Gentleman Jesse

Jesse Smith leads a double life -- when he isn't playing bass with Atlanta's fast, loud, and frantic punk band the Carbonas, he's the leader of Gentleman Jesse & His Men, a combo that revels in the bright, energetic power pop sounds of the early new wave era. Smith first made his name on the Atlanta music scene as a member of the indie rock bands Paper Lions and Some Soviet Station, citing bands like the Birthday Party and Drive Like Jehu as early inspirations, but he became dissatisfied with their creative direction, and as he told journalist Chad Radford, "I remember in '98 I thought I should check out MC5. I like rock music and didn't want to play beat-your-chest emo just to get laid, like a lot of people did." Smith's enthusiasm for direct, emotionally honest rock led him to accept an invitation to join the Carbonas in 2004 after the final breakup of Paper Lions, and he settled in just in time for the recording of their Frothing at the Mouth 7". Later the same year, Carbonas' drummer, Dave Rahn, expressed interest in forming a side project with Smith, and in 2005 the first edition of Gentleman Jesse & His Men came together, with Smith on vocals and guitar, Rahn on drums, Craig Johnson on guitar, and Dustan Nigro on bass. In 2006, the band released its first 7", Don't Wanna Know (Where You Been Tonight) on the local Douchemaster label, which received rave reviews and quickly sold out its initial pressing; it was followed by a pair of split singles for Rob's House Records (one with Joseph Plunket, the other recorded live at a house party and including tracks from the Black Lips, the Carbonas, and Predator) and a Christmas single on Die Slaughterhaus with Fever B. After earning a loyal following in Atlanta, Gentleman Jesse began taking his act on the road, touring with the Black Lips and new wave pop heroes the Paul Collins Beat, and in the fall of 2008, Douchemaster released Introducing Gentleman Jesse & His Men, their first full-length album. Shortly after the release of the album, Nigro amicably left the band. After a short break the band returned in 2010 with a couple of singles ("You've Got the Wrong Man" for Hozac, "She's a Trap" for Douchemaster). After a rough time that included Smith landing in bed for a month after a savage beating, the band returned with their second album, Leaving Atlanta, in early 2012. Since then he has opened two restaurants in the Atlanta area resulting in a dormant period. He has just finished recording a new full length thus ending the silence.

Country Westerns

Hi it’s Matt Sweeney, I produced the Country Westerns album.Here’s some other facts about Country Westerns, who I loved from the first time I saw them play:Singer-guitarist and Atlanta native Joey Plunkett left NYC for Nashville 10 years ago, after making a name for himself in that city’s rock and roll underground as the leader of Brooklyn legends The Weight and hustling bass for Gentleman Jesse.Nashville drummer and songwriter Brian Kotzur was the star of Harmony Korine’s “Trash Humpers”. Kotzur also wrote the film’s score. He was a member of the Silver Jews.Country Westerns started as an outlet for Plunkett and Kotzur to play music almost in spite of being in the middle of Nashville’s hungry music scene. Their idea was to make “depressing songs with fun drums”.Over a year they met up twice a week, made up songs that they liked, and played them to an audience of David Berman in Kotzur’s garage. They played parties sometimes.This period was a kind of a state of grace – they liked writing and playing; they liked hearing Joey sing. Pressure was off. Still is, I guess. But anyway, everyone won. Sometimes they even played shows with a sax player. This is around when I saw them at Soft Junk, Nashville’s premier DIY party performance art space.In Spring 2019, their esteemed colleague Sabrina Rush joined as a bass player because she’d never played bass before. She plays violin in State Champion and managed tours for bands you like. Her melodic approach to bass elevated the Country Westerns sound.So David Berman encouraged them to leave the unmusical climate of Nashville to record a couple of songs with me at Strangeweather Studios in New York City (aka Music City) without a label, on their own dime. The idea was to capture the urgency of their live show. We all liked how it sounded so we dug into our pockets and did another session there a little while later.Fat Possum heard the results, found our efforts “casually profound” and gave them a record deal.I don’t know how to tell you about what it sounds or feels like, cuz that’s why it’s music. I’d say people who like raw and well written rock and roll songs along the lines of stuff by Dwight Twilley, Dead Moon, Wipers, The Saints, Replacements, Green On Red and that whole vibe should love this band.There’s a rare emotional weight and poetry to Country Westerns’ music that hits the spot so hard for me. Hope you dig.

Tag Team

Ben Trickey

Rick Dang, Bitch!

All-star tribute to our hero, Rick Dang! RIP.

Vito Romeo