JOHN PRINE is no stranger to Galway, given he often plays here and is a sometime resident. Jason Wilber will have a familiarity with Galway as well, given he has played guitar in Prine's band for two decades.
Jason Wilber plays upstairs in the Róisín Dubh on Monday August 14 at 8pm, as part of his current tour to promote his new solo album, Reaction Time, which will be released on August 11.
Wilber has recorded numerous albums with Prine, including the Grammy Award winning Fair & Square, and the Grammy nominated Live On Tour and In Spite of Ourselves (which spent 32 weeks on the Billboard Country Charts ). In addition to playing guitar on John Prine’s 2017 album For Better or Worse, Wilber also served as a co-executive producer. He has also worked with Iris Dement, Sheryl Crow, Mary Gauthier, and Hal Ketchum, among others.
Reaction Time is the sound of long, hushed hours spent scribbling in notebooks, dreaming up gorgeously mournful melodies and cascading harmonies set against jangling guitars, the searching songs underpinned by a persistent longing. It makes sense given Wilber's long time on the road.
“I was 26 when I started playing in John’s band, and I’m 47 now - it’s been my entire adult life,” he says. “At this point, John and his family, and the guys in the band, they’re like family to me. I love them all, and I love working with them. When I look at what happens between John and an audience, I can’t deconstruct it for you and explain exactly why it’s so brilliant. But I can tell you that something amazing is happening.
Of his own experiences making music, Wilbur calls the process "very spiritual and emotional...but it’s also the kind of thing where you’ve got to show up every day and get things done".
Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
