Folk impersonator Jesse Elliott tries not to be a complicated fella, but don’t let his laid back persona fool you. He’s as deep as the Black Sea, just not as dense. For years now he’s been trying to master a folk sound that is as every bit not-folk. I told you; complicated. His long player (and long-winded title) A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden is a clever change for American folk. So much so, it could arguably go unnoticed and passed off as progressive gone pop. Elliot and the album are anything but.

Our brief interview with the East Coast kid shows a whip-smart, savvy and potentially barmy musician who has a 365 day work ethic and the scars to prove it. Along with longtime friend David Strackany they are better known as These United States. To me, he’s just plain confusingly wonderful.

Pensatos: Being the tour whore that you are do you miss your bed yet?
Jesse Elliott: I was in Brooklyn when I started this sentence, and now I’m back in DC. Long story. I always miss my bed, even when I’m in it. That’s where all the songs come from.

First cassette tape bought because I really was convinced I was going to love it: M.C. Hammer

Is your road warrior mentality - all those shows - because you long for the live gigs or just to put food on the table?
Yes. Both. More the former. Or perhaps, because I ran out of ways to do the latter. I tried a lot of things - working with auctioneers and video store clerks and world criminal courts and furniture movers. I was even writer. I also ran a deli on the Jersey Shore. Just none of it is quite like the road. Johnny Appleseed’s got his name in our family bible, see?

Even though he’s your friend, wasn’t it a bit intimidating working with David Strackany after his Song Diary (365 songs in one year) project? That’s like - They Might Be Giants crazy with a new song for each day of the year…
Yes. But I’m used to it. That kid’s been intimidating me since we were 12 years old. English class, Larsen Middle School. He was often the silent sullen type. I was usually a class clown. We worked on films together - that seemed like a compromise. Silent people always have the most to say. But they know that thinking it is just the same, maybe better. Bastards.

‘First Sight’ definitely has an Islands feel to it. Who are some of your influences?
Islands. Mountains. Cities - the big buildings, manmade mountains. Geography. Prairies. The autobahn. The Great Wall of China, though I’ve never been. Outer space, where you can see and not see all these Formations. I’ve never been there, either. But there are a lot of movies made about Space, lucky for me. Movies about oceans, too. And oceans I’ve been to, some with islands waiting in them.

Well, then, back on dry land you’ve gone from Journalist to garage folk musician?
Well. Yes. Though I never claimed to be all that much of an expert at either. I just write. A lot. Too much. See. This answer is still going. It should have ended by now. That must be some kind of sickness. It’s really so wonderful. It’s the best feeling sickness I can think of.

Silent people always have the most to say. But they know that thinking it is just the same, maybe better. Bastards.

So have you always been into music then or is writing still your passion? Perhaps a Life on the Road: One Man’s Obsession memoir?
Wow. You really anticipated that last answer. You’re amazing. I like this interview. These are good questions. Questions aren’t always good. Sometimes people just ask them to fill space. And then we just give answers to fill space. That’s what a lot of human endeavor is about. Filling space. But you mentioned the word passion. Mmmm. Yes.

What was your first taste of music, then?
First concert attended because family friends were treating my family to it: Beach Boys. Second grade maybe. First cassette tape bought because of fourth grade peer pressure: Ten, by Pearl Jam. First cassette tape bought because I really was convinced I was going to love it: M.C. Hammer, whichever one he did that would’ve been called whatever. First album I listened to over and over again when my parents were gone and never told my friends about: Graceland, Paul Simon. First concert I went to with friends in Chicago in seventh grade: Bush. Ugh. You know, life - you take the good with the bad. Diamonds in the rough, spheres of influence all that jazz.

Where’s the name of the band derive from? Politically charged or just fans of the 60’s?
Geography. Pluralism. Pragmatism. Psychedelic kaleidoscopes of influence. 60s, maybe. Not the name, really. Well, no, actually, if you mean 1860s, then, yes. Walt Whitman, after all. Yes. How do you know the answers to all these questions already? Yes.

What’s next for you?
Yes.

Classic.

+ review: These United States - A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden
+ audio: These United States ‘First Sight’