Jon Herington On Tour with Madeleine Peyroux

JTG contributor Joe Barth talks to Jon Herington about his long-time collaboration with singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux.  

Jon Herington and Madeleine Peyroux have composed and recorded a new album entitled Let’s Walk under Madeleine’s name.  They have been out touring and promoting the album.  Up until a year ago, Jon was busy with the Steely Dan/Eagles tour, but Steely Dan has not been able to continue.  Our hearts have gone out to Donald Fagen, as his wife Libby died last October, and the Eagles have moved on to their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.  This has freed Jon’s schedule to work more with Madeleine Peytoux.  This week they begin a new leg of the tour that will take them to numerous U.S. cities as well as Canada and Europe.  I checked in with Jon on how the tour has been going.

JB:  You are touring with Madeleine, promoting her new album Let’s Walk.  Madeleine and you have co-written the songs.   Talk a little about the song composition process of the songs you worked on together.  

JH:  We co-wrote all 10 songs on the record. Each song came about a little differently, but most of them started with an idea one of us had and sent to the other. We would each record and send voice memos with any music changes or additions we wanted to make, and we would send text files with suggestions for changes in the lyrics. Some tunes didn’t require all that much tweaking, and others went back and forth between us many, many times. In general, I would say that most often I tried to let Madeleine lead the way forward in terms of the lyric writing because we both wanted the record to reflect her personal point of view.

JB:  Talk a little about the recording process for this album.  

JH:  Madeleine and I made demos of some of the songs, and we rehearsed with the rhythm section a couple of times in preparation for the recording. We did three very long days of tracking with the rhythm section and did as much overdubbing as we could. On another long day, we recorded all of the background vocals. Though Madeleine had sung all of the songs while we were recording them, she spent a few additional days at Elliot‘s house (Elliott Scheiner) recording vocals. After that, there were a couple of days of editing, then Elliott mixed it and sent it to be mastered.

 JB:Did Madeleine select each of the musicians, or did you have some input on who would perform these songs?

JH:  Madeleine had decided quite a long time before we recorded to use her current live band on the record.

 JB: Which of the recording musicians are on this tour?

JH:  Pianist Andy Ezrin, bassist Paul Frazier, drummer Graham Hawthorne, and I were the rhythm section on the record, and we are all on this tour.

 JB:  Talk about Elliott Scheiner’s role on this recording.

JH:  Elliot quietly worked his usual magic in the studio. He quickly got great sounds on everything and everybody, and though he’s a man a few words in the studio, he spoke up when we most needed the help and kept us on the right track many times. 

JB:  Of course, you have toured for over twenty years with Steely Dan.  This is a very different project, and I am not asking you to compare the two.  With your focus on the acoustic guitar, what artistic dimensions do you appreciate about performing in a smaller ensemble with this music?

JH:  The thing I like most about playing with Madeleine is that it’s pretty radically quiet compared to everything else I do. So, we get to explore the often neglected side of the dynamic range. Also, I don’t often get to play with a jazz guitar tone, and with this band, it’s about as close as I get, and I enjoy that.

 JB:  Are the two of you composing new music for a future recording?

JH:  No, not at this time. 

JB:  You are scheduled for the Masters of the Telecaster Guitar Camp at the end of September.  What do you appreciate about the Telecaster, and what will happen at this camp?

JH:  The telecaster is a classic instrument, of course, perhaps more ubiquitous in the country music world than anywhere else, but it’s surprisingly versatile. Guys like Ed Bickert and Ted Greene were able to get beautiful jazz sounds out of them, and then there were guys like Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton on the other end of the sonic spectrum.  I regularly use an amazingly flexible Tele-style guitar made by the late, great, Louisiana luthier Gerard Melancon, and the range of great tones I can get out of it is surprising. 

The camp gathers a very impressive faculty of Tele-wielding guitar players, and there are lots of performances, master classes, and unusual pairings of artists that make the whole thing quite educational and a lot of fun. I did it for the first time last year, and I was very impressed by the level of accomplishment on the part of the students. It’s in a beautiful spot in upstate New York, and I’m looking forward to going back.

 JB:  Update us on the Hypothetical House Band.

JH:  We are unofficially retired.

JB:  I’ve been praying for Donald Fagen as his wife Libby died last Fall.  Any word on a possible future Steely Dan tour?

JH:  I certainly hope Donald decides to tour some more, but I have heard no word about any plans to do that. 

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