Jesse LaMonaca and The Dime Novels blend perfect amounts of blues, rock n roll, folk and funky Americana all the while mixing in healthy amounts of heart and soul to create an instant classic. A beautiful and delicious feast for your ears to enjoy time and time again. Their gift to the world is their new record “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk”.
Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels have put together the perfect ingredients to create a record full of so much heart and soul it will chill you right down to the bone. Mixing elements of classic Americana with the brilliant use of the horn section and beautiful piano playing. The piano on “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk” will transport you to a time long ago and if you close your eyes you can almost smell the smoke of an old saloon and feel yourself surrounded by heart broken gamblers in the Wild West. A touch of folk with subtle harmonica, and eerie organ behind the vocals that will lift you up and tear your heart to ribbons at the same time. These elements blend perfectly with their classic rock n roll and old time blues songwriting, to create an absolute gem of a record. With the opening track “The Flood” You are immediately hit with some spicy guitar tones, followed by blistering horns that really turn the heat up throughout the track. Accompanied by Jesse’s classic singing voice that can range from soft whispers immediately to a passionate snare and growl, both of which are showcased on the track. Leading right into the track “Well Has Run Dry” which trades the blistering horns for haunting violin and a banjo, again showcasing the vocal range of Mr. LaMonaca. The track “Wildcat” will have you up on your feet, holding your favorite drink to the sky singing right along with the band. With the piano soaring along the jamming harmonica soloing throughout, this song feels like it could be the soundtrack to your favorite roadhouse bar. The title track to the record is a beautifully haunting acoustic track. Soft guitar along with a whistle solo lend a hand in setting the tone with Mr. LaMonaca’s vocals. “The song “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk” was originally going to be a hidden track, just a simple live version of just me and a guitar.” Says Jesse. “…we actually recorded it on a whim.” A video was also recorded for the song, which can be seen here –
Some rave reviews and praise given to Jesse LaMonaca and The Dime Novels
“A well-crafted mix of earthy Americana and vintage R & B -at its best”
-George Varga, San Diego Union Tribune
“This album conjures elements of so many sections of great American Music, there are homages to blues, ragtime, rock, soul and folk, yet the band finds itself comfortably traversing all these different terrains, creating something all their own.”
-Al Howard, The Heavy Guilt
“….an enlightened sense of pop songcraft and a voice that the listener just can’t help but believe.”
-Seth Combs, San Diego CityBeat
“Jesse and the song ‘The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk’. Song kills, video kills too.”
-Michael Halloran, 91X
“Jesse LaMonaca has a voice that is hard to ignore. It shakes with soul and has a depth that moves the beat.”
-SD Rock n Roll
Please join us as we sit with Jesse LaMonaca and talk about the new record, learn about the history of the band and much, much more!
Please give us a brief history of the band. Who you are, where you’re from, when your formed ect.
FEBRUARY 2009- singer/songwriter Jesse LaMonaca was about to play a solo set at a club in downtown San Diego. Before going on, he invited the house band to join him on stage for a song. On Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” they did- and they haven’t stopped playing since. 
JUNE 2010- Jesse LaMonaca and The Dime Novels released their debut album, “Until The Stars Came Out,” showcasing their unique Americana Soul sound in a powerful collection of songwriting, melody and performance that was nominated for BEST AMERICANA ALBUM for the 2010 San Diego Music Awards.
NOVEMBER 2010- “The Left Coast Sunshine Tour- a solo journey to Australia.” The idea of Jesse going on a solo tour to Australia had been floating around for some time, and at a Sunday afternoon BBQ in late August with some Aussie friends, this idea suddenly got a heartbeat. In just six short weeks, all the pieces fell into place and a solo tour took shape- 10 shows in Sydney, Fremantle, Margaret River and Melbourne.
“You have to go on the journey to tell your story.”
These words became the theme of the tour; a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for an unsigned artist to share his music on the other side of the world. Family, friends, fans and 11 sponsors made this tour possible, reaching out via Kickstarter and with an incredible amount of support and generosity, helping Jesse with everything from booking shows, places to sleep; even the round-trip plane ticket from Los Angeles to Sydney.
Using a Canon T2i, an out-stretched arm and the helping hands of friends, Jesse documented the tour, and then spent months editing the footage with Aaron Browning at Flicker Fusion Video. The story is told in three short episodes, with a bonus video of a live performance by JL and The DN recording a song that Jesse wrote while on the tour, a song called “Other Side Of The World.”
AUGUST 2011- JL and The DN honored with a nomination at the 2011 San Diego Music Awards for BEST AMERICANA BAND.
PRESENT- On February 18, 2012, JL and The DN released their second full-length album, “The Lament Of Tumbleweed Hawk” with an epic sold-out album release show at Casbah, joined by Blackout Party, The Black Sands and The Fire Eaters. The album was recorded at Lost Ark Studio in San Diego. They approached the sessions with one goal in mind- to record an honest record; to focus on the songs, to make them sound natural and real, and to give them breath and blood.
Typical band questions – What are some bands/artists who have inspired you?
I am heavily influenced and inspired by late 50’s/early 60’s soul music, Elvis, Willie Nelson, U2, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Pearl Jam, Band of Horses, Van Morrison, Ryan Adams and every beat and melody that finds its way into my ears.
Your new video for “The Lament Of Tumbleweed Hawk” is beautiful. Was this your first experience filming an official music video? How as this experience for everyone involved? Where was the video filmed?
Thank you. We have worked on a few videos in the past, but this one felt more official than the others. It was an amazing experience, working with Kevin and Rebecca Joelson. We drove out to the Laguna Mountains and spent the day walking around the woods, just the three of us. Everywhere we turned we found gorgeous scenery. It just felt right. The day was a bit overcast, which was perfect for the mood of the video. It got a little cold towards the end of the day, but we hung in there and the result was a video that we are very proud of.
How did you decide on the title for the new record?
As soon as we began recording, I began keeping a list of all possible album titles. We looked at using one of the song titles, maybe some of the lyrics, random phrases, etc. There was this one session where we were recording the violin track for “Well Has Run Dry” and Scott Kennerly, the engineer, pointed out how important it was to get it right, because it was the “voice of the lament of the song.” He also later jokingly said that it was sounding so Americana that there was “…gonna be tumbleweeds rolling around in the studio, hawks soaring overhead screeching…” We began laughing about it, talking about filming a 1980’s buddy-cop movie called “Tumbleweed and Hawk.” And even though it began as a joke, there was something that instantly stuck about the word “lament” and somehow the vision of a lonely old pioneer in the wilderness named Tumbleweed Hawk started to take shape and seemed to resonate with the mood of the record, and shortly thereafter, while on a camping trip outside of Idyllwild, the song “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk” was born and the album had its title.
What was the approach to writing “The Lament Of Tumbleweed Hawk” in comparison to “Until The Stars Came Out”?
“Until The Stars Came Out” was recorded when we had just began playing together, so we didn’t have as much material to choose from or the benefit of time, of playing the songs multiple times live and letting them marinate and take shape. When we began recording “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk”, we were not sure if we would be able to do an EP or full-length album, and our piano player, Ed Kornhauser was about to leave for a round-the-world trip that had no return date, so we just started with four songs that had piano, so that we could get Ed on the recording. We then moved onto the songs that we knew the best, the ones we had been playing live and therefore were the most ready. We had over twenty to choose from, we recorded thirteen and instead of leaving some of them out, we decided to just include them all, so that people could hear them. I wasn’t so concerned with the album having a “vibe”, I just wanted to give people a full and honest representation of what we do at a live show.
Was there a particular sound you were going for on this record?
We wanted the album to sound natural, honest and real. No gimmicks, no bullshit.
Give us some insight on the song writing process the band goes through when creating songs for the new record.
I don’t really know……. The day after our album release show I made a list of every song that I have written that has not been recorded, then started to try and figure out which of them might sit well together on an album. I also began thinking of what direction I would like to go for the next album. What rhythms to use, what stories to tell.
If you could open for any band / artist who would you choose and why?
Hell, I don’t know. Right now I would be thankful to get on tour with any band that has an established fan base and some money behind them. If I could choose one artist, I would say…Wille Nelson, so I could hang out with him on his bus, get super stoned and maybe sing a few songs with a living legend.
Tell us readers a band story most people would not know about. Something funny, embarrassing, or downright cool.
The song “The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk” was originally going to be a hidden track, just a simple live version of just me and a guitar. And we actually recorded it on a whim, after recording for two days straight, literally. I hadn’t slept in about 40 hours. And as I was about to leave to go home, at about 10PM, our friend Ben Simonetti, who played trumpet on the album and also happens to be a very talented engineer, suggested we try and record the song. We shared a smoke, got some beer, sat down and tracked my vocal, acoustic guitar and him on the acoustic bass, all live. What ended up on the album was the third take. We overdubbed the whistles about twenty times that night, we went to Whistletown, then later on we added the other instruments. As the song grew, it became apparent that it was sounding better than expected and that it would be silly to have it as a hidden track, so it ended up becoming the final track of the album.
Whats next for Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels?
I am thinking of doing a solo EP or album later this year, mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals. I want it to be simple, to focus on the songs and the story-telling, and for it to sound like it was recorded in a cozy old cabin, lit warmly by a fire. If possible, I would like to actually record it in such a cabin. We’ll see what happens……
Finish this sentence… If it was not for music….
……I would have died a long time ago.
We would like to give a huge Thank You to Jesse LaMonaca for working with us on this article. Please visit www.jesselamonaca.com for music, news,photos, videos and much more. Band photos taken and used with permission by Rebecca Joelson (http://www.rebeccajoelson.com)