Artist: Jack Barksdale
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Latest Album: Voices
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Jack Attack, Jackal, Jackaroo, Jackadaisical
If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?
I’ve always loved songwriters who take the art form seriously and truly attempt to elevate it. I’ve always been a little disappointed by the number of songwriters I could find who fit into this label and standard. So I guess I’d like to become one of those artists for someone else. There seems to be a grace given to songwriters that isn’t extended to artists in other art forms, and I think that’s one of the reasons why “great” songwriters can be so scarce. I’d like to try to rid my art of any reliance on that grace. That’s at least a step in the right direction.
What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – inform your music?
I’ve been recently getting into the work of Bertolt Brecht. He was a great playwright in the first half of the 20th century. He had lots of interesting theories about how theater could be done and what purpose it served. I’ve been trying to think about songwriting in that same way, really considering the limits and the liberties, thinking about what songs can or should be doing and how to effectively achieve that.
Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
While I don’t think “genre is dead,” I sort of think it should be. It’s just a shortcut of human communication, and when it’s treated as anything more than that, it can be sort of damaging. The same is true for a lot of arbitrary distinctions like the idea of species, for example. Technically, every living organism to exist has been its own species, slightly different from any of its ancestors. I’m not quite sure how species that clone themselves fit into this – they may just be considered the same organism – but ultimately it doesn’t matter, it’s all just arbitrary titles and distinctions. I know that’s a crazy rant, but, keeping all of that in mind, I would say the most accurate “communicative shortcuts” that can describe my music on a macro level are folk, Americana, and singer-songwriter, along with some overtones of certain styles of blues, country, and rock.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
Lately, I’ve really been loving Italian tarantella music as well as some Basque trikiti music. I love most kinds of folk music, especially folk dance music. I’m hesitant to say the word “traditional,” because that word often seems to be associated with the more polished, almost novelty, styles of folk music. That’s not really what I’m drawn to. I’m drawn to the things that speak to people and energize people and move people. I’m not as interested in the glorification and worship of the past simply because it’s the past. I may find some of these “traditional” things extremely insightful, provocative, and academically interesting, I just don’t often find the same energy and emotion that I find in “folk” music.
If you were a color, what shade would you be – and why?
Well, as Newton discovered a long time ago, white light is comprised of every color in the visible light spectrum combined. And I believe that no matter how frustrating or counterintuitive it is, the old saying is true – we contain multitudes. There may be some slight variations between us, but mostly, in metaphorical terms, I think we’re all pretty much shades of white light.
Photo Credit: Jack Barksdale
