Jerrells, The
Wanted Man
The Jerrells formed in late 2019, in an effort to explore the more electric American Roots styles of the 1950's. Up to that point I had spent decades playing the hillbilly, western, and swing music of the 20's, 30's and 40's with White Ghost Shivers, as well as more traditional styles of Country. As a kid, I was completely enthralled by rock n' roll, in all its forms. It only made sense that now everything would come crashing together in The Jerrells. "Wanted Man" is a collection of songs from 3 different recording sessions. Chronologically, "Powder Room Mama" was the first song The Jerrells ever recorded, and the first song I wrote for the band. I had an opportunity to film and record high quality video and audio in Winter of 2019, and so I essentially assembled a band overnight. Without a rehearsal, we quickly recorded a handful of songs 100% live for what would become a demo video for the band, in an effort to get gigs. We did mostly cover songs, to showcase the different styles we were capable of, from swing to rock n' roll. It was all standard material, plus "Powder Room Mama". I really felt like I had hit on something, as far as songwriting and musical direction for the band. In early 2020, I wrote a bunch of songs, and entered a proper studio in Austin, TX. We tracked what would become the bulk of this record. I had been listening to a ton of Rockabilly, new and old, and that influence can certainly be found here along with a variety of other electric roots styles. We ended up with 9 songs , and the record was almost released as a short LP. Then, the pandemic hit. At that point, I had become completely engulfed with the wilder side of Hillbilly Boogie, Country Bop, and Rockabilly of the 50's , and decided to do some home recording. I ended up playing most of the instruments myself, and had some friends record some parts remotely, as we were all on lockdown. Two of those songs from that period of the Summer of 2020 made it onto this collection, and filled out what is now a 12 song record. It's been a long road, but we're all very happy with "Wanted Man", and hope that you dig it too! Jeremy Slemenda