• Interview

Interview: JD & The Straight Shot

The New York-based Americana band, JD & The Straight Shot, will be going on tour with The Doobie Brothers starting September 16 and will be releasing their sixth studio album today.

The album is called Good Luck and Goodnight, a reference to journalist Edward R. Murrow's sign-out phrase from his play.” The first single, “Run For Me,” is an instrumental and catchy folk tune that really sets the tone for the album.

“We also spent some time touring and playing a lot of these new songs live before we took them into the studio; we wanted the music to feel "lived in,” says violinist/fiddler/back-up singer, Erin Slaver. “By the time we were making the record, we all had a pretty good sense of what was going to work and what wasn’t.”

Slaver, who also worked as a musician for the television show “Nashville,” has been with the band since 2014 and previously worked with other artists like Martina McBride and Rod Stewart. She joined the band after musical director and guitarist, Mark Copely, heard her sing.

Throughout the years, it is evident to hear the range of genres from blues to bluegrass, when listening to JD & The Straight Shot.

Good Luck and Goodnight, is their second acoustic style album that also features two covers, “It’s Your World Now” by the Eagles, a tribute to former tour mate and Eagle member, Glenn Frey and “Shambala” by Three Dog Night.”

The band worked on the record for about two years, but more specifically recorded the album in about two weeks.

“It was an exhausting two weeks, as we all felt responsible for the metamorphosis of the immature demo’s we’d been nurturing, into full grown, sophisticated music,” says Slaver.

The band drew inspiration from a variety of different outlets, but were really inspired by the music scene in the U.K. while on tour.

“We'd go out at night and listen to music in small bars, or sometimes large venues. And we'd listen to street performers with open ears and so much appreciation for their culture,” says Slaver. “There were so many sounds to be heard, old and new.”

So much of these sounds can be heard in songs like “Run for Me” and “The Ballad of Jacob Marley” where the influence is very vivid.

Much of those songs will be performed during their tour. JD and the Straight Shot’s performances are filled with “foot-stomping, hand-clapping, down-home old-fashioned good-time MUSIC,” says Slaver.

The band previously hit the road with familiar faces such as The Eagles, Joe Walsh, Keith Urban Jewel, and The Dixie Chicks.

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