Still, DeNatale has managed, somehow, to remain seriously under the radar for years, garnering praise from his heroes like Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Tom Waits, but rarely from mainstream media. I would venture to say all that’s about to change – if not with the release of his latest album Soul Parade, then certainly sometime soon.
Even though I was late in calling him, Jesse was kind enough to chat with me for quite a while about the steady rise of his career, his heroes, and what it means to be a folksinger in a time where, depending on who you talk to, folk is either dead, or it’s “the new black.”
KR: So how’s the tour going? Where have you been playing?
JD: Oh this is a short one. Just a short tour. Last week I did a show in Dallas, then Arizona’s next. I enjoy being on the road.
KR: Do you like being on the road? Do you write at all [on the road], or do you just like to go along and soak everything in?
JD: Yeah I enjoy being on the road. Every now and then I write something, but I just like to meet people and do things out of the ordinary when you’re home. Things you wouldn’t normally do.
KR: Like what?
JD: Oh just like meet a ton of people. I meet a lot of people from all walks of life, all age groups. Like, I’m staying here in Austin with a woman I met in Ireland last year. Her name’s Eliza Gilkyson. I don’t know if you know her. You may have heard her before. She’s got a great dog named Harpo…
KR: Yeah, it’s always so great staying in other people’s houses with their dogs. Sometimes strange, but good.
JD: Yeah, and it usually turns out really good. Like, she’s become like a lifelong friend now.
KR: Do you like this, being able to tour low-key?
JD: You know, I’m still pretty much under the radar, still being found out about. The last record came out on a formal label. But before that, for a couple of years, I was just moving it myself. Now I have a chance to get new fans and listeners. On the last record – the fans that it made are real true fans. That feels good. They call up and say they still listen to the record.
KR: Can I tell you … you know, with new artists it’s always really easy to compare them to people you already know. Can I say I hear a lot of Randy Newman and Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, on this record? Do you consider them influences?
JD: I love Ray Charles. The listeners may not hear Ray Charles, but I hear Ray Charles. The title song … I can see that has the heart of Randy Newman. Something about the phrasing or the progression of the tune. I can see that. But I’m not conscious of how a song comes out and what directions it goes. If my songs can hold a certain something about the past, and maybe something about the future too, you know, that’s what I try to do.
KR: What about recording Soul Parade? Were you listening to anything in particular? Or just making your own music?
JD: We did the record in a few sessions, and at first the songs didn’t feel like they were working as a group, or that they … they didn’t feel like now, you know? I needed them to feel like now. The majority of them were written on piano … it’s not so much what I was listening to, bur more that one song calls up another song. It’s more about experiences in the writing songs, more than what I was listening to.
I also pulled from my experience in San Francisco – that’s where I’ve been living – and what I saw going on. I’d usually write from a place that’s more non-fiction than fiction. Each song is maybe 90% truth, not … I don’t want to just write like a journal.
KR: Are you just writing songs all the time? Or do you go through phases?
JD: Well, the reason to make new material is because you get tired of what you have. These tunes [from this record] are still talking back to me. I’m still understanding them. I try to make a song that doesn’t give it all the way right away, you know.
Read more as we get into a deeper discussion about what folk music is and what folksingers are up to today ...
