As we talked on the phone it only took a couple of minutes. Guitarist and singer Jesse Dayton was full on, pulling no punches, taking no crap. I think that as musicians, if we had done that in the 60s we would have had totally shit music.
Like we wouldn't have Bob Dylan. Or they would have worried about their fan base. There might have been a hint of a sore head when I called the next day, but who am I to judge.
In more recent years he has worked with a whole new cut of musical hero such as X, and Supersuckers. He has worked numerous times with musician and horror film creator Rob Zombie — in front of the camera, behind the scenes, and has opened for him on tour. He has nine albums in his own right under his belt including his most recent release The Revealer.
He performs, he tours, he writes, he collaborates, he acts. Jesse had a show one night and just blew the roof off of the place. He makes quite a first impression … He can do it all. He's a showman, a badass guitar player, a hell of a singer, a great songwriter, and he just has that swagger to everything he does to where you can't help but watch.
But how did all this start? How did the boy surrounded by country music make that leap from Waylon Jennings to X? For Dayton it was a perfectly natural progression. He was the youngest of three in a musical family. My dad passed away, but everybody sings. Everybody plays piano and plays guitar. We had drum sets, and it was mandatory to take piano lessons you know. You didn't have any choice, it was like the military.
You had to do your two years of piano. Those were the first three songs I learnt on the guitar. He soon discovered he was a natural musician. I was supposed to be a guitar player. I didn't take the guitar off my neck for the first four years. I studied jazz and country and rockabilly. I studied with different teachers. At first I just taught myself. I got home and I just figured stuff out on the records. I would put my three quarters on top of the needle on the record player to slow the record down.
But the message, and the songs, and the energy, that's what I was attracted to. The first concert that the young Jesse Dayton attended was George Jones, and it was a no-show. We came back the next weekend and the band plays like five songs and then he finally walks out.
He's got this high collar kind of velvet Tom Jones country pimp outfit on. A in these cheesy bands. Then at 15 his friend asked him to a gig. And I was just … well … the next day I went and put grease in my hair and bought a leather jacket.
We talked about the impact that punk had on his, my, generation. How immediate the change kicked in. I mean my parents thought it was insane. But it's so important. Why are you so weird? For Dayton, punk was an honest voice. He couldn't give a shit about the money, and that is a powerful thing man. It's kind of a scary time; we need those stories now more than ever. Then one night he was playing a gig in Nashville.
I was a kid. You know it's like guys with bad mullet haircuts and singing goofy bumper sticker songs. You want to smoke a joint?
The next day, a broke Jesse Dayton was preparing to leave his cheap hotel to fly home when the phone rang. I cut my hand cooking with Jessi Colter last night. Like this guy is putting me on, this is bullshit. It's all about timing. Things just started rolling from there. Then a Ray Price record, then Glen Campbell. The first day I met him was in Nashville. We were playing this Americana conference, a big show. I was shaking in my boots, you know? Up until the end. He was just a beautiful cat.
In the subsequent years, between recording and playing with others and in his own right, Dayton started his own label, Stag Records. While touring with Rob Zombie, Dayton disciplined himself to write two pages of film script every day, and by the end of the tour had the basis of his own horror for the silver screen. This film, Zombex, was ultimately filmed in starring Malcolm McDowell.
It also featured X frontman John Doe, and this introduction led ultimately to a lasting friendship between the pair, which is interesting considering the initial conversation they had with each other about the film.
John Doe remembers the conversation well. I think that Emily cut his head off. I figured out the difference between the film business and the music business. The music business will stab you in the back but the movie business will stab you in the face. They will look at you right in your face, they don't care. Six months after that they were on Letterman. A full US tour was booked. Exene [Cervenka of X] had met Jesse and trusted me. Jesse and Billy listened to the same guitar players as they developed their own styles.
We had faith and it turned out to be a great time as well as rewarding for the audience. We played a straight up punk rock show, which X hadn't been doing with Billy.
Currently I'm working on a sequel to the LA punk history: Under the Big Black Sun, and also a memoir. But between the work with other musicians, between the horror films and the touring, Dayton has continued to write, record and perform his own music.
The Revealer will be well established in U. Visit the Jesse Dayton website for full tour dates and information. Jesse Dayton is the real deal--Badass all the way, and a true professional. Seen him several times, solo and with Doe. How the hell are you? Are the holidays shaping up rightly for you?
Jesse was a pleasure to interview - funny and topical and a fount of knowledge. Should have known he'd be one of your guys. I appreciate the shout, it's been a long time. Fun to read as always, Cara, you pick interesting topics to cover. Jesse is a very talented guy. Years ago Grant Alden wrote the ND piece found at the following link. He was praising Jesse and was puzzled that Jesse's career hadn't reached the stratosphere by then because Grant felt that's where it belonged going on his talent and music.
Unfortunately, like a very large portion of the original ND website, the ensuing discussion one of the longest and most passionate I can recall of Grant's piece didn't make it to the current website.
That's a shame because it was a doozy of a discussion. But here's Grant's article sans comments And it's yourself Jack - it's great to hear from you! That is an really interesting article and it seems to pretty much sum it up. What the hell happened - or at least didn't happen. Could it really just come down to luck?
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