Southern In Spirit, Californian by Design, Robert Jon & The Wreck Plough Their Own Path Forward

Robert Jon & The Wreck | Last Night on the Highway | (Robert Jon Music)
3.5 out of Five Stars

Southern rock reaches well beyond the familiar signposts established by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band and all the others that first made their presence known in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Anyone with any insight at all into the initial origins of rock and roll recognize the fact that Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard established the initial bastion of southern rock back in rock and roll’s infancy. Still, it was the sounds bred in the fertile environs of Macon Georgia and its immediate environs that gave the South its regional reputation.

That’s the template that many people find Robert Jon & The Wreck identifying with, and indeed, on their new album, Last Night of the Highway, the band appears to wave that banner high. The signature signposts are evident throughout — the dueling guitars, a rugged, roughhewn delivery, the bluesy attitude, and an unmistakable anthemic posture. Based on what’s heard here, particularly the resilient refrain of “Oh Miss Carolina,” the rousing sounds of “Do You Remember,” the soulful strains of “Work It Out” and the arched, assertive tack taken in songs such as “This Time Around” and “One Last Time,” they effectively echo a style that managed to echo far beyond the border of the Mason Dixon line. That said, they also maintain a notable lack of pretense, and when they opt to lower the volume and share their remorseful and reflective ballads, the honesty and intent are never at odds.

“In the beginning, the songs were inspired by a lot of bad relationships,” Jon himself reflects. “We all write in the band, and we’ll all cowrite with each other. It’s a really collaborative experience.  A song may have a connection to its initial writer, but then we flesh it all out from there. It’s always interesting, because we’re all at different stages of our lives and we have different influences. So it makes for different kinds of songs.  Sometimes it’s good to just write a song like ‘Do You Remember’ about being a kid because it’s a lot easier to deal with than a break up.”

Although it’s tempting to compare their sound to that of a more vintage variety. Jon makes it clear that they also aspire to a more contemporary approach as well.

“At first, we were all just a bunch of punk rock and metal kids listening to alternative radio,” Jon recalls. “Then I started diving more into music I loved — singer/songwriters like Ray Lamontagne, Amos Lee, and Damien Rice. Kings Of Leon had just broken out when we started, so I think that old sound was coming back and we landed somewhere in the middle.” 

In fact, Jon dismisses any attempt to tie them to a particular tradition. If there’s a similarity in style, he implies that it wasn’t intentional.

“We found out we were a southern rock band by accident and it’s still an odd title for us,” he insists. “We were just into all the things that made southern rock amazing. We loved guitar solos, vocal harmonies, and good songwriting, and because we came from all those heavier influences, we loved to play loud. Suddenly we were a southern rock band. We still don’t think of ourselves that way, but sometimes when we play, that’s what comes out.  We love Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I don’t think we ever wanted to be them. When people say southern rock, I hear it as a term of endearment because they’re comparing us to bands of that magnitude. But sometimes it can feel kind of limiting.”

Surprisingly then, the band — currently consisting of Jon (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums, vocals), Steve Maggiora (keyboards, vocals), Henry James Schneekluth (lead guitar, vocals) and Warren Murrel (bass, vocals) —are actually based in Southern California. Given the history of those environs as well, some might see a certain disparity as far as their musical mantra is concerned. Here again however, Jon rejects any attempt at stereotyping.

“It’s easy to assume that all of California is like L.A., but it’s not,” he says. “I live in Laguna Beach in Orange County, California. There’s a huge Dead scene there. There are all kinds of amazing artists, singers, and bands from all over the world. This place is special and they really support their artists. It’s one of the only places left that actually still has tons of live music instead of deejays. It’s one of a kind, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

That said, it took the band awhile to fine-tune their approach. Jon concedes that they’ve had to work hard to develop their own style and establish their own version of a signature sound. “When we started we didn’t know what we were doing, but we did what felt right in the moment,” he reflects. “Ten years later, we’re doing the same thing at a lot higher level. We’re trying to get better at our craft. If I look at it from the outside, we were a lot heavier when we were younger, and now we’re trying to focus on songwriting.  Some records have different lineups, so Take Me Higher,for example, was the first record we did with Henry and Warren. Listening to that record is literally like hearing a band getting comfortable with each other. With Last Light On The Highway, you hear that same band with double the confidence.”

It’s that credence and confidence that’s allowed the band o expand their base exponentially. They’ve attained tremendous popularity in Europe, and having established a footprint on the continent, their fanbase continues to expand.

“We started touring with a company called Teenage Head Music out of Belgium,” Jon explains.  “We had no idea how it was going to turn out. We just knew we had to try it. The European audiences were amazing. They embraced us with open arms, and we have come back every year since. We’ve seen our audience grow year after year and it’s a great feeling. They’re much more open to rock music; it’s not an afterthought like it feels here in the States. They also will go to shows when they’ve never heard of the band because they love live music. People are hungry for something different and every generation has their own way to find it.” 

Jon says that one particular challenge has been trying to translate their live energy into a studio setting. “That’s especially true with our vocals,” he concedes. “Going from a full live performance to being in a booth with two bandmates who are giving me notes is really weird.  Recently though, we just got to do an in-studio session with Darrell Thorpe for something that he was working on. We got to track vocals live at Sunset Sound where we recorded our first record.  We usually don’t do that because we’re too loud and we can’t get good isolation, but Daryl insisted that it would sound great, and it did. I felt a million times more comfortable, and I feel like it translated on the recording. We might try that ourselves for the next record.” 

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