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Jesse
& Noah and Neon Pike |
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While in the studio recording a few songs, Jesse & Noah (Bellamy) kept
writing more songs and before they knew it they had enough for a new
album. The album became Neon Pike.
Jesse says, “We cut three songs to begin with and it was going to be a
tip our toe in the water kind of a thing, but we realized we might as
well keep on making an album.”
Noah says that they wrote about forty songs in total and then they
picked the best ones for this record.
The album opens with the up-tempo love song “Unconfined,” driven by
Jesse and Noah Bellamy’s acoustic and electric guitars and featuring
some great fiddle playing by Lillie Mae Rische who also provides
background vocals for this tune.
Although, Jesse & Noah have always played the guitars on their previous
albums, we asked why it seemed for Neon Pike that their talent as superb
guitarists seems even more highlighted.
To which Jesse adds, “We could just come in and be the players and not
have to worry about (the rest). We were also able to cut it a little
more live.”
Both men are multi-instrumentalists and in the past they utilized those
skills for their albums, but this time many more musicians appear on the
album.
“We brought in Lillie Mae Rische (fiddle and background vocals) and
Scarlett Rische (mandolin). Linwood (Regensburg) has been our bass
player on the road now for a couple of years (also plays synthesizer on
the album). Herschel Van Dyke has been our drummer for the past five
years. Playing with the same guys all of the time and being able to
bring that into the studio to lay down the basic tracks that helps a lot
too. It feels more like a band is playing, well a band is playing,” says
Jesse.
The other musicians who appear on the album are, Billy Ramirez Jr. on
congas, bongos and percussion, Paul Defiglia (piano, Fender Rhodes and
the Hammond organ), upright bass player (‘Lina Rose and I Just Want
Rain) and baritone background vocals (‘Lina Rose) Sambo Moncivaiz, Jason
Moncivaiz (additional percussion and background vocals for “Dreams for
Days”). Randy Hiebert appears on the third song “Gambler’s Heart,”
playing baritone guitar. Special guests David and Howard Bellamy of the
famous Bellamy Brothers also appear as guest vocalists on “Gambler’s
Heart.” David is the father of Jesse and Noah and Howard is their uncle.
“Dreams for Days,” is such a good song! Noah Bellamy takes the lead on
vocals with Jesse harmonizing. As one has come to expect with this duo
the guitar work is stellar. Although, the lyrics are about a love that
has moved on and there is a sense of wishing that things could be the
way they used to be, the memories are happy ones and the music is
upbeat.
The mood slows down and is more reflective with “Gambler’s Heart,” as
Jesse & Noah are joined by Howard and David Bellamy and it is truly a
singer-songwriter’s song. Paul Defiglia’s Hammond organ is subtle and
Randy Hiebert’s baritone guitar adds depth and color to an already good
song.
In addressing the musical influences that are evident in this collection
of songs, Noah says, “It is the most Rock album and the most Country
album that we have done simultaneously.”
Jesse joins in, “We started (this conversation) with was there a concept
to this record and I think the only concept was to write the kinds of
songs that we used to hear on the radio when we were growing up.”
The song “Neon Pike,” sounds straight out of the era of Cream with Eric
Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce.
Many readers will not understand the word pike and therefore, will not
understand the title Neon Pike, so we ask Jesse & Noah to explain the
background to the name of the album and of the song by the same name.
Jesse explains, “The pikes are the old turnpikes and they were the old
farm roads around Nashville and there were tolls on each side of the
city. Each pike in Nashville goes out to an outlying town, such as the
Franklin Pike.”
Noah further illuminates, “They would have been farming areas back then.
The pikes are still around and we live on Hillsboro Pike. What is
interesting about the pikes is they all seem to have their own
personality. As things in the middle of the city continue to get more
gentrified the center of the city is losing something culturally. I
think the culture is being pushed out to the pikes.
There are a lot of people on the internet posting pictures of what the
Nashville skyline looked like in 2011 versus what it looks like now. It
is really crazy. I don’t know another city that has gone through that
kind of change lately.”
“Samantha by Starlight,” is the song that they agree set the tone for
the album Neon Pike and there is a short organ intro by Defiglia. It is
a song that simply invites the listener to sing along with the chorus
and one can easily envision audiences moving to the music.
Noah says, “That was our attempt at a Heartland Rock song. We had some
shows in the Midwest and we hung out with some people there. It was our
attempt to do a John (Cougar) Mellencamp type of song.”
“Chances,” the tenth song on the album is about finally meeting someone
that is so important to you that you are willing to risk falling in love
again and making a commitment to that special person. The message could
not be any clearer than the lyrics, “Yours
is the kind that is much too precious to lose. I want you to know I’m
taking my next chance on you.” The guitar solo by Noah Bellamy is
some of the best playing this writer has heard in many years.
“We haven’t done (all of the songs) live yet, but we have been working
them in and we will keep working them in on the next couple of runs that
we do.
“Chances,” is definitely an (audience) favorite.
It comes off way better than I
could even have imagined live. A lot of people have heard it now too,
because it keeps getting passed around,” says Jesse.
Jesse tells us that Noah dreamed the chorus and as he starts to tell the
story he turns the conversation over to Noah.
Noah explains, “I know that sounds lame. I woke up and I had the chorus
in my head from the dream and I kept singing it and messing around with
it. Then I started writing something else that I thought was another
song, but it was really the verse section of it. This was when we were
getting ready to record “Gambler’s Heart.” Originally, when I heard the
song in my head it was more like a ballad. It was more like a Roy
Orbison song, but then when I added the verse I thought we probably have
enough ballads, so it has a very seventies quality.
The solo section I did is two different guitars answering each other. It
is me pretending to be two different guitarists. There are two different
guitar sounds on it, a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul, which
are the classic Rock sounds. It starts off with the Stratocaster and a
very clean, direct sound and then it hands over to the Gibson Les Paul
in the second half. It is kind of two solos in one. That is a trick that
I have been doing for a long time. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd that had
three guitar players would do stuff like that.”
One of the prettiest songs to come along in many years in any genre is
“I Just Want Rain.” The beauty of the music is juxtaposed to the lyrics
that provide a social commentary about farmers and how so often they are
politicized by all sides of the political spectrum then comes the simple
refrain in the chorus “I just want rain.”
Noah talks about the song, “I had the idea for the chorus and I wasn’t
sure what it meant yet. You always hear about farmers who are thrown
into political discussions. People always want to know what they think
about things and then they get used by people on both sides. The farmer
though doesn’t care about any of that. The only thing he really cares
about is rain and having a good crop.”
Adding to that Jesse says, Beyond all of the political B.S. there is
basic survival and everybody has to eat.”
In terms of the music for “I Just Want Rain,” Noah says, “This is one
track that is without most of the band members. It is just Jesse, Sambo,
Billy playing percussion and me. I
used a very old school drum machine sound for the kick drum. It is a
Roland 808, which became really popular in Hip-Hop music. Then there is
the bass and flute. The inspiration is from minimalist composers.
Lyrically it is the most Country (of the songs on the album), but at the
same time it is a little more out there musically.”
There is a bit of a surprise at the end of the song “I Just Want Rain,”
and we will keep our comments to a minimum, so we do not spoil the
surprise and instead let Noah share his thoughts.
“That is the second part of “Neon Pike.” It is a hidden Easter egg. The
joke is “Neon Pike” is “Neon Pike Part One,” but you don’t see where
Part Two is on the album until you get there.”
The second last song on the album is “How To Hang the Moon,” and it is a
gentle song. Noah Bellamy takes the lead vocals.
He says, “It comes from one of the old expressions that our grandmother
used to say. She would say that so and so hung the moon or he thought he
hung the moon. You take something that is not meant literally and you
take something that is poetic and you interpret it literally as though
someone did actually hang the moon.”
The casual music fan often thinks the top forty songs played by radio
are the “hits” when in truth, while some of those songs are very good,
they are backed by big money machines that often pave the way. If it was
a more level playing field several of the songs that you hear on Jesse &
Noah’s Neon Pike would be the
“hits” you would be listening to. Those are the words of this writer and
the opinion of this magazine and those thoughts were not expressed by
Jesse & Noah, just so this message does not get misconstrued. There are
many other independent artists who are talented and deserve to be heard
as well. Do yourself a favor purchase Neon Pike and listen to some
fabulous songs, the “hits” you often do not get a chance to hear.
Please
visit the website for Jesse & Noah.
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Noah
says, “We brought in more musicians and other engineers, so we were able
to focus more on our parts because of that, whereas before we were
producing and engineering a lot of it ourselves. It took the pressure
off with not having to do that.”