JJS: Country/Rock Rodeo

Featured Artist:  School's Open
Venue:               School II
Date:                 December 1, 2010
Time:                 7:00pm

Jeffrey James Sutherland  (JJS) grew up on a blend of country and rock music.  JJS was enraptured by the sound of bands such as his two favorites:  The Monkeys and Credence Clearwater Revival.  His father enjoyed the more traditional country sounds of artists such as Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash.  His father was deeply involved in horse culture, and the two would travel together from rodeo to horse show.  Music always accompanied the father/son team on their trips.  JJS recalls his father’s tactics to instill an appreciation for country music, “I would want to listen to The Monkeys and my father would make me listen to an entire album of Patsy Cline first.  In order for him to allow me to listen to CCR, my father would make me listen to an entire Hank Williams record.”  In this manner, the energy of infectious pop music and the lyrical storytelling of country music became ingrained in JJS.

Though writing and performing music was always his first passion, JJS discovered he had other talents on stage.  He worked for a time helping his manager sell comedians to venues and would do so by giving impromptu examples of different comedians’ jokes.  He discovered his comedic delivery provoked laughs, dabbled in writing a his own jokes, and ended up spending the next ten years traveling and performing as a comedian.  His is the age-old story of the musician-at-heart using his day job in stand-up to travel from city to city writing songs in hotel rooms during his down time – quite common and relatable.

JJS found notable success with his songwriting while living in Nashville.  There he was able to work with a number of highly talented artists.  JJS said working with the caliber of talent that he did taught him to always bring his A-game.  He took from the experience an improved working knowledge of well-written songs, a focus on the “tightening” of songs with an appealing lyric, melody, and chorus formula, and a realization of how much he did not previously know. 

JJS was showered with praise over his Cd, All My Near Mrs.  However, it was being distributed during a time when Nashville’s target market was beginning to make a shift toward a younger audience.  JJS’s music was meant for a more mature audience, so after receiving a number of unfulfilled promises during high-level meetings, JJS decided to exit Nashville rather than become “a casualty of the town.”  And that is the abbreviated version of how Nashville’s loss became the Twin Cities’ gain. 

Find out more exciting information about JJS and his music:  Jeffrey James Sutherland (JJS)