ION INDIE MAGAZINE September 2015, Volume 16 | Page 90

Music by JESSE VALENZUELA “Tragic Hero” Calling Jesse Valenzuela By Mark Uricheck Calling JESSE VALENZUELA on a day off in the midst of a GIN BLOSSOMS’ tour, you get the impression that right here, right now, is a great place to be for the Arizona-bred musician. “I just got to the hotel, and I think I’m going to take a hike or something,” Valenzuela contemplates upon beginning the conversation. This leisurely schedule is a far cry from the heady, multi-platinum road this guitarist/vocalist’s band traveled from 1992-1996--a road that was paved with bona fide MTV and radio hits in perhaps the last generation of true Rock stardom--like “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” “Until I Fall Away,” and “Follow You Down.” These days, while Valenzuela’s Gin Blossoms are still making new music (most recently with 2010’s “No Chocolate Cake”) and touring to receptive audiences, it’s all being done on their own terms--the public lights dimmed a little lower, the backstages a little calmer, but the career path ever truer. Nothing could be more exemplary of the musically DIY present for Valenzuela than his current solo record, “Hotel Defeated.” A chat about the new record brought about a variety of topics and reflections--all positive, just as his demeanor and musical outlook. His second solo release, with a 13-year span in following up his 2002 debut, “Tunes Young People Will Enjoy,” is another fine case study in eclectic, modern, roots Rock ‘n Roll--the sort of Americana that’s not completely removed from the jangle-pop tunesmithing of the Gin Blossoms, yet maintains the uniquely personal slant of a singer/songwriter proudly wearing his heart on his sleeve. Tracks on “Hotel Defeated”--like the easygoing, Petty-ish Midwestern stomp of “That’s How It Works”, the film-