Country music artist stops by KTCU

Country music artist Shooter Jennings was in the KTCU studio Thursday afternoon performing two new songs from his upcoming album, “Family Man,” which will be released March 13.

Jennings said the album felt more like his first solo album because it was different from his past albums.

“I produced it myself and wrote everything on it,” he said. “It’s weird because my other records have always been pretty loud and a lot of electric, and this one I played all acoustic on it.”

Jennings used a different band comprised of primarily jazz players from New York who could also play country, he said.

He said he wrote the album’s lyrics with old Southern sayings in mind. He has now gravitated toward simpler lyrics and has “gone country” in comparison to the heavier rock songs he performed before.

“I feel like there is hope, because the iron grip the pop country has had on radio is kind of slipping,” he said. “And more country artists are going the non-traditional route.”

“The Deed and the Dollar” is the new single off Jennings’ new album. He said it was a love song written by putting old Southern idioms into the lyrics.

Jennings recorded 15 songs and planned to record more to release a second album this September, he said.

Jennings planned to start a tour in March with other bands like The Departed and will play at the South By Southwest music conference. He planned to make a stop in Fort Worth while on his tour, he said.

He’s no newbie to the road, though. As the son of country music artists Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, Jennings said he spent his summers on the road and any other time he wasn’t in school by touring with his parents.

“I was lucky growing up on the road and getting to be around music and a lot of musicians,” he said. “I kind of didn’t know the difference.”