James Dupre spills the tea on the alcohol infused new track, “Home and Away” and hits us with the highlights of the new record of the same name. Watch the brand new music video below!
Q+A":
I know it might be hard to choose, but if you had to, what song on the new album is your favorite and why?
“I Pulled It Off.” That one is special to me. It was one of the first songs I’d written solo after moving to Nashville. It became my favorite original to sing at writer’s nights, and people loved to hear it live. Really happy it made it onto Home and Away.
Can you tell us a little bit about your songwriting process for the title track “Home and Away”?
I wanted to create an analogy between football and a relationship. I wanted to talk about teamwork and make it feel nostalgic, taking you back to high school. I thought using the Home team and Away team was a great direction to go in, and thankfully my co-writer Greg Bates was very receptive to the idea.
How do you think your music and/or writing has grown since you’ve started music?
Part of the growth comes from experience, the more you write, the better you become. But I think initially I was writing what I thought I was supposed to write, and now I’m focusing on what I want to write. Maybe it’s because I trust myself more, I have more confidence in my creative instincts.
What was your thought process when you were putting together the album and figuring out the sequencing for the tracks?
At first I didn’t really know how I was going to sequence the tracks, but then I just tried to put them in chronological order of when they were written. It really worked! Somehow, that scientific approach really made the songs flow so beautifully across the album.
What do you hope fans take away from the album after listening to it in its entirety?
I hope that they feel the emotion and authenticity of the lyrics and the music. It’s not an album you can really rage to or play beer-pong to (though I’m not opposed), it’s something you sit down with a drink and really listen to as the story unfolds.
What was the inspiration behind the "Home and Away" music video?
I wanted to do the shoot somewhere in small-town Texas because of its rich high school football culture. Thankfully, Gordon High School came through for us and were very happy to let us shoot their homecoming game. The action scenes from the game, the cheering crowd, the sunset over the field, all make the video so fun to watch. As in the song, the couple in the video went to high school together and went to every home game together, up until now. I really love how the video captures the story, and very happy with how it turned out.
You’ve worked closely with Randy Travis and even had the chance to tour with him. What have you learned from working with a country music legend?
I’ve learned a lot from him. I knew him briefly before his 2013 stroke, and to know him since then after going through the enormous obstacles that he faced was nothing short of inspirational. When we did the tour last year, his loyal fans showed up and he made time to do meet and greets and let people love him and tell him stories. He really loves seeing his fans. I hope to continue learning from him as I grow as an artist.
Do you have any fun stories from recording or production on the album that you’d like to share with our audience?
This album was made during quarantine, so you’d probably expect that it wasn’t nearly as fun as getting together with the whole band in the studio and making memories. Well one thing that I loved was watching my baby girl, Rellie, as she listened to each track grow, all the way from a basic track to a mastered track. Her little one year old brain has soaked in the bare bones of this album, and she lights up anytime she hears one come on. I think that’s special.
