The first time I saw Sevendust was Ozzfest ’98. Scorching hot — the weather and the band. I remember thinking, “This is one of the greatest live bands ever.” I thought it then, and I think it now.
Over the next three decades, I have been to more Sevendust shows than I can count. I wanted them on my radio shows, and they were nice enough to oblige. I wanted them at stations I programmed. They just keep getting better.
I caught up with Sevendust’s incredible frontman Lajon Witherspoon on my Carr Stereo Podcast on the second-to-last show of their recent tour. We discussed 30 years of magic Dust and their 15th record, One — their fourth with sonic partner and producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette — out last month on Napalm Records. We also talked about Lajon’s uniquely soulful vocals combined with the heavy that creates the band’s “Rhythm and Bang” sound, balancing life and music, and their first time playing the iconic Madison Square Garden. And we broke down a few personal R&B favorites, too.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
Terrie Carr: You may be my favorite person to talk to. LJ is in the house! LJ has arrived! I thank you so much because you’re on tour!
LJ: It’s always a pleasure. I love when I see your name, or if you’re going to be at a show or somewhere close. It makes me so happy. I love you. My family loves you. You’re a movement in this world that we live in. You carry a flag that everyone loves. And yes, we are on tour!
Terrie Carr: One is out. It is the 15th record for the band. I think I said this last record, but I mean it for this record — this is my FAVORITE Sevendust record EVER! There’s been an energy shift, I think, in the last couple of records, and tell me if you feel it too. I have a few theories as to why I think that there has been. For you guys, slow and steady wins the race. Sevendust has been such a staple of the Active Rock format, and yet never tried to sound like a lot of the bands that do sound very similar on radio. You never said, “You know what, we’re going to make this record that sounds like that band.” You’ve always just stayed true to who you are. I think your shift came with a management change when you joined Janus.
LJ: Yes, that happened. I’m so grateful for them, too. Also, going into that with Janus, the future was so bright. We’ve been with them for a while — Tim is incredible. But after the Disturbed tour, doing the album, then going back to Europe and having such a big success over there with One before it even came out, doing videos over there, and the shows were great with Alter Bridge. Terrie, I feel like when we went in to do the album, it was very organic. I just feel like we’re at a point in our career, as grown men at the age that we are, that this album came together — and it didn’t mean to tell a story, but it actually does. It has to do with everything that’s going on in our lives, including management, but not only that — relationships, wives, daughters graduating, kids growing up, everything that’s going on in life that everyone deals with. I think we were just able to paint this portrait of that in time, in real time. That’s what’s happening to us, and I feel like people can relate to that.
The Farmhouse, Elvis, and the Sound
Terrie Carr: I read a quote where you said about Elvis Baskette, your producer, “He doesn’t tell us what to do. He knows what we do.”
LJ: Yes, absolutely.
Terrie Carr: There seems to be this whole feeling of a rebirth in a different direction for The Dust. Did you feel it going in, or did it kind of just work out that way?
LJ: We just knew something was going on when we went to the farmhouse when we first started writing.
Terrie Carr: It’s a magical place — the farmhouse always brings the magic, right?
LJ: Yes, it’s incredible. We just knew something was special, and just the things that were actually going on in real time, songs were getting written. It was a very special time. And so we went into Elvis’ spot. We were very secure with a lot of the songs that we had, and we even still worked on new songs while we were there. But we were very tight as a band, and we knew that we had something special.
Rhythm and Bang
Terrie Carr: When I heard One, I was like, “Wow.” There’s something special about your vocals on this record. You’ve always had this great ability to bring this soulful R&B vocal styling to the heavy, which floats above the metal — if that makes any sense. I call it kind of “Rhythm and Bang,” right? Rhythm and Bang, not Rhythm and Blues!
LJ: Yes, thank you! I like it! That’s so funny you say that. I just wanted to really soul it up. The song “Is This the Real You” — I call that the “Gap Band” song, and everyone’s like, “Yeah, I get what you’re saying, man.”
Terrie Carr: That song! It’s such a groove. It’s got these great harmonies, and every turn on that tune is GROOVE!
LJ: I just wanted to go old school and just let the kids and everyone out there see a different avenue of Sevendust. It’s been going over so well. They’re singing that song and people are dancing. That’s what I want. I want something that’s going to be remembered and not something that people are going to forget for a week. I want them to hear it and want to hear it again and again for a long time.
Still Standing, Still Swinging
Sevendust has gone the distance and beyond. Moreover, their best days are NOW — and not every band in rock can grab that prize. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of their TVT Records debut. Need to feel the “soul of metal”? Grab One, and take the Rhythm and Bang ride with one of rock’s most enduring bands.
Full Carr Stereo Podcast with Lajon Witherspoon — LJ and TC
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