Interview with Bluesman Jarrod Dickenson. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.com: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music. How exactly did your adventure take of? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Jarrod Dickenson: – I grew up in Waco, Texas, which is about an hour and a half from both Dallas and Austin in either direction. I didn’t start playing music until I was 18 years old, but music was always present in my childhood. I grew up listening to my father’s record collection, which consisted of artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Jim Croce, Tom Petty and others. From listening to people like Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan I discovered the great bluesmen and women that came before them, like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and so many others.

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When I was 18 years old a few of my friends had started playing guitar, so I decided to give it a try as well. I didn’t have any career aspirations at that point – I simply loved music, and wanted to see if I could learn to play guitar just for my own enjoyment. However, once I started trying to learn to play the guitar, music quickly became all I could think about and all I was interested in doing.

As for “making a living” from music, depending on the day you ask me, you might get a different answer! There are certainly any number of career paths that are far easier in terms of making money, but we’re doing our best to squeak by, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound? What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

JD: – I think it’s normal for artists to evolve over time, and my music is certainly no exception. My earlier works were more rooted in the acoustic, folk-singer/storyteller tradition. I like to think that my songs still tell a story, but I’ve let my blues and rock and roll influences start to show up more in my own writing in recent years.

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

JD: – The best songs are fairly equally balanced between the two. If a song makes you stop and think, and also causes you to feel something then it’s a song well-written.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

JD: – As both a writer and a performer you certainly hope that people will connect with your songs, and that they will feel whatever emotion you are trying to convey. The best live shows are the ones where you and the audience are on the same page, taking the same journey together. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does there’s nothing else quite like it.

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JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

JD: – I would like to believe that there will come a point where music is deemed valuable once again, and artists are paid fairly for their work. In this current streaming age it’s tougher than ever for musicians to make a living from their work, and I think both artists and fans suffer as a result.

JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

JD: – I’ve been listening to my buddy, JP Ruggieri.

Interview by Simon Sarg

Note: https://jazzbluesnews.com/2023/03/19/useu-jazz-blues-association-festivals/ You can express your consent and join our association, which will give you the opportunity to perform at our Jazz and Blues festivals, naturally receiving an appropriate royalty. We cover all expenses. The objectives of the interview are: How to introduce yourself, your activities, thoughts and intellect, and make new discoveries for our US/EU Jazz & Blues Association, which organizes festivals, concerts and meetings in Boston and various European countries, why not for you too!! You can read more about the association here. https://jazzbluesnews.com/2022/11/19/useujba/