To call American musician Jason Hartless a prodigy may be a bit of an understatement. Whether or not you believe in such epithets, the facts of his remarkable career within the music business are there for all to see. Incredibly, and this is verifiable by multiple sources within the industry, the Michigan native has been gigging professionally – as in playing real shows in real venues, accompanied by other professional musicians – since he was five years old.
That’s not a typo. He began his recording career at age seven, and even at this precocious age, was working alongside, and being mentored by some serious music heavyweights, including legendary Mountain drummer/songwriter Corky Laing, and Richie Scarlet, best known for his time in Ace Frehley’s band, but also a songwriter and producer of some note in his own right. And since then Hartless has developed not only his prodigious musical acumen, but has also become a disciplined, hard-working professional who continues to look for ways to imbed himself even deeper into the music industry.
“My dad was a professional musician around Detroit around the time I was born and he’s also a drummer. So, the drums were always in the house. About the time I was six months old, I would go on his drums and bang away. And then when I was about three, I was really actively playing the kit. Also, around that same time, my dad was bringing around some of his musician buddies to jam with me. That really helped and then by age five I was playing gigs around town, mostly cover gigs, but they were real paying gigs in real situations,” he said, adding that his dad’s band used to open some regional shows for Ace Frehley and he befriended Scarlet who eventually became Jason’s godfather. When Frehley went back to Kiss in the late 1990s, Scarlet joined a version of Mountain, and soon Laing came to hear of the talented pint-sized drummer.
“I loved Mountain and used to love playing Nantucket Sleighride all the time. My dad sent a video of me playing that song to Richie when I was about six and he showed it to Corky Laing who then proceeded to call my dad. He basically said, ‘look, I want to work with this kid and kind of mentor him and show him how to be a professional within this industry.’ So that’s when Corky came into my life. He was living in Toronto at the time and would drive back and forth to Detroit on weekends and we would sit in the room for hours and just woodshed on two kits. Then we started recording some music from when I was seven to about age 10. It was so I could get some studio experience and how to work in a studio and write songs.”
One thing that the precociously talented young musician learned was that it was in his best interests to avoid some of the pitfalls and perils of the musician’s life, particularly the various substances that can be used and abused. Hartless is the embodiment of the straight-edge lifestyle, which is perhaps one of the reasons why he fits in so well with his current gig – backing legendary Motor City Madman Ted Nugent, who is also notoriously anti-booze and drugs.
That job came three years ago, after Hartless spent his teenaged years playing as a sideman in a variety of rock outfits, honing his craft as well as learning as much as he can about the inside workings of the music industry. It’s a first-hand education that has served him well because not only is he savvy as a performer, but he is also savvy as an insider himself, now that he owns his own boutique record label, and publishing company. And remember folks, he’s still only 23 years old.
“As for staying away from the bad stuff, my parents never forced their views on me, they have never controlled how I run my life or my career. They made me aware of things and let me handle it on my own. I had seen so many great musicians that I looked up to either kill themselves or ruin their careers with drugs and alcohol. It was really something that impacted me at a very young age, and I knew it was something I would never get into. And I also see the straight edge lifestyle and clean living being related to your attitude and how you treat people – with honesty and respect. I have worked with a lot of musicians as a sideman that have been f***ing nightmares to work for. Anything that is toxic, including a personality, is something I absolutely avoid,” he said. As he also talked about his entrepreneurial endeavours.
“I am a partner too in the Prudential Music Groups. I oversee two labels and a publishing company. Our label Rouge Records put out the recent Pompeii release, which was a project by Corky Laing. I oversaw that whole project, so it was very cool to be able to give back to him and help him with that project considering all he did for me when I was getting started.”
We all have our own opinions and impression of Nugent, whether it be from his bombastic political pronouncements, his pro-gun and pro-hunting stance, or his unabashed passion for loud, proud rock and roll. Few have the opportunity to get to know the man behind the image. Hartless is one of those rare individuals.
“I can’t say enough great things about Ted as a person. Him and his whole family have kind of embraced me and treated me as their family. He is just one of the best human beings and most generous guys out there. As a musician, hands down he will go down as the greatest guitar player of all time, or at least one of them. The guy amazes me every single night, the shit that he plays. That being said, he is going to be 70 in December, and yet he is playing better now than he did back in the 1970s, in my opinion. And the intensity of his performances and his shows might be even a little higher than back then,” Hartless said.
“When we go out, we play almost six or seven nights a week. We have been out six weeks on this tour and we just had our first two days off the entire tour. We go non-stop. I always joke that he is like James Brown on steroids because he goes so intense, and he expects me and the bass player to be even more intense. It’s definitely a very challenging and creative gig to play with him. You’re going non-stop for an hour and a half to two hours.”
While it may seem like a ragged and rapid-fire show, the Ted Nugent rock and roll machine is actually well oiled, with Nugent himself, Hartless on drums and bassist Greg Smith operating at peak capacity and being able to adapt at a moment’s notice in front of thousands of rabid fans.
“One of the things I love about playing with Ted is we have changed up the set list almost every single night. And a lot of times on this tour, we’re walking on stage and he looks at me and the bass player and says, ‘all right, we’re playing such and such a song tonight’ and it might be a tune that we haven’t played in a year,” Hartless said.
“He expects us to make sure we know the catalogue to where every single night you never know what songs are going to get dropped or added in. Three nights ago, we were literally walking on stage and he said, ‘okay we’re playing Stormtroopin’ tonight,’ and we haven’t played that in about a year and a half. It just makes the job so much fun because you’re on the hot seat – it keeps it fresh each night.
“And I have never seen somebody get goosebumps listening and playing their music like he does. And that’s because he cares about it and cares about his audience so much. Him and the whole Nugent family have definitely treated me as their family for the last three years. He is just world class in every way. Everything he says, he means 100 per cent. And he is a real human being. He is so passionate about everything he does, his family and his music.”
Besides running around the country with Nugent, Hartless has also played semi-regularly with another Detroit legend, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and also for former Rainbow and Deep Purple frontman Joe Lynn Turner when he tours the American Midwest.
“I have a lot of session work that also keeps me busy, including a bunch of sessions coming up in Nashville towards the end of the year. All those are great, but on top of that and on top of running my label, I am still going to school for my bachelor’s degree in Music Business from Berklee.
Essentially, Hartless is looking at the long game when it comes to his career. He loves being a gun for hire in the studio, a sideman for other bands, being Ted Nugent’s regular skin basher, a label executive as well as an instructor at clinics.
“I am trying to build my career in other aspects of the business as much as I can. It’s what is going to solidify my position in terms of staying in this business that I grew up in for the long haul,” he said.
For more information, visit www.jasonhartless.com, or www.prudentialmusicgroup.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
SHARE THIS POST:
