Jedd Hughes has had quite a journey in the music business. Starting in Australia, and then bouncing from Texas to Tennessee to California. He’s traversed the highs of co-writing hit songs with some of country music’s brightest stars and the lows of failed record deals and severe bouts of depression. But all of these experiences have culminated in an incredible collection of authentic, extremely personal, roots-anchored rock-n-roll songs on “WEST”, his latest solo album.
Hughes grew up in Quorn, Australia listening to his father’s old 50’s and 60’s country music records. He spent his teen years playing guitar and touring with Australian country music artists. After high school he moved to Levelland, Texas to study music at South Plains College, then moved to Nashville and was signed to MCA Records in his early 20’s. “As quickly as my solo career came together, it fell apart when my record label was sold, the staff was fired, and I was dropped” Hughes explains. “So I put that part of my dream away and focused on collaboration.” Jedd spent the next decade working as an A-list studio session guitarist. He’s collaborated on dozens of projects with notable country artists from Patty Loveless to Guy Clark and toured with Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill.
While Hughes was flourishing professionally, his personal life was taking a serious turn. He found himself falling deeper and deeper into alcohol abuse and depression. As Hughes puts it, “I started coming off the rails in 2013 when I moved to LA, and by the end of 2015 I was in the midst of a full blown, non-functioning situation.” In the end, the motivation to turn his life around came when he found out he was going to be a father. “I knew that I couldn’t screw this up, and I was gonna have to find a way to get my shit together,” Hughes says. “I quit drinking cold turkey and threw myself into work. I spent time playing guitar on tour, managing a tour, selling merch, anything I could do to keep myself busy. But after a year of that, trying to fix myself and not getting external help, all those things that alcohol had been suppressing began to rear their ugly heads. So I had to really dig in and figure out why I was an alcoholic in the first place.” I was really lucky to get into a good program and find a great therapist to help me get through. The healing process began when I started going to a support group. For just about anyone in the darkness of alcoholism and/or depression the thought of going to a support group seems like it’s impossible. But I’d encourage anyone going through this to find a way to find a way to drag yourself to a meeting. I didn’t even speak at the first few I went to. I just sat in the room and listened to other people talk about their experience. It really helped lighten the load and made me understand that I wasn’t alone.”
The inspiration for Hughes’ new record began with with a phone call from friend Rodney Crowell. Hughes explains, “Rodney called me up and asked what I’d been up to and I said ‘I’m just crawlin’ out of the morning’, you know, it was sort of early. Rodney laughed and replied ‘man, that sounds like a song’. It was right about the time the idea of writing for myself again was starting to creep into my subconscious.” That phone call helped kick off his creative pursuit, Hughes began spending late nights in a spare bedroom writing the albums first single “Animal Eyes”.
“Once that song took shape, I was really proud of it and I felt confident playing it in front of people.” Hughes laughed, “Now I had one, I just needed nine more”. In the age of digital downloads and music streaming, more and more artists have stopped releasing collections of songs on a full length album. But Hughes said, “It didn’t seem like throwing one or two or three songs out there was gonna satisfy the creative journey I was on. I had something to say, and it felt like it was gonna take a complete record to communicate it. So I chipped away at it for about a year and a half. When I finished the instrumental “West” I knew I was finished with it.”
Hughes will spend the next 3 months on the road as a part of Vince Gills band as well as opening up each night with a set of his new music. “I joined Vince’s band a couple of years ago,” Hughes explains. “When I got the record done, I asked him about the tour coming up this year, and if I could get out there to open the shows to share this new material with his audience. He was like sure man, that would be great. As much as I love playing electric guitar as a part of a band, I’m really excited about opening these shows with just me and an acoustic guitar.”
“WEST” will be released on August 30th in the US and Australia. Check out the first single, “Animal Eyes” here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ7OG3yzBHQ
