As Nashville-based singer-songwriter Justin Webb prepares to jump back into performing more full time, he can’t help but feel thankful for the journey he’s taken to get to this point.
He first made a name for himself between 2005 and 2011 as a member of the band We Were The States (aka The States). However, in the latter years the creative and recording process got a little bit too meticulous. Also, about 11 years ago he and his wife Melissa had their first son. He decided to play shows less often and focus more on supporting his family. That included relocating to a bigger house just outside of Nashville.
Even so, Webb has continued writing songs. He often escaped to the living room to play guitar and write songs. It’s a place that’s outside of the hustle and bustle of Nashville where he can comfortably workshop his song ideas and frequently finds inspiration. For example, Webb gets inspiration from the Frances Berry Moreno artwork that his wife gave him for their anniversary. Moreno’s a Memphis artist that Webb’s family is also a big fan of.
“We’re not too far from the city, but just enough outside to have a little more privacy,” says Webb.
Those early writing sessions at his house – and a desire to perform more and share his passion with his kids – helped rekindle his love for creating music. It has led to him returning more full time to music with his new rock and roll band Justin Webb and the Noise, who will release its debut Stupid Young on Friday, October 4 via Austin’s Chicken Ranch Records. It was produced by Ben Folds/Hayes Carll bassist Jared Reynolds and engineered by Joe Costa at 3Sirens Studio in Nashville.
In addition to Webb on guitar and lead vocals, the band also features States guitarists Ben Moore – who also has played with Bully – and Will Pettus as well as Ben’s siblings, drummer Bryan Moore and bassist BJay Moore.
Webb can still vividly recall the burst of inspiration he had for many of the album’s songs, especially the album’s title track.
“I can remember when I first started working on the song, I was in that very room,” says Webb. “My kids were walking around, and I could hear them starting to sing along.”
Webb got the inspiration for the song’s title from his wife, who had told Texas-based singer-songwriter Hayes Carll in a request for him to film an anniversary video message that they had gotten married stupid young.
“On our anniversary, my wife sent me a video of Hayes Carll,” Webb recalls. “She had messaged him and said “We got married stupidly young, but we stayed together all these years” or something like that. So, before Hayes sang a song on the video, he said ‘your wife told me that you guys got married stupidly young.’ He’s like, ‘I really liked that line. I think I’m going to save it for one of my songs.’ So, when he said that, I looked at my wife and I was like, ‘no way. I’m going to have to write this song first.’”
The song reminds him of his family, and he enjoyed seeing how much fun his kids had seeing the song’s music video for the first time. He made the initial version of the video as a gift for his wife, but his family enjoyed it so much that he decided to share it officially with some added shots of the band.
For his entry for Water Tower Sessions, he decided to play the song acoustically in his room. Unlike the full band rocking version on the album, the session version strips the song down to its rawest version, fully showcasing Webb’s vocals and guitar playing.
“I just pushed ‘record’ and went for it,” he says.
Scummy Water Tower recently caught up with the songwriter to learn about his return to music and why his new band is special.
What music have you been into of late?
Oh man. I kind of go back and forth all the time, but I’ve always really just enjoyed anything that’s just straight up rock and roll from the Rolling Stones to Oasis back in my younger years. I’ve been on a The Brian Jonestown Massacre kick. I’m kind of all over the place. I listen to a lot of punk music too, so I kind of go back and forth kind of all over the place.
How would you describe this band’s sound and what do you think makes it stand out from others?
I think the most important thing to me about it is that all of us have been in bands and we’ve all recorded previously, and I kind of just wanted to record a record with all of us in the same room. No click track or any sort of computer trickery or anything like that, and just get into a space where we could all just be ourselves and do what we want to do. I mean, I had song ideas and directions I wanted to take. These are guys I’ve known for a long time, and I think we’ve all experienced…times in the studio where it felt overproduced or there was someone kind of driving all the decisions made in a band or something like that.
And I really just wanted to take it as an opportunity for all of us to get into a room for a couple of days, record some rock and roll songs with everybody doing whatever that they wanted to do, just feeling it out basically, if that makes sense. I mean, of course before we went into the studio, we did that together quite a few times. I brought in the songs, and they felt out their parts so that we could get tight before we went into the studio and everything. But the whole idea of it was just for us to all get together and have as much fun as possible, all of us feeling our own parts as much as possible and having a good time and making a rock and roll record. That was the ultimate goal.
And I don’t know if that stands out necessarily. I mean, I love all rock and roll music that I listen to. In my past experiences, I’ve been in situations where it didn’t feel so free, it felt more controlled or produced or like I said, whether that be the person that’s producing it or engineering it or whatever, or that being a particular band member that wants to tell other people exactly what to play or how to sing or anything like that. So, this experience, I wanted everybody just to fully enjoy it altogether as much as possible.
The group is an extension of your previous band We Were The States. How did this band come together?
So, We Were The States, I can’t remember how long ago it was that we played our last show officially. I mean, I think we got back together for a few reunion type things, but it might’ve been like 2011 or something like that. But in the back of my mind over the years, I had songs and ideas and the way that the type of music that I wanted to play just always in the back of my mind, I felt like I had never actually had the opportunity to go in and really just make the kind of record that I wanted to make because of just all those different circumstances from the past. So long story short, what happened was the Chicken Ranch Records put out the We Were the States’ records and the guy that owns Chicken Ranch Records, his name is Mike Dickinson, he asked if we would come do a reunion type of show, just all of us come play together again at his South by Southwest (SXSW) showcase.
I guess it would’ve been 2022, I believe, and only Will and I were the only two of us could make it. So, we ended up just doing an acoustic set on a stage. Since we were going down there, and it was just the two of us, we played a couple of States songs, we played a few other songs together, and I had a few new songs or songs in my head that I was working on or had been working on. So, we played all of it, and then Mike watched back the recording. He recorded the set live while we were down there and he watched it back and just messaged me and said, “Hey, have you thought about trying to record another record? Have you thought about doing something?”
And I told him, “Hey, I definitely want to do it, but I kind of want to do my own thing.” And he was like, “yeah, let’s do it.” And Ben, the other guitar player who was also in the States with me, I’ve remained really close friends with him over the years. So, it just kind of started with getting them together. And then the next logical step was obviously we needed a bass player and a drummer. And it just so happens that Ben’s brothers play bass and drums. So that was obviously the first people that we asked because Ben had never worked on a project with his brothers before. And he plays guitar, BJay plays bass, Bryan plays drums, they’re all brothers, and they’ve never been in a band together. So, we went to them first and they were interested. We started getting together and it fell together pretty easily for us. It felt really natural for us all together, for sure.
I imagine it’s nice to have that familiar element and that it made you feel more comfortable going into some new territory.
Yeah. I mean, I felt like it clicked right away for everybody. I mean, obviously Will and Ben and I played together for a really long time, and then over the years have stayed really close. And I had known his brothers before this too, but just when we all got down there and started working on the songs right away, it just seemed to click.
The band marks a return to music for yourself after taking time to focus on life. What got you in the mood to write and record seriously?
Over the years, every now and again, we might have a reunion show or something like that, and anytime that you do something like that, you’re always like, “man, I wish I was still playing music more often.” And then of course I have those moments where I’m writing a song at my house for no real reason or anything, and I’m like, “man, I wish I could record this with a band.” You have those thoughts over the years, right? Because raising young kids and everything and wanting to be at home as much as possible and all that kind of stuff, or in my case, I still found myself writing songs even though I didn’t have necessarily any intention to put them out or anything like that. And then some of my friends a few years ago, this was prior to the [SXSW] thing too, they went to Muscle Shoals to record a record and got me to record.
I played drums on it for fun. And it was a band that I had been in that we had all been in together in our college years. And going back into the studio with them and just having some fun, playing some drums and stuff like that was a lot of fun. And it kind of just got the wheels turned in again too. So, all that time, every time I was around it, I was wanting to be in it more. And my kids are getting a little bit older, and they came to a show where I played drums. It was the first time I think that my kids had seen me play live, and their grandfather used to be in Lynyrd Skynyrd, and he asked me to sing a song. Their band closed the show.
He’s not in Lynyrd Skynyrd now, but he’s in another band called Skinny Molly, and they perform Lynyrd Skynyrd songs live and stuff when they play. So, he asked me to sit in on a song. I sang at the end of that show. I sang “Give Me Three Steps” with them on stage, and my kids were just so pumped up when I sang. They were so excited about it. I was like, “yeah, I guess you guys have never had a chance to see me sing and do something that I enjoy doing so much.” They had so much fun watching it. That was another thing that made me think like, “well, it would be nice to, while they’re still young and while they still think I’m a little bit cool before they get too older, it might be cool for them to see me play a little bit.”
So that was another thing that got the wheels turned into. But I think a big part of it was just that I had songs, and I had it in my head that I really wanted the opportunity to put these songs out, to put this music out, to get this band together and just have at least an opportunity for us all to really enjoy an experience in a studio and putting out this record. Because when we got in there, it was apparent right away. Joe Costa engineered it, and Jared Reynolds produced it. We were 100% on the same page when we walked in. Everything was already set up in the same room. They knew what was going on and they knew what kind of band we were and what the sound was going to be like, and they were ready for us, and we couldn’t have asked for two better people to work with.
Hayes Carl is a big influence, so I imagine it was special to work with Jared.
I should have mentioned when you said what music you are listening to that I always am listening to Hayes Carll. I should have said that at the beginning. Yeah, huge fan of Hayes Carll. He is one of my favorite songwriters.
Really the song “Stupid Young” is kind of what brought all this together, which is the reason why we ended up calling the record Stupid Young, because Mike heard “Stupid Young”, and he liked it. But how that song came about was obviously I love Hayes Carll.
On our anniversary, my wife sent me a video of Hayes Carll,” Webb recalls. “She had messaged him and said we got married stupidly young, but we stayed together all these years or something like that. So, before Hayes sang a song on the video, he said “your wife told me that you guys got married stupidly young.” He’s like, “I really liked that line. I think I’m going to save it for one of my songs.” So, when he said that, I looked at my wife and I was like, “no way. I’m going to have to write this song first.”
So pretty much after that is when I started working on that song. And that’s one of the songs that Mike heard. And ultimately that’s why we called the record Stupid Young, because it was kind of the genesis for the whole project, really.
Mike said, “Hey, I’ve always wanted you to work with Jared Reynolds.” They’ve known each other for years, and he had always wanted my old band to record with him. And something happened where it didn’t work out, and I didn’t really know Jared, but Jared had told Mike back years ago that he wanted to record our old band We Were the States, and it just didn’t work out.
But anyway, when this project came up immediately, Mike was like, “I want you to work with Jared on this project. I know you guys would click really well. You guys have the same kind of outlook on music and all that kind of stuff.” Jared came to a practice to listen to us and everything, and I don’t remember how it came up or how I found out. I might’ve just wanted to look him up to see what records he had worked on, but it turns out that he was Hayes Carll’s bass player, and I had no idea. So, it was a full circle moment. I was thinking, “Man, that’s kind of funny. Hayes Carl kind of influenced the genesis of this project, and now his bass player is going to produce our record.” And I definitely did not plan for that.
And of course, Joe is Jared’s friend, and Mike had known him too, and I know over the years he’s engineered a lot of great records. He’s worked at Ben Folds, and of course Jared used to play bass in Ben Folds. I think that’s how they know how they first met each other. But anyway, that’s kind of how that came about.
Has Hayes gotten to hear the “Stupid Young” song?
It was rumored to me that he did hear that song and that he did like it, but I won’t speak for him, but I had heard that it was played for him and that he liked it. That’s all I know.
That’s good to hear.
Yeah. It’s pretty neat.
How did Jared most impact the songs?
Making sure that we were being ourselves and making us feel comfortable. I can give you a good example. I remember when we were recording one of the States’ records, there was a song that I think at the time, maybe some of the guys in the room thought it was going to be a single or something like that, and they wanted to get everything exactly right. And I probably did…I feel like it’s more than this, but I’m going to say 25 vocal takes in a closet. I feel like it was probably even more. And it felt so by the end, you’re losing the feeling of it. You’re by yourself isolated, start questioning “am I even good enough to do this?” Because it’s so many “let’s do it. Let’s get another one just in case.” Try going high in this part, try going low in this part, whatever.
One of the main things that Jared brought to the project for me vocally, it was just like, “yeah, man, you got it. That’s the one.” Or just telling me, “Let’s do one more.” But I knew by the time we did the first track, I knew he was always just being a hundred percent honest with me, and he helped me realize, and I would say, “well, you sure we don’t need to get one just in case?” And he’s like, “no, that’s one.” He just kind of knew. I think his confidence in us and his confidence in the sound…We wanted it to be a record where we were all just feeling it out and just making this thing all one room, no click, all in feeling just rock and roll. And he knew that’s what we wanted to try to capture.
So, he had a really good gauge of knowing, “Hey, maybe this isn’t perfect, but the feeling is right, so let’s keep it.” So, his ear for that kind of stuff was really, really important because it kept us going in the same direction the whole time with not a lot of breaks and a lot of stops. We only had two days in the studio. We only had two eight-hour things, and we did seven songs in the first day, and we did one song the second day, and then I came back and did some of the extra vocal stuff, but we only had two days in the studio, and he kept everything driving in the right direction. I don’t think that we would’ve been able to record it in that amount of time had it not been for Jared.
As you said, one of the biggest goals was to record a pure rock and roll album in the studio in the same room. Why was that important?
From my previous experiences, when you’re playing on stage, you’re all feeding off of each other. And in my older band that we’ve talked about, one comment I always heard from people is like, “man, you guys are better alive than your records.” And I always took that as a compliment of course, but also, I always feel the same way when we’re practicing too. I enjoy the company of my friends and musicians around me, and I feel like that when you’re with each other and feeding off of each other’s energy through the song, it makes it better. It brings more energy and more feeling into the tracks, in my opinion.
What were some of the biggest surprises?
Well, if I remember this correctly, I think that we did “A Rose To Chew On” in the first take, which was really awesome and a really good feeling. I think that we were all really surprised and happy when we walked out with seven songs in one day because there’s eight total songs, and when you are able to record seven of them in your first day, you feel pretty excited about the second day because you know can really take your time and you can go back and listen to stuff and add some guitar parts and some vocal parts and things like that, and you don’t feel as anxious as you might when you first start, especially knowing like, “all right, we’ve got two days, here we go.” So I think it was a really nice feeling and surprise to know that we got seven in on that first day. And like I said, when we did “A Rose to Chew On” and we did the first take, and this is just my memory of it, I think that they were like, “man, I think that’s the one.” And that was pretty neat.
In what ways do you think you’ve most grown as a songwriter compared to a decade ago when you were with the States?
Not being scared to be myself or worried what anyone’s going to think about anything. The comfort and just in writing lyrics and saying what I’m feeling in the moment or saying what I want to say. Taking the song in a direction that feels right rather than worrying if it fits a vibe or a certain band.
I feel like when I was younger or whenever I was in that first band, it seemed like I was more immature, just younger and immature, and I feel free to be myself and just more confident in myself, and I know what I enjoy. I know how the songs feel to me and how I want them to be, and I’m not creating for any other reason than I just enjoy creating them.
What are you most looking forward to in the months ahead?
I’m really excited about our album release show, and that’s going to be at The Basement in Nashville on October 10th. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Lilly Hyatt, but she’s going to be headlining the show for us, and I love Lily. And then there was another band that I had been listening to locally. Their name is Hothead Wave, and I really, really liked their music too, so I reached out to them about opening the show for us, and they’re going to be on the bill too, so it’s Hothead Wave and Lily Hyatt. So, I’m really excited for that.
I know that we have a couple things we may have. I believe that they’re lining up like an in-store…at a record store in Nashville. I’m just excited to get back out there and play some shows and see what the reaction is to the record and hopefully play a lot more shows over the next year in a lot of different places would be the goal. Ultimately, and we’re already, partly because I haven’t recorded in so long, I have maybe 20 or 25 songs that I’m just kind of sitting on. Hopefully if everything goes well with this and we’re able to get back out there and if everyone’s enjoying this record, then we would love to get back into the studio and hopefully it would be with Jared and Joe again. That would be the best circumstance, and hopefully we can knock out another record down the line, so we’re all excited about that too.
You can follow Justin Webb & The Noise here and listen to their music at their Bandcamp page.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
