“Ricky got ahold of me and asked if I’d ever put thought into playing with a band,” Jackson said. “I told him it was something I wanted to do but had never really tried to put anything together. Ricky then tells me he’d already talked to Brad and Denny and they wanted to be my backing band. So, in essence, Ricky asked me to join my own band.”
Charlie Jackson and the Heartland Railway, Jackson (vocals, guitar), Brad Bowling (guitar, vocals), Denny Cottle (bass, vocals) and Terrell (drums), played their first show at Rockstar Pro Arena on March 9. Soon after, the roots rock outfit began recording its new album with Micah Carli at Popside Studios in Troy.
“Popside was a great experience,” Jackson said. “Micah is so incredibly easy to work with and really knows how to dial things in to keep things rolling as efficiently as possible. He seems to really get invested in the project. He’s not just an engineer, he takes on kind of a producer’s role. In addition to playing a lap steel part on our song ‘Horizon,’ he really pushed us to make something great and not just something good.
“There were several times during recording I’d record a guitar or vocal track on something and think it would be fine,” Jackson continued. “And Micah would say, ‘Nope, you can do better than that, let’s try it again.’ He wouldn’t settle for anything until he was satisfied with it. And, to his credit, he was usually right.”
The finished tracks were mixed by Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording in Dayton.
“Patrick is an amazing guy, with an incredible ear for this type of music,” Jackson said. “It was really great to get to work with him on this as well. In addition to the mix, he also provided piano and Hammond organ on the record and even played a lead guitar part on our song, ‘Do You Wanna Dance Tonight?’ Patrick really had the knack of knowing what we needed for the record before we even asked.”
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