{"id":154780,"date":"2009-03-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=154780"},"modified":"2026-01-12T18:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:41:29","slug":"an-interview-with-local-musician-jeff-callaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/an-interview-with-local-musician-jeff-callaway\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Local Musician Jeff Callaway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Order Jeff\u2019s new CD now and you get a FREE bonus CD featuring his collaborations with other local legends including The Neckbones, Kudzu Kings, and more.<\/em> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Due to his increasingly reclusive nature, Jeff Callaway<\/strong> (sometimes still referred to as \u201cJazzy Jeff<\/strong>,\u201d or JJC) was extremely difficult to track down for an interview, but our crack staff here at TLV would not be denied. We secretly obtained a sample of Mr. Callaway\u2019s DNA (don\u2019t ask how!), cloned another version of our favorite hermit, and sent him deep into the Lafayette County countryside to find JJC\u2019s secret compound\/studio for this exclusive TLV interview. Yes, we\u2019re that resourceful. Photographs by Newt Rayburn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s all this about a free CD?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m finishing up my first solo album called By Landlord\u2019s Request<\/em>. When the CD is finally released in stores, Amazon, iTunes, etc, it will be just one disc, probably priced between $13 and $15, but everyone who pre-orders the album will get a free promotional second<\/em> disc featuring cuts of me playing with bands like The Kudzu Kings, Blue Mountain, The Neckbones, Taylor Grocery Band, The Sincere Ramblers, Billy Perry\u2019s Enigma Jazz Project, Prohibition Jazz Band, some \u201830s style Big Band, some Marching Band stuff recorded at Ole Miss back in the early \u201880s, just a pretty insane variety of music. Right now, the second disc has seventeen cuts on it, over seventy minutes of music, so it\u2019s quite the bargain, as well as a kind of documentation of the Oxford music scene of the past few decades. But the point I\u2019m trying to get across to everybody is that the only<\/em> way to get this second disc is to pre-order the CD. And I\u2019m offering both discs right now for only $10, plus shipping and handling, available at www.bylandlordsrequest.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And John Hiatt? You did appear on Master of Disaster<\/em>, right? How did you end up playing on a John Hiatt album anyway?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My buddy Jim Spake from Memphis recommended me to the album\u2019s producer Jim Dickinson for the job. I had played with him on another friend\u2019s album (KC Ray\u2019s Down The River<\/em>) that was recently featured by Chef Jeff during his appearance on The Today Show<\/em>. That song will be on the CD too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it like working with someone the caliber of John Hiatt?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I stayed as far away from him as possible. I caught this twelve-hour bug the night before the session, throwing up every hour on the hour from midnight to noon, then had to be at Ardent Studios in Memphis at three that afternoon, so I showed up looking like Death, played as best as I could, and kept my distance. I wanted to be remembered as \u201cthat trombone guy who was sick as Hell and still kicked ass\u201d as opposed to \u201cthat schmuck who gave John Hiatt the flu.\u201d It worked out OK, as the horn section sound he wanted was described to us as \u201ca drunken Salvation Army band in the next room,\u201d and I can do drunken Salvation Army trombone in my sleep, even with stomach cramps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what kind of music will we hear on the CD?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An extremely wide variety. The first CD will be split between original jazz tunes I wrote and recorded with The Mo\u2019tet back in the \u201890s that never got released and more singer\/songwriter\/guitar type songs ranging in style from pop to country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you start playing guitar?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My Dad gave me one for Christmas just before he passed away after hearing me make an off-handed comment about how it would be cool to learn how to play guitar one day. It was one of the most thoughtful, considerate things he ever did for me. I\u2019m pretty sure I would have never bought one for myself. It just seemed, I don\u2019t know, kind of unwieldy? I still have a hard time with it compared to trombone, meaning I have to work a lot harder at it, but I enjoy the difference. It\u2019s also sort of ignited an interest in traditional American songwriting that wasn\u2019t there before, I\u2019ve got a ton of songs I\u2019d have never written if I hadn\u2019t learned the instrument. And besides, catching a polite buzz and beating on a guitar for hours on end is much cheaper and more enjoyable than therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are the singer\/songwriters you\u2019re into?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Well first of all, anyone who\u2019s really good at it inspires me. People like Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr, and Mississippi\u2019s own Jimmy Rodgers are all shining examples to emulate, and I recently bought Theresa Andersson\u2019s latest album [Hummingbird, Go!<\/em>] when she last played Two Stick, and I\u2019m completely knocked out not only by her excellent songwriting, but also her overwhelming performance skills. She\u2019s awesome, and I\u2019m Facebook friends with her, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, so you Facebook? Any other notable friends?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most of my Facebook \u201cfriends\u201d are people I do actually know or play with, musicians from Jackson, Oxford, Memphis, etc, with a few notable exceptions like my favorite Superman <\/em>writer of all time Elliot S! Maggin, Grammy-winning Jazz singer (and Jackson native) Cassandra Wilson and Delfayo Marsallis. I\u2019m also friends with John Hodgman (who I met at a Thacker Show at The Lyric when I played with Dent May), but I got a note from him the other day saying his Facebook days were over, I think he\u2019s moving on to Twitter or something. Bye John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You mentioned Dent May. You\u2019re on his new CD, playing both trombone and trumpet, is that hard to do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this case, it was pretty effortless. Dent knew exactly what he wanted, and I just copied what he sang. We knocked out four songs with lots of multiple parts in around four hours. I\u2019ve never gotten that much done in a studio (well, technically a trailer in Taylor) that quickly or efficiently, it was great. That kid\u2019s a pretty amazing musician, if you ask me. I just hope I get to tag along if he ever plays Conan <\/em>or the Tonight Show<\/em> or some cool gig like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was John Hodgman like?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Super-cool dude, very smart, he\u2019s lucky I didn\u2019t talk his ear off when he mentioned somebody asked him to work on a new Dune <\/em>screenplay, as I\u2019m a frustrated screenwriter myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dude, you re-wrote a Star Wars<\/em> script?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Revenge of the Jedi: The Red Letter Edition<\/em>, yep, that\u2019s an example of what they call script-doctoring, where you leave big parts alone and only change what doesn\u2019t work, so in my version, Ewoks are actually cool, Han Solo gets his balls back, Leia can use the Force, and Boba Fett not only doesn\u2019t die with a crappy burp joke, he shows up and the end of the movie and blows up the Millennium Falcon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you did this why?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because I feel very strongly that one shouldn\u2019t criticize something unless you\u2019ve got a better idea. That, and a comic artist friend bet me I couldn\u2019t do it. I won the bet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get back to By Landlord\u2019s Request<\/em>. When will the CD be ready?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Soon; I was hoping for an April 1 release, but I\u2019m not sure it\u2019ll be ready by then. It\u2019s already been delayed several months due to some injuries that occurred during my forced relocation last summer that kept me from playing guitar for a while. But to paraphrase Slim Pickens from one of my favorite movies, Dr. Strangelove<\/em>: \u201cI\u2019m gonna finish this album if it hare-lips everybody on Bear Creek!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you get nervous during performances?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Never on trombone. I guess I\u2019ve done it for so many years, I don\u2019t even think about it. But the first time I played guitar on Thacker Mountain Radio was a different story. From the waist up, I was fine, but my legs were twitching like I was having a seizure, and about half-way though some part of my brain started screaming \u201cWhat the Hell are you doing up here? Get back on the back row with your trombone where you belong!\u201d Fortunately, I play guitar sitting down, so it wasn\u2019t as noticeable as it might have been, and nobody except the people on the first two rows could really tell, and they all seemed to like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You seem to show up on Thacker Mountain Radio semi frequently, are you a part of the band or what? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I really like playing on Thacker, and those guys (The Yalobushwackers) are all good friends I enjoy playing with. I\u2019m not a regular, but I guess I\u2019ve got a kind of open invitation. Also, they may not realize it, but Thacker sometimes serves as my own personal, secret Science Fair laboratory for me to do some stuff for the first time. The first time I ever sang in public was on Thacker (when I did \u201cI Wanna Be Like You\u201d) and also the first time I played trumpet in public and sang (when we did \u201cThe Bear Necessities\u201d), both songs from The Jungle Book<\/em>. I somehow think it\u2019s appropriate that someone with my . . . burliness, shall we say, should perform songs previously sung by gorillas and bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, King Louie was an orangutan.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be a smart-ass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, what are your ultimate goals for the album?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Oh, you know, the same as everyone, multi-platinum sales, multiple Grammy nominations, international acclaim, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You like to dream big, don\u2019t you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You have no idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This interview is from The Local Voice #76, March 19-April 2, 2009. Access the digital edition PDF here.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Jeff<\/a>
Jeff Callaway, March 17, 2009. Photograph by Newt Rayburn, The Local Voice. \u00a9 2009.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The cover of The Local Voice #76 newspaper, March 19-April 2, 2009, featuring Jeff Callaway. Photograph and artwork by Newt Rayburn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n