Key to the Highway: J Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed

J Isaiah Evans interview

Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road for music. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from J Isaiah Evans.

Americana Highways: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

J Isaiah Evans: I’m an energy drink guy. Zero sugar with natural caffeine. If I’m going to have a bad habit, I want it to be as close to healthy as possible.

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road for music?)

JIE: There was this high-end boutique hotel in Memphis that was completely automated. It was going through some renovations. So, we got in on the cheap. Our phones did everything. There was no staff at all, at least none that we saw. It was swanky but kinda eerie…almost like that hotel in The Shining…The Overlook.

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

JIE: Black Keys- Attack & Release. That’s when they graduated from basement tapes to a fully realized album. How it opens with the serenity of “All You Ever Wanted” and then kicks you in the mouth with “I Got Mine”…one of the best 1-2 punches to open a record ever. Brothers may be their breakout album but for me, Attack & Release is that golden hour.

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?

JIE: My inhaler. I have asthma and if you can’t breathe, you can’t sing.

AH: What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there)?

JIE: We try to keep a tight schedule on the road. So, we eat when we can. Fast food, truck stops…part of life on tour. I do like to try whatever the regional dish is when possible…burnt ends in Kansas City, hot chicken in Nashville. When we’re in San Antonio, I have to go to Mi Tierra Cafe. We were on tour with JD McPherson recently and I took him and his band because they just had to try it. Best chorizo and eggs in Texas.

AH: If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?

JIE: The California High Desert. I played at Pappy & Harriet’s a few years back and spent an extra day in the region. Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley…you’ve never seen such beautiful night skies.

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

JIE: We were out with Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore last year when I got to talking with Jimmie about songwriting. He said to me, “Man, you can really rock. You’ve got that down. Now, go find the groove. Don’t be afraid of those quiet moments in the song”. That advice really opened my eyes to some things in my writing. Dave had great advice, too…”No shorts on stage ever”.

Find more information about their new album, and tour dates for J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweeds here: https://jisaiahevans.com

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Todd Park Mohr Jim Lauderdale Vince Herman Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Sadler Vaden )