We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jason Elmore. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jason below.

Jason, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

I started out as a heavy metal guitarist in a popular band in a small town. I had always been a fan and student of various genres of music since beginning to play guitar at the age of 13. After years of being very rigidly confined to one style of music, I felt like I wanted to express myself in more musical ways than just heavy metal. So I delved head-first into blues music and developed a love for the genre and began playing blues gigs as a solo artist. I soon quit the heavy metal band, even though they were becoming successful on a larger scale, because I felt that my artistic sensibilities were being stifled by being narrowly confined to one style of expression. This opened up many more opportunities for self-expression and paying gigs, but it alienated my previous fan base because heavy metal fans at the time only accepted heavy metal music. I eventually moved to a bigger city (Dallas) where there were more opportunities to work and I quickly gathered a much larger following of blues fans. I went on to receive several accolades, including being named ‘Best Blues Act’ by the prestigious Dallas Observer Music Awards several times, as well as releasing original music that debuted and stayed in the top Billboard Blues Charts, and #1 on the Texas Music Charts for 6 consecutive weeks. After those albums ran their course, I had become enamored with, and adept at, various other styles of music. I soon faced the same problem that I had been disgruntled by in the past; fans of my last album didn’t want to hear me play other styles of music, they wanted me to stay within the confines of the blues. I’m now working on a hard rock album but it feels like starting back at the same place where everyone wants me to stay within the style of music that they like and not foray into other methods of self-expression. It gets frustrating at times and it has taken a toll on my self-esteem and self-perception for years but I’m finally at the point where I enjoy writing, recording, performing, and selling original music that connects several different genres and not confine myself to one form of self-expression. I may not have the same steady following that I had when I was only playing one genre, but I am happy expressing myself without limitations and I enjoy making music that I like to hear rather than worrying about what others expect of me.

Jason, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been playing music professionally since I was 20 years old. I’m now 44. I started out playing in various bands but I soon found it to be boring to play just one style of music so I formed my own band and since 2010 I’ve been releasing original music that blurs the lines between blues, rock, soul, country, and jazz. I write and record my own songs and have released them on all streaming platforms online, as well as physical albums. I have a deep hunger to continue to grow as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter which means stepping outside the box often, sometimes to the disappointment of fans who would prefer me to stick with one style of music.
I enjoy the constant growth and exploration of my musical interests and have recently been releasing one-minute long guitar instruction videos on Instagram and Facebook, which I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from. I am also in the process of finishing my latest album, which will be a lot different than my previous releases. Hopefully it garners me a larger audience but if not, at least I’ll be happy that I made an album that I would want to listen to if I were the consumer. Music has changed so much in the past few years that it’s hardly recognizable sometimes and younger generations often don’t appreciate technical proficiency or songwriting like previous generations. Hopefully I can appeal to both!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to continue to grow as an artist and to not rest on my laurels, even though that is the easiest thing to do. It’s even what many fans of my work would prefer me to do but I enjoy expressing myself in various ways too much to just be pigeonholed into one musical genre. I am dead set on releasing music that has depth and meaning, regardless of the genre. It seems that creative musical expression has taken a backseat these days to the short attention span that popular contemporary music enjoys with the younger tik-tok generation. People don’t seem to have the appreciation for songwriting and technical proficiency on an instrument the way that they used to when music was more expressive. I aim to give my listeners that feeling of how it used to be to enjoy an album or performance of quality and substance. I realize I’m going against the grain but I enjoy making my art my own way and not following trends or repeating the same ideas that I’ve employed on previous albums and performances.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

For many years, I was under the false impression that my music was special and that I was creating something that was more interesting than most of my contemporaries. I was always able to reach new ears and have people applaud my work. In the past few years, more and more people seem to enjoy meaningful art less and less. I think that the internet is largely responsible for this, as it seems to have shortened peoples attention span and it has enabled most people to enjoy an artist’s work without paying for it. Also, with the changing times, fewer people seek out live music and many choose to stay at home and get their music through videos and streaming on the internet. In some ways, it’s great because as artists we’re able to reach a much broader audience. But the drawback is that many people seem to be content with lesser quality in exchange for quantity and the ability to quickly change from one artist to the next without having to sit and absorb the entire album and see the artist’s vision as a whole. All of this has made me realize that my work is no more special than the next persons, and it often gets overlooked by people who prefer to just hear a snippet of a song here or there. At first this was a huge blow to my self-esteem but recently I’ve been able to accept it as a challenge to simply create better art and to release projects that I enjoy myself, rather than depending on the public’s acceptance for my own personal validation as an artist. I do wish that there were more fair ways to be paid for our work as musical artists. The current method of being paid by online streams is not fair and does not reflect the true value or hard work of mine or anyone else’s art.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jasonelmore.net
• Instagram: JasonElmore_Official
• Facebook: Jason Elmore & Hoodoo Witch
• Youtube: The Official Jason Elmore Music Channel

Image Credits
Zoltan Katona Lauren Elmore