Robert Jon Burrison (Robert Jon & The Wreck) Shines A Light On Their New Album And Touring

Could you please introduce yourselves to us by telling the readers your names and who plays what in the band?

My name is Robert Burrison, I am the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in Robert Jon & the Wreck. Henry James plays lead guitar and backup vocals, Warren Murrel plays bass, Andrew Espantman plays drums and backup vocals and Jake Abernathie plays keys.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

My hometown is Cerritos, CA, a suburb near Long Beach, CA and it’s right on the border of LA County and Orange County where we are based. Not much going on there.

You recently released your latest single ‘West Coast Eyes’ What was the inspiration behind this song?

This song was was written with Tom Hambridge, while we were in Nashville. Missing home, we were wanted to write a song that encaptured the west coast where we are from. Tom was a great writing partner and hope to write with him again soon.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments/effects?

I’m currently really diggin’ my new Eastman Juliet that Eastman gave to Henry and I, its just the perfect guitar me. It will continue to be a staple in my hands for years to come. I’m very simple when it comes to what I use. I have just got a new Micro Amp by MXR, that sounds really great. That’s as far as my gear nerd knowledge goes for now.

How do you look after your voices?

It’s an ongoing thing, I try to take care of myself while on the road. Sleep is huge. Without sleep the voice suffers. Not out at the bars too late, it’s not the booze, it’s the talking loudly over the noise that really gets you, so really just keeping my mindset right on the road is the biggest factor to keeping my voice in shape.

Your latest album ‘Ride Into The Light’ is released on Joe Bonamassa’s label Journeyman Records. What was your thought process for the new record?

This new record we’ve done in a very different way then we have previously. We record two tracks a time with different producers. It was an awesome experience to be in the room with these legends that we had only dreamed of and I think each of them gave each track something different. Their own flavor if you will. So its definitely different for us. As well as not having all the songs written or even thought of when we started recording was interesting. Because we basically got the songs ready for the session, then after it was over we started working on the next two tracks which in the past, we’d have the record ready then go in and record them all. We are super excited how each of these tracks came out and to share them with the world.

What was it like working with producers such as Don Was, Kevin Shirley, Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith?

It was really interesting working with so many different people in such a close time frame. Before we could even soak in what we had done and process it, we were in the room with another legend. So I think we are still processing what we did this past year on our own. It was definitely a great honor to work with each and everyone of them.

In addition to the new single and album, you returned to the UK for a tour in September 2023 with a series of headline dates as well as an appearance at Maid Of Stone  Festival in July. How do you as a band approach performing live and what two things do you hope to have achieved once you leave the stage?

Performing live is the main event, it’s what all our hard work is for and we get to explode on stage and feel the energy of the crowd. We hope to leave everyone with a memorable experience, that they hope to return to and we want everyone to just down right have a good time. To forget about whatever maybe going on around them be in the moment and have a great time with us.

 I really love the colourful album artwork can I ask who designed/created it?

 His name is Erik “Roshi” Vincent. He’s awesome at what he does and we are really happy with how it came out.

What makes Robert Jon and The Wreck happy and what makes you unhappy?

What makes us happy is performing on stage to a crowd that’s excited to be there with us. What makes us unhappy is the whiskey bottle being empty.

Photo Credit: Rob Blackham/Blackham Images 

Album Artwork Credit: Erik “Roshi” Vincent

Robert Jon & The Wreck‘s new album “Ride Into The Light” is released by Journeyman Records and is available from https://shop.ktbarecords.com/