J.V. Rail
Based out of a shed in WA’s Margaret River region, Jon Veitch, former Tom Fisher and the Layabouts keyboardist and frontman of The Sets, spent the second half of 2021 amongst the layers of paddock dust writing the next generation of songs that would define him as an artist.
Allowing his adoration of Americana bands like Bruce Springsteen and the Allman Brothers to mingle with the piano laced pop rock flavours of Billy Joel and Elton John, Veitch had soon created enough material to fill an album. His next step – round up a band of merry misfits to bring the songs to life.
After convincing his drummer mate Ben Clark to play, Veitch went on to snare long-time friend Jack Graziotti on bass guitar. Lead guitarist David Kent made the move home from Melbourne, escaping the covid oppression just in time to be asked to join the band. And just like that, J.V. Rail was born. The boys wasted no time and headed straight to the studio with Sean Lilico for demo work and then later, Wade Reynolds to record their first single called Roadbend.
With anthemic choruses and a Cold Chisel-esque working-class ethos, J.V. Rail sing nostalgic tales about growing up in the quintessential Aussie lifestyle. Referencing ‘mullet cuts and muscle cars,’ ‘summer heat and swimming pools,’ it’s the type of music you’d listen to while holding a fishing rod in one hand and a meat pie in the other.
Line-up changes have brought two new musicians to the band for its second year. Jake Hugh, a rough diamond enigma hiding in a salt crusted farmers garb, appeared out of the woods one day and brought his Hendrix like touch to the neck and frets. James Harris (Blackwood Morris, Scyatic, Sound Circus, Ripchord) armoured in rockpig skills and battle-hardened confidence has rounded out the new team in 2023.
Straight into new material created by Veitch during some long, rum soaked winters, and back in the studio with the awarded James Newhouse, J.V. Rail look set to dig in and gain more ground, adding to their impressive start. Achievements so far include three festival call ups, over 5K independent YouTube views, a spot on ABC Country, numerous radio interviews and a top 20 nomination for WAMI song of the year 2023.
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