When COVID-19 lockdown was at its most intense, it was easy to get overwhelmed by a flood of information. Guitarist and bluegrass singer-songwriter Jordan Tice, who’s likely best known as a member of the string-band supergroup Hawktail, was not immune. He tells the Scene that he got sick of words — of spending his mental energy constantly trying to solve problems. What came next, naturally, was a short collection of instrumentals, an EP called Yesteryears, released Oct. 1.
Tice had a ton of instrumental themes and motifs lying around that he wanted to develop into a project, and the pandemic provided him the time to do it. He chose five distinctive pieces and laid them down in one day. His Hawktail bandmate, bassist Paul Kowert, produced, while champion producer David R. Ferguson’s longtime studio partner Sean Sullivan engineered. Kowert’s label Padiddle Records handled the release, as it has for Hawktail’s albums.
“I wanted to make something you can get lost in and flow with,” Tice says. “It’s really harmonic and melodically driven.”
It’s safe to say he nailed it. Yesteryears’ pre-release single “River Run” sounds exactly like its title and spotlights Tice’s genre-blending blues, bluegrass and folk fingerpicking style. It’s overlaid with sparse bowed bass accompaniment from Kowert, whose approach Tice describes as “less is more.” When I mention that Kowert’s bass style for the song sounds a bit like internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s work in the folk-inspired group Goat Rodeo, Tice points out that Kowert studied under Edgar Meyer — who plays bass in that ensemble with Ma. There’s a video of Tice and Kowert playing the song live at Sullivan’s Tractor Shed studio in Goodlettsville, and it neatly conveys the feel of the entire EP: There are only a few colors in the palette, but they’re warm and rich.
Tice wanted each song to tell its own story and stand strong on its own. “The Early Days of the Internet” has distinct movements and themes, and there’s a lot of texture to each. But the tunes still meld together in a way that feels like you’re reading a short story or novella. Tice says this intermingling of musical lines is also what inspired the cover art by Nashville artist Rachel Briggs. He described his vision to the much-loved illustrator, who took just one try to come up with the perfect line-art-esque piece in shades of tan.
“The kind of faded color and the lines remind me of an old science fiction paperback,” Tice says. “There was something nostalgic about the dreamy quality of this image set to the music.”
Tice, a Nashvillian since 2015, says that while bluegrass is a major touchstone in his musical background (he played bluegrass with his family as a child in Maryland), he’s also trained in jazz guitar and classical composition and was even in a rock band. Last year, he released an album called Motivational Speakeasy, produced by The Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale; Tice sings several of the songs on that record, which features original pieces like the blues-schooled “Bad Little Idea.” Tice plans to play a few shows to promote the new EP, and at those shows you might hear some Hawktail tunes as well as songs from his solo catalog. Kowert will join in on a few shows, while Tice will be on his own for others.
For “Cats and Kitties,” the opening number of the EP, Tice wanted to make an homage to comedian Lord Buckley, whose character acting was popular in the 1940s and ’50s. When Buckley rewrote the Gettysburg Address in a beatnik poetry style, he opened with the line, “Let me hip you cats and kitties just how the scene went down, dig.” The rhythm of Tice’s song makes it easy to imagine him playing it behind Buckley’s monologue. The middle movement, with Kowert’s deep single bass notes punctuating, might even impart a sense of impending danger or sadness that could work well with such a retelling. But the sadness soon breaks — the ending movement is a bit of a trippy roller-coaster ride up and down the fretboard of Tice’s guitar, and it ends on a brighter note.
Each song on the EP feels like a little journey. Tice’s main focus is getting back onstage and sharing the music with people in person.
“My philosophy is, make it true to yourself. Do what you can to make sure people hear it. Get out and play it.”
