Those Darlins are firecrackers of honky-tonk, punk delight. Seeing them live is more than a show, it’s an experience. They have sold out some of the biggest cities, played at some of the best festivals and now Bunbury Music Festival has the honor of hosting them on the Amphitheater Stage on Friday July 12th. Those Darlins will also be playing at 3 of the 5 Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers with Mumford and Sons (OH, Oklahoma and Florida). For the upcoming third album, Those Darlins have made quite a few changes. A new bass player, Adrian Barrera and producer, Roger Moutenot (Bob Dylan, Gillian Welch, Elvis Costello). When Jessi and Nikki aren’t creating a scene on stage, they are artists of another fashion and selling it on Etsy.
Recently I got to speak with the charming, multitalented Jessi “Darlin” about outlaws, recording and writing.
How excited are you to be a part of the Bunbury Music Festival and Mumford and Sons Gentlemen on the Road tour?
On a scale of 1 to 10…I would say 10.
When can we expect the new record?
We haven’t even recorded it yet, we will start in April. We have been writing for the last year and getting them going in between our crazy tour schedule. Trying to wheel it down to what we want to put on the album, we just got a new bass player, Adrian Barrera. So we have been working out stuff with him. And are about to go in to the studio with Roger Moutenot, in Nashville. Probably will come out in August of this year. And we will go on tour around then.
Is there a significance of the new songs or a new direction?
Yeah, there is a lot of significance. I think the new songs we have just been trying to write about the life we are living, the things we feel. I think a lot of the songs are going to be as honest as possible. There is lot of vulnerability in the songwriting and putting ourselves out there. But I think that in turn makes them more raw and aggressive.
Tell me a bit about your new collection of art on Etsy…
It’s a series called Hunted by Heros. It is a series of outlaws and men from the Wild West days. It started as a series of bad men and beautiful women but it turned into more of idea that humans are all double sided and there is a hero and anti-hero in everyone. It poses the question, what is good and bad or right and wrong? Everyone has evil.
What’s been your biggest moment so far?
Every new moment is our biggest moment. We feel really lucky and grateful to be able to continue doing what we love.
What advice do you have for a new artist starting out?
Listen to that little voice inside of your head and do art that you like and don’t worry about what everyone else thinks.
