Craig Garber (00:00.953)
Hey everybody, this is Craig Garber. Welcome to Everyone Loves Guitar from the great white North Canada, literally like out in his car. We got Jay Evans, guitarist from the Glorious Sons. Quick shout out and thank you to Chrissy Borcelino for setting this up, I appreciate it. Let me give you the Cliff Notes on Jay. He founded the Glorious Sons in 2011 and his brother Brett joined up shortly afterwards as the lead singer. Band plays good old fashioned rock and roll, man. Like high energy bar room rock and roll.

They’re from Kingston, Ontario, Canada, which as you can see, that’s probably where he’s at right now. And since 2013, they’ve released one EP and four albums, including their latest record Glory. The band’s toured Canada, Europe, and the States. They’ve had 13 singles in the Canadian top 10 charts, including four number ones, which is pretty freaking amazing. And if you want a good introduction to the band, check out Sawed Off Shotgun, which is a heavy song lyrically, but a really fun song musically.

Jay Emmons (00:33.123)
Yep.

Craig Garber (00:55.425)
as his speed of light off the new album, Glory. The band also opened for the Rolling Stones, which is really cool. Jay, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you coming on the show, man. I really appreciate the environment that you’re in, man. What were you doing musically before you guys started the Glory of Sons?

Jay Emmons (01:04.755)
Thanks for having me.

Jay Emmons (01:08.644)
So good.

Jay Emmons (01:14.964)
I’ve been in bands pretty much from the time I was maybe like 12 years old. I’d always be the one kind of putting the band together. And I was a singer actually before, before really the glorious sons, I always was the lead singer in the band and I really wasn’t much of a guitar player because I always

played with my good buddy, Monty, who was a really good guitar player. So I would just lean on him and play the chords and sing. And then as soon as Gloria Sons came along, we had our first guitar player, Andrew actually sang a lot initially and I sang a bit. And then Brett came along and it was like, we don’t need three singers in a rock band. So, um, so I just, I just.

Craig Garber (02:01.649)
Sure.

Jay Emmons (02:04.53)
started focusing more on playing guitar and singing backups with the Sons and then, you know, that’s kind of how that all came together. But obviously when you get a guy like Brett in the band, you’re like, all right, we, you know, everybody. Yeah.

Craig Garber (02:17.665)
Oh, his voice, he’s hell of a singer, dude. I mean, he’s just, he does it for sure. Is it weird or is it like, do you guys act like brothers in the band? Like, you know how brothers all have these patterns of, you know, I was telling you my kids are 31 and 33, but at times they’ll get together for dinner here and it’s like they’re, you know, 15 and 17 again.

Jay Emmons (02:30.677)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (02:38.854)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it’s weird being business partners and brothers and friends all at once because there’s obviously a lot of emotion and turmoil and like just the fact that you’re in a rock and roll band and it’s stressful and you’re touring and you’re not sleeping, you’re drinking and all that. You know, it’s kind of like this like perfect storm, you know.

Craig Garber (02:46.617)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (03:07.267)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (03:07.414)
Brett and I really over the years had to work on how to navigate these different kind of facets of our life together to make sure that we’re not freaking out and beating each other up, you know, because that’s, you know.

Craig Garber (03:20.649)
Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, right? Because you get emotional with your family, you know, that you would never have those emotions with people that aren’t, you know, your brother. Yeah.

Jay Emmons (03:28.266)
Yeah. And you know, the good thing about Brett and I is that like, we always come back and say sorry. And there’s never there’s never a line that’s been crossed. That’s too far. It’s not like, you know, like, like Oasis or anything like that. We, you know, it gets like, you know, the last time we had a huge blow up, like both of us were so distraught about the fact that it happened that

Craig Garber (03:41.061)
That’s great.

Craig Garber (03:45.029)
I’m out.

Jay Emmons (03:58.282)
you know, that hurt way more than anything else. You know, the next day you’re just like, you know, we were just like, holy shit, like, I can’t believe this happened. We’re better than this, you know, and we’re both like tearing up and it was just, it was just like one of those moments where it’s like, man, we’re not meant to be doing this, you know, we have such a great relationship and so many good things going on around us that.

Craig Garber (04:02.289)
That’s good though.

Jay Emmons (04:26.838)
You know, there’s no need for this kind of stuff.

Craig Garber (04:29.753)
Well, that’s actually good that you guys felt that way. And that’s better than not for sure. OK, so once the band was founded, what were some of your challenges early on as far as getting things moving along?

Jay Emmons (04:34.071)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (04:42.186)
Um, you know, it started off like, it’s just like we were a bar band. We had this residency here in Kingston and it started off as fun. We would just, you know, go down to Brandy’s every Thursday night. I’d pack the gear in the back of the work truck. We’d go down there, load in at five and start drinking, get on stage at eight, you know, leave the bar at two 30 in the morning and go back the next morning, pack the gear up and go to work kind of thing.

Um, and we actually started getting like a pretty decent, like kind of Thursday night following locally and, and then it was like, okay, like people actually are digging this. So then, then we’d start, you know, heading up to Ottawa and Toronto and doing these, these shows. Um, and then we actually kind of want a few like battle of the bands types things that, uh,

Craig Garber (05:40.385)
Oh, that’s cool.

Jay Emmons (05:42.286)
that really kind of created a good spark for us. The first big spark for us was winning this kind of contest where it was a battle of the band situation, but it was being judged by John Angus and Jack from The Truths who are a really successful Canadian rock band and who I was absolutely obsessed with also growing up. So, you know, kind of like really like

kick yourself moment when John Angus was like, Hey, I picked you guys to win. But hey, what about what about if I produced a couple songs for you guys? And I was like, Oh, yeah, okay. I’m into that. And meanwhile, I have no idea what that even means. Like, so, you know, that turned into him helping us make mama, which was the first track that he produced and then

Craig Garber (06:13.851)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (06:22.693)
Wow.

Craig Garber (06:28.201)
Right, right, right. Of course.

Jay Emmons (06:38.89)
Subsequently, we did the rest of the Shapeless Art record with John Angus. And then we did the union with John Angus as well. So, you know, that was our first major big break. And then while all that was going on, we won a radio contest that hits FM. It was called Rock Search. And we had put Mama out to go to radio.

And we won this contest and then all of a sudden people were requesting it on the radio on Hits FM and then all of a sudden it kind of like started leapfrogging and all these small kind of tertiary radio stations were starting to add mama. And then all of a sudden we got added in Vancouver and then all of a sudden it started this kind of you know slow burn fire effect where we were in the top ten.

Craig Garber (07:12.401)
Oh, that’s so nice.

Jay Emmons (07:35.286)
We don’t have management, we don’t have a label yet, we don’t have an agent yet, and then we’re like, holy shit, this is really something, you know? So, yeah, MAMA really connected with people in this country, and I think in the US as well, but we really didn’t have the infrastructure at all to kind of tackle that at that point. But that was kind of our big.

Craig Garber (07:54.297)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (08:04.462)
couple of breaks that really started things in that direction where we’re like, you know, maybe this is more than just a fun pastime that we can go play our songs for our friends on Thursdays and play the odd gig out of the city here and there. Then all of a sudden we’re getting gigs kind of everywhere and we got a manager on board and we start booking shows with these other bands and it kind of just grew from there.

Craig Garber (08:33.597)
having started playing music and putting bands together as a kid, when this started to happen to you, it must have felt like incredible, probably something you never expected.

Jay Emmons (08:43.658)
Yeah, no, it’s like you’re kind of winning a lottery, you know? And. And I was, I was a little bit old for this too. I was like 27, 28 at the time. Um, so, you know, I knew it was kind of my last kick at the can with glorious sons and I personally took it more seriously than I had in the past. Yeah.

Craig Garber (08:47.253)
Yeah, sure. Yeah. And music, definitely.

Craig Garber (09:08.773)
Sure. Was it a tough, like, because you were 27, 28, did you have like the sort of like a debate with yourself? Like, you know, I’m sure you were doing something else outside of the band that was maybe starting to move you in a direction career. Yeah.

Jay Emmons (09:22.814)
Yeah, I mean, I was a general contractor, so I was doing pretty well for myself as a young guy. And, but there was no hesitation. It was like, all right, you know, this, do I get to be touring around the country playing rock and roll or installing flooring? I was like, I think flooring is always going to be there, but this rock and roll thing is pretty fleeting.

Craig Garber (09:41.509)
Hahaha

Craig Garber (09:45.533)
Yes. Good for you, man. Congratulations. That’s a really nice story, man. Hey, I’d like to talk about a few of my favorite Gloria Sun songs. Off Young Beauties and Fools, Thank You for Saying Goodbye. Beautiful track. And if I understood the lyrics right, it’s about having gratitude that a dysfunctional relationship is finally over. Is that what that one is about?

Jay Emmons (10:10.498)
I think so. Yeah, that, I mean, that whole record was kind of geared around a certain relationship that Brett had. And, you know, I think you hit the nail on the head with that. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone kind of describe that song and in that nature. But I think that’s pretty much sums it up for sure.

Craig Garber (10:31.217)
Well, I’ve had a lot of dysfunctional relationships. So maybe that’s why. Panic Attack from A War on Everything. What a cool, really cool upbeat song. I was curious, is that about a literal panic attack or about someone going through withdrawal or both?

Jay Emmons (10:33.246)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Emmons (10:53.266)
I don’t ask Brett these questions because I think it annoys him when he gets asked what his songs are about. I mean, I’m sure he would tell me if I wanted to, but I always kind of just want to… I leave it up for interpretation, but I think my understanding of Panic Attack is from an experience with one of our friends who was literally just going through a panic attack at the least opportune time.

Craig Garber (10:59.139)
Okay

Jay Emmons (11:20.85)
It kind of inspired the rest of the song. And, you know, I think another, you know, huge inspiration of that song for Bread is the fact that like, everybody goes through that kind of, you know, and I think it’s pretty universal as far as mental health goes these days, that, you know, everybody has their own kind of battles that we’re all kind of going through and, and

I think it kind of just maybe helps bring that to the surface that you’re not alone in that kind of battle even if it’s you in your own head.

Craig Garber (11:58.817)
Sure. Great track, man. Then Pink Motel also off of War on Everything. Your brother’s vocal performance in that song. Oh, it’s just so emotional, man. It’s just awesome. But in general, the music is such a great buildup. You know, you guys did a wonderful job on there. Tell me the backstory to how that one came together.

Jay Emmons (12:10.314)
Yeah, it’s unreal.

Jay Emmons (12:26.106)
Um, well that one was, you know, a lot of Brett and Fred who’s produced the last three records kind of vibing off one another and the same kind of relationship that we were mentioning in with Thank You for Saying Goodbye, that was kind of like, I don’t know, maybe like the catharsis track that kind of just like the doors closed. It’s like, you know.

Craig Garber (12:51.557)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (12:56.487)
this is it, I don’t know. Like that’s what Pink Motel is to me. It’s like just letting it all out one last time and that’s the end of the chapter.

Craig Garber (13:07.077)
Phenomenal, it’s a great, great track, man. And then Speed of Light from the new album Glory. Again, great song, lyrically, and your brother doing his thing. How did that one come together? Because I noticed there was like a lot of writers on that song.

Jay Emmons (13:22.186)
Yeah, that one came together. We had started working on that as a group. At first, during the pandemic, we would set up these mobile studio sessions at my house or Brett’s place, and then we’d go and record. And we recorded a lot of songs during that kind of era. And Speed of Light was always one of those standout songs that we knew we had something with. So we had a full-on version of that song.

that we re-recorded for Glory. And Fred kind of just helped us smooth out the rough edges and kind of, you know, presented in its current form. So that one’s been around for a while. And I know even before we started working on that song in like 2021, Brett had that one kicking around for a while, so.

Craig Garber (14:16.289)
That’s a great track, man. Really good. Um, and I’m sorry that I have to ask you the next question, because I’m sure you’ve been asked it like a hundred times, but what was the experience like opening up for the Rolling Stones? And how did that even like what’s the genesis of that gig? How the hell did you get that gig?

Jay Emmons (14:34.894)
Uh, we were lucky enough to be working with, um, AG and we had a, uh, a good friend, uh, Mark Norman, who was kind of taking care of our touring and he also had, I’m not exactly sure what his relationship with the stones was, but like, AG takes care of the stones and they were taking care of us as well at the time and Mark kind of connected the dots. So it’s, it’s all, you know, thanks to Mark Norman for that one, because that’s honestly like.

Craig Garber (15:00.76)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (15:05.394)
one of those moments where you’re like, holy, holy shit. How does this happen to me, you know? I grew up listening to these guys. My mom’s favorite band is the Stones, you know? It’s like, you never would think that you’d get to share a stage with them. And we shared the stage with them three times. Marseille, France, SoFi in LA, which was really cool. And then up here in Canada, North of Toronto. So it, you know, pretty wild.

Craig Garber (15:08.4)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (15:32.697)
What was that? What was like? Did you get to hang with any of those guys or not? Or.

Jay Emmons (15:36.502)
It was like a typical meet and greet type hang. Their team had it set up so it was pretty formal. They had a lady who would like come from our dressing room, usher you into this like kind of meeting room, but nothing was in there, completely empty room, except on the floor, it was the Stone’s members names printed out.

Craig Garber (15:39.525)
Okay.

Craig Garber (15:46.785)
Really? I wonder why.

Jay Emmons (16:04.606)
on computer paper and taped to the floor. So that’s where they were supposed to stand when they came in. And then it was like, Glory Sons member X was taped beside them. So like, you know, we were kind of being herded into this room and told exactly where to stand. Yeah, exactly. Like a rehearsal type situation. And then of course the Stones come in and they pay no attention to any of that.

Craig Garber (16:20.473)
Like a wedding.

Craig Garber (16:25.12)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (16:34.182)
And they were just kind of like walking around being like, oh, hey guys, you know, and you get to say a quick hello and thank them for letting us on the show. But it was pretty casual at that point. And then we did a couple of pictures and a couple more formalities and that was it, in and out. But you got the sense of kind of all the personalities, you know? And it was pretty.

Craig Garber (16:34.683)
Oh good.

Craig Garber (16:49.381)
Alright.

Craig Garber (16:55.938)
Oh, I took it.

Craig Garber (17:02.416)
Right.

Jay Emmons (17:04.013)
pretty neat just to kind of be like, all right. So, you know, I think most of what I had thought prior about them and their personalities kind of resonated with who they actually were, which is cool. Yeah.

Craig Garber (17:17.977)
That’s cool, man. Congrats on that, man. That’s a big, awesome thing, man. That’s really nice. Jay, tell me the top three musical experiences you’ve had so far and what made them so memorable.

Jay Emmons (17:28.938)
Ooh, top three. I mean, the Stones in SoFi was one of my favorite experiences by far, obviously. Like the first two times we opened for the Stones, we were like deer in the headlights. Didn’t have the best shows, technical issues, but like just kind of just very much in our heads and we just weren’t on the same league.

Craig Garber (17:44.772)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (17:56.746)
You know, we’re playing leagues above where we should have been and that’s fine. But the third time we absolutely crushed it. And, you know, it was in LA, which was also cool and brand new SoFi stadium. So that was a pretty cool night. Um, the second one would probably be the night that we won that contest and John Angus had asked us to produce the record. You know, that was a pretty.

Craig Garber (18:04.824)
Awesome.

Jay Emmons (18:25.87)
pretty important night as far as, you know, where my life and the rest of the band’s life has kind of ended up. Yeah, absolutely. It’s like, you kind of look back on it and you’re like, oh, that’s not really, not really a big thing, but then you look back on it again, you’re like, wait a second, none of this happens if that doesn’t happen, you know? So that one would be the second and then.

Craig Garber (18:31.289)
Life changing.

Craig Garber (18:44.91)
Right.

Jay Emmons (18:52.85)
Um.

Jay Emmons (18:56.194)
There’s so many cool things that we’ve got to do.

Jay Emmons (19:03.67)
I mean, around the first Stone show, even though it wasn’t our greatest performance, just being able to be in Marseille for a week, you know, that was unreal. I had my best buddy come out with me and we toured around Marseille and hit the beach and it was pretty rad. Like that’s probably, it’s not really a musical experience, but a byproduct of a musical experience and one of my favorite weeks of my life for sure.

Craig Garber (19:11.215)
Yeah!

Craig Garber (19:26.765)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (19:31.793)
That’s awesome. And congratulations again. That’s really cool. I always liked looking at those moments when you kind of trace something back and you say, well, this wouldn’t have happened if that never happened. And it’s, um, it’s very rewarding actually, cause it, well it lets you see like, I don’t know about you, but I tend to be like a little too hard on myself. So when you see something, you’re like, well, maybe I, you know, maybe I, you know, it’s like an acknowledgement of yourself to, to recognize those things.

Jay Emmons (19:44.453)
Yeah, for sure.

Jay Emmons (19:56.959)
Yeah.

Absolutely. I think it’s pretty easy to get caught up in everything that’s going on and not really appreciate things as much as they deserve, you know.

Craig Garber (20:10.049)
Absolutely. Yeah, it’s a gratitude thing for sure, man. What was there a particular experience that was critical to you becoming a musician in general? Like were your parents musical or

Jay Emmons (20:12.535)
Yes.

Jay Emmons (20:23.174)
No, like my best buddy in public school, I remember he got like this Yamaha, looked like a strat, like a, it was a, like a sunburst tobacco burst kind of guitar. And then I was like, I want one of those too. And you know, my parents bought me this black Yamaha guitar. I had no idea how to use it. No idea how to tune it. Had like a, a floating bridge. So like, kind of like very kind of quirky, intricate.

thing for someone who knows nothing about the instrument. And it had these like headstock locks that you couldn’t tune the guitar unless they were unlocked and… Anyways, just very kind of weird first guitar and I spent the next like two or three years kind of learning like jingle bells and you know, but all my buddies were playing like real songs and I was like, man, I suck. And these guys are all playing like Green Day and…

Craig Garber (21:11.461)
Sure.

Jay Emmons (21:20.162)
Bush and all this stuff. I’m like, what’s going on here? So eventually, I don’t know what happened. I think we just kind of moved on from that guitar teacher. And I just, I would say I’m mostly taught from playing with other people and just jamming by myself. And that’s probably why it’s taken me so long to kind of become efficient on the guitar.

Craig Garber (21:36.869)
Right.

Craig Garber (21:45.473)
Hey, man, it’s not the time. It’s the, you know, where the whole journey is, you know, it seemed like you’re doing all right, open for the stones. You don’t have to worry. You know, you could be as inefficient as you want. You open for the stones, man. Screw that. How many people get to say that?

Jay Emmons (21:49.25)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Jay Emmons (21:59.613)
Yeah, it’s definitely a handful. We’ve had that conversation before where you’re like, man, it’s pretty slim. Like the number of actual people in all of time who have got to this time. Yeah. So it’s pretty cool. Yeah.

Craig Garber (22:09.921)
And all of time, right. And they’ve been around 60 years. Yeah, so that’s pretty bad ass, man. Yeah. Low points. What were some of the low points or dark periods you’ve had to deal with and how’d you get through them?

Jay Emmons (22:23.426)
Uh, in music or in life or in life, I mean, I think when I was in my late teens, early twenties, I think that’s kind of a period of big change for a lot of kids as you’re kind of transitioning from a, you know, a high school kid to going to college and then becoming an adult. And I think I thought I was like pretty much invincible back in those days.

Craig Garber (22:26.531)
in life.

Craig Garber (22:51.477)
Ha ha.

Jay Emmons (22:53.318)
I think we all kind of do. And then just one day there’s this stark realization that you’re not, and I didn’t really know how to deal with it. And I just kind of, I didn’t really know what depression was or mental health or any of that. I just thought I could do whatever I want and everything would be okay. So I went through a couple dark years, like in my early twenties, where I was just like, just depressed and just like really kind of.

Craig Garber (22:54.709)
Yeah, everybody’s. Yeah.

Jay Emmons (23:21.354)
really screwed up and just trying to scrape by to get through every day kind of thing. But I have great family and great parents and you know talk to some great therapists and all that stuff and you know try to avoid falling into those same pitfalls you know.

Craig Garber (23:34.927)
That’s awesome.

Craig Garber (23:39.205)
Yeah, good for you, man. Glad you get out of that. Thank you for sharing that too, man.

Jay Emmons (23:43.67)
Yeah, no worries.

Craig Garber (23:45.977)
Talk about gear for a few minutes. What’s your go-to guitar right now, and what other two would round out your top three?

Jay Emmons (23:52.414)
I have a Gibson 335. That’s pretty much the only one that I want to play on stage. I have another Gibson that’s like an exact copy, except it’s a black guitar. They should be the exact same guitar the same year, but the red one is like just completely different and better than the black guitar. The black guitar is still a good one. So the red Gibson.

Craig Garber (23:56.865)
Yeah, I saw that man.

Craig Garber (24:16.217)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (24:21.838)
335 and then

Craig Garber (24:26.117)
That’s a special guitar, man, because I this one right here behind me, if that’s my like, if there’s a fire, that one’s coming. I mean, it’s like I really understand that it’s just a magical instrument.

Jay Emmons (24:27.852)
Yeah.

Yep.

Jay Emmons (24:34.334)
Yeah, yeah, I love that guitar for sure. We have this like Mexican Telecaster that I really like to use in the studio and I should probably be bringing it on the road because it’s a really good guitar too. And then I have my 57 Martin kind of parlor acoustic guitar.

just kind of like just sits in my living room and my girlfriend steals it all the time and she plays it more than I do now but yeah, no it’s cool. It’s one of these guitars that like is ancient but never goes out of tune, never needs an adjustment, you know, change the strings like twice a year maybe and it’s just reliable and feels good.

Craig Garber (25:11.757)
Oh, that’s cool. That’s fun.

Craig Garber (25:24.355)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (25:29.997)
That’s awesome. I’ve had like close to 950 guests on the show. I can’t tell you how many people have told me about the Martin Paul guitars they have. So yeah, everybody loves them. Ever sell a guitar you wish you can get back?

Jay Emmons (25:36.482)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (25:44.078)
I’m not big on selling things, so no, no. A couple of guitars are broken that I wish I could get back. But I think I like punched through one in a fight with my girlfriend once, and I was like, oh, why’d you do that? Yeah, yeah, note to self, your guitar’s broken. Yeah, it wasn’t like a fancy, it was like a Yamaha, but it had like some.

Craig Garber (25:51.673)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (26:01.593)
Note to self. Don’t do that. Oh, man.

Jay Emmons (26:13.45)
sentimental value that I was like you idiot you know yeah

Craig Garber (26:18.943)
Yeah. Hey, well hey, if that’s the biggest mistake you ever make, you’re doing all right.

Jay Emmons (26:21.765)
Yeah.

Craig Garber (26:23.661)
You have a worst gig ever story.

Jay Emmons (26:27.33)
Uh, yeah, we have a couple. Um, probably more than a couple really. Like, um, with the glorious sons, we, early on we were touring with a band called the balconies, uh, they’re based out of Toronto and it was our first ever kind of like seven day run through southeastern Ontario and

We were like starting to feel the flow, getting pretty confident. And we had this like old school bus that we were touring around in. We had like TV and video games and, you know, there’s always a cooler beer. And we were on top of the world and we were playing this one gig in London and there was like six or seven bands on the bill. And I think we like spent the whole afternoon smoking weed in the bus. And that’s, you know.

Craig Garber (27:11.141)
Sure.

Craig Garber (27:25.174)
That’s another one note to self.

Jay Emmons (27:28.292)
Not really typical of like all of us. Like we’ve got some guys that smoke pot, but like to smoke pot like that before a gig, especially for me, it’s like, no, there’s no, there’s no coming back. So.

Craig Garber (27:30.954)
Oh my God, that’s funny.

Craig Garber (27:42.364)
Ha!

Jay Emmons (27:44.59)
about like maybe like 10, 15 minutes before we’re supposed to be on stage, we realized that we loaded in all of our gear and just, just left it backstage and haven’t done anything. But in the meantime, seven other bands have done the same thing. So there’s like 15 guitar amps and all these cases and all these guitars. We didn’t even know where our shit was, let alone be able to get on stage. Yeah.

Craig Garber (28:04.389)
Holy crap.

Craig Garber (28:10.453)
and you’re high.

Jay Emmons (28:13.378)
You’re just panicking. Yeah, and so it was the fact that we even got our gear on stage took an absolute miracle. And then the performance that followed was just horrific. So that was probably the worst one ever. And then another one that comes to mind is

Craig Garber (28:24.782)
so

Hahaha

Jay Emmons (28:42.13)
before we played with the Stones in, I think, yeah, before we played with the Stones in Toronto, half of our crew had to be on site in Toronto setting up. And we were opening for the Struts in Denver the night before, which is sweet. But we thought we could get by without, you know, half of our crew. And then,

Craig Garber (28:59.072)
Oh, cool.

Craig Garber (29:08.149)
Oh.

Jay Emmons (29:08.618)
It was just like technical difficulty after technical difficulty. One of my guitars, like I broke a string and then my spare guitar was like downstairs in the green room so I had to jump off stage and like, just like, you know, all these little things went wrong. It was just so bad. Not nearly as funny as the first one, but. Ha ha ha.

Craig Garber (29:26.114)
Yeah. Wow.

No, that’s for, because you know what, man? Weed today is not like weed when I was younger, man. Because like when I was younger, like you would smoke a whole joint with your friends. If I ever tried to do that now, I couldn’t leave that. I couldn’t even leave my room, I don’t think, man. It’s so strong today, man. It’s like, wow, I can’t imagine smoking weed all afternoon. I would just, yeah, wow.

Jay Emmons (29:37.079)
No.

Jay Emmons (29:54.77)
Yeah, no, it was not the right choice.

Craig Garber (29:59.794)
Give me your top three Desert Island discs, no particular order and just for this moment because that changes all the time obviously. Yeah.

Jay Emmons (30:05.85)
Okay, for this moment, I think I’ll go Stone’s Exile.

Craig Garber (30:12.942)
Mm-hmm.

Jay Emmons (30:17.666)
Jason is Bill.

Jay Emmons (30:22.574)
What’s that record called?

Jay Emmons (30:27.082)
The Nashville Sound and then Stephen Wilson Jr. What’s his record called? What is it called? Have you listened to that record?

Craig Garber (30:37.701)
Steven Wilson from Porcupine.

Jay Emmons (30:40.311)
Uh, I think maybe? He’s got a, he’s got like a alt country record.

Craig Garber (30:43.865)
From the, oh no, that’s a different guy. I don’t know Steven Wilson Jr. Yeah, man.

Jay Emmons (30:47.414)
I’m looking it up right now. This record is the best thing I’ve heard in a really long time. What is this record called? Anyways, he put that out while we were on the road this fall.

Craig Garber (30:58.041)
No, but I will check it out after you tell me, since you’ve recommended it.

Craig Garber (31:19.75)
Last year for a minute. What was the name? No, it’s cool.

Jay Emmons (31:24.267)
The record is called Son of Dad by Stephen Wilson, Jr. Yeah.

Craig Garber (31:27.929)
Son of Dad.

Craig Garber (31:31.909)
Thanks, I’ll check it out. Tough question, man. What do you like most about yourself?

Jay Emmons (31:38.091)
What do I like most about myself? I think maybe my ambition.

Craig Garber (31:44.813)
You pretty driven?

Jay Emmons (31:46.651)
I would like to think so.

Craig Garber (31:51.696)
Most important thing your dad taught you.

Jay Emmons (31:54.827)
how to work hard, how to be ambitious. Yeah, yeah, my dad, definitely, and my grandfather.

Craig Garber (31:58.597)
So that’s where your work ethic came from. Yeah, that’s cool, man.

What do they do? What kind of work are they contractors as well?

Jay Emmons (32:07.111)
Yeah, well, they had a family business, a welding shop. So my grandfather had it since the 70s and my dad took over. And he still has it to this day, even though he should probably just retire and go have some fun.

Craig Garber (32:18.533)
That’s cool, man.

Craig Garber (32:23.347)
Yeah, old habits die hard. How about your mom? Most important thing your mom taught you.

Jay Emmons (32:29.143)
I think probably the importance of family.

Craig Garber (32:33.921)
Any hobbies or interests outside of music, Jay?

Jay Emmons (32:37.251)
Uh, yeah, I liked sports, like just trying to stay in shape and, um.

The only sport I really play right now is squash, which is like you guys you guys play like No, you guys play racquetball, which is Yeah Yeah, I just don’t know how similar or different but yeah

Craig Garber (32:48.813)
I’ve never played that. No, that’s not a thing here.

Craig Garber (32:54.848)
Yeah.

Is that like squash?

Craig Garber (33:03.629)
Yeah, that’s interesting. I’ve never seen anybody playing squash here in this country.

Jay Emmons (33:09.02)
I haven’t seen a squash court.

Craig Garber (33:10.709)
Yeah, that’s funny. I didn’t even like for a second, I wasn’t even sure what it was until you read the reference to rap, I’m like, I’m going through my head. I’m thinking what the hell squash. Very cool. Toughest decision you ever had to make or most difficult thing you had to do.

Jay Emmons (33:17.28)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (33:25.534)
Ooh.

Jay Emmons (33:29.087)
Huh. Toughest decision I ever had to make.

That’s a difficult question.

Jay Emmons (33:42.683)
I don’t know if I can answer that to be honest, but with the glorious suns, we always have to kind of make decisions that can impact the next month and the next year. Are we going to go on tour and try to invest in Australia or Europe and spend all of our money trying to break another market where if we just stayed in Canada we could…

probably pay ourselves a little bit better, you know, but that’s kind of, yeah, that’s like the ongoing kind of battle for us and like a lot of Canadian musicians, but, you know, I, I think for us, the prerogative has always been, let’s, let’s obviously give our home country the justice it deserves and try to barrel it elsewhere too. And that’s still kind of our, you know, our MO.

Craig Garber (34:16.729)
That is a tough question. That’s a tough one, man.

Craig Garber (34:36.153)
Sure.

Craig Garber (34:42.829)
Is the cost for you guys to go to other countries? Because I talk to guys all over the world and they want to come here and it’s like completely prohibitive with visas and everything. Is it the same thing for you guys if you wanted to go to let’s say UK or Australia?

Jay Emmons (34:58.859)
Australia and UK, well, Australia first of all is like a 16 hour flight. And then once you’re there, you have to fly everywhere. You can’t hop on a bus or a Sprinter van because the cities are so remote from one another. So when we have done Australia, you’re up every day at four in the morning, loading gear into a Uber to the airport and then getting on a flight, landing it like.

10 in the morning, go check into an Airbnb, go to sound check, and then it was, yeah, it was cool to see Australia, but like definitely not something we’re gonna rush back to do unless it really makes sense. But for America, like it’s not that difficult for us. It’s just, you know, knowing where we sit in the food chain.

Craig Garber (35:35.153)
So that’s super pricey. Yeah.

Craig Garber (35:45.009)
Sure.

Jay Emmons (35:58.947)
in the US and understanding that we’re not going to go down there and be profitable right now because we just haven’t built a fan base yet. We’ve got some good pockets but we still have a lot of work to do.

Craig Garber (36:14.481)
Sure. Yeah. Well, I hope this interview gives you more exposure. You guys are a great band. I really, I’m not just saying that I only have, yeah, well I didn’t, honestly, I wasn’t familiar with you guys before that this was presented to me and I checked out the music. I’m like, hell yeah. I want these guys on the show. Yeah. Cause I mean, cause I’ve had some people like, you know, they’re, Hey, do you want these guys in a show? And I’m like, you know, I can’t, you know, I’m not going to promote somebody if like it’s like soul crushing when I turn the music on, you know,

Jay Emmons (36:18.791)
Yeah, I appreciate it.

Jay Emmons (36:28.211)
Nice.

Jay Emmons (36:41.59)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Craig Garber (36:43.625)
And so I hope you guys do get some following here because you deserve it.

Jay Emmons (36:46.059)
Oh yeah, just time. We’ve had some good traction and we just need to keep at it.

Craig Garber (36:53.605)
Good man, I hope you do. Last question, man, and I really appreciate your time and thanks for being so cool in answering everything and I feel so bad that you’re sitting out there in the cold, man, let me tell you. You’re a trooper. What’s the thing in your life that’s either making you happiest or giving you the most joy or satisfaction?

Jay Emmons (37:01.288)
Man, it’s all good.

Jay Emmons (37:11.847)
I think my girlfriend and my daughter and my daughter is two years old now so watching her turn into a human is pretty wild and pretty hilarious. It’s a lot of fun. I think that’s probably it. It’s just like this surreal experience watching June.

Craig Garber (37:21.625)
That’s awesome age.

Craig Garber (37:28.181)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (37:42.059)
just become this person who’s got this crazy personality.

Craig Garber (37:48.121)
That’s awesome. It’ll be nice once she gets older, you see like she’ll have characteristics of her mom and characteristics of you. And that’s really cool to see. And it’s always interesting. Like you don’t know how those things happen. Even behavioral things, it’s always like really as special as to see that man. So congratulations and enjoy that while you can, man. Hey, listen, let me tell people where to find you. And thank you very much for everything again.

Jay Emmons (38:03.837)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (38:11.795)
Yeah, for sure.

Craig Garber (38:17.649)
The band is the glorious sons. They are touring with South Hall in the going through the Midwest and I wrote this down. I can’t read my own writing. Where you guys turn the Midwest and Texas

Jay Emmons (38:29.299)
Yeah, we’re doing a handful of dates in the Midwest and then we’re doing, uh, like South Texas, a few dates down there.

Craig Garber (38:36.809)
Awesome. And everything is on the glorious sons webpage and also on Instagram and Facebook. You guys ever planning on coming down here to Florida? It’s a tough state to tour.

Jay Emmons (38:40.693)
Yep.

Jay Emmons (38:46.795)
There has been talk. We’ve done Tampa before. We played Ybor cities in Tampa, right? Yeah. What’s the, what’s the club there? It looked like it’s been there forever. Probably crowbars. It pretty kind of grungy and like, yeah.

Craig Garber (38:51.669)
Yeah, of course. Yeah. Everybody plays E-Born, man.

Craig Garber (38:57.694)
Ah, there’s a few cro- crobar.

Craig Garber (39:03.513)
They’re all pretty grungy down there to be honest with you crowbar is They have a couple newer ones the risk that that’s not grungy though, but um There’s a few bars down there that are kind of all You know sort of dive II kind of kind of

Jay Emmons (39:18.011)
all in that. Yeah, yeah. This one I remember seemed to be like all painted black and the green room was like upstairs overlooking the stage.

Craig Garber (39:29.813)
Uh, it was in, it was in Ybor. It wasn’t in Janice and in, yeah. Yeah. Don’t know that. I don’t know it off the top of my head. Well, man, I hope you do come down here because I’d love to see you play anything else that you’d like to talk about or like to promote or anything else, any other way I could support you here, man.

Jay Emmons (39:33.85)
Yeah. Now it was for sure in Ybor the last time we were there.

Jay Emmons (39:44.395)
Yeah.

Jay Emmons (39:50.324)
No, I think we’re all good.

Craig Garber (39:52.081)
Great, man. Well, hang on one second. We’ll wrap up. Thank you very much for everything. Stay warm and I wish you continued success in everything, your personal life and with the sons. Everybody, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this interview, please share it on your social media channels. We appreciate your support. Thanks very much to Jay Emmons for his time and his patience in sitting out there in the cold. And most important, remember that happiness is a choice. So choose wisely. Be nice, go play your guitar and have fun.

Until next time, peace and love, everybody. I am out. Thank you so much, brother.

Jay Emmons (40:23.852)
Thank you.