After landing on American shores in 2002 to study bluegrass, then shifting into a career as a country singer/songwriter/picker, Jedd Hughes has spent 20 years on an alternate – but rewarding – path as A-list session player and touring sideman.

While being busy tempered his flow of original music, in 2014 he returned to songwriting, so his latest solo album, Nightshades, is just his third. Created with help from songwriter/performer/producer Rodney Crowell, it’s more collaborative than 2019’s West, yet also more personal. We chatted with Hughes as he prepped for a session with country star Eric Church.

How did the songs on Nightshades come together? 

The same way I started West – at home, recording and building songs while writing. In the process, I was talking to Rodney quite a bit – he and I were writing as well, and there was so much material we were thinking of doing two records. Finally, I asked him to help me conceptualize the record and put a definitive list together. We added drums and bass – real humans – on top of tracks I built.

Was there one place where you did most of the work?

We ended up at Dan Nobler’s studio, Goosehead Palace, where Dan engineered and mixed the record. We tracked a few things at Dark Horse Recording, as well.

How were tracks sorted?

I let Rodney take the reins. He has such a great song sense, lyrically and melodically, and after 20 years of playing shows and working on records together, I really trust him with knowing my sensibilities and governing the quality of the songs.

How did you decide to cover Rodney’s “Stay, Don’t be Cruel”?

That happened at his house. I was thinking it’d be great if we had one or two barnburners that would be fun to play live so we could stretch out. I couldn’t come up with anything, writing-wise, so he said, “Well, I’ve got this old song I wrote with Keith Sykes,” and he played it for me acoustically in his little studio. I was like, “Oh yeah, that’s got to be in there!” He and I were talking about Delaney and Bonnie, and Sarah Buxton has been a longtime close friend and collaborator, and he was like, “Why don’t we bring Sarah in and we can frame this thing as a Jedd and Sarah song?” 

When he played it that day in the studio, what hooked you?

I liked the simplicity of the song. A lot of times, simpler narratives are harder to come up with, and there was something about it, melodically, that felt like it fit me.

Is there a song that best represents where you are now as a writer and guitarist?

“Nightshades” is one I’m pretty proud of. It started with a different lyric; I was going for late-night/J.J. Cale. I sent it to Rodney, who had just read Hemingway’s A Movable Feast. He said, “We should impose some storytelling from this book.” So we rewrote the lyric then went in to track it. I wanted to keep it super-minimal and dark, and I played acoustic while we cut it, then came back with my main guitar straight into a really good-sounding old Gibson GA-20 and we carved a nice, clean sound – almost a “bluesman” approach.

I’ve been on this kick… We’d just made Rodney’s [The Chicago Sessions] with Jeff Tweedy, and I didn’t use any effects pedals at all. I was like, “It’d be really cool to stay on that train.” So we set up in the middle of the room and I tried to come up with a sound that was “country-blues Telecaster” – real simple. We got exactly what I was going for.

Is the GA-20 part of your collection?

Yeah, it has become a staple in my recording setup and live. I re-housed it in a Mojo cabinet with a bigger speaker and it became the tweed Deluxe I always wanted (laughs). Usually, those ideas fall apart once you get into the mechanics of transposing chassis, but the holes lined up exactly and it just fit together. The amp has a magic of its own.

What’s the story behind “Kill My Blues”?

That was the second song I wrote with Guy Clark, about 20 years ago. It’s been sitting around, and I wanted to record it with a Bob Dylan Love And Theft vibe – small blues band, very live-feeling, with that ratty tone. I used a Greco Les Paul copy with mini humbuckers plugged straight into an Oahu amp, turned up. I wanted all the overdrive naturally out of the amp. That’s another thing I gleaned from working with Jeff Tweedy.

Does its tone compare to any other amp? 

Not really. I love those little old amps and have a pile of them. They all have their own quirky personality and I’ve been through dozens of ’em over the years; I’m down to three that I really love because they have a midrange that sits well in the track and you never have to do anything to it, EQ-wise. It stays away from other instruments.

Talk about the acoustic sound on “Loving You Is The Only Way To Fly.” 

That’s a really special ’38 Martin 0-18. I love its midrange. I can really articulate what I want with it, and it’s one of the better guitars to solo on and play rhythm in one pass.

How long have you had it?

Just a couple years. I got it on the Martin Guitar Forum, from a guy in Canada. I know it sounds ridiculous, but looking at pictures of its top, I was like, man, “That thing’s got to be good!”

Was there pick wear or other clues?

The fading of the top, the pick wear… I’m very hesitant to buy acoustic guitars without playing them, but he’d had it for a while and had all the right work done. It was really in great playing shape. 

You’ve mentioned being pleased with the way “Underground” turned out.

That was the most “built at home” track because I recorded the nylon-string part while I was writing it. On electric, I was going for two modalities – one really liquid, dreamy, and ambient, which was my old blue Teisco with square-pole pickups. 

Yin to its yang was a Robbie Robertson dry electric sound; Rodney played one of Robbie’s solo records for me years ago – a song called “Unbound,” that has a great, raw electric sound. I had my Telecaster and played it straight into the GA-20 with a little dirtier tone. I love the way the two guitars dance around each other, like characters in a movie.

Which nylon-string do we hear?

It’s a Del Vecchio that I really love. That guitar is instant music – it’s one of my favorites.

Speaking of instant music, the lick for “Riff Raff” was inspired by a Kay fuzz pedal that your wife bought for you.

Yeah, she got that for me for Valentine’s Day. I’d seen it in the used case when we were at Sam Ash, but I walked out thinking, “The last thing I need is another fuzz pedal.” (laughs). But she went back and bought it. When I plugged into it, the first riff I played was that one, and she came into the room and said, “What is that?” I said, “I’m just seeing what this pedal does.” She was like, “That’s pretty cool. You should remember that one.” So I recorded it on my phone. It’s not often I get the nod of approval from her on riffs (laughs). 

The guitar we hear most is one you built, right?

Yeah, during Covid. 

Were you motivated simply by being on lockdown?

Well, when all the work went away at the beginning, I had to sell a bunch of stuff to keep us afloat – my ’57 Tele and a handful of other things. I thought, “I’ve had a ton of old Teles over the years and I could probably build something that would keep me going for a while.”

One day while I was working on it, my five-year-old son said, “Wow! That’s so cool.” So I started thinking we should build him one, too. So we got on StewMac and found a kit, a finishing book, and some nitro rattle cans, then for a couple weeks we worked on the body for his and I shaped necks from blanks. We had fun building guitars together.

How did you shape the necks?

I bought a rasp, some scrapers, a ton of different sandpapers, and started whittling away. I kept mine on its body so I could play it a bit, take more off, then play it again until it felt the way I wanted. It came out great and now I take it to every session.

Is it similar to the ’57 you sold?

It’s pretty close – sort of a soft V at the nut that ends up being a full C. It’s also similar to a ’53 I had for a while that transitioned from that V to full C/almost D. I had that in the back of my mind.

Was it difficult to install the B bender?

Well, I called Gene Parsons…

Not to name-drop or anything (laughs)….

Years ago, when I was with Emmylou [Harris] and Rodney, I had a red Tele that Jeff Senn built with one of his benders; Jeff introduced us and I stayed in touch with Gene. He knew that musicians were going through a tough time, and he took care of me.

How did you get turned on to the bender?

The guy I grew up idolizing in South Australia, Bill Chambers, had a homemade B bender in his Tele, so from the age of 10, I’ve been enamored with that sound.

How did you shape the neck on your son’s guitar?

I made it for his little hands. It was kind of pre-cut, but I took some of the shoulder out of it and made it a very gentle V/C shape, then I reshaped the headstock like a Tele. He picked Sonic Blue for its finish. Building it is one of my favorite memories.

We should touch on the new album’s acoustic ballad, “Day After Day.”  

I wrote that song after hearing of a friend’s sudden passing in Australia. It was very shocking, and that song is one of the few I’ve ever written that, as the words came out of my mouth and onto the page, didn’t go through any editing. It felt as real and guttural and raw as any song I’ve ever written. And I’m glad it made the cut, because it means a lot to me.

Which guitar do we hear on it?

I played that on a “banner” J-45 I borrowed from Rodney that belonged to a good friend of ours who passed on.

You’re going out with Vince Gill again this summer. Are you opening any shows for him?

I don’t know. Tom Bukovac is also going out with us, and he and I do a duo thing, so we may end up doing that a bit. Tom’s going to work that angle (laughs). Vince doesn’t traditionally have openers, and I’ve used up my hand. We’ll see.

With you and Tom, what are your roles in Vince’s band?

We’re just the rhythm guys. We did a run at the Ryman last year and it was really fun and really challenging to come up with parts that weave in and out. I think Vince likes having both of us because he knows he’s covered and he can really sing and play solos when he wants to play, but also feel like we’ve got his back.