On Friday night Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern will play host to local band Young Agent Jones and its CD release party. Young Agent Jones, made up of Ben Hodge on bass, Mike Yeager on drums, Todd Rowan on guitar, Jason Jones on guitar, and all on vocals, will premiere its latest album We Know Who You Are to its Starkville home.
We Know Who You Are is the band’s third effort and when it comes to the albums, the third time seems to be a charm for the band.
“We originally started the record in Jackson in 2004 with a studio there. We had differences of opinion with them and decided to do it on our own,” Rowan said.
From there, the band set out accumulating a studio’s worth of recording equipment in order for the band to go about making a record the way it wanted, setting up a de facto recording studio in Yeager’s home.
“Basically, we recorded [the album] twice,” Yeager said. “What’s cool is everything on here is us. Every sound is one we made. After the experience in Jackson, we just wanted to buy our own gear and do it ourselves.”
The consensus among the band is that its latest effort is its best yet.
“We have an album that sounds exactly the way we want it to sound,” said Hodge. “It’s a definite rock record.”
“Yeah, it’s a lot more representative of our sound and how far the band has come,” Rowan said.
The band’s first album, Discretion Is Our Profession, ranked in the top 150 on the College Music Journal national college radio chart. Since then, the band has played obscure and infamous places across the country, venturing from Chicago down to Houston, Texas.
“Houston was crazy,” Rowan said. “We played a gig at this little bar and these rich lawyer types were hanging out with us and they were feeding us drinks. When we finished the show, they were like let’s go to ‘Not-Soo-Oh.’ We said ‘sure’ and headed out with them.”
“We get to the place and the lawyer guy knocks on the door and some guy answers … and is like ‘What are ya’ll doing at my house?’ and the lawyer said ‘Not-Soo-Oh.’ Then the guy lets us in and as we walk in, he says ‘My name is Jim and welcome to my home.’ It was creepy, but the place turned out to be a speakeasy.”
Road stories like that are aplenty in Young Agent Jones’ history, like a hallmark of any good rock band.
Getting back on the road behind the new album is in the band’s plans for the spring. Until then, Young Agent Jones is going to let loose here in Starkville with a few shows before heading out on the road in the spring.
“We’re going to head back down to Florida and Texas in the spring. We’re going to get out on the road hardcore behind the new album and hit a lot of college markets,” Rowan said.
To get a heads up on the new sound from the band, four new tracks are up on its Myspace page at www.myspace.com/youngagentjones.
“Eventually, the album will be up on CDBaby.com for people to get it online,” Yeager said.
For the fan that wants something tangible from Young Agent Jones, pay the $5 cover at Dave’s Friday night and get the new album for $5.
Friday night will be the first time some songs are performed live.
“We have two songs we haven’t played live that we’ll debut at Dave’s,” Rowan said.
“Dave [Hood] has always been really supportive of our band. He has let us hold three album release parties in his establishments. It’s always great to play at Dave’s Dark Horse and we’re looking forward to Friday.”
The band will take the stage at 10 p.m.
“Young Agent Jones is Starkville’s premier band, said Dave Hood, owner of the Dark Horse Tavern. “They’re tight as hell and leave it all on stage.”
“We’re really happy and thankful for all the support our family, fans and friends have given us and being patient waiting for the new album,” Rowan said.