There was a period of time in the late 90s and early 2000s where I found it really hard to find good new music. I wasn’t cool enough to be in on the indie scene at that point, and the last good music on the radio had died out around 1995. So it was very refreshing during that time to come across the “alt-country” of Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son Volt, The Jayhawks, Whiskeytown and, eventually, Ryan Adams. This music will always have a soft spot for me, and I chose to embrace that with the writing and recording of Wild Wild Love.

I had also been having so much fun with the band we put together after The Rockford Files, and some of that energy makes it onto the record (especially on “Be My Baby Tonight,” which features a lead guitar lick written and recorded by our guitarist, Devin Sullivan). The rock songs here were written with the knowledge that they would be played live, and even some of the more low-key tracks reflect this (the harmonies on “Lake Michigan” are taken by the band, not me).

Looking back, this is what I remember most about this album – the feeling of having a great time playing music with good friends. It was a hard time in other ways, but those guys helped me find the “path through suffering.” Long live the Rockford Five! 🙂

 

-Josh Caress

May 2016