Continuing the legacy….Jesse and Noah Bellamy are doing just
that but on their own terms. The
sons/nephews of one of the most successful brother duos in country music
history, The Bellamy Brothers, are forging a path distinctive to their own
musical tastes while also paying homage to their lineage.
This fourth generation brother duo has essentially thrown
out the genre limits rulebook and is instead concentrating on delivering
projects true to their diverse influences while also remaining true to
themselves.
I had the pleasure of chatting with this talented songwriting and multi instrumentalist duo who gave some
insight into their music, their passion for their craft, and their desire to
remain authentic.
AV: Let’s
start with a question I’m sure you’ve been asked a zillion times….what’s
it like to follow in the footsteps of your famous musical family, your dad
and uncle, The Bellamy Brothers?
Has it been difficult to forge your own path?
J&N: We definitely got an
inside look at what it's like to be a touring band as well as learning our way
around the studio and a little bit about running an independent label. As far
as forging our own path, it's worked in different ways in different situations
at different times. There's always a certain amount of bias against second
generation artists which is a little silly because most musicians, I know, come
from several generations anyway. I guess the perception is that they haven't
paid there dues, but I think we've been doing this for long enough that people
are beginning to realize we've paid our dues.
AV: How
did you approach your family about pursuing your own music career? What was their reaction? What advice did they give you?
J&N: It wasn't a clear
decisive moment when we decided it was going to be a career. We just started a
band in middle school and kept going. As far as advice, we're still getting it.
It's evolving as we all watch the music business evolve.
AV: Your
debut project with Smith Music Group in 2006, Nowhere Revisited, produced a hit single on the Texas Music
Charts with “Daddy’s Got A Shotgun.” What was it like to see your song hit
the charts for the first time? This
tune definitely takes a departure from traditional country. It, well, …..rocks! Tell us about the production.
J&N: We were courting a deal with a major label, so
we were really trying to make a hit country record. When that deal didn't work
out, we put it out with Smith and it did very well in Texas. It was the first
time we'd worked with the A-team session players in Nashville. It was really
exciting to work with Eddie Bayers and Micheal Rhodes. I remember driving to a gig in Waxahachie
hearing the intro faintly on the radio and going “Wait a minute I know this.”
and turning it up to full blast!
AV: In
contrast, you make a return to a more traditional sound with another song
from Nowhere
Revisited, “You’re
the World,” which was co-written by Jesse and David Bellamy. Who initiated the
writing session? Had either of you written with your dad
before? Describe the experience.
J&N: We wrote several songs
together around that time. I don't exactly remember what order they came in.
Dad had the idea and I remember the toughest part was finding usable words that
rhyme with “world.” It was recorded by Wenche Hartmann a folk singer in Denmark
and did pretty well there.
AV: There’s
a song on your second album, Landfall,
called “Tryin to Keep It Real.” For musicians, there seems to always be
that struggle to stay true to yourselves artistically while also putting
out material that will have commercial success. How have you dealt with
that?
J&N: By remaining as independent as possible.
AV: You
took a different approach with your third album,
Driven Back.
For one
thing, it’s self-produced and independently released.
Describe the other differences. What led
to the changes?
J&N: With the previous
records, there was always the assumption we would take them to a label at some
point to try and land a deal. With this record, knowing we weren't going to go
that route freed us up to do whatever we wanted.
AV: The
song “The Homer Bellamy Centennial Blue Yodel” from Driven Back pays homage to your grandfather. Describe the sound. Describe how this song came to be.
J&N: It started out as something just to
share on Facebook, for what would have been his 100th birthday. We wrote it in
the style of a Jimmie Rodgers and tried to make it sound like the kinds of
bands he played in growing up. We really liked the way it turned out and it was
an element that was way different from anything else we had on the album so we
decided to include it. It's become a fan favorite live!
AV: When
you start a new project, what are your main objectives?
Are there “must haves” or themes on the
agenda or do you let spontaneity reign?
J&N: It can vary and one
usually leads to the other. For example we just contributed a couple of tracks
to an album for Switzerland, our dad and uncle are producing, and it was more specific what those tracks needed to be because of the
type of album it is. From there we started messing around with a couple other
things that hopefully develop into the the next Jesse and Noah project.
AV: What’s
up next for you?
J&N: We've got some shows
coming up around Nashville. I think we're headed to Switzerland in June to
promote the aforementioned Swiss album. The title of that album, by the way, is
“Bellamy Brothers & Friends” and will include guest artists from the USA
and Switzerland: Kris Kristofferson,
Carlene Carter, Crystal Gayle, Tanya Tucker, Gola, Oesch Die Dritten, Peter Reber,
Nina Reber, to name a few. We're still booking gigs to promote "Driven
Back" and just waiting to see what opportunities present themselves next.
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