Need Something New? - Try JD2 Learn about one of the internets favorite artists. NEW RELEASE Click “Read More” for News. Straight From the Roadways of America. Horseshoe Bend Productions & Shoestring Records Present 12 Original Songs From JD2. GET YOUR COPY OF PRISON BARS - PLAY JD2 IN YOUR MOTOR CAR Interview from Rock Pile Publications. As an independent reviewer for Rock Pile Publications, I like the grit and gravel in this album. I like the style and feel of this basic low tech sound and hope it won't be the last for JD2. This was JD2's take: Jd2: Well, I'm always looking for new ideas and this was something that gave me the chance to experiment. I had the idea of doing these songs a few years ago. I actually wrote the song titles first and then put them away for a year so I could forget them. Then I decided to go back to the titles and write lyrics and music to go with them. So that’s a little different than I usually do. I never liked the idea of prison but I always enjoyed the idea of hopping a freight and riding the rails like folks did back in the 30's. I just put that together with the metaphor for society being prison and I wound up with this album. RPP: I hear there was some excitement while doing the video? [youtube link] Jd2: Well, just at the beginning when I opened with the title track song and somebody off stage, if you can call it that, was trying to get into the act. You can see me looking in that direction for just a second or two at the beginning of the video. It’s covered over by the credits, but it’s there. It was just a bit of a ruckus and I wasn’t sure what was going on so I just tried to focus and remember the words. The place was questionable to begin with. The only light was coming through a small window with a blind that cast symbolic shadows of prison bars so I guess everything turned out okay. We got this one and only video that was a re-copied copy of a copy that somebody shot on 8mm film. I gave it to Do-B’s Studio Graphics and they made it into something that fit the occasion. The place was craggy, the film is raw and the subject matter is unbecoming, so it all worked out as if we planned it that way. Look Ma, I’m a genius! RPP: Have you ever been in prison? Jd2: I’ve seen my share of dark places but I’d have to say officially no, not unless you count some of the jobs I've had in life. You can be in prison without having iron bars in front of you. When I’m doing my highway show I often wonder how folks are doing as they pass by. I know many people are in a prison with their daily lives even though they are not surrounded by actual brick walls and bars. RPP: Interesting! Jd2: Not really! There’s nothing interesting about being in prison. It’s about surviving or trying to survive. Not what I call fun, whether it’s behind bars or in a gated community, housing development or job. RPP: Have you ever ridden the rails? Jd2: oh sure, I've done a lot of work in, on, and around trains both standing still and moving, so for a dreamer like me it wasn't much of a stretch to imagine what it would be like as a lifestyle. Of course, most people see the romantic or ideal side. They seldom realize all the dangers and hardships encountered by folks that do that as a way of life. Like most folks I've always loved trains for as long as I can remember and that's getting to be a long time now. It's sad they don't travel like they used to. Today the power brokers force everybody to fly - I won't. I miss the passenger trains. I’m not talking commuter trains, that’s just another crowded freeway. I’m talking dining cars and sleepers. RPP: What do you have in the way of an album after this? Jd2: Well, I don't have anything in the way of my next album; I can get right to it. No, no, I know what you mean and I’m working on my next album as we speak. It’s called KEEP PUSHIN’. It deals with some of the struggles we all face in this life as well as my tribute to September Eleventh. It’s supposed to be out sometime this summer, so stay tuned for that. But! Enjoy Prison Bars first. RPP: Thanks for the chat time and for all your contributions so far. Jd2: Sure, glad to be with you and thanks to all the folks that read, listen and support my contributions. Hope 2 C U on the highway of life.