by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
What: Pete Yorn performs
When: November 4th @ 8PM
Where: Freebird
In 2001, Pete Yorn made Rolling Stone’s “Top Ten to Watch.” His music is an eclectic blend of pop, punk, old school rock, folk and a touch of old school country. He’s been a symbol of innovation since he released his powerful debut musicforthemorning after. Since that debut, he seems to be having a tough time living up to the tremendous buzz created by that first album.
Still, his multi-instrument talents have once again served him well on his latest album, Nightcrawler. It might not be what people expect from Yorn, but it looks like he’s trying to beat out a new path rather than head in the same direction. Yorn remarks that Nightcrawler took him in “some weird directions, which I like.” During the last three years Yorn has laid down about sixty tracks, only a few of which have made the cut for Nightcrawler. Yorn spent a lot of time experimenting with different styles before he decided on what would make the cut. “There was a period of time when I was getting into Elvis, and some kind of more country stuff that just wasn’t appropriate for Nightcrawler.”
As he grew up, music was definitely a part of the household. He eventually drew his inspiration from his brothers, who were in a band that played Judas Priest and Clash covers. Yorn began his musical career on the drums and says he switched to guitar because “I couldn’t really write songs from the drums…there was no melody, just beats.” Among other instruments, Yorn plays the harmonica, drums, guitar, piano, key board and enjoys programming.
A productive songsmith who has lent his talents to other artists, Yorn admits that he doesn’t have a patented secret for writing a song. “Most times I never sit down to write, it’ll just happen. It’s a pretty mysterious process to me. A lot times I feel that songs are just channeled through me, I kind of black out and won’t even remember writing them. There are some songs for sure that people ask me where I was, and how it happened and I can’t tell them, because I don’t remember…I acknowledge that that’s weird.”
Yorn likes collaborating with other artists, so he isn’t the only one jamming on his newest album. The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl plays drums on “For Us,” the album’s first single and the Dixie Chick’s Martie Maguire (fiddle) and Natalie Maines (backing vocals) lend their talents to “The Man.” He’s had a collaborative relationship with the Dixie Chicks for some time now. Says Yorn: “I guess we became friends when they asked me to write some songs for them on their record. Wrote with them a number of songs, played poker and just became good friends…And then I just had a couple of songs I thought they would be perfect for [on my new album], so I just called them up.”
The Dixie Chicks recently enjoyed Pete Yorn’s company during their Australian tour. He opened for them in all of the major cities and held his own headline shows on his nights off. “The crowds were great,” Yorn says of Aussie experience “I’ve never been…so everything was new and exciting. We have a good amount of fans in Australia…we’re hoping to get back, everybody seems to want us to go back.” Since he’s been back from the land down under, he has hit the ground running, performing and touring to promote his newest offering. After hitting Florida and the South for five performances, he’ll be heading off to the Northwest. You can find him here in Jacksonville this Saturday at Freebird.
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