Jill Andrews may be an East Tennessee native, but she’s also a frequent visitor to this side of the pond.
Since the release of her self-titled debut solo EP in 2009, Andrews has regularly performed in the UK, most recently at The Long Road Festival after a short UK tour last year. She’s also released a further three EPs and a quartet of albums – including her latest project ‘Modern Age’ which came out last month – and has had her music featured on a clutch of TV series such as Nashville, This Is Us and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as writing the theme tune to ‘Wynonna Earp’. Later this month, she’ll be back in the UK on the Modern Age Tour as well as opening up for Paul Casey and Roseborough.
Whilst she was over in the UK to play at The Long Road, I sat down with Jill to talk about the new album, her festival experience, her upcoming tour, what’s next for her and more.
Welcome to the festival!
Thank you so much!
How have you found it so far?
It’s been fantastic. I got here yesterday evening, got to catch Margo Price who was great. Set up my tent [laughs], made sure that it was all good just in case it rained, which took a little while. But yeah, so fun.
And how do you find performing at festivals compared to your own shows?
Festivals are always very exciting. I love hearing other people play, and I love just the party atmosphere. It’s really fun. When you play a regular show it’s great too, but it’s a little more isolated I guess. So yeah, it’s been more exciting and fun.
Your new album ‘Modern Age’ came out on the 18th August – what’s the response to it been like so far?
Yeah, it’s been really good. Had a lot of good press, and seems like people are really digging the songs.
Are there any songs that you’ve been surprised by people’s reaction to? Like maybe things that are resonating with listeners in a way you didn’t necessarily expect?
You know, I guess I didn’t really know what to expect. I guess I wasn’t really thinking about what people would think. When I write songs I try to just write them for myself, as my starting point. And if I feel like the song is hitting an emotional mark, whatever that emotional mark is, then I feel good about it. But I have been surprised… I’ve had a few people say, “oh this is my favourite song”, “no that’s my favourite song”, “no this is my favourite song” and they’re different, and that is the best news. So it’s been really cool.
It’s a bit of a departure sonically from your previous records. Was that something you’d consciously wanted to do with this project or did it evolve that way as you were making it?
Yeah, that’s a good question. The songs called for it. I think that’s the best answer. Yeah, so it felt natural to kind of go into more of a synth realm, because a lot of the songs are about my childhood which was the 80s and 90s. And so when we had the compilation of songs together, the producer Lucas Morton and I, we just felt like the way the songs were written and the era that some of them were about, it just felt natural.
Were there any songs that were particularly easy or particularly challenging in terms of the writing?
Oh, well, the last song, ‘Boundless Love’ was a song that I wrote with my friend Trent Dabbs several years ago. And it was just the verses and the chorus. It needed something. And it was just sitting on a shelf. But when I brought it to the producer and I said, “well I’ve got this one, we’re trying to get to 10 songs and I’ve got this one”, he started crying when I played it for him. And then he was like, “you have to put that on the record”. And so I finished it, and we put it on the record. So yeah, that was one was years in the making.
Is there anything you’ve learned from making this album that you’ll take forward into other projects?
Hmmm. Well, I mean I would say that I’m an independent artist, and I’d say sometimes it’s a little tricky being an independent artist. You literally are the record label and so I think the world is changing so much with how people consume music and all that. So it’s like I’m always having to kind of pivot. So I don’t know what the exact answer is but I think that by the time I release my next record it’ll be a different landscape again [chuckles] and I’m just always having to adjust, basically.
You’ve also got a UK tour coming up in the autumn. What can people expect from those shows?
Well, I’m gonna be playing with a full band, and it’ll be a longer set than it was just today. I love playing for an hour and 15 minutes or so, it’s so fun. So it’ll be a good variety of my catalogue, and I’m gonna be all over England, several, several areas. And then I’ll be playing in Wales as well, and Scotland and Ireland. So it’ll be so fun.
Are there any songs you’re particularly excited about playing live on this tour?
Mmm. All of them! I mean it’ll be so fun playing with the band. Every song’s fun.
Is there a song from your career that you’re particularly proud of? Either one you’ve written for yourself or for your work for TV or anything like that?
You know, there’s a song I wrote with a friend of mine, Alex Berry. It’s called ‘Safe’ and it’s not a song that’s gotten much attention. I released it as a single under the radar a few years ago, and we wrote it about gun violence in America. And that’s a song I hold very dear to my heart. Basically it’s about not being able to keep your family safe, because it can be very scary sending your kids to school and things like that when we have very loose gun laws. And that’s what the song’s about. Yeah, I feel very proud of that one.
What’s your focus for the next six months or so? Is it mainly around the record and touring?
I think just touring as much as I can. I’ve got my UK tour coming up in September and October, then I’m going back to the US and playing some shows. And I’ll be doing that for a while, several months in the future. And I think when that dies down I’ll get back to writing more often. I still keep it peppered in, writing and things like that.
Jill Andrews’ new album, ‘Modern Age’, is out now on Tone Tree Music/Vulture Vulture.
See Jill live on tour in the UK this autumn:
Friday 29 September – St Augustine’s Church, Derry/Londonderry (with Roseborough)
Saturday 30 September – Black Box, Belfast (with Paul Casey)
Monday 2 October – Band On The Wall, Manchester
Tuesday 3 October – Acapela, Cardiff
Wednesday 4 October – Green Note, London
Thursday 5 October – The 1865, Southampton
Friday 6 October – Blue Sky Cafe, Bangor
Saturday 7 October – Classic Grand Social Lounge, Glasgow
Sunday 8 October – Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool
