Singer, songwriter and producer JD McPherson talked with host Jill Riley about SOCKS: A Rock 'n' Roll Christmas Tour, the 2018 album, and a favorite Christmas memory.

Use the audio player above to listen to the interview, and find a full transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. On the line this morning, singer, songwriter, and producer, JD McPherson, who is bringing his SOCKS: A Rock 'n' Roll Christmas Tour to the First Avenue Mainroom Saturday, December 20. And this is the time of year where we've been enjoying JD McPherson's holiday album, the 2018 album, SOCKS. JD McPherson, how are you?

JD McPherson: Great Jill, how are you doing? Good to talk to you again.

Jill Riley: Good to talk to you again. Happy holidays to you. And this is so great that you're bringing the Rock 'n' Roll Christmas Tour to First Avenue. I understand it's the final stop on the tour. So that's cool that you're going to be landing in Minneapolis. What do you love about going on a rock and roll Christmas tour?

JD McPherson: Well, there's a lot of things that wrapped up in this that I really love. One is I just love the vibe of this particular album tour. It's just a real happy time. And the gang I bring out on the road is like my tightest bros from way back, and we just have a really wonderful time. And then it's a very festive occasion, but on the other side of it is, is that you've been playing other songs all year long, and so you get to have this nice little switch go off where it completely changes your set. Seems fresh every year, everybody dresses a little nicer. There's C9 light bulbs on the stage. It's a nice, little refreshing turn of events. Right at the end of the year. The audience gets a little bigger every year, which is also nice to see, kids are growing up in front of your eyes. It's crazy.

Jill Riley: I love it. Just the other night, we were eating dinner, and we're full-on into the holiday music in our house right now. I have my favorites that I go to: the Phil Spector Christmas album, or A Charlie Brown Christmas or Beach Boys’ Christmas albums. They're some of my favorites. And your Christmas album, the SOCKS album, is right in line with that. And you came in the studio, I think the year that that record came out, and I wonder if we could kind of go back to that time in Nashville when you were making the record, you know, even the ideation of making a Christmas album.

JD McPherson: Sure, if you go all the way back to when my first record came out, and I signed with Rounder Records, they had suggested that I write a Christmas song, and I was in the mode of “Do everything everyone asks me to do all the time.” So I said, “OK, yes, sir.” And so, I wrote a Christmas song called "Twinkle Little Christmas Lights." And it went all right. We went on Jay Leno and played it, and we got it on the radio here and there, and it was coming through the speakers at Home Depot once in a while, and it was cool, but then I was done. I was done with writing seasonally sensitive material.

Then a few years later, I signed to New West, and they asked for a Christmas album, and I was in my “no” phase, so I just said no to everything anyone ever asked me to do. And in my mind, while you know you're in the van, staring out the windshield, you start to kind of think a little bit. And I started thinking, “Well, if I did do it, how would it happen?” And just to write about that time, I was starting to think about what would have been. Nick Lowe came out with this stellar holiday album called Quality Street. And I was like, “Well, if Nick Lowe can do something hip and cool with this tired old genre, it's possible for any of us to do something.”

So I actually tried to do my best to rise to the occasion of Nick and write all the songs and try to make it feel that it might fit in with other albums during the rest of the year. I didn't want to just completely lean on sleigh bells on every song. And also, I'm a huge Christmas junkie. I love it so much, but I also am aware of how ridiculous some of it is. And so that had to be a part of it, too. It had to have a kind of loving-Christmas-so-much-that-you're-allowed-to-make-fun-of-it-a-little-bit vibe. So I put a fair amount of effort into the writing of the songs. But it also kind of felt like it was all happening really quickly, and I wasn't really thinking about that this might be something I would be doing the rest of my career, touring on this record. And we got together in the hot summer in Nashville. What was that studio? Haven't been there since — I'm sorry, it's escaping me right now.

Jill Riley: It was Alex The Great, which I don't know a ton about. I just happened to look at the credits on the album before we talked.

JD McPherson: That's why you're a professional! You're a professional. So we remember loading in there. I remember Jason Smay, who played drums on the record, rolling up on a, it was like a ‘67 Shovelhead chopper with a black T shirt on. It was like, that just reminds me, “Oh yeah, this is really bringing out the Christmas spirit.” I brought an aluminum tree from home and set it up in the studio, and that was pretty much the extent of the getting us in the mood. It just went so quickly and so easily. Everybody was having a good time. That was, like, the last thing that I did with my old gang, and it was, like, a really happy way to go out. I have really great memories of it all the way through, and I can't say that about every record I've made. Yeah, so SOCKS has been evergreen — no pun intended — of just good vibes and good memories, and I'm really proud of it.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current talking with JD McPherson about the 2018 holiday album SOCKS, and the song in particular, "Socks" sparked some conversation at our dinner table. And I had asked my husband, "Can you remember getting a gift for Christmas that was just a total clunker?" and we couldn't really come up with good answers. So then we flipped it to, “Can you remember a time that you got a gift that you were really jazzed about?”, which was kind of a better conversation to have. JD, did you ever get anything for Christmas that you just could not believe it, and maybe even as a musician? I mean, did you receive a like an instrument, or anything that really surprised you for Christmas?

JD McPherson: Well, one year, I don't know what — well, I could tell you the year, if I knew what year Wayne's World came out — because that's a clue to the gift that I got.

Jill Riley: Okay, so early ‘90s.

JD McPherson: Whatever year it was, I don't know. I would have been probably 15 or something like that, 15 or 16. I had been playing guitar for a few years, but my little guitar was a little Memphis, it was called a Memphis, and it was like an electric blue with one pickup, and it was like, you know, three feet long. It was like a beginner's guitar. But I put thousands of hours on this thing. And my older brother was teaching me to play guitar. And it was Christmastime, and I was sitting at the tree, and I was — I love being Santa and handing out presents. You know, I got a pocket knife and I had some cool stuff, maybe a couple Nintendo games or something, and so I was having a pretty good one already. And I think I said — there's a video that exists somewhere of me just saying, "You know what, guys, this is the best Christmas ever." And then my brother comes in and sets a guitar case in front of me and says, “Santa I forgot one thing this year.” He set it in front of me, and I opened it up, and inside was a white Fender Stratocaster, and it was a Wayne's World branded Strat from the movie where they're in the guitar shop, and Tia Carrere does the whole thing about the whammy bar. And he says, “Today, my good man, I'm paying cash.” And there's probably a sustained, like, 15-second scream from me looking at my first nice guitar. And I learned so many tunes on that thing. And it was exactly like the one in the movie, but the plate that holds the neck on had the Wayne's World logo on it.

Jill Riley: That is awesome! Did you play “Stairway to Heaven” on it? Or was it, “No ‘Stairway’! Denied!”

JD McPherson: I did. I did learn “Stairway” on it. And you know, it didn't occur to me. Fast-forward years into the future — the first song I learned to play was “Stairway to Heaven,” my brother said, “Because it's got minor chords, it's got finger picking, it's got lead. You can play anything if you play ‘Stairway to Heaven’.” So that was the first song I ever learned — so, I'm on tour with Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, and I will just tell you there was a strict “no ‘Stairway to Heaven’” policy on that tour. It’s almost like little jokes. If you're playing an A minor chord, like up in that second position area, if you just even play the first two notes, you get all these road crew guys, eyes get really big and look at you. It's kind of a running joke. It's pretty funny. “No ‘Stairway.’ Denied!”

Jill Riley: No “Stairway.” You got to be careful with that too, because you don't want to get fired from a tour, from a gig like that. I'm curious, do you still have it? Do you still have that guitar?

JD McPherson: No, my friend Rockin’ Mitchell C sat on it and broke the neck and I didn't realize you could replace a neck on a guitar. This is how ignorant I am, how Southeast Oklahoma I am. I'm like, “Well, I guess I’ve got to get another guitar now,” but I would do almost anything to have that guitar back.

Jill Riley: Oh, Rockin' Mitchell C, you got to watch where you’re sitting.

JD McPherson: You got to watch out for Rockin' Mitchell C, he'll just sit anywhere.

 Jill Riley: Oh, that is such a great story. JD McPherson on The Current, the SOCKS: A Rock 'n' Roll Christmas Tour, Saturday, December 20, in the First Avenue Mainroom, the final stop on the tour, which means, the final stop means it's going to be a party, it's going to be a celebration.

JD McPherson: Oh, it's going to be a party.

Jill Riley: Excellent. We're so glad that you're coming back to the Twin Cities. And thank you so much for checking in and telling such great stories. JD McPherson, happy holidays to you. Merry Christmas.

JD McPherson: Happy holidays. Merry Christmas, everybody.

Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current.

Credits

Guests – JD McPherson
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer – Natalia Toledo

External Links

JD McPherson - Official Site