James Otto – Interview

“There are a lot of people out there who think music isn’t speaking to them anymore,” says James Otto. “People who grew up on Bob Seger, James Taylor, The Allman Brothers Band or Hank Williams Jr. — those are the artists I love, so I hope what I’m doing speaks to their audience.” His remedy comes in the form of a debut album brimming with straight-ahead passion — a hard-driving, soulful project that reflects a lifetime of immersion in country and rock’s most genuine music.

“This is not musical Prozac,” says James with the same earnestness he brings to his music. “It’s me passionately trying to get across a piece of myself, sharing some truth I’ve learned, trying to make you feel something. My objective was to make great music that moved me, and hopefully it will move other people.”

Here is our interview with James Otto!

What is the most exciting thing about where you are at right now?

It’s always nice, people say they don’t care about critical acclaim, but that is nice. You don’t want critics saying bad things. The biggest compliments are the emails I got from people–when I have people taking time out to get online to write me–that is the best thing. It’s nice to have the attention of superstars, like Shania and Kid Rock, who have me out when on tour.

Artist like critics when they are good to them, but hate them when they aren’t.

(Laughs) Exactly, but they can turn on you in a second. I think fans are more forgiving. You can get feedback from Shania and Kid Rock, but they are friends and hopefully will always be my friends, but I rely mostly on the fans [for feedback]. I have a whole page full of emails from people who bought my record.

What was the first time at the Grand Ole Opry like?

That is the mother church. I got to go down there about seven years ago when I first got to Nashville. I showed up and was too late to tour and a guard let me go on stage when nobody was there. I stood there and imagined what it would be like to play there. Now I’ve played there three times. It was exciting, and on national TV no less.

Did the dream match the real thing?

The daydream didn’t live up to what happened. I got to meet all these legends of country music and got treated with respect and then got up on stage and got a partial standing ovation when I was done. The reality was better than any dream.

Well at least you had some idea of what it looked like to stand there.

(Laughs) And I was a lot more prepared seven years later.

Was there ever a point in those seven years where you weren’t sure if it was ever going to work?

I relied upon small success to determine my future. There are always going to be small victories, so it started out where someone liked my song and then there was more and more people who liked it. I never thought about going home, this is all there is for me. I’m glad I get to do this for a living. I’ve been blessed, but you have to be very driven and determined.

You saw a lot of writers and artists come and go—was it your determination that helped?

Yeah. I saw a lot of people come and go; a lot of my friends have come and gone. I’ve seen a lot of broken dreams. Luckily, I have a good base of friends and professionals that have helped me along.

Where you working at the same time as you were trying to make it?

I was working for an oil company here in Nashville driving truck. I was doing that about 60 hours a week and writing in the truck. At night I was in songwriters clubs and got a writing deal. For the last five years I had a writing deal and the last two and a half years had a record deal. Now I’m building on all the successes. I’m going to keep on busting my tail.

Are you ever surprised about something you’ve writing?

I’m always surprised. (Laughs) When a great idea comes its out of the blue. Willie Nelson said “you pull great melodies out of the air.” The best songs happen naturally and seem God given. I have a song on the record called “Song of the Violin” that I wrote for my grandparent’s anniversary. I sat around trying to write it for months because my mom had asked me to. I didn’t want to write anything corny or silly. One night it finally came out. It was God given—I just sat down and wrote it one day in a half hour. God just said, “I’m going to give you one today.”

Who did you hear and say ‘I like this style, I want to make music like that’?

Bob Segar first, and Hank Jr. made me want to do country. But I also loved Van Halen. My dad was a rock ‘n’ roll guy. He loved Led Zeppelin, but my grandfather was a country singer. He died a pretty bad death, he was an alcoholic and my dad really resented and hated him for the things he did. When my grandfather came home at night drunk he’d ask my dad to play these country songs. My dad hates country music because of that. So my dad could play those songs as a kid, but when he grew up those were the songs he played for me on guitar. I don’t know if it was thought about, but I think those songs are the ones he remembered best. I think that is where I got my love for country from.

If you liked Van Halen and played it on guitar you must have been good.

Let’s be honest, I was good, best kid in my school, but there were only fifty kids in my class. I’ve never been a gifted guitar player. I’ve always played like ten or twelve hours a day, and almost failed out because that was all I did. I could play the rhythm parts—I didn’t want to be a singer. When I heard Eddie Van Halen I knew what I wanted to do because that was what the girls would dig. I played ten to twelve hours a day to be mediocre (We both Laugh).

You and Kid Rock are friends, is it disturbing how the country establishment doesn’t want to embrace artists like him who are on the fringe?

Yeah. And you know what? “Picture,” the song he did with Sheryl Crow, was the most country album of all of last year. And you know he has millions of fans and he is telling them that country is cool. We don’t have anyone in that genre that has that many fans except Shania, and she isn’t exactly stone country. He is running around talking about Bob Segar and Hank Sr. He is a huge country lover. Even though country hasn’t fully embraced him he embraces it. We have these Music Mafia shows and he has all kinds of kids who have never heard country, and guys in country who have never heard rap all listening to him.

+ Charlie Craine