JAMES MADDOCK
In the nice-work-if-you-can-get-it department … James Maddock just finished more than a month of concerts in Europe, opening for Counting Crows. The singer-songwriter-guitarist — known for his thoughtful, reflective lyrics and warm, gentle stage presence — performed in his “Jimmy & Immy” duo format with Counting Crows guitarist David Immerglück.
He will not be far from his current hometown of Bradley Beach, though, on Nov. 8, when he and his band headline the first show of the second season of the Split Level Concerts series at the Ocean Grove Arts Center.
A native of Leicester, England, Maddock first came to the attention of American rock fans as the frontman of the band Wood, who released an album, Songs From Stamford Hill, on the Columbia label in 1999. For most of his adult life, though, he has been a New York-based solo artist, but he relocated to Bradley Beach about a year ago. His latest album is Live at Masterdisk, recorded before an invited audience at Masterdisk Studios in Peekskill, New York.
I spoke to him by phone in early October, between Counting Crows shows.
Q: How’s the tour going?
A: It’s fantastic. They’re a wonderful group of guys and they are extremely accommodating. It’s great crowds for me to play in front of. Their audiences are all really nice to me: It’s really helpful that I’m playing every night with Immy.
MICHAEL STAHL, portraitsbymichaelstahl.com
James Maddock performs, with Adam Ezra behind him, at Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, in January 2024.
Q: How much time do you get each night?
A: I get about half an hour. I think sometimes it’s going to be 40 minutes, but it’s been half an hour. And it’s always a big crowd when we go on. It’s not, like, filling up. It’s packed when we go on, to begin.
Q: Have you had the opportunity to play at all with the whole band?
A: Not really. I don’t really want to. Dave said the other night, “Come on and play.” I just felt a bit weird about it, to be honest. I didn’t really want to do it. Maybe as the tour goes on. We’ll see.
Q: How did you first meet Immy?
A: It was years ago at Rockwood Music Hall. He kind of lives in New York and I saw him playing with various people and then we started to play together, and we became friends. And it kind of developed to quite the thing. We would play regularly together, then we started to tour around Italy together. That was, like, 10, 12 years ago. So we’ve been playing together as much as we can, really, and whenever I play in New York, if he’s not on tour, he will always come and play with me, and sit in with the band on guitar or mandolin. Or in the studio … if I’m in the studio, he’s a great guy to have around.
He’s a good friend of mine. So it’s a great association and I’m sure that he had a big hand in me getting to do this tour, because he’s big friends with (Counting Crows frontman) Adam (Duritz). And Adam is somebody who I know from New York as well and he comes to my gigs sometimes and he knows about me. And here we are. I did about eight or nine gigs with them last year, all around the East Coast of America. So this is kind of an extension of that.
MICHAEL STAHL, portraitsbymichaelstahl.com
James Maddock, left, and Willie Nile at the 2018 Light of Day concert at Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair in January 2018.
Q: So tell me about your move to New Jersey. What was the thinking behind that?
A: Basically, what happened is … you know, the same thing happens to everybody, eventually, in New York: The rents just get too much. I couldn’t afford it. My rent went up a thousand dollars a month. Every place I tried to live in and applied for, that I could afford …. I was competing with people who were earning four or five times what I’m earning. And the realities of New York living are not conducive to artists or musicians, unless you have a landlord that’s not going to raise the rent massively every year. But I never got that. Every place I’d ever lived, every year, the rent went up and up and up and up and up.
Let’s say you can afford $2,000 a month for an apartment in New York. You find yourself competing with people who are earning $200,000 or $300,000 a year. I tried to stay. But I just couldn’t. I applied for 30 apartments. I never got one callback because my income was not competitive with the rest of the people who would want to live in New York.
Don’t get me wrong: I am very, very happy to move to Bradley Beach. It’s a beautiful place. The people there have been so friendly and inclusive: including me in things. And of course, I’ve been coming to Asbury Park for years with Light of Day. So I do know a lot of the people down there. And one thing led to another. I do have to live somewhere, and I found a place in Bradley Beach, and it’s fantastic.
Q: How long were you in New York?
A: Well, I moved there in 2002. I left last year. So, like, 23 years — something like that, on and off. I lived in Texas for a year. And then I went back to London for a few months. But really, the vast majority of the time, we’ve spent in New York.
The cover of James Maddock’s “Live at Masterdisk” album.
Q: The album you just put out was recorded for a small audience, in the studio, right?
A: Yeah. That came about because a friend of mine — a mastering engineer called Scott Hull, who runs Masterdisk — wanted to do a solo album with me, for vinyl only. It costs a lot of money to make vinyl these days, and he kind of facilitated it, so it came out on the Masterdisk label. I did a performance over two nights. We recorded a bunch of songs. There was a small, invited audience, and that’s basically what was on the record. It’s a bunch of songs that are culled from my last bunch of records. But I think it came out real good. It’s a great representation of how I play live. You know, if you want to come and see a gig of mine, that’s what it’s going to sound like.
Q: In addition to the vinyl, can you stream it? Will it be on Spotify and things like that?
A: Eventually, it’ll be on Spotify. I’m not sure when. But at the moment, I’m just trying to sell the vinyl at gigs. That was the initial idea: just to make a vinyl-only thing. Also … I’ve got a new album coming out towards the end of the year. I’m not quite sure when. And that too is going to come out in vinyl on the Masterdisk label. And that’s a whole album of brand new songs with the band and I’ve just done a video for that (see “Wish You Were Here,” below).
Q: Who will be in the band for the Ocean Grove show?
A: Good question. It’s a tough one because … my band is not like a lot of bands. Everybody in my band is in five other bands, like the drummer (Aaron Comess) is in The Spin Doctors. He’s busy. The piano player (Ben Stivers) plays with Ricky Martin. He’s in Las Vegas. The bass player (Drew Mortali), he’s in Jessie’s Girl; he plays all over the place. And they all get paid a fortune. So it’s quite odd sometimes for me to put a band together. But I’ve got (drummer) Tom Curiano, who’s played with us many times. I’ve got Rich Hammond, who’s played with me many times. He’s a fantastic bass player. And then I’ve got a local fellow called Arne Wendt (on keyboards), who everybody knows. He’s really a lovely guy. He’s a Bradley Beach guy. And then I’ve got my guy, (guitarist) Andrew Carillo, from my band.
Q: I know you’ve been doing those weekly Asbury Park shows with Williams Honor, dropping in on those sometimes.
A: We did that every Wednesday night. We were playing at The Palmetto with Williams Honor. I did like a month of those, but then I went on tour and I was in Europe with my own thing, so I stopped that. They continued it. And that was a big success, you know. But that’s another example of Bradley Beach and Asbury Park … there’s a really fabulous community of musicians who I’m getting to know, whether it’s Pat Guadagno or the Williams Honor people or Bobby Mahoney. So many great players down in Asbury Park, and the people come out, and they’re so supportive of music in that community. It’s really a beautiful place for music, and the quality of the musicians is really high.
I’m just trying to be a part of it. To fit in it takes a while. I’m a newcomer. Obviously I’m not American. But the attitude of everybody in the area has been so friendly and inclusive. I did an event a few weeks ago at Pat’s gallery (Pat Schiavino’s art629) for this album release and it was packed with people from Asbury Park and the surrounding area. It made me quite emotional.
JOHN CAVANAUGH
From left, Gordon Brown and Reagan Richards of Williams Honor, James Maddock, Vini Lopez and Pat Guadagno at The Pollak Theatre, on Sept. 3.
Q: I saw that Springsteen show you did at Monmouth University (the Sept. 3 Born to Run tribute at The Pollak Theatre). Was that intimidating, to get up there and do “Backstreets”? (see video below)
A: It was. The thing about those gigs is, they’re pressure gigs because you’re always doing a song that you’ve never done before. You’ve never really rehearsed it, and you’ve never played it before. And there’s always a big audience and everybody’s expectations are high. And I had to do “Backstreets,” which is a big song. I just thought, “Look, I’ll try my best.”
Then, like five minutes before we were going to go on, we were told we had to do one of our own songs. So that was another one, like, “What the hell am I going to play?” (laughs) But it was a really nice night. Again, it’s another example of the community all coming together, supporting each other and playing, and the audience comes out and everybody’s cheering everybody on. It was a fantastic night. I’m obviously a big Springsteen fan, and to play those songs was a thrill.
Q: Did you pick “Backstreets” or was “Backstreets” given to you?
A: Given to me. I was, like, “Oh boy, all right.” It such an intense song. And the performance on the album is full throttle, one might say. But I tried my best, and I think it was okay. It’s always difficult when you don’t really have a song under your skin and you don’t know the phrasing and everything particularly well. But that’s just me wanting to be great. I think I did a good job.
Q: Absolutely, it was really good. As was the show as a whole. I mean, you can’t go wrong with Born to Run.
A: The highlight for me was Vini (Lopez) singing “Meeting Across the River.” Vini’s such a great singer. And he did such a brilliant job on that song. That, for me, was really special.
Q: Yeah, that was an example of someone taking a song in a really different direction.
A: And also, Pat (Guadagno) doing “Thunder Road,” I thought, was brilliant. His version was really beautiful. I’ve become friends with Pat the last few months and I’m really honored to play with him. He’s so fantastic, and he and I play together as much as I can. When I’m around, I’ll just kind of turn up with my guitar and he kindly enough lets me sit in and play with him. I’ve become a big fan of Pat.
Q: This series you’re playing in Ocean Grove … this is the second season they’ve done it there. Did you go to any shows in the first?
A: No. I was not living in the area at the time. I kind of saw it was happening, but I was not around to see it. But I know they had some nice people and I know the guys that run it pretty well. I’ve been working with those two for a long time. And I’m really happy to do it. It’s a big place! I had a look at it the other day, and I was really surprised how big it was.
James Maddock will perform, with Jackson Pines opening, at The Split Level Concert Series at The Ocean Grove Arts Center, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. Visit jerseyshoreartscenter.org.
Maddock’s other upcoming shows include The Turning Point in Piermont, New York, Nov. 16; and The Loft at City Winery in Manhattan, Dec. 10. For more about him, visit jamesmaddock.net.
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