These United States' Jesse Elliott on touring, playing with Willie Nelson, and covering Bob Dylan

Photo by Shervin Lainez

As good-humored as he might come across in the following interview, there's something unmistakably studied and serious in These United States frontman Jesse Elliott. When listening to TUS, it's easy to get the feeling that, like Jack White, whose voice he often evokes, Elliott has spent more than a little bit of time in record stores, dusting off everything from Delta blues to the Rolling Stones' more country-centric material to modern-day Americana like Dawes and Wilco. But, at the same time, comparisons aren't exactly in order when describing TUS, a band that derives far more from classic American songwriting principles and traditions than from any one band or sound.

 

These United States' new, self-titled album is, in probably every way, a new peak for the band, which formed in 2006 and has released five LPs. On it, Elliott's singing sounds more confident than ever, and the musicianship among him (guitar), J. Tim Hnatow (guitar and pedal steel), Justin Craig (guitar and piano), Anna Morsett (bass), and Aaron Latos (drums and percussion) comes across as tightly wound but still free enough to sound far from contrived or meticulous. In Elliott's own endearingly sarcastic words: "I think it's safe to say, conservatively, that our new self-titled album has changed the way people on planet Earth think about their lives, each other, love, death, music, the meaning of it all." Sure, why not.

 

 

Oh, yeah, there was April and May before the album's release, wasn't there? I think we're actually out through October. Maybe November when the album comes out in France. No rest for the wicked.

 

 

Yeah, we get called a lot of nasty things. We just say rock 'n' roll. That's the nastiest, after all.

 

 

As with pretty much any band, I'd guess, there's just way too many between the five of us to even start listing. Sometimes I wonder if a band's music actually comes from the negative space left out of the Venn diagram of each individual member's differing and often antagonistic musical influences. Is that a double negative? Times five? My math is rusty.

 

 

I think it's safe to say, conservatively, that our new self-titled album has changed the way people on planet Earth think about their lives, each other, love, death, music, the meaning of it all. That's what our yes-people tell us, at any rate.  

 

 

Music itself begs to be played with other people. That's where music comes from. And these are the people whose music we most love.

 

 

That was very, very mind-blowing. It kinda came out of nowhere, too, which made it all the sweeter. Willie wears New Balance shoes, he's 79 years old, and he sings a song with Snoop Dogg called "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die." What could I possibly tell you that those simple facts do not already tell you?

 

 

Those are the places where members of our band call home, more or less. I guess four of the five of us don't actually pay rent anywhere. But we do know the mountains and the cities and the people we most love to return to when we have a week off the road.

 

 

Bob Dylan put that song on an album [Another Side of Bob Dylan], and it was a very good album, and we had lots of songs of our own that needed a home. So I guess it just comes to how you feel about the issue of orphans.

 

 

Yeah, Ben Russell of the band Cartwright did that, the cover. And Todd Roeth did the inside map-like artwork. We've loved what these guys do for so, so long, it just made sense to have them along for the ride this time around. We can't stop stumbling across inspiring people all around this continent. It's exhausting. No rest for the orphaned.

These United States at 7th St. Entry tonight.

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