 Credit: Yasmin Shirali Singer-songwriter and Oklahoma native Jared Deck released his self-titled debut this past May 6th. The intensely personal work was the first time Deck allowed himself to truly open up with his songwriting and it has been earning him accolades from publications including Rolling Stone and American Songwriter. Deck graciously took the time to talk about finally being ready to make a record, his influences and more. Congratulations on the album, which has gotten a lot of good press out of the gate. Are you pleasantly surprised by that? It’s interesting because I felt like the record was good, but I didn’t really have high expectations of what other people would think. I’m one of those people who just says, “Let’s put it out and see what happens.” I recently got asked in an interview if the good press was validating, I don’t feel it's validating my music but rather it’s validating all of the work I’ve put into it - and I’m incredibly grateful for it. That said, I was thrilled with some of the feedback, which has been really encouraging. There was one comparison to Chris Stapleton and my immediate thought was, “Man I have to step up my game!” (laughing). Many artists say that you have a lifetime to write your first record, but it seems that you’ve lived a couple lifetimes already having experienced hardship and having worked numerous jobs including grocery store clerk, in the oilfields and even a run for political office. So, was music something you always wanted to pursue or did that come later? Yeah, it feels like it. I’ve been playing in bands and writing songs since I was fourteen years old, so it was there all along. When I started out I was the world’s worst songwriter, I was really bad. I knew I wanted to say something but I didn’t know how or what to say. I got to be decent, but it took me a long time to grow into what I hope is a more mature songwriter. And during that time, music was something I pursued and failed at a couple times, but I never really had the focus I have now. If you asked me ten years ago if I was ready to put this on a bigger stage, I would have said yes, but I wouldn’t have been correct.  So what made you ready this time?
I think it’s really once you know you found your voice. It was me coming to the realization and admitting to myself that I have failed at a lot of things in life, but I also learned from them. A big thing for me too was that I got to the point where pride was no longer an issue. I expect to get a negative review or several, and that’s fine because my self-worth isn’t in that. Also, I think that my writing finally caught up with my experiences. The whole time I was writing songs before, I tended to mask over my feelings. It wasn’t because I was dishonest, it was like things were an inside joke, I got it, but others necessarily didn’t. Whereas with this record, it was important for me to be really open and honest. That started with “Grace” which was the first song on this record that I wrote. That was the first song I literally looked at the paper and came to grips with the fact I wasn’t who I thought I would be at this point in my life. We all have this idea of who we are and who were going to be when we’re older and sometimes you get to that place and you’re not living where you thought you’d live, doing what you thought you’d be doing or aren’t the person you thought you were going to be. That song was the moment of me coming to grips with that and it was so blatantly honest I was a little bit of afraid of it for a while because where I come from we try not to wear our emotions on our sleeves. The record seems to have a lot of that honesty and while the songs are your stories, they are also relatable to the listener. Here’s the thing, when I wrote “Grace” not everybody I was playing with at that time liked the song. It was a completely different feel from what I was doing in that band [Green Corn Revival]. Some of the other songs were passed over lyrically because when I would sit down and read them I wasn’t even sure I related to them in the way they were worded. And I definitely wanted to change that. All of the songs I grew up enjoying, I related to in some way and it was a bit of a goal for me to make sure that the songs on this record were real life stories, the kind of stuff that people actually go through. Absolutely, that’s evident on the record particularly in songs like “American Dream” or even “17 Miles.” I wanted to ask though about the closer, “Song You Can Use.” Is there a story behind that song? Yeah, I guess (laughing). I would say the original idea was that I was writing down all of the bad, generic advice you get in life. I grew up in a modest place where we are taught to manage expectations. Most people would just say you should follow your dreams, but then you tell them your dreams, which seem unreachable, and they’re like, “Oh you’re going to do that? Then you should probably get a job.” This song is me talking to the people who pretended to support me, but then didn’t really. I definitely have had people in my life who have needed someone else to blame and I have been that person for them and have not held it against them. This song is for them, like, “Here’s a song for you.” You have been compared to John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen, among others. Are those artists you cite as influences? I’m a big fan of early rock and roll, Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, and of course, Springsteen and Mellencamp, but Alejandro Escovedo and Joe Ely, they are the most influential to me. I found Escovedo over ten years ago now. What was interesting was that I was working at a factory at the time and there were two older co-workers, one who was really into Americana and the other was into punk. The one was always telling me I needed to come to an Escovedo show with him and the other friend of mine was telling me to check out this band Rank and File, which was the band Alejandro played guitar in. So I was introduced to him from two different angles, one as the mature songwriter he is today and the other as a new wave cow-punk hero, so that was pretty neat. I could go on and on with influences, but one more is Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I played piano at a black gospel church for a long time and since then, she has become one of my all-time favorites. That’s some excellent taste. With the album out, is a tour next? I am touring to promote the record and am working on more dates right now. Everywhere I go people seem to be relating to the music. My goal is to make the kind of music you grew up loving, to keep moving, and if I fall down, to get up, learn from it and keep getting better. For more information visit his official website Find him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Purchase the album here
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