Artist: Erik Vincent Huey
Hometown: Morgantown, West Virginia
Song: “That’s What Jukeboxes Are For”
Album: Appalachian Gothic
Release Date: January 20, 2023
Label: Appalachian AF/The Orchard
In Their Words: “Willie Nelson has a quote about jukeboxes: ‘99% of the world’s lovers are not with their first choice. That’s what makes the jukeboxes play.’ This song is an exploration of that sentiment. My grandfather became a bartender after he was injured in the coal mines. I spent my weekends as a young kid in his bar and used all my quarters on the pinball machine and the jukebox. Ever since, I’ve been fascinated with old jukeboxes and their curation — how one machine can hold the entire universe of songs that you can hear in a particular bar. I envisioned it as a George Jones-type ballad but Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel — who produced the record — said the song should have an old-fashioned honky-tonk Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn duet vibe, which you can hear from Roscoe’s opening guitar riff. There are about a dozen classic ’60s and ’70s country songs referenced in the lyrics; I’ve even made a playlist of them. Roscoe thought his friend, the incredible alt-country chanteuse Laura Cantrell, would be perfect, and on this song, Laura sounds like a cross between Kitty Wells and Edith Piaf. You can hear the teardrops splash in the whiskey when she sings.” — Erik Vincent Huey
