Getting to know the New River Valley guitarist-singer
Roanoke, Va., singer-guitarist Jared Stout is making his first appearance at Rooster Walk this year. His
Jared Stout Band cranked things up on Friday with a rocking alt-country set at the Eye Level stage. He
hosted the Fire Jam in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning and turned around quickly for a
Saturday morning final set at the VIP Stage. We grabbed him moments after his opening set to get his
thoughts on strutting through RW13.
RW: How is your Rooster Walk experience so far?
JS: We’ve had a lot of fun already. We went and saw some Mike and the Moonpies and watched a little
bit of Robbie there on his on his house band set (JSB percussionist and harmonica player Robbie Carden
is also an Artist at Large). It was great. So we’re having a blast already. It was a great crowd. It was a
good show.
RW: How did you end up hosting the Fire Jam at 2:00 a.m.?
JS: We got put on by Johnny (Buck, RW’s executive director) and we were down for the challenge. We’re
such an amplified band, but we find ourselves to be versatile and we have the ability to do different
things. And we’ve actually got some new tunes. So we took it as a positive and we’re gonna rock it out.
We’re gonna have a lot of good times here.
RW: What’s coming up for the band short term, and what’s your ambition for the medium and long
term?
JS: We just finished up with a two-night run with Austin Meade out of Texas. That was a lot of fun. We’re
gonna be opening up for Jackson Dean next week at Dr. Pepper Park (in Roanoke, Va.), and then we’ll be
at the Blue Plum Festival in Johnson City, Tenn. We’re gonna do a little bit of local space and then the
trio (Stout, Carden and guitarist/bassist Matt Brassington) is going to Ireland for 10 days. Towards the
end of July, we got a couple of private festivals and some other bigger festivals that are happening. We’ll
be back here for the Infamous Weekend. It’s gonna be an absolute barn burner. I mean, that lineup is
insane. So it’s gonna be a ton of fun.
Moving into the future, we’re just looking to expand and get out. We want more people to hear our
music, and so we want to play it for more people. That’s probably the number one thing that we enjoy
the most. You know, the studio’s great, and making music is fantastic, and we love to do that, but we
love to play it for people.
RW: Is there an artist or band that you want to model your career after?
JS: I’m a big fan of the way that Cody Johnson handled his career. He did great in the Midwest and he
kept going, he didn’t sign that contract until he had the contract that he wanted. He spread the word
and he kept playing his shows and he really let that fan base go. That’s really important. I am absolutely
a fan of the endurance and tenacity that I’ve seen out of 49 Winchester. I love those guys, they’re so
fantastic, and to watch them just drive right up to the top like they’re doing is phenomenal. I love seeing
that. The number one thing is I just want to be somebody that people want to go listen to. That’s the
goal. You want to be a band that people want to come see, not just buy your music, not just listen to you
on the outside, but you want to be a band that people want to make the trip to come see.
RW: Who else are you really looking forward to seeing at Rooster Walk?
JS: St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Our buddies Crawford and Power are playing on Sunday. I’m actually
going to sit in and sing a song with them. I’m super stoked about that. Our buddies Dangermuffin will be
here on Sunday, so we’re really excited to see that. It’s like a little reunion for us. We can come out here
and just have a great time with all these people. I love this festival community. Having the opportunity
to be here with all these people, and go from this set to that set, and play your set, and then go watch
people that you never get to watch. We don’t always get to see these guys. So I think the lineup in total
is phenomenal.