EXCLUSIVE: Jackson and the Janks Deliver Another Prime Cut from their Forthcoming Album Write It Down

2025 is really hotting up for Jackson & The Janks.

The band that boasts Sam Doores from The Deslondes among its members, came whooping and stompin' and hollerin' back into our consciousness last month with two new singles, 'Windowsill' and 'The Kick,' and now they've dropped the similarly eccentric 'Let's Leave Here.'

In recent weeks, the garage gospel inspired rock & rollers have been firing on all cylinders, playing a packed SXSW, two shows at the new Skinny Dennis in Nashville, a sold out show in Brooklyn at Jalopy Tavern, and now they're gearing up to release the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled 2023 debut.

It's all go at the moment for Jackson and the Janks. But rewind five years, and, like the rest of the planet, nothing was happening and no one was going anywhere. It's this time in their lives that inspired their latest single, 'Let's Leave Here' released this week on Jalopy Records.

"People like to wait to see what will happen, even when things are going to shit." explains Lynch about the song. "But I heard a line said in a movie - 'Let’s leave here, before something happens' - and I thought it was funny. It was silly people fighting over silly shit. I wrote this song during quarantine, looking out the window, witness to a city turned into a ghost town. Going crazy, I was wondering whether to pack it up and get out, or to wait and see what will happen."

With their New Orleans-inspired take on the protogenic power of rhythm & blues, the band uses early rock & roll as a loose template and turns it on its head, adding bass sax and pedal steel instead of bass and lead guitar into a unique melting pot of raucous, ramshackle rock & roll and old timey jugband country folk.

Formed when Lynch - also a member of old-time trio Down Hill Strugglers and a sometimes player with Nora Brown - was living in New Orleans, initially to play covers of gospel and rhythm & blues songs, Jackson and the Janks were inspired by classic New Orleans music like Bobby Charles, Irma Thomas, Smiley Lewis, James Booker, but also by his friends’ projects like Tuba Skinny, The Loftiness, Esther Rose, and Chris Acker and the band boasts Sam Doores of The Deslondes on drums and keys, Matt Bell (Esther Rose) on steel guitar, and Craig Flory on bass sax.

Born and raised in Ireland, Jackson Lynch's grandfather was a traditional Irish fiddler and radio DJ, and he first discovered roots music via his dad’s record collection, which had everything from old-time to New Orleans rhythm & blues. He learned his first fiddle tunes from his grandpa, and he and his mom moved to the Lower East Side in New York City when he was eight. After spending years living and busking on the streets of New Orleans alongside folks who later came to prominence, like Sierra Ferrell and Tuba Skinny, it feels like the time and the sound is right for Jackson and the Janks to follow in their footsteps.

Listen to 'Let's Leave Here' by Jackson and the Janks exclusively on Holler below.

Write It Down by Jackson and the Janks is out on 27 June on Jalopy Records