Bad Things
 | Author: Jauretsi | Posted: June 9th, 2009 | Filed under: TV | | Comments Off |
(Opening Titles to HBO’s True Blood)
Jace Everett is a smart-ass, and a true throwback to Country music when country had that bad ass vibe to it. Anyway, I gues Alan Ball figured it out first when he picked Jace’s song to open up his HBO show, True Blood which will begin its second season in a few days. It’s time to check up on Sookie Stackhouse back in the dirty south… and all those loose ends from Season 1! Here’s a chat with the songwriter, and his “Mr Toads Wild Ride” to fame.
Jauretsi: Where is your name, Jace from? And what is your background?
Jace Everett: Jace is an acronym. Here’s the rundown; my dad is Jimmie, my elder sister Andrea, my mother Cheryl, and a family name is Everett. Everett is really my middle name. My last name is top secret! I was born in Indiana, but grew up in Texas. I spent my early years with Elvis, Sinatra, Willie and Waylon. That’s also whom I’ve spent my later years with. I grew up extremely religious. Not my parents fault. I was a self-proclaimed evangelical fundamentalist neo-con. Then I started reading books. Been fucked up and happy ever since.
Explain the origin of the song “Bad Things” and why you wrote it. Also, how did it get picked up by HBO?
The initial germ of “Bad Things” was based on anger. A guy I was playing bass for owed me some money and was less than forthcoming. The original lyric was, “I wanna do bad things to you”. I intended on beating my money out of the boy if necessary. It wasn’t. So, when I re-visited the tune I decided sex sells a little more than vengeance and thought the proposition might be a little less threatening as “with you”. Consenting adults seem to agree. A lot of folks think I was ripping off Chris Issak and his tune “Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing”. Completely untrue! I was ripping off Steve Earle and his tune “Poor Boy” from the “I Feel Alright” album. I’m a thief, yeah, but I honor my victims. Alan Ball was one of the 210,000 people who downloaded the song in January of 2006. He initially used it as a placeholder for the opening credits of a new project, “True Blood”. Apparently they got tired and bored. It stuck! Alan Ball and Gary Calamar (the music supervisor for True Blood and countless other programs) are solely responsible for me making the new record, Red Revelations. The poor bastards saved my career. Please send all complaints their direction!
So I hear you have a Facebook following now? Explain the internet audience for True Blood and how its affected your fan base?
Don’t we all have a Facebook following? It’s a strange time. Everybody with internet access has the ability to promote themselves, run their mouth, and basically clutter the innerwebs with whatever tripe or vitriol they can summon. It’s empowering on one level and completely depressing on another. I’m just another wanker with a keyboard and broadband access, really. But, I do have a song on a hit TV show, which in some minds validates me. Thankfully, not in my mind. MySpace has been a boon. I get between 8,000 and 12,000 plays a day. But what does it really mean? I don’t know. I’m grateful for the audience and there are thousands of people out there that really give a damn about what I’m doing. That’s really a blessing. I owe those people the best I can do as an artist. I think I’ve delivered with my new record. I hope they agree. In the end though, I do what I do. It’s all I know how to do. I’m hopeful that people will love it and grateful when they do.
Care to tell us anything about your new record? What are the themes of the album? Is it parallel to the mysterious allure of death like the show, or is it a whole different beast? What can we expect from your new body of work?
The new record will be out on June 23rd. We’ll be doing a live concert here in Nashville on the 22nd which will be broadcast as a Webcast on my site and a few other URL’s, debuting the new album. The new record will be deemed a departure from my previous works that most folks know. It’s not country. Unless it’s a country yet undiscovered! Very rock and roll, bluesy, 1957 in an alternate universe. It’s, in many ways, the most personal record I’ve made. We took country, rock, blues, americana, and soul and put them in a big pot full of fear, loathing, desire, hope, and faith then boiled it down to the dumbest bits we could find. Shit, I think I’m in love.
Album available June 23rd on JaceEverett.com or iTunes. There will be a special Edition Blood Red Vinyl $25.00 plus shipping (autographed album jacket/photo)
True Blood, Season 2 will air on Sunday, June 14 at 9 PM ET only on HBO.
Bust out those Tivo’s!
J
