George Hage (Vocals, Guitar)

Danny Johnson (Guitar, Keyboard, Lap Steel, Vocals)

Dan Grinder (Bass)

Kevin Rader (Drums, Vocals)

Raleigh, North Carolina roots-rockers Jack the Radio blend rock and blues sensibility with Americana, folk, and country to create a tapestry of swampy southern-tinged sounds on their upcoming album release, Creatures.  All of the songs on the album were written by singer George Hage with a common thread that weaves its way through telling us to stand strong as we ride out the highs and lows of what life throws at us.  And with the state of the world today, it’s even more poignant to relay this message and to remind us that we are all creatures of this earth and we can overcome anything.  

Lead track “We’re Alright” (featuring soul singer Tamisha Waden) originally began as a song about the fragmented state of our country and that, despite our cultural or geographic differences, we all hurt the same way. This particularly hits home with Hage who grew up in the south as the son of Puerto Rican and Lebanese parents. "I was exposed to a lot at a young age with my family speaking a combination of English, Spanish, Arabic and Armenian," says George Hage. "I knew our family was different to the other kids I went to school with but the older I got and the more I traveled the more I realized people experience the same things no matter who they are, where they come from, or what country they live in. As people and as Americans what divides us also unifies us and I know that we can make it through hard times together."  But the song has taken on an updated meaning to the band in the face of the Covid-19 virus with lyrics like “The sky has been busy falling down, but the world keeps moving as it starts spinning out… We are all creatures just trying to survive…” "We're Alright serves as a simple mantra for increasingly uncertain times,” says Danny Johnson.  “Everyone out there — including people we know and talk to through our work as musicians — has had roadblocks thrown up in front of them throughout their life. Whether it’s health, finances, relationships, or anything else that can make someone feel defeated, the need to occasionally be told ‘We’re alright’ is a universal one. Sometimes, a sentiment as easy as ‘It's going to be okay’ can hit the reset button and remind us that nothing is permanent, and better days are on the horizon. Now more than ever, a community of people saying in one voice We're Alright’ may be just what we need to keep pressing on.”

The title track “Creatures” (also featuring Tamisha Waden) was inspired by the classic tale A Christmas Carol where Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts from his past, present and future and is forced to re-evaluate his life and actions. “’Creatures” is a symbolic tale of a man who wants to be on top of the mountain,” says Hage. “To do so the man has to chop down the trees, which wakes the creatures who chase the man for the rest of his days forcing him to right the wrongs of his past. The song is a metaphor for anyone that has hurt others to get what they want in life and finding out there is karma and balance in the world.” 

Other songs include “Getting Good” (featuring Lydia Loveless), a classic country tongue-in-cheek tale about the bright side of failure. “I like to believe, having been fired before, that if you’ve never been fired nor experienced failure you may not be taking enough risks or living life to its fullest,” says Hage. “Some things are out of our control and failure can teach you things success can’t.” Songs such as “Don’t Count Me Out,” a song about an unlikely hero saving the day, “Trouble” (featuring Jeanne Jolly), about persevering during times of struggle, knowing our lives have purpose, and that trouble comes and goes, but purpose never goes away, “Let’s Be Real” with its message of “…life ain’t kind It’s messed up but we’ll be fine,” and “Paint The Sky” about how the moments in our lives will live on in the memories of our family and friends long after we pass on. All fourteen tracks each make up the common theme heard throughout Creatures.

With Creatures coming out this summer, the band will also be releasing a companion comic book Jack The Radio: Creatures Anthology born from Hage’s other passion art & design.  “For me the visual art is an extension of music,” says Hage.  “Some people connect and retain more through sound and some better through sight and the combination can have even more of an impact than either on their own.”  The anthology is a collection of cosmic-country-fried sci-fi short stories cataloging the adventures of the ever-resilient character, Jack the Radio, based on the album Creatures. The book includes comics and pinups from 30+ professional artists from around the world and will be published by A Wave Blue World.

In addition to the comic book, Hage has always done artwork for the band. When Jack The Radio began and needed merch but had no money to hire someone, Hage stepped in to create it. That spun off into friends’ bands reaching out for art and eventually doing art for Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and American Aquarium as well as festivals such as Hopscotch Music Festival, Dreamvillefest, IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, and January Jams (Abingdon, VA) to name a few. “I definitely think the music pushes my art and the art pushes the music.” 

Over the years, Jack The Radio has shared the stage with The Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, George Thorogood, Cold War Kids, Rayland Baxter, and American Aquarium to name a few. Their music has been featured in countless commercial, film, and TV projects including Modern Family, Boardwalk Empire, Graceland, Beverly Hills 90210 as well as in sports programming for NASCAR, NFL, PGA among others.

Although they’ve been through line-up changes, hiatuses, and four album releases (2011 Pretty Money, 2012 Lowcountry, 2013 Devil In Here, 2015 Badlands) since forming at NC State University back in the summer of 2005, with Creatures their line-up is solidified and are now in a place to breakout on a national level.  “Through all the years with Jack the Radio, the one through line has really been a shared drive among a group of friends to create,” says Johnson.  “After ten years of recording and performing, the anticipation and excitement we all have for Creatures is really reaffirming. We're all wrapping our heads around the new normal, but one way or another, putting these songs out into the world and letting people find their own meaning in them feels like less of an ending and more of a beginning. ”