The Delta Troubadours bassist Jon Franklin isn’t afraid to admit that falling headlong into the music industry can be scary, and he says it’s because passion is often accompanied by a little uncertainty.
“The music industry is extremely volatile, and finding a way to break through all the noise is one of the biggest challenges every musician faces,” he explained in a an email to CL. “Our team works hard each day to find those points of opportunity.”
It really has. After having to change its name from Gritt to The Delta Troubadors, the Gainesville outfit hasn’t let off. Just listen to “Stone Thrasher,” which we first shared on the radio on Tuesday afternoon. The rocker is a cut from a forthcoming release that is about as “pure' rock 'n' roll as you can get,” according to Franklin.
The band plays New World Brewery with hometown boy Max Norton tonight, and we’ll be there to party for sure. Listen to the track below and get more information on the show in our daily live music roundup.
Jon talked about having a lot of question marks surrounding what the band is doing. What does he mean by that?
I don't think anyone gets serious in this industry without having a serious amount of passion, which is almost always naturally accompanied by doubt. The music industry is extremely volatile, and finding a way to break through all the noise is one of the biggest challenges every musician faces. Our team works hard each day to find those points of opportunity.
Why’d you have to go all the way to Muscle Shoals to make this music happen? What did that geography/studio situation do for you that you couldn’t do on your own?
We recorded our first EP, Gritt, at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama back in August 2015. Recording at FAME was a right of passage for us. It was our first time in a professional recording studio and really helped us focus on what we wanted to achieve recording our second album at SkyLab Studios in Gainesville.
You guys were a lot of fun as Gritt and haven’t lost a touch of that with the name change. Can you explain that decision to switch monikers?
We've gone through quite a few names leading up to The Delta Troubadours. The main reason we had to adopt the new moniker was because of a silly legal complication. A band called 'Grit' out in California owned the trademark, and adding another "t" to make "Gritt" didn't provide us with any legal exemption. We're really proud of our new image, name, and sound we've cultivated this year.
You’ve also played some big stages, shows in your time. What does getting on the road and in front of people do for you as far as writing music goes?
Over the past four years we've hit the Florida market pretty hard, and this Southeast tour coming up will be our first experience expanding our project into new markets. We're all really stoked to play in some of the bigger rock 'n' roll cities like Memphis and Nashville, and as far as writing new material goes, we'll just have to wait and see what the road has in store for us.
Lastly, you have new stuff coming. Can you detail that? Is it another EP? LP? Does touring get in the way of that?
The new EP/LP (still undecided on that one) is completely finished and ready. It's about as 'pure' rock 'n' roll as you can get. We just released our first single "Stone Thrasher" last Friday 6/23 and have plans of releasing a 2 more singles over the next few months in the anticipation of the full package. Touring is only going help us reach a larger audience, and I really think fans are going to dig what we've got in store for them.
