When Jason Michael Carroll was a kid, his ultra-conservative father spanked him after finding a Billy Ray Cyrus “Achy Breaky Heart” cassette tape stashed under his mattress.
Even as Carroll’s father continued to disapprove of his affinity for country – and called him blasphemous after getting discovered at a 2004 talent show – that wouldn’t stop him.
“He was a fundamentalist Christian preacher who was very strict,” Carroll says. “Now, [my father] is really supportive and he’s come to my shows.”
The latest will be Summer Struck, which brings five country acts to the Payton Garden Stage at the Monterey County Fairgrounds Sunday to celebrate a genre that George Jones described as “heartfelt music that speaks to the common man.” It also represents the Fairgrounds’ first major country music event after an illustrious history made up of jazz, blues, reggae, folk and rock festivals.
For Carroll, country’s not about fame or fortune, but songwriting as a therapeutic necessity. His first single off his 2006 debut Waitin’ in the Country, “Alyssa Lies,” is steered by his trademark velvety baritone voice as it catapults modern-day country pop back to the post-Depression, sad singing cowboy tunes of the ’30s. It took nearly two years to write the tune, which centers on a little girl who’s the victim of abuse and lies to explain her constant injuries.
“[The song] is personal to me because I grew up where discipline was carried a little too far,” Carroll explains. “I really wanted to make sure I got what I wanted to say off my chest in a way that didn’t offend anyone.”
Working on a single tune for extended periods of time is nothing new to the Houston native – Carroll has always felt the harder he works on anything in life the more he reaps from it. It took more than five years for Carroll to complete a new tune, “Sad Song,” that was written in dedication to a friend who unexpectedly died at 19 from lung cancer – he plans to release the acoustic ballad as an EP in the near future and donate the proceeds to cancer research.
“There’s always that longing and desire to be close to somebody that’s gone,” Carroll says. “People are always saying, ‘Move on,’ but I don’t want to forget; I don’t want to move on. The closest I feel to someone who’s gone is when a memory brings her voice back.”
Despite a song catalog harboring some serious downers, Carroll assures that he’s a pretty optimistic guy and credits a lot of his positivity to the way he uses songwriting to unload anything weighing heavy on his heart, even if it means stewing over a tune for several years before it sees the light of day.
“My ultimate goal: No matter what I put out, there’s no sacrificing the quality,” he says.
While Carroll has been on the scene for about a decade now, the rising duo American Young – featuring Kristy Osmunson and Jon Stone – just celebrated its first year together as a band. It began when Osmunson, former fiddle player with the Fiddler’s Hatchery and founder of renowned duo Bomshel, sought Stone out at an industry party. “A Woman Like You,” a tune Stone penned for Lee Brice’s Hard 2 Love, had just reached number one – Stone wrote five songs on the album he co-produced with Brice.
“I was looking at the charts and I saw Lee Brice and Jon Stone in the number one slot,” Osmunson says. “I never really dreamed big where I can have the best of the best to work with so I went up to [Stone] and was like ‘Hey man, you want to start a band?’”
Though both musicians are equally as serious about their craft and have been playing music professionally and writing songs for a while now, they have very different approaches.
“I tend to start more with the idea or hook of a song and Jon goes with the emotion in the room,” Osmunson says.
Stone adds, “I’m kind of a lyrics Nazi. I don’t write stuff like ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me).’ Gravitating to a lyric with a lot of integrity is more my style. I’m a lead guitar player so I start with grooves and licks and melodies and pick apart a lyric. I’ve been primarily a songwriter and producer for the last 10 years.”
American Young’s debut EP will be released in a week. They’re in the midst of finishing up their full-length debut, which is co-produced by Lee Brice.
The record’s first single, “Love is War,” which hits the radio Aug. 17, comes encased in lush harmonies and rhythmic fingerpicking that upholds the tempo with concise purpose. Another song that will appear on the album, “I Wasn’t Gonna Drink Tonight” – somewhere many have been at one time – gets its fire from Osmunson’s lightning-quick chops on the fiddle.
“Kristy and I put our heart and soul into this record and it really defines who we are both musically and emotionally,” Stone says. “We have failed enough times to not be afraid of success.”
Osmunson adds, “[The album] brought out a lot of layers in me that I didn’t know were there. We have a responsibility to deliver this music correctly and I know our label and everyone who’s a part of our team feels that.”
Summer Struck Festival happens 11am-6pm Sunday, June 16, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey. $25; $40 VIP; $15 military (with ID).www.summerstruckfestival.com.
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