The ’80s Hard Rock scene was full of vocalists that had cores that were not only powerful, but reaching for the heavens whenever they had the opportunity. Arguably one of the most underrated decades of Rock-n-Roll singers, one who always stood out in the crowd was Great White’s Jack Russell.
Distinctive, with songs like 1987’s “Rock Me” or 1989’s “House of Broken Love,” Russell showed that he knew exactly how to use his pipes and create a mood. A factor which led to platinum success with both 1987’s Once Bitten and 1989’s …Twice Shy albums, Russell has continued his storied career well into the new millennium, more recently with Jack Russell’s Great White. A band that includes a list of veteran musicians, including long-time Great White Bassist Tony Montana, Russell seems to be in a very good place in his life after conquering many challenges.
Continuing along to the present day, he even teamed up with the legendary L.A. Guns Guitarist Tracii Guns to create some new songs. Together, recording the album Medusa under the moniker of Russell / Guns, the project has quickly attracted the attention of Hard Rock fans all over in 2024. Gearing up for the future, and appreciating what he has today, Jack Russell recently took time to chat about his music career, keeping positive, plus much more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in Rock-n-Roll for many decades now. In that time, you have earned a great deal of success, obviously, with Great White, among other projects. Before we go any further, how would you describe your incredible journey in music to this point?
Jack Russell – It’s just what it’s been, an incredible journey. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I still keep getting shocked by stuff that comes up and happens. It’s been an amazing adventure. It’s like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I had a great time. I’m very fortunate and very blessed.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, and you put a lot of hard work into it all When things started to really lift off with Great White in the earlier part of ’80s, what was that like for you? Was it redeeming to see that all the hard work paid off?
Jack Russell – Yeah, it really was. I said, “Yep, I knew it was going to happen. I knew I’d pulled off.” You give yourself a high five. It was a good feeling because it was something you’d been telling yourself for a long time. I’d be telling myself, “Look, I’m going to pull this off. I’m going to do it. Nobody’s going to stop me. I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to be making records. I’m going to be playing on big stages and touring with bands that I was going to see.”
I remember my first concert I watched was Blue Oyster Cult. They were headlining at the Forum in LA. They had a band called Be Bop Deluxe; which was second on the bill. A band called Angel opened up for them. I was sitting there watching the show, and my friends were sitting next to me. The place was sold out and it was just going off. I go, “I’m going to be up there one of these days, right where that guy’s at, right there, right where Eric Bloom’s at. I’ll be singing one day.” He goes, “Yeah, right.” I go, “You watch. Trust me.” Then one day there I was, and I’m standing on the stage going, “Holy shit. I pulled it off.” I think my friend was there that night too if I remember. I got to do a little ass shoving. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – That is really a cool story. You obviously had the dream, the vision, and it came true. But again, it also came from all the hard work you put in.
Jack Russell – Yeah. I got an even more trippy one. I was at the Troubadour one night in Hollywood. I walked in there and happened to be there with Rob Halford. He was there with one of his crew guys. I went up to talk to him and the crew guy was like, “Get away from him.” I go, “I just want to talk to Rob for one second.” I go, “Hey, Rob, you don’t know who I am, but I’ll tell you something. You’re not going to remember this, but in a couple of years’ time, I’m going to be opening up for you. I’m going to come up to you and I’m going to tell you this story. You’re still not going to remember it. Just know that I told you.” He goes, “All right, man. That sounds great. I love it.” Then one night at a bar on tour with him, I sat there and told him the story about how I was at the Troubadour one night, and I told him I was going to be opening up for him. His jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me.” He couldn’t believe it. It’s pretty wild, man. Things you make happen and it’s just mind power.
Cryptic Rock – That is an unbelievable story! You have kept things going through the years too. For example, you have been busy with Jack White’s Great White. In 2021 you released the Led Zeppelin tribute album, Great Zeppelin II: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin. You have worked with Led Zeppelin material in the past with another album in 1998. So, what inspired you to do another record with the Led Zeppelin material?
Jack Russell – Just because I felt like it and I could. (Laughs) I figured, I might as well do that kind of stuff while I still can do it. I’ve always loved Zeppelin. I love singing their stuff. I love hearing my voice sing it. The only way I can do that is to sing the songs and record them.
It was fun going into the studio, and not doing it live, but doing it in a studio session sort of way. It was a different animal. It was a lot of fun, though. I really enjoyed it. You kind of get yourself in the headspace of where those guys must have been. You’re like, “Wow, man, this really must have been heavy coming through these songs like this. Where are they getting these riffs from?” It’s amazing. They are a great band.
Cryptic Rock – The album came out really well too. With all of the singing you have done both in the studio and touring over the decades, your voice still sounds really great. Obviously, as we get older, our voices change. How do you keep your voice in shape?
Jack Russell – I warm myself up a lot. I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs anymore. I’ve been taking care of my voice for years, just really babying it. I’ve had to because it’s a fine instrument. When you’re singing, you’re using your whole body. It’s not like just one part of your body. Your whole body comes into play; every single muscle you have. If you’re not 100%, your voice is not going to be 100%. You try to stay in shape and try to keep yourself out of trouble physically.
Cryptic Rock – Right, and you have done a good job with that.
Jack Russell – Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m feeling pretty good these days. I’ve got some issues though. I had some back surgery recently and had to fuse my neck, but I’m healing up.
Cryptic Rock – That is a good thing, hope you continue to have a speedy recovery. You recently recorded with Tracii Guns for the Russell / Guns project. How did this teaming come together to record music together?
Jack Russell – It was actually brought to me by the label. They approached me and said, “Hey, we’ve got some songs, and we’d like you to do these songs with Tracii Guns.” I said, “Yeah, I’ll work with Tracii anytime.” We ended up knocking them out in the studio.
The songs were already written. They just sent us the parts. I recorded mine from Denver and LA. Then we did his parts, which recorded from where he lives, and we sent them directly to Italy. It was a really strange trip. It was like, “Wow, how do they do this, man?” It was a gas. If it wasn’t for COVID, it probably never would have happened. We made ourselves find a way to make music without having to be in the same room.
Cryptic Rock – That is very interesting. It sounds so organic as well. You would never know that you were not together recording it. That is a testament to the work that everyone put into it.
Jack Russell – Absolutely. I think so, too. It is a good band.
Cryptic Rock – Yes. With this album out now, is there the potential of any promotional shows for the Medusa album?
Jack Russell – We haven’t talked about it yet; because we’re both just getting ready to start our touring season. We’ll see what happens. I’m not opposed to it, but I’m not going to say yes for sure. We will see what the future looks like; wait and see. I’ve got my other obligations to Jack Russell’s Great White. That’s my home. I’ve got to take care of that first above all else.
Cryptic Rock – Understandable. You mentioned how the touring season is going to kick up again. So, you are going to be touring with Jack Russell’s Great White?
Jack Russell – Yeah. There are a few dates that have been announced. We’re putting them out there as they come in. We’ve got 16-18 shows that we’ve gotten penciled in or contracts are signed. We’re just going to keep adding them in as they come in.
Cryptic Rock – Excellent. Speaking of Jack Russell’s Great White, as stated in, you released the album in 2021. Are there any plans for any more new music with Jack Russell’s Great White as well?
Jack Russell – Absolutely. We have the album pretty much halfway done right now. I’d say at least 50% in the can. We just got to finish it up. There’s been all this stuff going on and everything else, trying to finish a record, doing the Tracii thing, me having back surgery, etc. It seems like it never stops. You then look over, you’re two years older, and you’re still waiting to get the record done. You’re thinking, “God, man, what’s going on here?” I always pile up too much stuff on my plate. It eventually all gets done.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, time slips by. A year could go by in the blink of an eye and sometimes it is difficult to get everything done that we want to get done. The key is not to get anxious about it. If we stick to it, like you have done, it will eventually get done.
Jack Russell – Absolutely. Just keep picking one bite at a time.
Cryptic Rock – Right. On the Medusa album with Tracii, did you ever get together for any sessions, or everything was done remotely?
Jack Russell – No, all done remotely. I’ve never even talked to Tracii about this record yet. We haven’t even discussed it. We’ve both been so busy with our own stuff. We hear from other go-betweens or people that are working with the record. They will tell me, “he loves that song.” and I would say, “I love that song. Tell him I love this part and that part.” They will say, “Why don’t you just call him?” I will say, “I’m just too busy.” (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – Well, hopefully, you can do another collaboration; because this album came out very well. The mixing of your voice with Tracii’s style is a great dynamic. It would be interesting to see it happen again in the future too.
Jack Russell – Yeah. Absolutely. I would love that. I’ve always admired Tracii a lot.
Cryptic Rock – You talked about a Jack Russell’s Great White record that is in the works, and you have the touring. You said you had surgery, etc. It is hard for anyone when there are so many things thrown at you. That in mind, what is your key to keep moving forward and keeping positive through it all?
Jack Russell – It is. I just pray a lot. I just got to believe in God. He’ll come through. Try to be good to yourself, be good to other people around you. Treat everybody with respect, love, and goodness of your heart. Hopefully that’ll come back to you.
It’s not always easy either; because a lot of times people want to get in your way for selfish reasons. You got to just get those people out of your way. Keep them out of your life. There’s a lot of blocking I do these days.
Cryptic Rock – That is a very good way to approach it. Keeping negativity out of our lives is a great way to deal with life; because it just brings us down. There is a lot of negativity in the world in general right now. That is another reason why the Medusa album is such a fun listen… it is uplifting. There are few things which are uplifting in the world at this moment.
Jack Russell – Yeah, you better believe it. I don’t even watch the news. You go outside and just feel it in the air. You just feel the tone of the world. It just feels dark, tense, and pensive. It’s not in a good place. The world is not spinning on its axis correctly. There’s definitely got some flats in the tires.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. As you said, you have to believe in something. Obviously, you do. More people need to believe in something; even if it is not believing in having faith in a religion of any kind. It just seems like people have lost any sort of grounding with the planet in general. It seems like everyone has lost their way to ground themselves in reality and what is important.
Jack Russell – Yeah, there is an inner power you need. It’s all doable. Everything you want is doable. It’s all right inside. People either don’t believe they can do it, or they just think there’s a bunch of hogwash. Everyone toots that horn. It’s not true though. Everything in my life that has happened for the good, I’ve made it happen myself. Everything for the bad, I’ve manifested myself too. Everything that happened in my life, I was the trigger. I pushed the first domino… good or bad. I could go back and see what that first domino was pushed every time and go, “God, why’d you do that?” or, “That was a great idea.” It’s all my fault. Everything I’ve ever done or had done; good stuff and bad stuff. I think if people take a look at it, and they want to own their life, they’ll realize that everything that they’ve done, they have to own it.
Cryptic Rock – Exactly. Own your mistakes, but at the same time, not lose focus on moving forward. You have to move forward. You cannot live in the past and dwell on the negativity of bad things that happen. Otherwise, you will never get anywhere.
Jack Russell – Sure. Absolutely.
Cryptic Rock – With your music, you have also done a couple of solo records; first back in ’96 with Shelter Me, and again in 2002 with For You. Quite some time ago, was a solo album something you would consider doing again?
Jack Russell – Yeah. I’m just trying to get what’s on my plate done right now. I’ve got five years of work ahead of me right now just looking at my schedule. I’m lucky to live that long. We’ll see, I’m getting up there. I just turned 63. I’m hopefully going to be around that long. I don’t know… we’ll see what fate has in mind. But, yeah, If I find the time, I’ll do it. I had some of the more fun moments in my life when I was recording my solo stuff. It was really great. Especially the second one, the For You album. It was so much different than anything I’d ever done before. It was like a soft side Jack. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – That would be great and interesting to hear too. Hopefully that will happen. You have played with many different players through the years. This current lineup of Jack Russell’s Great White has been going strong for a while now. You added Ken Mary on drums back in 2022, but everyone else has been with the band for a while. What has it been like playing with this group of players?
Jack Russell – Fantastic. I have Tony Montana playing guitar and keyboards; instead of playing bass like he was back in the ’80s. I have Robby Lochner on guitar; who is just a great player. Dan McNay on the bass; who is a fantastic player and a great guy. Now I have Ken Mary on drums.
These guys are all seasoned veterans. They’ve been everywhere, done it all. They’re not jaded. They still enjoy what they do. They take everything with a grain of salt. They’re always in a good mood and always laughing. It’s really light and happy on the road. It’s like a glass of lemonade on a hot day. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – Well, that is a good thing, because the band sounds good. We spoke about how you picked up traction with Great White, and obviously it became even bigger in the latter part of the ’80s. Great White always been more of a heavy Blues Rock type of band. That stated, the band unjustifiably were lumped in with the Glam Metal thing. What are your thoughts on the whole idea of Glam Metal?
Jack Russell – I think you’re exactly right. I’ve never thought of Great White as a Glam band. Yeah, some of the guys did get a little overzealous with the hairspray. But that was the time, and that was the way things were done. The fact of the matter is, we were just a music band. We just wrote songs. That was the biggest thing. The music was the most important thing. What you’re wearing you just kind of did; because everybody else is wearing something.
People go, “Oh, look at those stage clothes.” I say, “Look back to the ’70s.” Robert Plant had these chick shirts on, really low-cut jeans, wore a lot of silver and turquoise, and his hair was all long. Everything we’re doing has already been done. It will keep being done, undone, changed, and recycled. How many times and ways can you do it? What’s important is the music. That’s important. It is important to keep it not so much changing, but evolving. I see everything coming back to where it started from. Everything’s circular. It really is… it all comes back around.
I put on my first Beatles album, and I can liken that to a lot of records when I hear contemporary stuff. It’s kind of like, “Well, that’s a sign of the times.” We were all doing the same thing. We’re just doing it in our own little way and trying to put our own stamp on it.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. It is unfortunate that a lot of bands got lumped into the Glam Metal labeling. It is a marketing ploy, and it is frustrating and unfair. It is great to see that people are getting back to traditional Rock-n-Roll though; because it is tough in today’s music world to get into anything. What are your thoughts on modern production?
Jack Russell – I’m stuck in the ’80s, man. (Laughs) As far as the production went, there’s better production now, but it depends on what album you’re talking about.
There are better ways to do things now. I would love to go back and take this record or that record – re-record them, remix them, remaster them with today’s technology – and see how rad it would sound. But you will never get those bands together again. It would just be an interesting thought.
For example, if you could put Metallica together again with the Fade to Black (1984) album. If you could re-record that all over again with all the bells and whistles we have now… how would it sound? It might be worse. It might be the same. It would just be interesting to do though.
Cryptic Rock – Right. There are positive aspects to newer modern recording techniques. What is really nice about older recording techniques though is, when you went into recording vocals, you did them until they were right… there was no auto-tuning. You had to keep doing the takes until you got it the way you wanted it. A lot of artists are not doing that nowadays. You can hear when things sound too perfect, unhuman, and auto-tuned. This honestly takes away from the music.
Jack Russell – Oh, absolutely. I’d rather go for something, find that I can’t hit it, and then just change the note selection rather than hit something halfway. It’s difficult as you get older; you find your range diminishing. You just got to change your style around. I’ve had to change a few things in my repertoire and do things a little bit differently as I’ve gotten older. I don’t have the four and a half octave range that I used to have. That was a long time ago… I was a kid and I still had my baby teeth. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – Naturally, our voices change as we get older. Tom Keifer and Don Dokken have obviously had issues with their voice, but they have adapted. You just have to go with what you got.
Jack Russell – That’s it. I heard Don say something in an interview like, “Hey, if you don’t like the way I sing, don’t come to the shows.” You got all these people beating down the fence to get in to see him play, and then they go out and rag on him. What’s the point? If you don’t like it, just don’t go.
Cryptic Rock – Exactly. Last question for you is pertaining to films. If you are a fan of Horror films, what are some of your favorites?
Jack Russell – I’m a superhuman fan of Horror movies. Anything in the Insidious or Conjuring series. There are some old classic ones that are just amazing too. I can’t think of the names anymore. I will have to get a piece of paper and pencil and start putting down the catalog of Horror movies. There are so many good ones, but then there’s some bad ones too. There are ones where the previews are great, but the movie just sucks.
Cryptic Rock – (Laugh) Very true. A lot of the new films oversaturate with CGI effects though sadly.
Jack Russell – Well, a lot of it is just having all these effects. They sell the effects to the movie; not the dialogue or the storyline.
There’s got to be something more to it than just the uglier monsters or more real-looking spirits. You need a story. You need something that goes along with them. There has to be something that, when you hear or you read it, it makes your hair stand on it. You have to have that. You have to have some spine-tingling.
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