Bozeman Magazine

"“We had to keep the stove burning the whole day, and then the electricity went out for ten minutes. Luckily, we were just rehearsing.” For John Statz, born and raised in Wisconsin, hard work and good luck both seem to come naturally. On his new record, TULSA - recorded with an all-star band in the middle of a Vermont ice storm with echoes of The Jayhakws and Whiskeytown - both pay off in spades. After years of DIY touring everywhere from Eastern Europe to Mexico Statz fell in with fellow Midwesterner Jeffrey Foucault, a critically acclaimed songwriter and veteran of the Americana circuit.

A fan of Statz’s most recent album (2012’s OLD FASHIONED, produced by Bo Ramsey), Foucault offered to produce the next while the two were on tour together in Colorado. “Jeff kicked my ass. He pushed me to crank out well-written songs. He’s such a great songwriter himself and I felt like I had to step up my game. And then there is the absolutely amazing band...” The band features Billy Conway (Morphine) on drums, Mark Spencer (Son Volt) on electric guitars and pedal steel, Jeremy Moses Curtis (Booker T) on bass, Jeffrey Foucault on guitars and vocals, Caitlin Canty singing harmonies, and Matt Lorenz on fiddle. “TULSA feels like how I was always supposed to make a record. Hunkered down for three days, living and eating with the band, tracking live, all during the raging 'Polar Vortex' deep in the woods of Vermont.”"