Q & A
Jaren Johnston
The Cadillac Three frontman on their new album, odd gifts from Billy Gibbons, religion, and writing 200 songs a year.
Words: Polly Glass
Jaren Johnston: you want songs, he’s got ’em – lots of ’em.
DYLAN RUCKER/PRESS
"Me and Chris [Shifflett] are pretty good friends,” Jaren Johnston says of his band The Cadillac Three’s connection to one of our guest editors. “And we met Dave [Grohl] and Taylor [Hawkins] a while ago. We’re huge fans, and Dave was a huge influence on me, starting off as a drummer.”
On one level Johnston is a true southern child – all trucker caps, Jack Daniel’s and the most spectacularly country-fried accent in Tennessee. But there are other ‘versions’ of him. There’s the boy who grew up on funk, rock, grunge, southern Baptist music and more. The guy who’ll just as likely listen to Fugazi as Hank Williams Sr. The well-travelled millennial who spoke out in favour of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer, losing a few fans in the process.
Speaking from his home in Florida, where he’s been enjoying some quality time with his wife and three-year-old son, Johnston has been adjusting to life as a homebody. Alongside parenting duties and producing other bands, he’s used the time to make The Cadillac Three’s second album of 2020, the irresistible, funked up Tabasco & Sweet Tea.
Tabasco & Sweet Tea is funky as hell. Do you think you’d have made it if it hadn’t been for the pandemic?
Yeah, I do. It just probably wouldn’t have happened this quick. The original idea I started working on, I guess… When we were in Amsterdam I was singing the vocals for Money Aint Shit, just sitting in a hotel room singing the solo part. So some of the stuff was done in 2019. But then this whole [covid] thing hit, and I had nothing but time. Creatively I think it really helped me get through those first couple of months, not being able to play shows. Cos when you do something for twenty years, and then have it taken away from you without warning, it can do crazy things to your head.