BIO
PureFire Records presents the inception of Swamp-Soul in the form of Junior Jackson and their full-length debut release These Old Nites. Conceived and controlled by Johnny Horn (Hi-Fi Killers, The Notables), Jackson brings out Horn's Southern roots and four-cornered residential experiences with the soul, funk and blues influences of his youth. Compared to the likes of JJ Cale, Tony Joe White and is equivalent to what if Jerry Reed and the Rolling Stones cut an album on Hi Records? Lyrically, this album offers honest expression about emotional distress, women, politics and the comforts of the country over low-fi funk and heavy drums. The politically relevant first single, Poor Man, embellishes upon the economic miscues of our modern-day government while the title track is a biography of country-induced loneliness complete with a saxophone solo by Stuart Macdonald (The Sharpshooters). Johnny Horn, son of legendary session musician Jim Horn, has been a fixture in the Seattle music scene since joining The Defenders in the 80s. Since that time, Horn has established himself as a reputable session bassist/guitarist working with labels such as SubPop (Evil Tamborines), Conception (The Notables) and Loose Groove (Hi Fi Killers) and currently resides as a soul/blues DJ at KEXP. For the past 25 years, Horn has traveled and built a collection of concepts, demos and experiences that have translated into the Junior Jackson project. The process of recording this record was as natural as moonshine. Just after the century changed over, Horn returned from New York with a handful of 2-track demos he recorded in his apartment in Brooklyn. After settling in and connecting with the emerging PureFire Records, the project began to take form and was completed and transferred to 2 tape. In this era of over-produced digital recording, Junior Jackson expresses a fresh and grimy analog approach to the retro soul movement introducing this new brand of Swamp-Soul. The moods on the album are diverse and there is a certain live feel rarely captured by his contemporaries. Unlike his work with the Hi-Fi Killers which focused on his production and urban instrumentation strengths, Junior Jackson is a vehicle that allows Johnny Horn to step up front as a lyricist and composer to explore more complicated concepts under the guise of his somewhat peculiar and funny alter ego Junior. It is rich with soul. Accompanied by an abundance of guitar, both dirty and melodic, Johnny Horn shows off his skills of composition in a genre that is all his own. Along with MacDonald, Horn is joined by longtime friend John Rodde (The Defenders, CT Thomas) on drums. For the sake of touring, Junior has also added bassist Jim Tillman (Love Battery) and guitarist Lynvol Golding (The Specials).