When Jarrod Dickenson and his wife Claire walked into the Mailmen studio in Utrecht a couple of months ago, their life was a lot different compared to the moment I’m releasing the session we recorded there and then. Back then they were relieved to finally have his guitars back from an unwanted adventure on different airports. Right now, Jarrod’s starting treatment for cancer. The United States being what they are, and with touring out of the picture for the near future, he’ll need not only great doctors, but also some help paying them. So, underneath this intro, you’ll find Jarrod’s own words about this and a link to his GoFundMe. If you’re able, please consider contributing.

Well now, about this session. Jarrod Dickenson’s music caught my attention not long before we met up to film – and Oliver Wood of The Influences alumni The Wood Brothers singing on one of his songs surely didn’t hurt. His 2023 album Big Talk is pretty damn great, and so is this session where he played Prefer To Lose from said album and covers of Blondie’s Heart Of Glass and Guy Clark’s Dublin Blues. Please enjoy.

Staying positive

“Well, friends, sometimes life has its own set of plans, and they don’t always line up with the ones we make for ourselves. This seems to be one of those times. I was recently diagnosed with cancer – Stage 3 rectal cancer, to be precise. The good news is my doctors seem confident that this is something we can beat, though it will be a lengthy process with several months of chemotherapy, followed by more chemo and radiation, and ultimately a surgery. While I can’t say that I’m particularly looking forward to the aforementioned agenda, we’re staying positive over here, and I have every intention of sending this cancer packing, and moving on with life.”

“This year is undoubtedly going to be a trying one physically, emotionally and financially, but as I said before, I have every intention of getting to the other side of this thing.” Visit their GoFundMe.

This particular blondie

Jarrod Dickenson: “Heart of Glass is one of those songs that instantly gets you moving as soon as you hear it. Blondie was such a killer band, full of attitude, but with great songs to back it up. It’s a fun one for me to play live, because it’s usually a pretty big surprise to the crowd when this particular blondie starts singing it!”

“Guy Clark was such a master at cutting straight to the bone.”

“Guy Clark is something of a North Star for songwriters,” Jarrod Dickenson explains. “He was a fellow Texan, but I actually didn’t discover his music until my mid-twenties, after I had already moved away from Texas. Once I did, however, his music totally knocked me out. He changed the way I thought about writing songs and telling stories.”

“He was such a master at cutting straight to the bone. His songs just hit you right in the chest. He continues to be a huge inspiration for me, and Dublin Blues has been a song that Claire and I have sung in our live sets for years. We even recorded our own version for my EP, Under A Texas Sky a few years ago.”

If you made it this far…

You made it to the end of this post. Well almost, you’ll find links to the originals, to Jarrod Dickenson’s website and music and other credits. But you have read the full post and hopefully seen the videos. Now consider what you would have paid to see Jarrod play live (for instance) and please head on over to that GoFundMe and – if you can – help Jarrod and Claire through the months that are going to be tough enough as it is. Thank you!

Photos

Keep watching

Thank you for watching and enjoying this session. You’ll probably like some other sessions from The Influences’ archive too, like these earlier ones we filmed with Judy Blank and The Wood Brothers.