Tazewell County Line is the second single off of Joshua Ketchmark's new record, titled "Blood" The video was released on 09/09/2022. This song's lyrics center around Ketchmarks experiences growing up in central Il. BLOOD is the tenth studio album by american singer-songwriter Joshua Ketchmark. It follows up the 2021 album 'The Huntington Hotel.’ The album was produced and mixed by Ketchmark and documents’s Ketchmarks past. Ketchmark has stated that the album is based on true events and that the title is inspired not only by the lyrical subject matter but also by those involved with the making of the record.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Joshua Ketchmark, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Growing up most of my friends have always been older than me. My earliest musical memory is going over to Pat Sullivan’s house after school. His dad had a bunch of musical instruments and he also had a drum set in his basement. We would listen to his dad’s records. I jammed with Pat and another old friend of mine Colin Black in the early days when I was trying to find my feet playing music. I think we made more noise at that point than music but I didn’t care. From there I started rooting around in my parents record collection looking for anything that spoke to me, the radio turned me on to a lot of new music as well. After my parents divorce, I moved in with my mother and I found an acoustic guitar in the back of the closet underneath the stairs at her house. I had a bit of a rocky start at first but that guitar got its hooks in me pretty fast. I’m really drawn to creativity of any kind and the idea that you can create something out of nothing still seems like some sort of magic to me. Since those days I’ve spent every year trying to get to the point where I am now, writing, recording, and doing music full time. I know it sounds cliché, but for me there is some truth to the phrase. “Take what you love and make it your life.”
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
At this stage in my career when I’m not recording and writing my own records, my part time job is producing, mixing and working with other artists on their records. My family is the most important part of all of that, their understanding and support means the world to me. If I didn’t have that I don’t know where I’d be. It can be a bit of a juggling act at times, but at this point I’ve been a solo artist for 14 years. Finding the right balance with all of it has really been the key to making it all work.
Your latest song is 'Tazewell County Line'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
I’d been kicking the title ‘Tazewell County Line’ around for a while when production started on BLOOD, which is the full-length album that this new single is taken from. TCL was originally a different song called ‘True North’ when the basic tracks were recorded. But during the production of the record, the song started to feel like it wanted to be something different. I felt like the lyrics and overall song that I had didn’t do a good job of summing up what I trying to say. So I started experimenting with different melodies and the overall phrasing in the first verse. That’s when the first line of the song came to me “I thought I knew you, was I ever wrong.” It kind of just fell out of the sky and it fit just right: it sounded like it had always been there and set the tone for the song. ‘True North’ became ‘Tazewell County Line’ and the rest evolved into what you hear in the finished version of the new single.
Can you write more about the music video that was made for the song?
The ‘Tazewell County Line’ video was shot over three days. During that time I shot footage for six songs (Covered In Blood/Tazewell County Line/ Follow Me Home/Death Trap/No Stopping Us & Once The Whiskey) from my new record titled BLOOD that was released in July. When I started making and releasing videos back in 2008 I had a great partner in crime and we worked together for years. But he has gotten busier and busier which is great, because he really deserves all the success that’s come his way. But that has left me to be the director of photography, the lighting guy, the performer, the editor, the colorist, and the concept designer...the list goes on. It’s become something that I really enjoy. I’ve always loved movies, so wrestling with these responsiblies has given me an opportunity to dabble in all of that. At the time of this interview, the ‘Tazewell County Line’ video has reached 82K people in 3 weeks as it’s been making it way through YouTube. I’m so grateful for everyone’s support.
You can watch it here:
What would you be doing right now, if it weren’t for your music career?
That’s a tough question. I’ve been making music for so long now that it’s become a huge part of who I am. Everyone I’m surrounded by is connected to me through music in one way or another. If music wasn’t a part of my life, I would like to think that I’d be involved in some way with making movies, or some other type of art. I started sketching when I was 2 years old and have always had that side of my creativity to draw upon when it’s come to designing my record covers and logos, shirts, etc...
Is there anything you don't like about the music industry?
I have a love/hate relationship with the music “industry”. I LOVE making music, I HATE that you have to make a business out of it. I mean, I guess you don’t really have to, but if you want your music to find the audience it deserves than it helps. You’ve got to play the game. For as prolific a songwriter and record maker as I am, I’m just not a good salesman. Maintaining a constant social media presence is a necessary evil these days. When I grew up the word “rockstar” was more than just a hashtag. But to put it into context, most of the artists I listen to are not superstars.
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
I don’t know if I’ve ever had a best performance? I have a hard time quantifying it in that way. A great show for me could be any number of factors, the crowd response, how a particular song or songs felt when I sang them, how the sound at the show was mixed, or even just how vibey the venue is. I have a couple that come to mind.
The first would be 10 years ago playing the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, CA. Getting to stand in the same spot on the stage where so many of music’s biggest artists have stood, the stage went black and the curtain started to open up to the crowd and in that second I felt an electricity go through me that I’d never felt, and have never felt again.
The second would happen a couple miles down the road at the Hotel Cafe. Usually when you play there is someone talking in the background. Not at the Hotel Cafe, they really listen. Up to that point I had kind of relied on that background noise, but not having it made me a better performer. I found some confidence that night that I think I had be lacking. It’s one of my favorite places to play now.
Anytime you hear your own words sung back to you is an amazing experience.
I have really played all over at this point. But I do still have a couple of places to cross off my list that I haven’t played yet, but not many.
What gives you energy to live and to write music?
Other than my family, it’s all I have these days. I wake up with it swirling around in my head. It lives in my coffee; it’s in the sounds on the street when I walk my daughter to school. It’s waiting for me when I get home. I take inspiration anyway I can get it and I’m grateful for it because it’s not always there. With that said, even if I’m not inspired it still doesn’t stop me from making music. I spend so much time in the studio these days that I think a lot of my friends have given up on me. I’m always working on something and that doesn’t usually leave much time for anything else.
Who is your favorite musician?
That's such a difficult question for me. I'm all over the place. I grew up loving The Beatles and Queen during my earliest exposure to music. I would hunt through my parent’s record collection for the coolest album covers. I’ve been a huge Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fan for years. Jason Isbell’s record Southeastern really changed the way I look at songwriting. I think John Mellencamp might be my spirit animal? Travis Meadows hasn't made an album that I haven't worn out. I've seen Nine Inch Nails so many times and I'd go every week if I could. There are a couple of Bon Jovi records I pull out and dust off every now and then (Keep The Faith/These Days/Crush) but at this moment Chris Stapleton is in constant rotation on my turntable. I’ve always been historically late to every party, so I’m just now discovering Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and another new artist I’ve been listening to is Morgan Wade.
If it came right down to it though and it was a life or death question I guess I'd have to choose death and a copy of Revolver, no wait Sticky fingers. I just can't do this. Prince, The Gold Experience…
What are your plans for the future?
I don’t think I can give a concrete answer for this one. Every time I’ve put a solid plan in place life always has a way of changing it. I want to keep learning more about producing, mixing and engineering. Songwriting has always provided an endless wealth of possibilities to explore. Also helping as many other artists as I can with whatever I can has been so rewarding...I hope to keep that rolling.
On the new release side for BLOOD, you can expect another single from the new record to drop this year, along with a new video.
If you don’t already, find and follow me on social media to stay up to date with what’s going on in my world, or just reach out and say hello.
Check out the new record here:
Thank you for reading! And thank you Kamil for taking the time to chat with me.