By Georgette Brookes

Over a year after the release of his EP, ‘It Is What It Is’, Jordan Harvey played on various stages across London’s Country 2 Country (C2C) festival. Each performance drew great crowds that hung off every word the Scottish singer fed them.

Harvey has an edge of vulnerability to his music – he’s not pretending to be anything but himself. There’s no cowboy hat, no boots, no flashy belt buckle. He’s just Jordan – he’s proud of his Scottish roots, he’s grateful for the support of his fans and he adores his wife. This authenticity is poured into his songs and the craic he has with the crowds during his sets.

From rural Scotland to late-night sets in Broadway bars, Harvey’s career took off when his song, ‘Alabama Girl’, went viral on TikTok. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength – a record deal, an EP, festivals, and tours. We borrowed ten minutes of his time to chat about his guitars, new music and working with your best friends.

How was your set in the Town Square earlier?

It was good, good fun – any time I get a chance to perform I love doing it.

We saw you at Long Road – a little tiny gig last year – how was that for you?

It was cool, I mean it was awesome to be back in the UK obviously. C2C is the pinnacle of country music so being here – I love Long Road and I would go back for sure but it’s cool being here this weekend.

Are you catching any other artist while you’re here this weekend?

My Mrs is over from Alabama so I’m here, I’m speaking to you lovely people and then we’re actually doing a lot of sightseeing as she’s never been to London before.

Where are you taking her?

So, like Tower Bridge, London Bridge, we want to go and look at The Shard and then Camden and I’ll take her back to my old flat in Shephard’s Bush and show her where I used to live. We’ll do Buckingham Palace, she hasn’t done any of that stuff just like hanging out.

I was going to try and pull this question off on my own, but I have no idea what I’m talking about…my friends want to know why you play the guitar you played today.

Ah why I play a Fender Acoustasonic? So, I actually play multiple different guitars but Fender have been incredible to me and they designed this guitar that switches between an electric and an acoustic so it allows me to be very versatile without having to switch guitars so I play it all the time when I’m travelling. When I’m back in the states I kind of switch back – I have some Telecasters and Stratocasters and Gibson guitars I love as well, but really Fender have been amazing to us and they actually gifted me the Acoustasonic – especially for this tour – and it’s so light, I can fit it in the overhead locker. When I’m back with Seaforth in April I’ll be on a full-bodied acoustic.

The tour with Seaforth – tell us all about that.

Yeah we’re hitting multiple markets – London, Bristol, Manchester, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and a few others but yeah we’re super excited to get back. Seaforth lads are my best mates we hang out all the time in Nashville. I’m working on a new record with a phenomenal producer, but Tom in Seaforth is also a phenomenal producer and he’s actually coproducing a couple of things with us, so it’s really exciting to get to work with them. What’s really cool is some of the songs I’ll play on the tour next month are some of the songs that we’ve written together, and no one has heard yet so it’s really exciting. There’s no one better to tour with than your best mates.

You talked about new music today so what’s happening there?

Yeah, so, working on this new record and you know, it’s taken a little longer than expected. This a completely different side of me that I don’t think people are going to expect. It’s sonically a lot different but lyrically it’s a lot more…it’s a lot darker. It’s about struggles with mental health and what it was like growing up in Scotland and why I left. It’s the most personal I’ve ever got when writing a record and when you do that, it takes time. I’m working with a new producer and we’re taking our time with it but we’re not intentionally taking our time with it if that makes sense – we’re not just being slow for the sake of being slow – we’re just being very picky about everything. It’s great, it’s so much fun but it’s a process and I’m super excited and I really hope that this record can help people that are maybe going through some stuff.

Is it staying in the country lane or are you taking it in a new direction?

Do you know what, I think music is perceived in so many different ways. Some people would say if they’d never heard Tequila – Dan and Shay before that it’s a pop song (I personally don’t I think it’s country) you know, so we’ll be walking the line for sure between this pop and country mix but they’re country written songs – I wrote them in Nashville. The producer I’m working with is very well established in the pop space, and we’re incorporating Scottish sounds in it – we’ve got some bagpipes in it – 80s sounding stuff like saxophones and trumpets and all that so there’s definitely a wide variety of sound on this record and I’ve decided to not pigeon-hole ourselves. If a song lends itself to country production, then we’ll go that way. I grew up loving Phil Collins and Elton John, so this record definitely has 80s sounds and influences in it but there’s still some country songs in it too.

Country is all about authenticity and integrity so if you stick to that then it’ll be a good album.

Yeah, you’ve just hit the nail on the head with authenticity it’s so important – to chuck on a pair of cowboy boots and some boot-cut jeans and a cowboy hat it’s going to be the most inauthentic thing that anyone’s ever seen. I just can’t do it I have to be true to myself – someone like Lainey can do it, that’s her world that’s what she grew up in. I
didn’t grow up in that world so for me to do it I think it would come across a bit forced, and I never want to be inauthentic.

Last thing – the national anthem at the Titans v Ravens game. How did that come about it looked so cool?

Class. It was so good. I was in Mexico, and I got the call like do you want to do this. I mean, I didn’t even know God Save the Queen, so I had to learn God Save the King in about three days and then came over and did it. And my brother was in the stands and didn’t know I was doing it ‘til about an hour before I called him and told him and said ‘oh, by the way, I’m singing the national anthem’ so we hung out all day and hung out with some ex-players and we were very well looked after by the NFL and went out ‘til 5/6 in the morning.

And that’s nice because Brooke Eden did the US anthem too and you’re both here this weekend.

Yeah Brooke’s awesome Brooke and I have known each other for years so it was cool to do it with Brooke and she crushed it, she nailed it, and then we hung out after, so it was great. I love her message and her story and what she’s doing with country music. I think it’s very important – you talk about authenticity – she’s very authentic to herself.

There’s a playful side to Jordan Harvey that comes out through his music and chatting to him. He’s embracing the new Alabama side to his story while holding on to his Scottish roots – mixing in ‘roll tide’ with his distinctive rolling Rs, there is no-one quite like him on the country scene. With deeper topics and a variety of influences, Harvey’s new album will no doubt be worth the wait. Until then, we’ll stay ‘Along For The Ride’.