Jackson Dean's sophomore album ‘On The Back of My Dreams' is a rich and immersive collection of songs, each born from a fleeting spark of inspiration. The album offers a deep dive into Dean's artistry, inviting listeners to reflect on the layers of meaning woven throughout his music. Known for his gravelly voice, free-spirited nature, and intentional songwriting, Dean continues to establish himself as one of Nashville’s most intriguing talents. This album marks a bold and impressive new chapter, showcasing a vocal performance that is both captivating and distinctive, balancing swagger with intellect and spirituality.
We were thrilled to catch up with him to talk all about it.
Thank you for your time Jackson today, it's always great to speak to about your fabulous music. How are you?
Absolutely. I'm fit as a fiddle and feeling right as rain just now, coming out of festival season and moving into the Lainey Wilson tour.
Before we get into new album stuff, can you sum up what your first album, ‘Greenbroke' did for you in terms of your career. Did it exceed even your own expectations?
I think it most definitely did! There are a lot of worthy songs on that record and then some songs that I cut because they were the best that I had at that time. (chuckling) I meant what I said in the song, ‘Greenbroke' and I'm trying to carry that forward. It was my first major label record after I'd put out some projects and things of my own so it was a big deal for me.
To follow that up with the ‘Live at the Ryman' record was awesome. I loved what we did live so much and I felt it really captured who we were. That record did wonders for us – it birthed the place where ‘Heavens to Betsy' sits right now. I've seen as much love for that release as I have for ‘Greenbroke' so I think it was just as important.
Did you feel a pressure when you were putting ‘On the Back of My Dreams' together because of the success that you had had with those two releases?
No, absolutely I did, I wanted this release to be better than ‘Greenbroke.' I'm constantly pushing myself and the band to be better than we were yesterday. There was some pressure because it had been two years since we have had some new studio music. It was quite the challenge to thread the needle through this piece of work and as it runs in sequence the record is spilt into two halves: the front half is the lighter side and then ‘Heavens to Betsy' spilts it right down the middle before the second half turns darker! (chuckling)
I knew I wanted to make art with this record. I had ‘…Betsy,' ‘I had ‘Train,' I had Big Blue Sky' and ‘Another Century' and those songs were all snapshots of little vignettes of life. They are written in a way and played in a way that allows the listener to put themselves into the songs and let themselves see what they want to see and feel what they want to feel. We got to go to some beautiful places, man.
The album has got a lot of weight and heft behind the messages on it. There's a lot of soul searching and looking for the big answers in life. Did you find it a cathartic process writing songs like ‘Real Real' and ‘Free'?
‘Free' was a dark time, for sure. I remember the day we wrote it – it was a beautiful morning with Luke Dick and Blake Chaffin. I'd been out on the road for three weeks and I just let it all out during that write, so it was cathartic, yeah. I'd not been in the same state for more than 72 hours for a very long time. We roam for a living, pretty much, right? We are constantly moving to get to be able to do what we feel like we are born to do but that comes with some consequences and that's what ‘Free' is about and that message is spread throughout the record.
Consequences does not quench desire, though, and that's a lot of what a song like ‘Another Century' is about.
The lyric that most intrigues me on this album is in ‘Another Century.' You sing, ‘I won't see another century in this cage.' There's a nod towards spirituality and even religion in that. Do you consider yourself a spiritual person?
I'm spiritual. I was raised Catholic so that whole religion is pretty fascinating to me. That's a good question. The cage reference came from when we were out to Tuscon playing a show. There's a song from the band Arcade Fire called ‘My Body is a Cage' and I liked the beauty of that a lot and it inspired me to think about the fact that I was born in the year 2000 and I will most likely die within this same century, it will be all I have.
‘Another Century' then became a little list of things I've seen with my own eyeballs put in a manner that explains my character. It is placed last on the album because it is the result of everything prior that you have just listened to.
Let's talk about ‘Daddy Raised,' which must be the rockiest song you have recorded. There's a Nickelback-esque vibe to it to these ears. It must be fun to play live.
(chuckling) We've been doing that here and there live for the last year. It's not striving to be Audioslave on that track but I love Chris Cornell and his vocals. It's probably the hardest track on the record, for sure. It's a lot of fun to play. The song was actually written about my brother's kid who we thought was going to be ‘Wyatt' but came out ‘Ruth!' (laughing) I'd written the song prior to her being born and it's pretty much about my brother.
Let's pick up on the Lainey Wilson tour. How are those shows going? I've seen pictures of you singing up on stage with her on the back of the truck too.
It's been wonderful. We've played a few shows together before in Australia and a few here in the states. Ian Munsick was on the first half and then me. It's going great, Lainey's great – she brings me up about song five, maybe, and we do ‘Good Horses,' the song she recorded with Miranda Lambert – on the back of the tailgate. I'm so happy for her that all her hard work is paying off.
Lainey's tour and the Jelly Roll tour must be the two hottest tickets in town so you've done well to get on that ticket!
Oh yeah, man. I saw Jelly at the Faster Horses festival and he had about 30 cops all standing around watching over him! (chuckling) I put my head out of the bus, I didn't have a shirt on or any shoes either and I just went, ‘Hey!' and he was like, ‘Hey Man!' as he walked over and picked me up off the ground! (laughing)
Do you think we might see you back over the in the UK for some headline shows or maybe even a festival in 2025?
Soon. (smiling) Soon. I can't wait to be back. I can't tell you right now, but soon.
Check out Jackson Dean's ‘On the Back of My Dreams' album which is released in all the usual places TODAY!! (September 6th)
