Interview: Jeffrey Foucault – Blood On The Tracks
Jeffrey Foucault has long been on our radar thanks not just to his stellar songs and musicianship, but also the remarkable way his records sound. With his new album, Blood Brothers, showing that he’s lost none of his touch, Huw Price chats to the Wisconsinite about tone, time and old typewriters…
Image: Joe Navas
Since the 2001 release of his debut Miles From The Lightning, Jeffrey Foucault has been carving out a critically acclaimed career as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. Jeffrey first picked up guitar when he was 17 after his father showed him a few chords. He was soon figuring out how to play simple cowboy chords and James Taylor songs from the 1970s. He became obsessed; sitting up all night playing, sleeping through school the next day and spending all his time daydreaming about guitars.
Those late nights clearly weren’t wasted, as Jeffrey has just shared his 11th studio album Blood Brothers with the world, and once again it’s a joy to the ears – recorded live onto tape at Pachyderm Studios in rural Minnesota.
During his early career Foucault was more in the ‘singer-songwriter’ vein when it came to his guitar skills, but he’s been playing a lot more in recent years – both on his records and other people’s. Despite that, he’s still unerringly humble and self-deprecating about his talent.