Jamie McLean Band is no stranger to music. Cutting his teeth as a musician, touring the globe as the guitarist for artists including The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Aaron Neville, Brett Dennen and more, McLean has honed his art. Now, he’s releasing his new record One and Only, an 11-track collection of gritty alt-country combined with Tom Petty-channeling heartland rock & roll. Produced by Wilco’s Ken Coomer at the Sound Emporium in Nashville and features contributions from Sam Bush (NPR, Billboard, No Depression) and Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), One and Only is an accumulation of everything McLean’s worked for.
For Folk’s Sake caught up with McLean to talk about how he defines success, the ever-changing music industry and the importance of getting out and enjoying your surroundings, whether you’re at home or on the road. Read on below, and catch McLean on tour now.
Who is Jamie McLean Band?
I always say I’m the last guy to know. The music is so close to me and such a part of me that I’m a bad critic of what I do. Jamie McLean Band plays solid roots, blues, soul, rock and roll. I’d like to think we take a bit of everything from a lot of places like New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, New York to make a little gumbo of our own. We’ve been lucky enough to tour with some of our heroes like Gregg Allman, Taj Mahal, Dr. John, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Los Lobos and more. I grew up outside of New York City playing in a band with my brother Carter McLean who plays drums at Lion King on Broadway. I moved to New Orleans to join Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and that band and that city really shaped me. It’s the closest thing I’ve found in the US that feels like a foreign country. To have Mardi Gras Indians running around and drinking in the streets and parades just because it’s Sunday or Monday or Tuesday… they know how to have some fun and the streets are oozing with soul.
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