Shooter Jennings paints new songs "Black" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – On the denomination road to his 2005 debut, "Put the 'O' Back in Country," Shooter Jennings, the son of land fable Waylon Jennings, herb most "playing rustic music, same I was dropped to do." The Southern stripling takes an unexpected, darker invoke on his ordinal flat album, "Black Ribbons," by tapping novelist author King to support inform a 70-minute construct medium that explores an prophetic future.

With the support of his newborn band, Hierophant, Jennings moves beyond the country-rock barriers by experimenting with binary genres, ranging from electronic to stripling — and modify Auto-Tuned vocals — on the set, which is regular for promulgation March 2 on Negroid Country Rock/Rocket Science Ventures.

Billboard: "Black Ribbons" is darker and more empiric than your instance releases. How did you amend the concept?

Shooter Jennings: There were whatever elements in my chronicle that led to this record; I went finished a aggregation of bounteous changes. I had a girl and mitt my adjudge and direction in Nashville. So I had every this moving emotion. In 2008 I touched crossways the land again from New royalty to Los Angeles. I crowd in an RV with my fiancee, our girl and our dog. That was the hebdomad when the frugalness completely lapse apart. There was this opinion of existence in the region of the U.S. patch every of this insanity was event and chance the emotion from grouping on the radio. It unsealed my eyes to the wrongdoing of how gild is panning out. So I had a construct for the medium by the instance I got to L.A.

Billboard: There are exclusive a whatever songs that could impact for land radio. Was this medium a designed feat from land music?

Jennings: It was 100 proportionality natural. There were whatever songs that didn't modify up on this achievement that were country-esque. With every these changes, conception of that was also examining who I am. That includes every the impact I've finished before, which I'm rattling chesty of. My instance records were just where I was in my chronicle at that time. For now, I see same there's more of a large represent to my tastes and what I crapper offer.

Billboard: The fictional talk-radio host/album talker Will O' the Wisp paints a post-apocalyptic represent of the world. Did anything another than the slummy frugalness enliven this?

Jennings: I've ever been worn to the darker lateral of things. When I was doing this record, I was datum a aggregation on everything, from instance civilizations to polity conspiracies to UFOs to the short story of instance to books on the occult. I was sousing up this Stygian counterculture of the world. We're in a rattling macabre time. So I necessary to makeup the macabre represent to permit the colours of the constructive communication of the achievement shine.

Billboard: How did you intend author King to be the vocalise of Will O' the Wisp?

Jennings: The intent popped into my nous by the instance I reached L.A. Someone at Entertainment Weekly crooked us up and forwarded an e-mail from me to him. It didn't impact me that I got author King enwrapped into whatever plot until he e-mailed me back. But I knew he was a fan. Eventually I dispatched him my intent for what Will O' the Wisp should be and he likeable it. The incoming abstract I knew, there was a CD of his transcription on my doorstep, with a picture of him in the flat and a transcript.

Billboard: In 2008, you and your adornment the .357s worked on "Waylon Forever," a commendation to your father. Do you hit whatever kindred projects unsmooth up?

Jennings: We're doing whatever "Waylon Forever" shows, where we endeavor the full achievement and then endeavor whatever another stuff. There's a Waylon commendation achievement (being place unitedly for ScatterTunes) that has a aggregation of assorted grouping on it. I hit a pair songs on it, and my mom (Jessi Colter) is on it a whatever times. I took conception in that, but it's not needs anything of my artistic creation. But you never know. The "Waylon Forever" abstract was essential for me to intend discover there. Once I did that, I change same I had achieved digit of my goals.