JAKOB DYLAN

Chasing new sounds with an old friend

Women and Country, the second solo album from Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan, came together in the studio within days. But that doesn’t worry him. “I’ve done records that have taken eight months, and I don’t know what happened in all that time,” he says with a laugh. Perhaps credit for that efficiency should go to the crack team of professionals he assembled for the record, including producer T Bone Burnett—back in the studio with Dylan for the first time since the Wallflowers’ multiplatinum Bringing Down the Horse—and alt-country darlings Neko Case and Kelly Hogan, who provide harmony vocals. We caught up with Dylan on the West Coast to talk about his new music.

What was on your mind when you started writing Women and Country?

I had been talking to T Bone about making some music together again. That got me very excited. I was clearly able to envision a sound that I could fit my vocals into: It wasn’t going to be acoustic, and yet it wasn’t going to be a typical rock ’n’ roll record. It put me into a setting, a mood that I found really interesting.

What was that sound, as you imagined it?

Very organic. We wanted to hear earth tones. I’m not too hung up on it sounding old-world, or what the particular instrumentation was. I’ve spent a lot of time in the studio making things go backwards and forwards and going through different amplifiers, and I don’t think we got too hung up on that.

Did the songs evolve much once you got into the studio?

There’s always a natural process—as soon as you put a drum or a bass in, something different happens. But that’s the exciting part. I enjoy bringing a song that’s hopefully as fully formed as possible into a room with people who can enhance that and surprise me. I’ve never been interested in going into the studio and playing all the instruments. If it were all my ideas, it would be pretty boring. And T Bone has a way of getting everybody enthusiastic to bite off quite a bit. I think the record when it came together began to feel very conceptual and ambitious—but T Bone’s good company to chase that kind of thing with.

How did Neko Case and Kelly Hogan get involved?

We’d talked about having someone sing background, and we wanted to make sure we were adding an element of personality to the record. It’s encouraging to know that people, no matter what their level is, will still want to be part of music they respond  to.

Did you work out the harmonies on the spot?

The two of them had worked on their stuff beforehand. So a lot of it was very prepared, but a lot happened in the studio on the fly. What they did was very surprising to my ears.

What guitars did you play on the album?

I only brought my Martin 000-42. I’ve gone through phases of collecting guitars, but I don’t much anymore. I’ve had guitars that I thought were a good idea at the time, but they just had nothing in them. They were empty. Now I just try to keep the good guitars around, the ones that feel good and the ones that inspire you to knock something out of them.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?

That implies I’ve learned something. (laughs) I’ve been through a lot, I’ve seen a lot, but I can’t say that adds up to anything concrete. I guess as you do it longer, you find out what you’re interested in. You simplify that as you go along to what matters most. Do good things and put them forward, and good things will come of it.

–Katie Dodd