John Doe's latest album Keeper (Yep Roc) is the warm 'n' fuzzy flipside of 2007's bleak 'n' brooding A Year in the Wilderness. While Keeper has a much more optimistic vibe, that doesn't mean the X mainman suddenly wants to fill the world with silly love songs.– he'd settle for a few meaningful ones with deep resonance however. With the studio assistance of his longtime producer/engineer Dave Way (ironically known for mixing huge-selling hits for Christina Aguilera, Pink, Spice Girls, Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple, etc) and guest collaborators Patty Griffin, Smokey Hormel, Steve Berlin, Cindy Wasserman and Jill Sobule, it sounds like JD got what he was after on the new recording. That could be why he decided to call it Keeper instead of Tosser.
This past week, our man was out hawking the new disc which unfortunately involves enduring painful interviews with clueless radio personalities curious about how John Doe got his name. On the upside, he also got to play a few songs from Keeper for Portland's KINK-FM who had the foresight to shoot and the good sense to post. Who knew his song Never Enough was inspired as much by reality TV shows Hoarders and Storage Wars as Snoop Dogg's Gin & Juice?
Don't Forget How Much I Love You
Never Enough
Little Tiger
Golden State
Interview with John Doe
