In 1988, Jack O’Neill and Cary Pierce, the “Jack O” and “Pierce” who make up the seminal acoustic duo, Jackopierce, were playing cover songs in a dingy club with a crummy PA in their hometown of Dallas, Texas. In a moment of young-musician desperation, they whipped up a tune on the spot called “Three of Us In A Boat” to elongate their set. That became a signature track for a decade-long career wherein the two-piece sold 500,000 records over six albums (two for major label A&M) and toured three continents, nine countries, and 44 states. After a five-year breakup, in 2002 the duo reconvened as Jackopierce. Today Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce have a renewed creative vigor, mutual respect, and deep gratitude for their Jackopierce heritage. These good vibes shine through on JP’s euphoric new album, Everywhere All The Time, out August 28.
“If you do the math, you realize we’ve been reunited longer than we initially were together. We’ve grown up, we got over a lot of stuff, and we’re great friends. It’s been over 20 years of friendship,” Jack O’Neill says. “It’s like a couple getting remarried. The band previously became a job and we started to hate it and hate each other. We have newfound gratitude for each other and we really appreciate what we have,” Cary Pierce adds.
JP’s latest, Everywhere All The Time, is a charmingly elegant modern pop-rock record with big hooks and a crisp production aesthetic courtesy of Cary Pierce. It’s the most emotionally accessible album of the band’s career; it’s both warmly playful and vulnerably sincere. “It’s something I would want to listen to on a summer afternoon at the beach. We said ‘Let’s just go for it and write fun stuff,’” O’Neill explains. “I get accused of writing the darker stuff, but my life isn’t that dark, it’s good. If there is an attitude on the record, it’s ‘we’re grateful where we’re at and we’re gonna have fun with it.’”