We’ve had an official band name for an entire weekend, and we’ve looked at it in so many fonts that the words don’t make sense anymore. Since our idea of decisiveness includes flipping a coin, we naturally depended on our facebook friends to “vote,” thus allowing us to make progress as a band without ever, in fact, having to make a choice. We did come up with a lot of ideas: The Whethaus Rounders and the Ferrum Mountain Roadshow were in the top three, and once we got people talking and writing about these names, the hardest part wasn’t deciding what to pick, it was deciding what to give up. And of course, there were a couple of names that we loved that seemed somehow…. well, not for the public. In the end, the “official voting window” closed, After Jack had clearly led the final vote, and we three avoided the topic, promised to think about it in the morning, and went to bed.
I think now that we have pictures and a website and 82 facebook “likes,” it feels like a reality, and we are happy with our choice. We gave a sneak preview on Friday night for Lana Whited and Katherine Grimes, who can’t be at our first show, but promised to bring pizza to a rehearsal (thanks!). Katherine said: “When it’s right, you’ll know. If you had to put it to a vote, it probably isn’t right.” At first, only hours into our new identity, we were relieved. It was like we were just given permission to be wrong and start again and keep going. But, as we allowed ourselves to think and talk in temporary terms, we all realized that we are most excited about having given ourselves permission to commit to this new project. So, we are After Jack.
And now you same people who selected our name for us want to know what it means… a question to which I don’t have a good answer. As we brainstormed, we wanted to come up with a name that meant something to the three of us, something about what ties us together, and ties us to the music that inspires us. We wanted a name that felt like it belonged here, in Ferrum, VA, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We talked about our house, “The Whethaus,” whetstones, iron, (Ferrum), trains, mountains, kudzu, paradise trees... you get the idea. We wouldn’t even know each other, however, if it hadn’t been for the theatre, and it’s probably that experience of playing and working together that has given us enough confidence to try to make this dream a reality.
“And then there’s my boy Jack,” the narrator says in “Quar Jack,” one of our favorite Jack Tales. When we tried to narrow down what has been most special in our Ferrum experience, the Jack Tales had to top the list. Most of our friends are already very familiar with the Jack Tales, but if you don’t know what we’re talking about, look us up or come see us. Anyway, it was certainly a reference to the Jack Tales, and our work in the Jack Tale players that put Jack on the list of band name themes. Ashlee Heyward said: “Jack has been a huge part of your lives for a WHILE and now you’re moving forward. I think it’s perfect.”
So maybe the name is about what’s next for the three of us, I don’t think, as Tina Hanlon suggested, that we are trying to place Jack or any other elements of Appalachian culture or music in the past, but we do like the idea that we are trying to create something new that is inspired by tradition. I personally like the ambiguity, also, of a name without a clear meaning. Lana offered: "After Jack" can obviously mean "we are after Jack," as in "we're a' chasing that fellar." I like that, too. So I guess if you would like to know the definitive meaning of After Jack, we can put it to a vote on facebook. Thanks for all the love and support so far!
Emily
