Jason Eady will be kicking off his “I Travel On” tour at the Griffin Restaurant on Thursday, as part of the Murphy Arts District’s Thursday Nigh Live.
This will not be the first time the country singer/songwriter has been to El Dorado, and he has fond memories associated with the town. He said when he was a teenager, he competed in a karate tournament, where he received first place.
“It was really the only tournament I was in and I won,” he said. “I still have the trophy that says ‘El Dorado, Arkansas’ on it.”
Eady’s unique acoustic style sets him apart from others and he described his music as “Americana.”
“We’re kind of doing a bluegrass but with a groove feel to it,” Eady said.
Eady’s band jokingly calls their music “groovegrass” because it is bluegrass, but with drums and a “funky” bass player, which technically takes it out of the category of bluegrass, he said.
Eady said El Dorado should be expecting a high energy show Thursday.
“Don’t let the fact that it’s acoustic/songwriting music make you think you’re going to come and you’re just going to be sitting there listening to song ballads all night,” he said. “It’s a high energy show … that’s what it is.”
Eady recorded his sixth album, “I Travel On” last December, which is almost completely acoustic. He said there are 11 songs on the record, which he will be playing Thursday. He will also play his older songs, but has rearranged them to fit his new instrumentation.
“It’s really fun because we’re getting to revisit songs that I’ve been playing for a long time and turn them into what we’re doing now, which is really exciting,” he said.
As a band, Eady said, they haven’t played any of their new songs live.
“We didn’t want to go out on a tour and already be tired of the songs,” he said. “We wanted them to be fresh for us as well as the audience. We’ve really been holding on to it for exactly what’s about to happen (Thursday).”
Eady, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, enjoys writing that has a simplicity to it, he said. He added that writing simple songs is way harder than writing complex songs, saying it took him years to figure out how to do it.
“If you want to sit down and really dig into the lyrics and try to get more out of them, it’s there,” he said. “But it’s not buried … if you listen to the songs, when the song is over, you know what it’s about, which is the idea.”
Eady said his greatest accomplishment associated with music would be “longevity.”
He started playing music when he was 14 years old, but spent his 20s in the U.S. Air Force. He then got a corporate job and was still singing and songwriting on the side. He said he got to a point where he had to choose between his job or music.
“I picked music and that was 13 years ago,” he said. “That’s definitely my greatest achievement, just being able to do it my way and have fun doing it.”
Eady said Merle Haggard is his No. 1 inspiration. He said he loves musicians who are both singers and songwriters.
“Merle Haggard was both, which is why I just absolutely love him,” he said.
Eady said something most people don’t know about him is that he is a “huge history nerd.” One of the reasons he loves to be on tour is all of the traveling he gets to do. He said he makes detours to see historical markers and Civil War battlefields while out touring.
“I always said if I could create my perfect job, my perfect life, I would travel and play music, so that’s what I’m doing,” he said. “I love seeing new places and meeting new people from new places and just seeing the world.”
Eady and his band will take the stage at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Griffin Restaurant. There is no cost for admission to Thursday Night Live performances.
For more information, visit eldomad.com.
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].