Jake Flint: New Album, New Beginnings
With two albums already under his belt, it’s surprising to hear Jake Flint refer to his new self-titled album as his first. He says his first official release I’m Not OK (2017) was done with little experience and no direction to songwriting or performance, while this record was produced with a little more thought and preparation and is a better representation of who he is as an artist. His second record, Live and Not OK at Cain’s Ballroom, which Jake refers to as a “happy accident,” was recorded while opening for Randy Rogers and contains four songs featured on this new release titled simply Jake Flint.
Caleb Shertum co-produced the record at Mike McClure’s Boohatch Studio in Ada, Oklahoma. It’s the same studio where Jake knocked out I’m Not OK. This is Flint’s first time working with a producer other than McClure, who handled both previous recordings.
I talked with Jake as he was getting ready for the release of the new album and he was already busy planning ahead for the next year.
“Hurry Up and Wait” was a song featured on both I’m Not OK and the live album. Jake had wanted to release it as a single, but the original straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll version was “too long and pretty vulgar.” This new version is a little more dialed back so you can hear more of the words and follow the story about the transition from one relationship to another. The track is slated for release as a single later this year.
Flint says he’s “never been good at writing fiction” when I asked him if the story behind the song “What’s Your Name” was true. It started at The Colony in Tulsa one night when a woman asked him for a light. “Pretty gals usually instigate my foot in my mouth, but this time it instigated a little bit of wit. She started hunting for a lighter and I capitalized on the opportunity by telling her, ‘I’ll give you a lighter if you tell me your name.'" She got a lighter and Jake got a song. The track will be the next single release. He calls the tune “Red Dirt Carpet Surf Rock” because of its twangy guitar sound.
“I’ve always liked a good waltz in G,” Jake says about “Who’s Better,” a “buckle-rubbin” song about two people who are perfect for each other because they’re so different. One of two songs on the album co-written with Justin Peters, it's already scheduled for single release next year.
Jake was a fan of the obscure band “Welfare Cadillac” from Kentucky who recorded “Drugged, Drunk and Alone” several years ago. He always loved the song and got permission from writer Travis Harris to record a version of it for this album. The lyrics tell the story of how a girl walking out has left the narrator in a terrible state, but is delivered with a fun country attitude and a JJ Cale-type Tulsa sound.
“My liver’s made of leather and I’ve never felt better/ And I’ve got no reason to change/ Old Whitley said it best/ So I put it to the test/ I think I feel the same way,” sings Jake on “Hard Livin." Keith Whitley has a song with the same title (and the same tempo and in the same key) and it gets a “hard nod” from Jake and co-writer Jackson Gardner on this rollicking tale of learning how to deal with life on the road. Jake found that cutting out drinking was the best way for him to deal with it and we congratulate him on his sobriety!
The first time I heard “Fireline,” I felt there was something going on more than just a straight-ahead story of fighting fires and Jake confirmed it. He wanted to write a song about the current state of affairs in the world and America, but realized if he made it too specific, it could quickly be out of date. Flint says, “Just because I know a few chords and play a guitar doesn’t give me the right to stand up there and preach,” so he made it a literal song about wildfires and hoped the message of “the whole world’s on fire” would get through.
“Long Road Back Home” was the first song recorded for this new album when Jake needed a single to release. Justin Peters co-wrote the track that was inspired by one of the road trips home to Oklahoma from writing sessions in Nashville. “There’s something about that trip when you get around Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and you start seeing some of those landmarks that let you know you’re getting close to the house.” The song features a sweet mandolin part provided by Jon Knudson (of Whiskey Myers fame) and references the mandolin featured on Jake’s debut “Cowtown” single.
The true story of a deadbeat mother is laid out very plainly in “His Daughter (for Kinley),” a song Jake wrote for the now 8-year old daughter of a good friend. He hopes someday the girl will get to hear the song and understand the truth about how hard her father tried to establish a relationship with his little girl only to have every effort blocked by a vindictive woman.
Recorded during extra time at the end of the session that produced “Long Road Back Home,” the stark “Cold In This House” features Jake’s vocals over a sparse arrangement. Jake says the song started out as “an old country song where the girl leaves and the dog dies,” but took a turn into dealing with suicide after the friend of a friend took his own life.
John Fullbright has done so much for so many Tulsa musicians, and Jake Flint is no exception. “I’ve always been a big fan of the original version of the song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen and, of course, the Jeff Buckley version, but I learned that song listening to John Fullbright do it on Live at the Blue Door, an album that I’ve spun around a million times. I’ve always liked the way he did that song with the big ending.” Flint’s track was recorded after midnight in an empty Cain’s Ballroom following a long day doing press kit audio & video for other artists. The stage was dimly lit with no amplification and Jake played electric guitar while Shelby Eicher (of the Tulsa Playboys) accompanied him on fiddle. The performance was captured for a music video and the audio track was used for the release on this new album. The song has become a standard in Jake’s live set and he often closes the show with it.
Now that Jake has reset his career with this new album and honed his songwriting skills with many sessions in Nashville, he is ready to make a fresh start. His calendar already has release dates for the next singles from this album, an appearance for the Tulsa Music Awards in April (he’s been nominated in the first round for Acoustic Solo Artist of the Year, Heartland Artist of the Year, Breakout Artist of the Year and the We Are Tulsa Music Ambassador Award), a re-release of his popular Christmas song “Santa’s Flyin’ High,” and a new concept album coming in 2021.
All of that starts with this third album, his “first” one, and it could be the start of something big for Jake Flint.
Get the album here:
Album Artwork: Pigs Fly Shop did a complete redesign of an existing concept by Mike Harper. Pigs Fly Shop collaborated with the always kickass Smokin Okie Customs to do a physical sew-out of the redesigned patches to photograph for the cover.
Photos By Melissa Payne:
