Josh Caterer debuts blues-infused Jackson Mud in Lombard
Josh Caterer has the blues - and that's turning out to be a good thing.
The Smoking Popes frontman recently announced a new band called Jackson Mud, a tribute to Muddy Waters and the "attitude" teeming in Johnny Cash's famous song "Jackson." Their debut EP "Down Time Blues" was released in June, and they're celebrating with a live show Saturday, July 11, at Brauer House in Lombard.
True to form, the record's five tracks are characterized by early rock 'n' roll grooves and the electric Chicago blues licks that were born not far from the childhood Lake in the Hills home where Caterer and his brothers, Eli and Matt, grew up on their father's impressive record collection of John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Johnny Winter, and other influential jazz and rock acts.
Though, as teenagers, the three would eventually gravitate toward The Ramones and Sex Pistols to inform the pop punk of the Popes, Caterer admits they've always had a relationship with the blues: "We've been playing it for years, we would just never play it during our set." The three-chord progressions became a good warm-up for the brothers in rehearsals, he says, "because there's so much feeling there."
Jackson Mud is not Caterer's first side project - after reconnecting with his religious roots he introduced the Christian rock band Duvall in 2001 and has also released gospel albums as part of his role as a worship leader at the Village Church of Barrington - but the project is something he has shelved for quite some time.
"I never seemed to have time for something like a blues project," he admits. "My songwriting energy has always been pulled in other directions because of different projects I was working on, and there were times with Smoking Popes that it was all-consuming."
Yet his faith and his age were two motivators that allowed him to "just go with it." Finding God again, he says, "enables me to approach music with a different perspective than I used to. I just enjoy it more because I'm no longer looking to my art for the underlying purpose and meaning to my life … or trying to grasp at immortality."
In fact, as Caterer grows older he acknowledges that blues is perhaps where he belongs. "I think there's something wonderful about the sense of tradition that there is in blues music," he says. "You can free yourself from the need to constantly be relevant by latching on to something that transcends any kind of musical trend."
And he's quick to point out there is a relationship between punk and blues, too.
"It's angst either way you look at it," he says. "But as you mature, teen angst and anger is replaced with the ability to express things with more subtlety. They're both about communicating the reality of human existence."
That doesn't mean Jackson Mud's songs are necessarily downtrodden, even if their titles might seem so. "Can't Nobody Love Me" was actually written in celebration of the 20-year marriage and two kids he's enjoyed with his wife, Stefanie. She's "the girl who inspired a lot of my early tortured love songs for the Smoking Popes," Caterer says, "so I thought it would be appropriate to include a new song for her on this debut effort."
As far as other family goes, Caterer's brothers are not a part of Jackson Mud (the band is comprised mostly of the personnel from his gospel albums), but the siblings are all still active in Smoking Popes, recently opening shows for Face to Face and The Replacements.
"We've already played more shows this year than we have in the last three years combined," he says, attributing that to the reunion with original drummer Mike Felumlee earlier in 2015. They've discussed reissuing more of the Popes albums and some regional tours. "There's still a lot of enthusiasm there and we're not slowing down."
With Jackson Mud, there's just more to explore.
Jackson Mud EP Release Party
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, July 11
Where: Brauer House, 1000 N. Rohlwing Road, Lombard,
Tickets: $7-$10