Jason Webley calls Everett home, but really he lives on the road.
The cult star performed in North Carolina from Dec. 26 through New Year’s Day, was in Portland, Maine, on Jan. 11, and by Jan. 23, made it to Modesto, Calif. He plays “a couple hundred” shows each year, he said, traveling the world, fedora and accordion in tow.
Before he sets out on a jaunt through Oregon for the McMenamins chain, the multi-instrumentalist will play a rare show at The Sisters restaurant in Everett on Friday.
During a break back at home, Webley, 34, checked in to talk about drawing inspiration from sitcom jingles, his attraction to the accordion and the importance of the Internet.
Q: Your music sounds like a mix of Tom Waits and gypsy punk cabaret bands like Gogol Bordello. Who do you count as influences?
A: The things I grew up on. In a way I’m influenced by TV jingles and theme songs to sitcoms from when I was a kid, and “The Sound of Music” probably more than just about anything. That’s where a bunch of my musical vocabulary probably originally comes from. And then when I was older … I was really, really into punk rock.
Q: Some of your songs feature the accordion. What attracted you to the instrument?
A: Every once in a while at (college) parties, I’d get out the accordion. There was something very social about the accordion, and it really would draw people in. It would kind of unify a room.
Q: You self-release your albums. Would you be willing to say what kind of living you make for all the aspiring independent musicians out there?
A: I’ve definitely made my living doing this. And as far as aspiring young people, I’d say go for it, but don’t expect much. Take chances with your life. Do things that you don’t necessarily expect will pay off, but be smart about it. When I started doing this, I had about $10,000 in the bank, which, the way I lived then, I could have lived off of for about a year and a half.
Q: Your MySpace presence is pretty huge — nearly 650,000 page views and your songs have been played more than 1.1 million times. Do you think you could do what you do, operating on your own, without the Internet?
A: Yes and no. Could you do that now without the Internet? No. Could you do that 20 years ago without the Internet. Yes. The world reinvents itself.
Andy Rathbun, arathbun@heraldnet.com, 425-339-3455
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