Embarking on his SOCKS: A Rock N’ Roll Christmas Tour, JD McPherson joins United States of Americana host Bill DeVille for a fun and wide-ranging conversation about what he’s been up to in the time since his last live shows two years ago.

Over the course of the pandemic, McPherson also faced his own version of the Great Resignation, with three of his four longtime band members amicably stepping out of the lineup for a variety of reasons. McPherson talks about his friends who have left the band, and the ones who are stepping into those roles going forward.

Meanwhile, McPherson was unexpectedly invited to record some videos with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in support of their new album, Raise the Roof. And McPherson shares the news that he’ll be joining Plant and Krauss on tour next year as part of their band.

Watch the full interview above, and read a transcript below. You can also listen to the shorter segments that aired on United States of Americana right here:

Interview Transcript

Edited for clarity and length.

BILL DeVILLE: I'm Bill DeVille; it's United States of Americana on The Current and it's so nice to be chatting here with JD McPherson. JD, how are you?

JD McPHERSON: Bill DeVille! I am well, all things considering. I'm very well, how are you doing? It's been a little while. We were trying to figure out when we saw each other last.

It might have been at — was it Jonathan Cain Studio in Nashville? At Americana Fest?

We'll go with that, because your memory seems much clearer than mine.

Yeah. And you were to have played I know in 2020. But was that the one that COVID took away? Maybe last year?

Yes.

When was the last time you were up north here in the Twin Cities?

So it was two, two [years] ago. Again, the last year was like a big, is like a big black hole. It's like it's erased all my, like my kind of landmarks for... But I mean, I would assume we were trying, when we were trying to play the Twin Cities every year. That was the goal, was like, we were always going to play the Twin Cities in December for the Socks tour. So that was the last one we would have played at.

So that's 2019, most likely, maybe December of '19? 

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Well, it's gonna be a pleasure to have you back. The tour starts on December 8, and you'll be in the Twin Cities on Tuesday, December 14, to play the Cedar Cultural Center. Well, what's it like to get back in this holiday ho-ho-ho spirit? Are you there yet?

Well, yes, um, I am. I start like, literally the day after Thanksgiving. Actually, no, I start the day before Thanksgiving. That's when I get everything down. And then, I'm a fanatic, so like, the morning after Thanksgiving, everything starts going up at my house. Vince Guaraldi comes out. And then I just start, you know, we've been planning, doing this tour; actually, this tour almost didn't happen. And, you know, when I found out I could probably try to pull something off, you know, we don't play, we're not playing the usual rooms that we play in certain places. But I just wanted to do it so badly. We were able to get something together. So I'm very excited to do it again. It's my first tour in two years. So the last shows I played were two years ago in December. 

Well, and things are a little bit different this time, besides the pandemic, you got, besides Doug [Corcoran], who's the newest member of the JD McPherson Band, everybody else is doing different things now, huh?

Yeah. So that actually started probably February 2020. Jason [Smay, drummer] called me after we had been doing some recording, and he told me that he was going to be leaving. And then it was Ray [Jacildo, keyboards]. And then most recently, it was Jimmy [Sutton, bass]. And I think in addition to people just wanting like things coming up, like, you know, especially with like Ray, he could, he was getting some offers to do stuff that was, you know, going to be really like, hard for him to turn down...

Well, Dan Auerbach and the Black Keys and stuff, right?

Yeah, he's playing gigs with the Black Keys. And he's he's touring with Yola, which is like, incredible for him. And so they also were able to get things happening on the road, like, I didn't want to get right back on the road, I've been pretty careful. I, you know, I just wanted to make sure that I was, I had a double dose, and that everything was, you know, could be as safe as possible before I got out. So you know, it's just one of those things where people wanted to get back to work at different speeds, or maybe wanted to try something different. And then also, having a year off at home just changed everyone's idea of what they want out of a touring life.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Because we hit it pretty hard when we were touring all the time. And you know, no days off, yada, yada, yada, I start to think, and I know Jimmy has been thinking a lot about, he's had a growing family. You know, he's got a little girl now and he wants to be at home as much as he can. So absolutely no love lost. I love those three, like, I mean, closer with them and certain family members I have, but, so I understand that but just chalk it up to, you know, this is what we're all kind of dealing with now, we're dealing with big change. And luckily, I have been able to secure some excellent players who I've actually worked with a lot in the past to come out. Alex Hall, who played drums on my first record, mixed my first, second and fourth records. Um, I mean, he's just like a longtime collaborator. He's like coming out, playing the drums. So "Northside Gal" is going to sound exactly like it did on the record! And then Beau Sample, who plays with Joel Paterson, and he used to play with Hot Club of Cowtown, is playing bass. He's incredible. And then my good friend Ben Strehle, who plays keys with Nikki Lane is is out with us. I've never played with him before, but he's just a good hang. So I I called him because I knew it'd be fun. And he's doing great. So we had rehearsal yesterday, it's been great.

Well, I imagine you, you know, the old band had the songs down, you probably just had a couple rehearsals, and you're ready for the road. But I imagine this time you had to go back and totally, you know, teach the songs to all the new fellows, huh?

Yeah, I will say, okay, so we played a couple of shows, like a couple of one-offs that were cancels from last year. And Beau and Alex played. We played as a quartet, we did kind of under the radar, but so it was Doug and Beau and Alex and me. And that, so they learned the bulk of the regular set. But I will tell you, Beau and Alex sing together all the time, in fact, little known, little-known bit of trivia, if you read liner notes, on the Socks record, Alex, and a lot of Chicago guys are actually singing all the background vocals on that. And Beau and Alex sing together all the time playing with with Joel. So, like we had first rehearsal yesterday, it was just like, boom, they had all the, every thing right on point vocally, all the music was great. I was like, Phew! You know, it was like a huge sigh of relief. And then Doug is such a monster. He's been able to kind of help with the musical vocabulary stuff that I do not possess. So.

Here's a question for you: What did you learn about yourself during the pandemic?

Um, I learned that I need to focus more on the moment, for sure.

That's sound advice.

That changed, that really is the biggest change in myself over the last year is that I needed to stop thinking about the future and worrying about things so much and just focus on what's happening. Family became... there were times where I'm, you know, it's something I learned, so I'm not ashamed to admit it, but there were times where work was starting to take over family a bit in terms of my priority and my mental capacity. And so now that has shifted; I kind of know what's important now. There's a thing where you're like, you know, if you're, if you're bringing home bacon, you, you tend to think about bacon all the time. Well, now I need to talk about home more. So that's a thing. And then with, you know, my cohorts moving on to other things. It's taught me that, you know, there's always a way to kind of springboard into something new. And things can be an opportunity rather than thinking of things as an opportunity, rather than a detriment. Also learned how to cook a lot better than I did. Learned how to garden. Learned how to raise chickens.

Wow, you got your own eggs, huh?

I played video games for the first time in 10 years. That was a big deal. Video games are great now. I don't know if you've played video games in a while, but they're really good.

I haven't, but that was my thing back in the you know, latter part of the '70s. I spent a lot of time the arcade. Yeah.

Well, with touring constantly, I never really played any and so I played a lot of video games.

So you got some new hobbies during the pandemic, it sounds like, huh?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's actually, at first it was really bad. Really, really bad. It got really dark and then it was like, I don't know, I see it as a blessing in a lot of ways.

So you got some new things cooking in your musical world. I was watching CBS and Colbert and the CBS Saturday morning show and, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss performed and look! Lo and behold, there's JD McPherson playing with Plant and Krauss. How in the world did that happen?

I don't really know, Bill. I was sitting at home, and I got a phone call from a person who's T Bone Burnett 's production manager. And I guess they were going to do a version of their first single, "Can't Let Go" for the BBC. It was like the first kind of promo that they did. And I think that I think the idea was they wanted to do kind of a more up-tempo version of the track. So they were, you know, they wanted to record a new, more up-tempo version of it. I don't know really. I know there was a list of guitar players. I don't know who was on that list except for one person, and I will not say who it was. But I got a call to come in and play this one thing, and that was supposed to be it. And then I got another call to come in and do the rest of the promo. And then looks like I'll be doing the tour next year actually. I literally just talked to Alison on the phone right before you, right before you zoomed in, but yeah, so I'll be doing the tour with them next year, and it's like, you just never know where things are gonna come from or, or how, but, you know, things can turn around on a dime, so be ready is kind of my new motto.

I imagine you — what was Robert like to stand next to and play guitar? Does it bring out this Jimmy Page in you a little bit? You want to shred?

Well, it's a blast. Uh, well, I will say that, like, the joke that I'm making is like, my, my symbol is "SoSo," instead of you know, that's the joke is Jimmy Page's was ZoSo, mine is SoSo.

SoSo! (laughs)

Um, he's really he's really funny, really witty, really smart. And like me, he was wants to talk about old records all day long. And that's, I would say, the short amount of time we spent together, that's most of the, besides playing, that's pretty much what we talk about, you know? I'll be sitting down and he'll plop down next and he's like, "JD, are you into Ral Donner?" And I'm like, "Not really." He's like, "Well, you've got to look past the cheese, mate. You've got to look past the cheese," and then he will, like, dictate a list of singles, Ral Donner singles to listen to, so I'll put them on my phone. And, and, you know, sometimes he'll, like, I remember, we were doing the YouTube thing, and you know, he's like, "JD do you take requests?" And he'll like, want to do like a Gene Vincent song, which I'm happy to oblige. So, you know, I think as much as anything that's, that's sort of like his primary, like me. that's his, like, kind of primary, like passion in life is old records. But he's got a way more, he's just got a way better recall than I do. I mean, he remembers what label every track is on, the session players, where they, what city they recorded in. And he's like, I know, he's got like, eight or nine thousand 45s alone.

Oh, my goodness!

He's just an insane, musician and an encyclopedic knowledge of blues and rock and roll music. So it's really fun! It's super fun.

I can imagine, yeah.

I think that's kind of, I think might be one of the reasons why I got called was because, you know, I think they just wanted to dip their toe into, you know, some of the stuff that I'm known to do sometimes. I know, when they, when they wanted to do the "Can't Let Go" thing, they brought up the Johnny Burnette trio stuff was brought up, which you know, is, I'm happy to do that anytime anybody wants to do it. And so maybe that's kind of why I ended up in that spot. But it's been a blast. The other, the other, the musicians in the band, Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch, Stuart Duncan. These are like—

All incredible musicians. What's it like to stand next to those fellows and to play? I mean, intimidating?

They're incredibly welcoming. And we're really, also I mean, you know, it's just like anybody else. They all love music, too. I mean, Dennis and I are both... We grew up in a similar place; I'm from Oklahoma, he's from Arkansas. So immediately, we sort of latched on to each other, and he's super into western swing music, and I am too, and so we've really bonded over that. And then Jay Bellerose, who's, is maybe like, I mean, he's just one of my favorite drummers ever. It's like... There's a few drummers in the world where you can listen that are session players, you can listen, you're undoubtedly listening to that person. And like Earl Palmer, you know that you can always hear Earl Palmer, but Jay is just so singular in his playing, and so it's such a trip to play with him. But he's like really into jazz and he's really into, we were watching this footage of T Bone Walker playing with like this all-star jazz band and Louie Bellson playing drums and Dizzy Gillespie with it, it was just, you know, that's kind of I think the main bonding thing is like, we all just love music and it's been amazing playing with them. And Alison, I just have to say, if we're talking about all these people, Alison is like a force of nature. She is like, first of all, she's just on the ball with everything. I mean, she's like kind of running the show as far as, like, she's always got her eye on every little detail. And then she opens her mouth and like this supernatural sound comes out. And it just, you know, you don't need more than one take with Miss Alison Krauss. She's unbelievable.

Such an angelic voice. And I guess it was her idea to record that Merle Haggard tune, too, "Going Where the Lonely Go"?

Yeah. Oh my god! I heard that on at Blackbird when we were there for the BBC thing. They were playing a couple of the tracks for some label people that came by, and I got to sit in that room and listen to that on those giant speakers. It was just like, weeping, you know? Unbelievable.

One of the coolest things about about Robert and Alison's album is that all these old songs are being you know, rediscovered like Randy Weeks' track "Can't Let Go," that Lucinda did, and the Merle Haggard tune. There's an Allen Toussaint song on there. Geeshie Wiley, we love that track.

The Geeshie Wiley one ["Last Kind Words Blues"] is, that's a song that I've like, that's almost like, I can't not play that song when I pick it up. So I've loved that song for years and years. It's such a haunting guitar part. And when I saw that that was gonna be on the record. I was like, "Oh my god!" You know? That's one of my favorite songs ever, and a very respectful and beautiful rendition of that tune. It's like, almost uncoverable, you know what I mean? But they pull it off. It's, it's really great.

I heard, the first time I heard that song, it was David Johansen had a version of it with his side blues project that he had.

And I haven't heard that. Was that his... ? That wasn't his. I know he did some old R&B stuff with his Buster Poindexter thing. Was it that or was it something else?

No, no, it was under, it was under his name and I forgot the name of the band. Yeah, maybe three, four years ago, he did that? What is it that draws you to a good cover? I mean, this thing about Alison and Robert, they just have this knack for finding these old songs. I know you have it too. But what is it that draws you to some of these old songs?

Recording a cover is, is uh... Playing a cover live versus recording a cover, I think are two very different things, because if you're going to record a cover or do a rendition of a cover, I guess depending on the song, you have to be really careful that you don't try to like completely latch onto the thing that makes it or you know, you have to find a way to inject your own stuff into it. That's, that's important. I've actually been, had some practice at this lately, I've been working on a little project, doing a couple of covers, and there's one or two tunes that I actually did that I've told my team I was doing and I won't say which ones yet, but it was like, "Are you sure you're gonna do that song?" Because it's like, there's some things you just don't, you know, you just don't touch, but if you have something new to bring to it, I think it's fair game. So we'll see how it goes.

I believe it was you who recommended the Cactus Blossoms record "No More Crying The Blues." Wasn't that your idea when you produced that record for them?

Yeah, yeah, it was, uh, that song in the Sun catalog is like a real standout for me. You know, when most people think Sun, they think the stuff that's like the most lauded, just Elvis, Jerry Lee, you know...

Carl Perkins.

Carl Perkins. Sometimes Roy Orbison, but Roy Orbison was like, really the best, at his best when he, when he split off to do his thing that he's known for, but you know, I mean, there's all kinds of, like, gems on Sun like the old blues stuff that's on there. But that Alton and Jimmy tune is so cool and weird. Like, it's very haunting and it's got this weird, descending minor-chord line, and I don't know, I just could hear those two doing that when, I honestly, I think, I don't know. I think they did as good a job as they could have done with it. I just don't... I don't see anybody doing it better than they did.

Now the brothers [i.e. Page Burkum and Jack Torrey of the Cactus Blossoms] are back in business. A new album due in February...

Yeah!

...we just got a new single which is excellent as always.

It always works out. I love that line! 

Sure does!

That's a very Jack and Page line. It always works out.

It kind of is. It kind of is. All right, here's a question for you. I'm just curious. Have you watched the Beatles Get Back?

Yeah, you got about three hours to talk about it? This is all I've been talking about with anybody that will talk about. I'm just texting through my phone Rolodex: "Have you seen it? Have you seen it? Have you seen it?" Because I want to talk about it.

Your thoughts as a musician? We've got a few minutes.

Well, yeah. I feel like it should be shown to you, know, if any, if any kid decides that, you know, they want a guitar or a bass or a drum kit for Christmas, they should also receive that before they even get started. Because it will show you everything you need to know about playing music with other people. There's going to be ups and downs; it's like the elevator business. You're going to get, you know, you get to see that having genius isn't going to happen without drudgery coming along with it. Like you're gonna have hours and hours and hours and hours of hard work before your genius becomes apparent.

Probably the biggest thing I learned from the Beatles thing was that the iconic songs that we all know, they sound pretty crappy at the beginning! Like, you know, they've just got some rudimentary chords, they're just kind of talking over it. You got some, you know, you got George in the back kind of noodling over, over the top of it. Ringo's just doing twos and fours, he'll give you a backbeat. And it's not until, you know, they run it through the machine, you know, that you actually get the thing that we all love, you know, that, the magic. So that's, that's a thing I actually learned a lot from that is, like, there's been ideas that I'd have that I'd just move on quickly, because it doesn't come together quickly. And sometimes you just have to, you know, what is George talking about, I don't remember what song it was, it was probably "Something" or whatever, he's like, "Yeah, I've been working on this for like six months" or something. And it's like, of course, he was, you know?

But the inner, interpersonal dynamics of that band, the internal politics, not only within the band, but outside of the band: They lost their manager, you can kind of see some vultures in the movie kind of circling around. There's some business people and some publishing people coming in and starting to circle. And, you know, they're looking for leadership. Paul is stepping into that role, and I think he really enjoys being in that role. And it's just, you can just see all the stuff happening in real time. It's wild, man. I mean...

It is wild. One thing I was really happy about is that, you know, early on, I was worried that there wasn't going to be any joy in the thing at all.

Yeah, well, you don't get that impression watching Let It Be. You don't get that impression. It's a breakup movie, you know, until you see this. And then you see, like, they're still having fun, and they're still, they still love each other, and they're goofing around. And John's one way one day, and he's another way another day. And yeah, I mean, it was, there's moments of triumph in that too. It was really great to see it, man.

It sure was. You know, it's like they pulled back the curtain and you see, you know, how the sausage was made. And I never thought I'd ever see something like that, which is, you know, to me pretty thrilling.

Until you see like the Apple box truck back in, and they're unloading gear, like, that they just summoned; aside from all that, where the Beatles can have all these resources that they have, most of the time, you're looking at what looks like a bunch of kids in a garage. You know? I mean, yeah, they've got the newest, latest, Fender Rhodes and they've got all new Fender gear in there. But I mean, for the most part that looks like what every band looks like when they're in a rehearsal space or in a garage. It's... It's incredible, man. It a gift.

I thought so too. Well, it's so so nice to to chat with you, JD McPherson, and good to see you. And I'm very excited about catching your show next Tuesday. It's the Socks Rock 'n' Roll Christmas tour with Joel Paterson, and that's happening at the Cedar Cultural Center. Do you have a new album in the works?

There's a couple things. There's a couple things in the works. Um, some of which you'll be hearing very shortly. And then I would imagine the rest of we'll be hearing probably after the Alison and Robert stuff is wrapping up. But I'm planning to head into the studio. I've been in the studio, the last this last part of this year. And then planning on going back in early next year, so should be seeing some stuff pretty soon. I feel invigorated. I feel like I've got all these new ideas all of a sudden and just feeling really excited about playing music again. It's been a while.

Mention to Robert and Alison that they should, you know, make sure they book a Twin Cities date. Could you do that for us?

I'll see what I can do. I generally still just kind of stand in the corner, with my volume knob turned down until I need to do something. I don't... you know, I'm just I'm just here to play guitar!

It must be kind of fun to be a, you know, a sideman instead. You don't have to call the shots; you just learn the music and play!

The best! I don't have to, yeah, it's... it is the best. I've never really done that before, and to do it at this level is is mind blowing, man. But yeah, it's super fun. Super fun.

All right, it's United States of Americana. It's JD McPherson and we'll see you next Tuesday and it's pleasure chatting with you. Good to see you.

Take care, Bill. Bye, everybody.

Bye bye.

External Link

JD McPherson - official site

Credits

Host - Bill DeVille

Guest - JD McPherson

Producers - Jesse Wiza, Luke Taylor

Technical Director - Eric Romani