Roscoe picked it out of my batch of songs.
It’s pretty crazy, because what you hear on the album is the first time we played that song.
No.
Oh, yeah. It was first thing in the morning and Roscoe was like, “Hey, man – what y’all wanna do?”
And I said, “Let’s do ‘Run Devil Run’.”
And he was like, “I don’t know …” But we went ahead and did it.
One take later Roscoe walks in there and he was pale as a ghost. “Wow, guys … that was pretty fuckin’ good!” (laughter)
And it was just as creepy to record it as it sounds. (laughter)
It’ll make the hair stand up on your arms, for sure. Now, I know you said that all these songs were written from personal experience, but, man … if that’s the case with “Useless Heart”, I am so sorry.
(laughs) I’m just glad it’s in the past. A woman can destroy you, man.
A bad one can break you; but a good one can make you.
Exactly, my friend. And sometimes life is just a mess – full of despair. And, yeah, that’s a sad song – it’s pretty fucked-up, I’ll admit … but that’s a synopsis of a period of my life a few years back. Before I met my wife Jennifer, I’d kind of set the stage for a big, colossal disaster … and it panned out just the way I thought it would. (laughs) Every time I sing “Useless Heart” on stage, it takes me back there – it’s a good reminder to me of how far I’ve come.
Sometimes you have to go through that stuff to get to a good place.
Yeah – and I hope to God I never know despair like that again. I’ve got that one to remind me and that’s enough. But we’re laughing about it today and that’s a good thing.
You’ve mentioned your wife when we’ve talked in the past. I think we’ve acknowledged before that we’re both lucky guys to be married to our best friends.
Yessir – Jennifer Mathus truly is my best friend. She’s Matt’s sister, you know.
No – I didn’t know that.
Yeah – Matt’s my brother-in-law.
Well, jeez … that makes for some good tunes on family holidays then, doesn’t it?
(laughs) Indeed! (laughs) And it adds another dimension of family to the band, you know? Matt and I are pretty tight – he’s been with me for a long time now.
Well, I can’t tell you anything about Matt’s playing that you don’t already know, but he’s definitely a guitar hero in my book.
He’s a genius on the guitar – he really is. Matt does things that a lot of people … like Luther Dickinson – who’s one of my favorite guitarists – will listen to and say, “I never would’ve played what Matt’s playing right there. How did he think of that?” (laughs) Matt does some shocking and alarming things. (laughter)
Oh, yeah … ‘cause you look at Matt and you’re expecting Bakersfield –
And you might get James Marshall Hendrix. (laughter)
Exactly. So you and the Coalition have a string of dates coming up in March and April – including some gigs at SXSW. I know folks can keep track of what’s going on by checking “your website”:http://www.jimbomathus.com/ … what else should we tease for the coming year?
Man, this is my whole focus. I’m really not accepting any other jobs right now – I want to stay focused on what we have in front of us. Live shows are our job for right now.
Look, I’d be the first to tell you that it’s cold and everything’s covered in snow up here in Maine right now, but it does get nice later on in the year, so … get your asses up here and play.
We will do that – we will most definitely do that. (laughs) Thank you, pardner. I really do appreciate you listening so closely to this music.
I’ve told you before, Jimbo: if it didn’t grab ahold of me, I’d just let it go by and leave it for somebody else to put an ear to.
(laughs) Okay, man – I hear you. But thank you, nonetheless.
*****
Brian Robbins’ satellite is wayyyyyyy up yondo at www.brian-robbins.com
