An Interview With The Roosevelts

New England Country Music recently had the opportunity to talk with Jason Kloess and James Mason of The Roosevelts. So let’s get to know this up-and-coming duo. The Roosevelts video ‘Cold Sheets’ recently debuted on CMT Edge on September 8th, and for the next couple of months the group will be busy hitting the road.

Guitarist Jason Kloess grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and Vocalist James Mason grew up in Houston, Texas. The pair was introduced by a mutual friend and neither of them really considered a career in music. James was on the track to medical school and a friend convinced him to take a couple of years off before med school. “It wasn’t until we recorded the first Roosevelts EP that I knew there was a career opportunity there.” Jason worked in sales with a finance background until just a few weeks ago.

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Both James and Jason grew up listening to James Taylor and he was the first concert that Jason went to when he was 5 or 6, and James was actually named after him. When I asked if they could work with any artist who would it be, James said if he could work with James Taylorhe “would probably be doing a backflip without even knowing it.” Jason said he would love to work with Stevie Wonder.

Back in January The Roosevelts filmed their video ‘Cold Sheets’ with director, Brad Linton. They said it was a great experience and that Brad was pretty easy to work with and that, “coming up with ideas on the spot made a better video because everyone had a voice.” They also shot four different endings for the video and they didn’t know which one Linton chose until just recently. They also told me ‘walking into the CMT office on the day of the video premier was cool because everyone recognized them.’

James and Jason both said ‘Cold Sheets’ is their favorite song to perform and they perform an extended version live with an a cappella ending. James said, “it has a ton of energy and it’s meaningful and all of us relate to it. James also said Jason plays the electric guitar and mandolin at the same time.”

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Some of the coolest things The Roosevelts have been able to do so far include playing different venues. Just recently they were able to play a show at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee. They also got to play Paramount Theatre in Austin with Bob Schneider.

The Roosevelts are out on the road touring right now. October is full of shows and November is shaping up to be just as busy. They are hoping towards the end of the year or the beginning of next year to get some more recording in and get some new music out.