Five Minutes Alone: Jonathan Jackson
The actor/musician behind Nashville’s Avery Barkley reveals how the TV show (and U2) shaped his playing
“if you’re going to go out there through the difficult times, the music has to help you”
I got my first real six-string
“The first guitar that I owned, funnily enough, was called the Jackson. I was eight, it wasn’t a full size. The first full-size one that I got was a Washburn in a beautiful blue. I started taking lessons when I was eight. What inspired me to play was my uncle; he was a guitar player, so I must have just asked him when I was really little to show me a few chords. My family’s always been musical, my dad plays bass guitar and sings so I was around it a lot.”
When push comes to shove
“Singing and playing – that was certainly a transition that took place over my teenage years, feeling comfortable with the intricacies going on while you’re singing. Doing it on the show has been really challenging at times. You get sent the most intricate guitar track from some of the best musicians in the world in Nashville; they’re just jamming and creating this really interesting thing. Then you only have three or four days before you have to sing it and learn the guitar part. It stretched me a lot as a guitar player. It’s improved my playing for sure, when you’re pushed to go in a direction that you wouldn’t normally do.”
Guitar town
“They’ve handed me some sweet guitars on
Nashville. My favourite is the Gibson 335. I love it. I was introduced to it from the show, it’s one of Avery’s guitars. There’s a beautiful Gibson SJ, it’s an acoustic from the early 1950s that Avery uses on the show, it’s probably the most spectacular acoustic guitar that I’ve ever played. It’s so beautiful; you feel like you can play things on it that you wouldn’t normally be able to. [Nashville’s music director and songwriter] Colin Linden, who’s a brilliant guitar player, he went out and got one too.”
Livin’ On The Edge
“I don’t listen to much Dire Straits, but my second guitar teacher had me play some of their stuff because of how clean the guitar work is. That was something I always took with me. The Edge from U2 has a very similar approach. I used to watch DVDs of U2’s tour in ’92 and try to figure out how he was playing what he was playing. Using two or three strings as opposed to all six can sometimes be more powerful; I was never really after the giant solo. I love the guitar work in a lot of U2’s music. If you look at the solos on One or With Or Without You, they’re really understated, but they hit that emotional spot well.”
The harder they come
“I remember in 2004 I was trying to scream in my vocals and I screamed so much I almost passed out! The first decade that I was creating music with Enation, there were a lot of difficulties, but interestingly it brought out some of the best songs. Some of the most hopeful songs have come from the most disheartening moments. Everything Is Possible, is a real anthem, but that was written when I was feeling really horrible. If you’re going to go out there through the difficult times, the music itself has to help you. I’m happily married, I have three kids, I love being home, I’m not going to go out on the road just for the sake of doing it.”