PC: When did you begin your music career? 

JE: I began playing at 13 and performing live at 15. When I was 20 years old I gave it all up to join the Air Force, then started a family, then got a “real job” and then picked all of this back up again about 5 years ago.

PC: Who are your main musical influences? 

JE: Two in particular, Kevin Welch and Steve Earle, and I have a turning point story for both: When I was a teenager and playing in bars in the south I was playing in a top 40 country cover band and not writing any songs. Then one day I was flipping channels on TV and the Kevin Welch video for “Something About You” came on CMT and something clicked. THAT was what I wanted to do. I had never seen or heard anything like it before. It made me start writing songs and trying to create a sound of my own instead of simply copying what was on the radio. Then in 1999 I was in the Air Force in England and had not picked up a guitar in over 3 years when a friend of mine invited me to a Steve Earle concert in London. I had no idea who Steve Earle was but it was a free ticket so I went and it blew me away. I could not believe that someone got to play music like that and still make a living (the show was sold out)! I went home that night and the next day I bought every CD Steve Earle had made to that point. For the next two months I listened and learned every song on those CDs and before I knew it I was writing songs again and I haven’t put down the guitar since.

PC: Let people know more about your up and coming CD? 

JE: It’s 12 songs that I have written over the last year and a half. I was privileged enough to have Walt Wilkins and Tim Lorsch agree to produce it. We basically took an eclectic approach on this album and let each song evolve as its own thing instead of working to create one particular sound. We experimented with some different combinations (rock arrangements with bluegrass harmonies, banjos through effects pedals) on some songs and then left others at a bare minimum with simple solo acoustic guitar arrangements. I am very excited about what we have done. We have finished the recording and are in post production now. The CD is scheduled for release September 30, 2005.

PC:  If you had to pick a couple of songs you have written or recorded that you are most proud of, what would they be and why? 

JE: That’s tough. On the album I have two songs that I am most proud of lyrically. One is called “Battle Cries” which is a song I wrote about a man going off to war (no war in particular) and the struggle that he goes through trying to reconcile wanting to do what is right and hoping that he is doing the right thing. The other one is a song called “Go Down Moses”. I don’t really know how to explain it but it’s like I am still figuring out what that one means. I wrote it about one thing but every once in a while I will see it from a completely different perspective and it will take on a whole new meaning to me. I have another one that is not on the album called “Sweet Girl” that I do live and it is about my daughter. She always requests that song when she comes to see me play.

PC: Is there anybody that you would like to perform with or do a duet with?

JE: I don’t think I would be a good duet person but there are many people that I would like to perform with. Basically anyone that creates an energy on stage. I just like to be involved in that energy from a listener’s perspective, so to get to perform with someone like that would give me a really good seat! Walt Wilkins is a great example of this and I did get to play a show with him and it is an amazing experience. You can feel what he feels – literally. Others that I can think of that have that type of performance are Martin Sexton and Darrell Scott. I would love to get to perform with either one of them someday.

PC: What are your fondest career memories so far?

JE: Being in the studio with the quality of people that played on my album was an incredible experience for me. I got to see the other side up close. I also got to play an in-the-round at a place called Douglas Corner Café in Nashville with Walt Wilkins, Tony Laiolo, and Michael Kelsh. Those are three AMAZING songwriters and for that night I got to pretend I was one of them.

PC: Do you have a preference when it comes to playing, whether it's acoustic or electric?

JE: Electric is a relative term for me. My version of electric, even with a band, is having a mandolin plugged into the PA. That’s not exactly true but it’s pretty close. I like to keep the sound pretty organic. That doesn’t mean low energy - it just means that I like to keep things simple. So my version of electric would probably be someone else’s version of acoustic. Of course, I will always continue to play solo acoustic shows too. As a songwriter I don’t think you should ever get away from that. That’s the way you really get to test your songs. If they work on that level then you know you’ve got something.

PC: Where do you want to be in the next few years with your music career? Any long term goals?

JE: If I answered that you might laugh at me. I have VERY ambitious goals that would probably seem pretty laughable right now. But obviously they involve playing music, making a living at it, and getting to play the way I want without having to compromise my style.

PC: If not for music, what would you be doing as a career?

JE: That’s an easy one. I just quit a job as an IT manager to pursue music full time. I would still be doing that.

PC: What CD would be found in your CD player right now?

JE: Well, at this very moment it would be the latest Robert Earl Keen CD – “What I Really Mean”. That’s a great CD. It seems like every new album is his best. But then scattered on the floor in a pile of apparent chaos would be CDs by Jack Johnson, Old Crow Medicine Show, Darrell Scott, Dave Matthews, Green Day, and Walt Wilkins.