Today sees the release of ‘Make Do’ from Jerry Castle, a song sure to heat up many playlists. His style described by himself as “Cosmic Country meets Appalachian Soul” offers a sound that will appeal to a wide audience. 

When you can say that country giants Old Dominion have opened up for you, I knew that Jerry would have some great stories to tell. We asked him a bunch of questions and he didn't disappoint! 

Your latest single "Make Do" has just been released. What is the meaning behind this song? Also, how have you been passing your time during these last few crazy months?

The meaning behind the song is that when life hands you lemons, throw them away and take a shot of tequila instead.  Just kidding.  The meaning behind the song is to take the hand that you’re dealt and to play it the best you can while having a good time.  Life in modern society can be such a grind.  Financial success is held in the highest regard.  We’re taught that if we work hard, we can accomplish anything that we want.  The reality is, it takes both hard work and luck to be successful.  I’ve seen so many people; including yours truly, make themselves miserable while pursuing their goals and dreams.  I think it’s just as important to make room for the light and happiness to seep in, as it is to doggedly pursue your goals.  If you’re not having fun, then why bother?  I think it was T.S. Eliot that said “The journey not the arrival matters”, that would be applicable to this tune.

As far as what I’ve been up to, during the COVID shutdown, it has been a whole lot of the same stuff that I’m usually doing, minus playing live shows.  I have a studio in my home, so I’ve continued writing and recording since March.  I actually wrote “Make Do” back in May and recorded it remotely with my band.  I recorded a vocal and acoustic to a click track, sent it to my drummer, who also has a home studio, he recorded his drums and then sent those tracks back to me.  I sent the drums, acoustic guitar and vocal to the bass player, he added his part, and then he sent those tracks back to me.  I followed the same process with the banjo player and guitarist.  Once I had all of the parts put together, I sent it to my old buddy Jim Cooley (Luke Combs, Sam Hunt, Chris Janson) and he mixed it.  This is literally the first time I’ve ever recorded a song that none of the musicians were ever in the same room.

 I’ve also spent a lot of time working on the “Pick Up Your Guitar”, “Calm”, “Tequila and Tears”, and “Make Do” music videos.  Overall I’ve tried to just stay productive, artistic, and somewhat sane.  Some days I’m successful and some days, not so much.

After listening to your latest songs I would describe them as a mix of southern rock with a more traditional country sound. What are your thoughts on the whole country-pop thing, is it something you would get involved with?

To each their own.  I’ve worked with artists and bands that have been successful at bending their sound to fit into the country-pop sub genre in order to appeal to a larger audience and they made it seem natural.  Being “country-pop” isn’t something that I do naturally and it’s not something that I aspire to do, so I don’t.  If I stumbled upon writing a country-pop song that turned out to be a great song or if I started co-writing with someone that brought that out in me, then I’d have no qualms with it but I’m not going to make a focused effort to create that type of music.  I like a lot of different styles of music, so I’m not closed to anything but I do have to feel it.  My 2018 album, “Brand New Hello”, sounds a lot more like 90’s rock than country.  My 2016 album, “Not So Soft Landing” is still roots-based but it’s a very ethereal album with lots of textures.  It’s just all according to what’s going on in my life and what musical whim is occupying my headspace at the time.  I did a lot of programming on the “Brand New Hello” album, so that took away some of the southern rock and a lot of the traditional country feel.  On this album, Midnight Testaments, I did very little programming and none of the drums are programmed. Every song started with just my acoustic guitar and me.  When you add that with my Appalachian heritage, you’re going to get a southern rock meets traditional country sound most of the time. 

I believe you have shared the same stage/shows with big names including Old Dominion? 

Yeah, I’ve shared the stage with Old Dominion on several occasions.  Sometimes they would open for me and sometimes I would open for them.  I wonder if they’d be interested in opening some shows for me now (wink, wink)?  Matt Ramsey and I are from small towns that are about two hours apart in Virginia, so we have some similar values and influences.  Those guys have always been hard workers and I’m glad to see them having so much success.  They deserve it!

You have also been a Music Row songwriter in Nashville. What is your typical songwriting process?

I change my songwriting process up a bit on every album.  On this album, Midnight Testaments, I wrote most of the songs right after I had recorded another unreleased album.  The general consensus of that album was that it felt a bit disjointed, with some alternative rock feeling songs and a couple of country feeling songs.  After the lackluster feedback, I booked one studio date per week for a three-week period.  During the first five days of the week, I wouldn’t sit down to try to write complete songs.  I’d write down a lyric here or there and I’d record melodies that came to mind, but I’d just let all of my ideas simmer and I wouldn’t try to force them.  Two days before it was time for me to go into the studio, I’d sit down to finish songs and I wouldn’t stop until they were.  In those two days, I’d finish 3-4 songs.  The first week I did that, I ended up on the verge of a panic attack but after I heard the results in the studio, I decided that that was the program I was going to follow for the next two weeks.  I really felt like each week, the songs got a little better.  Overall, my songwriting process is a lot different now than it was while I was writing on Music Row.  As I mentioned, I like to meditate on songs, let them breathe and evolve.  If you’re in a Music Row writing session, they want the song to be finished after three hours, no questions asked.  I don’t think I do my best writing under those circumstances.

Having lived in various parts of the USA, what are your thoughts on the Nashville vibe and scene? 

It’s a mixed bag of tricks.  My favorite thing about Nashville is the level of musicianship that’s at your disposal for recording or playing live shows.  If somebody isn’t available or quits, you can just move right to the next guy without missing a beat.  Don’t get me wrong, I have my guys that I prefer playing with but one person’s unavailability isn’t going to shut down the entire show.  Not only is it not going to shut down the show, the next person that you bring in is probably going to be a bad ass in their own right.   Everyone that plays in my band lives within a mile of me.  That was absolutely not the case when I lived in Los Angeles.  There was a lot more distance and a lot more mediocre players, per capita, in L.A., so it took more time to find players that were right for my songs or right for my band.  If I want a string section, a horn section, pedal steel, female backing vocals, gospel vocals, it’s all just a text away here in Nashville.  As is the case with most music scenes, there are a lot of insecure and inauthentic people lurking around and that can create an uneasy vibe.  Nashville is great for raising the bar of what you expect of yourself and your music but I feel like at a certain point, it’s best to move on and be an artist among the people, not just another artist among other artists.  Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do that soon. 

If you could pick one artist to collaborate with, who would this be? 

The artist I would collaborate with probably wouldn’t be someone you’d expect and I doubt it would be somebody that’s my “favorite” artist per se.  My favorite artists don’t really write hits anymore and that’s what would be useful at this point.  I have loads of artistic integrity and I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t pay the bills, so I don’t need anymore of that.  Give me Post Malone! That dude seems like he’d be a fun hang, while also being very capable of helping me to write and produce a hit.  I can hear the Autotune zinging on my voice now.  Give me a week in the studio with Post Malone and I’ll bet you I’ll have a hit and he’ll have a southern accent!

Who are your main influences?

Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Keith Whitley, B.B. King, U2, and Pearl Jam are the first people that come to mind.  I’m a song guy and all of those artists and bands write great songs.  If you mean it, folks can usually feel it.

Have you got a standout gig or show? 

Nothing really comes to mind.  I’m not much for living in the past or reminiscing about the good old days.  I’m more about the “here and now” and moving forward.  I’m not going to be the old man sitting around talking about how great I used to be at something, particularly music.  I 100% believe that my best songs, best albums, and best shows are ahead of me.

How would you best describe your sound and style of music? 

“Cosmic Country meets Appalachian Soul” is the description that has recently emerged.  I’m a fan of using a lot of delay and reverb to create an atmospheric sound when the song calls for it.  I do that in spots on “Pick Up Your Guitar” and I did it all through the “Not So Soft Landing” album.  I’m also all about creating a laid back vibe where everyone is playing on the back of the beat in a very dynamic way.  That’s what I was going for on “Calm”.  Those things combined is where the “Cosmic Country” part comes from.  I think Gram Parsons was the first artist to be described as that.  I usually write about things that I’m passionate about.  While in the studio recording a song, just before COVID hit, the keyboardist, Micah Hulscher (Margo Price), said “this is basically a soul song” on one of the tracks.  I put those two things together with my Appalachian heritage to create the “Appalachian Soul” part. 

Have you got any upcoming shows? 

I have no shows booked for the foreseeable future.  I’ll do a live stream for the Oct 16 album release and I’ll do some other live streams leading up to that but no actual shows.  As soon as this COVID 19 thing is under control, I’ll start touring the US again and hopefully shortly thereafter, I’ll tour the UK but that’s not going to be any time soon.  Let’s hope that 2021 is full of opportunities to safely play live music! Cheers!

Thanks again Jerry - all the best for the future!

 country      southern rock       appalachian soul 

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and Managing Director of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.