Whiskey, Tears And No Finger Eleven In The Blackie Jackett, Jr. Sound

You wouldn't know by listening to Finger Eleven's carefully produced alternative rock that guitarists James Black and Rick Jackett harboured an affection for country music.

Well, maybe they weren't always dyed-in-the-wool fans of Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, John Prine, Lefty Frizzell and other artists of that ilk. But they are now.

"I've discovered a genre of music that I know nothing about, and every day is a learning experience," Jackett confesses.

You can hear how much the two arena rockers learned about country rock in Whiskey And Tears, an album released on Aug. 25 through Smokin' Mule/Wax Records under the name Blackie Jackett Jr.

Black and Jackett began writing and recording country ditties to amuse themselves and play on their iPods at parties while touring in support of Finger Eleven's 2007 album, Them Vs. You Vs. Me.

"We never intended to release these songs or put a band together," says Jackett. "It was just for fun.

"But then the label heard them and dug it and offered to release them."

None of Whiskey And Tears' 14 songs about women, drinkin,' druggin' and drivin' will be all over the radio like Finger Eleven's "One Thing" or "Paralyzer," but that was never the purpose of the intentionally lo-fi, self-produced, mono-mixed recordings.

"This was a project that truly was born out of just wanting to have fun with music," says Jackett. "We kept bringing up old country music cliches and we were very aware that we kept bringing up whiskey and women."

Blackie Jackett, Jr. have played occasional shows around Toronto with a band composed of friends and friends of friends. Black sings lead and plays acoustic guitar, while Jackett sits down and picks his banjuitar. They're joined on stage by lead guitarist (and Finger Eleven guitar tech) Jimmy Reid, bassist Tino Zolfo, drummer Neil Angus Macintosh and vocalists Sandra D and Scott Brewer.

"We're starting to get offers in Ontario from outside Toronto, and we'd like to play those kinds of gigs," explains Jackett. "But as far as a nationwide tour, I don't think we're ready for that quite yet.

"But who knows? If we sell a lot of records, everything could change."

In the meantime, Finger Eleven have been writing music for their next album since January. They'll continue to do that for the rest of the year and hope to have a new LP out by mid-2010.

"We'll just keep going until we feel we're ready," says Jackett. "We're pushing ourselves and trying to evolve."

Blackie Jackett, Jr.'s only scheduled gigs are Sept. 17 at The Casbah in Hamilton, Ont. and at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto, Ont. on Sept. 22.