Jason Scott knows that he and his band, the High Heat, arent part of the mainstream.
And theyre just fine with that.
Were outside the norm of radio country, Scott says.
Jason Scott & the High Heat drop their new album ‘American Grin’ today.Jessi Chapman*
Were sort of fringe, and thats where we like it.
That may change soon, however.
One of the stops on that tour is the Beacon Theater in New York.
I love that its at the end of the set, because Im looking forward to it every time.
Its got a really nice groove.
Scott played the role of the damned main character in the music video for Jason Isbells King of Oklahoma.
Mor and his partner, Jessi Chapman, are the stylists for Flatland Cavalry.
Wade films most of the High Heats lyric videos himself.
We waited a year, and we met some people who came on.
The group went through a list that usually centered around an elevated notion.
Big City was one Mor recalls liking.
The temperature in Key West for the April festival brought heat into play during the brainstorming.
Eventually, they settled on The High Heat.
Thats a baseball reference, Mor says.
Youre throwing that stinky cheddar.
Youre throwing the high heat.
I feel like our music just has that feel to it.
Mor is more direct than Scott about the long-term impact of the first album on the band.
Castle Rockstarted in Jasons backyard studio.
We werent the High Heat yet.
We werent a band, he says.
We were just trying to figure out how we could take Jasons songs and elevate them.
Theres a connection inCastle Rockfrom Jasons personal life to the town and the name.
But the experience of recording it sort of became our own personalCastle Rock.
We were discovering things like, Who is this band?
What do we want to sound like?
These songs are a snapshot of American life.
Theyre not all autobiographical.
Thats not to say the record is completely abstract.
It was inspired by a series of day-long drives Scott routinely took from Oklahoma City to Colorado.
Id have to drive back and forth between here and there a lot.
Id regularly use substances, Scott says.
When Id go through Raton, the New Mexico route, Id often car camp.
Im not saying I was driving underheavysubstances, but the stars certainly were a little lighter.
The scenery changes from Oklahoma to Colorado in the most unique way.
And whether its God or drugs, youre looking for that feeling, that connection to your surroundings.
Every time I left home along that route, Id just get this incredible feeling of possibility.
High Country is a rambling narrative of chasing what either inspires you or makes you feel good.
Its a little rock & roll, a little Americana, a little country & western.
