K~MaG - Jesse and Noah

273152_10150238518493323_108275228322_7385587_4165516_o

15843_1096232905501_1816968490_203241_4213107_n

222750_10150172932678323_108275228322_6833643_5649806_n

5620_1034128432928_1816968490_76410_5629669_n

268188_1675303981916_1816968490_1117062_1622783_n

5620_1034128552931_1816968490_76412_4684172_n

5620_1039366203869_1816968490_88386_6319480_n

8425_1048903522296_1816968490_107586_7093495_n

38024_1236519932589_1816968490_461114_2971937_n

255865_10150227121863323_108275228322_7262002_3181822_o

255000_1926930210178_1149862704_31968082_669427_n

Free Online Slideshow by VisualSlideshow.com v1.6

Jesse and Noah Bellamy – Born and raised on a family ranch that dates back centuries with a good solid extended family around them – these two are more than grounded! What better start can one ask for than to be born into music and into a family environment that is supportive and nurturing? The two brothers are so dedicated to music that they converted an old hay barn into a music/recording studio; where they rehearsed and recorded. (More interested in music than farming) – but then that is hardly surprising growing up around a house full of musicians. Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jim Reeves, Merle Haggard, The Eagles, Hank Williams, their family and many others – these brothers have devoted their life to becoming what they are today. They push boundaries with their music and their music videos – delivering what can only be described as coming straight from their heart – and to those who don’t get it – I think the fact that they go ahead and do it anyway speaks volumes! They have also shown an interest in working with reggae artists and mixing the two worlds. I can only imagine this would be magic. The brothers are making their mark and rubbing shoulders with some big names along the way; including Kevin Bacon’s band ‘The Bacon Brothers’, director Mike McCarthy, Gary Curtis & their dad’s band. If you haven’t worked it out already – these very talented men don’t fall far from the tree – and although they got into music more from being around their grandparents; we can’t deny that having The Bellamy Brothers (Let Your Love Flow, If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body...) as Father and Uncle didn’t play a little part in it somewhere.... So, if you haven’t heard of them yet; do your homework!! These guys are bringing country music right back home!! See Interview Below Jesse & Noah, you come from an amazing background of music & musical history - can you tell us a bit about your life growing up and about yourselves? Jesse: We grew up on a family cattle ranch in Darby, Florida. Our Aunt Ginger, Uncle Howard, and our grandparents, Frances and Homer, lived on the ranch too. We are very close because we all lived in such close proximity and we all played music. Noah: Everyone plays instruments or sings. Our dad Is David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers. Because he is an international musician, we were exposed at an early age to really great music from all over the world. Some of our favourites from England were, of course, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones but we also especially loved Scottish singer, Frankie Miller. Who is the oldest and how old are you? Jesse: I'm the oldest and Noah's just over a year younger. Noah: We're about 17 months apart. Is there any sibling rivalry? Jesse: We both play guitar. However, I realized at a young age to not compete with Noah because he is a phenomenal guitar player. Noah: We each have our own roles in how we make music. They don’t really compete with each other, they compliment each other. What made you decide to follow in your families footsteps? Jesse: We also had all kinds of instruments around the ranch as well as farm equipment. For some reason, we were much more interested in learning how to play music than learning how to farm. Noah: I wasn't any good at sports, so I focused on music instead. Are your dad and uncle supportive of you? Jesse: Dad and Howard are extremely supportive. Our dad was recently introduced to facebook, twitter, and youtube. If you check out his sites, there’s hardly a day when he doesn’t mention us. Noah: He gives us advice and we still send him all of our songs to get his opinion. We respect him tremendously. Do you think it was any easier for you because of 'The Bellamy Brothers' success - or did you find it harder because you wanted to be successful on your own merit? Jesse: When we were younger, we shied away from references to the Bellamy Brothers because we wanted our music evaluated on its merit not merely a footnote in an article on our dad. However, we must it that it is a huge compliment to be compared to the Bellamy Brothers because we love their music. What was the first single that you released? Jesse: On our Landfall album, we first released “First Call After Last Call” which is song about being a bar band playing day in and day out and really wanting to get home to be with family when it’s over. It was written by Danny Simpson and myself. Who writes the lyrics? Who writes the music? Noah: Jesse does most if the writing. Jesse: We both contribute to lyrics and music. I usually start a song and Noah tries to fix it! Tell us a bit about when you wrote 'Dirty with a Southern Drawl' and making the video / who directed the video? Jesse: I wrote is about women from the American south who have these accents...They can make a four letter word have two syllables, or more! Noah: Our younger brother Cole turned us on to Mike McCarthy's work a while back. We were already planning on filming in Memphis, so we contacted him to see if he would direct. Thankfully he did. It was he's first country music video. He's used to doing more punk rock stuff. Jesse: The Original idea I had was to film us playing in front of the Memphis Belle which we soon learned was no longer in Memphis, so that's sort of where WWII came into it and Mike just took it from there. How would you describe your music? Noah: Classic country meets classic rock. There's no precise formula for it. We don't claim to be pure country or rock. Jesse: Reconstructed mid-century rural American music. Describe a day in the studio. Noah: We record just about everything in our house now. A lot of time I'll be recording guitar parts in my pajamas. Jesse: We're always working on new stuff and trying out different sounds. We're not on the clock, so we've got time to experiment. Who/What are your influences in life / music? Jesse: Artist who aren't afraid to go against the grain like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Neil Young, Van Morrison Who would you like to be compared with/to? Noah: Everly Brothers, The Band, or Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Have you done any collaborations / with who / who would you like to do one with? Noah: We recently collaborated with a British artist named Gary Curtis. We also sand with Dad and Howard on their Gospel album a few years back. There's also a compilation available in the UK called “Family Ties” it features songs from us along with some rare Bellamy Brothers tracks. Jesse: I've been listening to reggae pretty heavily lately so it'd be cool to work with a reggae artist, maybe Barrington Levy. What award would be the ultimate award for you to win? Noah: The NME “best album” award, because I'm sure it's never been given to a country band! How did it feel the first time you heard your music on the radio? Noah: I was still in High School when our old band Elston Gunnn started picking up airplay on some local Florida radio stations. Jesse: It felt good except, the first time I heard it, the DJ called me “Jason” Bellamy. How does Country music today compare to the old style? Jesse: Music is always changing, along with technology. Nashville commercial country music is just a small part the country music being produced in America, as well as across the pond. Noah: Today we probably have the widest variety of country music being produced in history. At the same time, we have the least variety being produced by the major labels and played on country radio! Tell us about your most embarrassing and most memorable performances to date. Jesse: We've played many shows all over the United States and Europe. Performing in Austria was memorable because we had to take a ski lift to get up to the gig. Noah: It was up in the Alps. You could get to the show by car; but it was a long difficult process. So, we loaded our gear on to the passenger lifts. What are you promoting at the moment? Jesse: We're promoting our new album “Landfall” and our current single and video “Dirty with a Southern Drawl.” Noah: It's available at most of the online retailers. What’s next for Jesse and Noah? Jesse: We've just finished filming a video for our next single “Buried in Blue Jeans.” Noah: The video was shot in various locations around our home-town of Darby, Florida. It's a very small farming and ranching community with a lot of history. Jesse: We'll have it up on our youtube channel soon, along with some documentary footage. You can check out jesseandnoah.com for updates.