Chatting up Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights

by J.B. Hawkins

This dirty rock band has been wowing crowds across the country while touring with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock but are most in their element romping through the South. J.B. Hawkins caught up with them this weekend at Austin City Limits.

Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights are no strangers to playing alongside prestigious national acts. After all, they've toured with both Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock in the past year, and Austin City Limits is just another notable line on their already impressive vitae. I had a chance to catch up with JT and the Northern Lights as they were being run around the ACL media tent on Friday:

First of all, congratulations on your Dallas Observer Music Awards you won recently.

JT: Thank you. Thanks a lot.

I believe you won all three categories you were nominated for, right? Best Blues Act, Best Group, and Best Male Vocalist?

JT: Yes. That's right.

Did you win those awards before you were booked for ACL? Did the awards help you in that respect?

JT: No, it was already booked. We went through BMI because they were really pushing us for ACL. So, we won the awards after the show was scheduled. It was really great because those awards were a poll-type voting system. It really shows how much Dallas supports us and what we are doing.

Can you tell a difference in your reception, or an increase in your exposure by different audiences since winning those awards?

JT: It's hard to say. We haven't played there (Dallas) much recently. We played there so many times when we were starting because we were just trying to get a bunch of shows, you know. But we got to the point where we just played there too much and felt like we needed to get out there and go some other places.

What's your favorite place to play outside of Texas?

JT: Chicago. New York is great, and Cali is great. But I love coming to the South. You know, anywhere like Lubbock, Bryan, College Station, Dallas. We just always have a good time. I think Austin is the music capital, though. It's just fantastic. Nashville has been really great lately.

So the South is where you really get the good reception?

JT: Yeah, I think we do. I think it's just because we've been playing the South so much over the past two years and people know us more down here than up north, but it's slowly trickling up there. I mean, we haven't released anything nationally yet. We're going to do that in March.

A little birdie told me something about this. Are you about to go in or have you already recorded it?

JT: We've already done it in Nashville, and it's being mixed and mastered for release in March under Atlantic Records. We're kind of on the brink of that, but for now it's all been word of mouth and grass roots.

Just wow them on stage, huh?

JT: Exactly. We've got a record that's pretty fantastic so it should be cool to take that out on the road and get to some new ears.

Do you have any idea where you want to release it?

JT: We're thinking maybe SXSW, but nothing is set in stone as of right now.

Well, how's ACL been so far?

JT: It's been pretty hectic so far. We just rolled in to town today and we've been nonstop.

Is this your first time to play ACL?

JT: Yeah, it is. We do a lot of things in Austin like play SXSW and Antone's and Stubb's. But this is the first time here at ACL. It's really exciting.

Any notable acts you guys are wanting to catch?

JT: Them Crooked Vultures, Dr. Dog, Mos Def, Kings of Leon to name a few.

Right on. Well, I can't wait for the show. I caught you at Boiler Room in Denton several months ago, and it would be great to see you on a bigger stage in a festival setting. Thank you all so much for your time and good luck with the album release.

JT: Thank you very much.

(Fast forward to their set at the BMI stage on Saturday afternoon):

As I stood there in my parka while the rain was coming down on Saturday, I was able to witness what JT and the Northern Lights were all about. They rocked the BMI stage while competing with the other, louder stages and didn't miss a beat or lose any intensity in their set. As they were about to close, Jonathan told the crowd, "thank you all for coming out here and braving the rain, this is definitely what it's all about." They sure made a firm believer out of me.

J.B. Hawkins is a pop culture analyst based in Dallas, Texas.