 Courtesy of the Artist
Singer-songwriter Jon Worthy recently released his latest album, Only A Dream. Recorded with Lincoln Parish of Cage the Elephant the album deals with life, love, and finding balance. Here, Worthy answers his Essential 8 and tells the story behind the album's title, offers his advice for someone starting out, relays a bucket list item, and more!
What’s the story behind your album’s title? I think the song with the most direct lyrics on the album is the title track Only A Dream and the lyrics fit the narrative of what’s happening in so many places all over the world right now. The song/album title is my John Lennon moment of calling for peace, but at the same time it’s still just an idea and will never happen unless we all do something about it. Only A Dream can mean so many different things too. So many people have these ideas of what they want to be and how they want to do that, but for most people it’s only a dream and nothing ever materializes out of those ideas. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? I’m very much a literal person so I don’t write a lot of stuff that has double meanings. I write about what I’m feeling or what I’ve felt at some point in my life. So naturally, my biggest inspiration is just my relationships with the people I interact with and connect to. I also get inspiration from songs I hear. If I hear a song and the vibe really connects with me I will try to capture a similar vibe, but in my own context and style. When/where do you do your best writing? I write almost all of my songs sitting on my bed. I have to be isolated from everyone and it’s just a matter of sitting there and coming up with melodies that sound cool to me. If I come up with enough parts that sound good to me I will start to put it together in to a full song. I find it to be a daunting process most of the time, but it feels good to have a song that you’re excited about! What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician? I watched a video of Eddie Vedder talking about his career and he said the phrase “Enjoy the struggle”. He went on to say how getting to the next plateau will allow you things you didn’t have prior, but a new set of challenges will arise and its all about enjoying the time and effort it takes you to get to where you want to be. In the 4 years I’ve lived in Nashville and started pursuing music it’s been nothing but a struggle, but I’ve enjoyed every moment!
What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
The best advice I could give someone would be to keep honing in whatever it is you want to do musically. If you want to be a drummer, then keep improving your chops so that you can play with everyone regardless the genre. I know when I first moved to Nashville, I wasn’t very good. It took me a little bit to realize that there are endless amounts of people pursuing the same exact career as me who are way better and way more talented so I had to put in a lot of work improving my guitar paying and song writing skills. I still see artists play all the time and I think to myself I could never do what they’re doing. But you have to keep grinding if you really want it and trust in what you’re doing. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing then you have to stop and rethink your goals. Which song of yours gets the best crowd response? Right now its not even my own song! It’s a cover of Neil Young’s Rockin in the Free World. I’ve been making an effort to go as crazy as possible on stage recently and that song is such a perfect outlet for me to do just that. A song of mine that gets a good response is Hot Bitch. It ends on a 2-minute guitar solo that people seem to dig so I really enjoy playing that one. Especially because the solo is different every time I play it. Favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended? I went to Bonnaroo in 2014 and one of the headliners was Jack White. He set this tone of destruction and intensity from the very first song that you could just feel radiating from him. You could tell he wanted to blow everyone’s mind in the crowd that night and he ended up playing an amazing 2 hour and 30 minute set. He ended the set by saying “Thank you I’ve been Jack White”. While I always thought that was kind of an arrogant line, its always stuck with me as pretty badass too! Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off? My ultimate bucket list item would be to have enough tour dates lined up and to be able to generate enough money for me to quit my day job and go on a legitimate tour. Even if years later my music career were to fade away I’d be pretty proud to know that at one point I was able to be a full time musician and support myself by only playing music! Website Purchase
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