REBEL YELL

For cow-punk veteran Jason Ringenberg, the war in Iraq has shown the political gulf between himself and many of his traditional fans. He tells Joe Breen about walking softly in the US

'WELL, the war really messed up my head. I actually couldn't really believe we were doing that and it fundamentally affected me. Up to that I'd just been moderately interested in politics and I wouldn't have done a record like this ever."

The record Jason Ringenberg is referring to is his latest, Empire Builders, which manages to make the personal political and the political very personal. It is also, for Ringenberg, a dramatic change in direction. Having made his name through the 1980s and 1990s in the seminal cow-punk band Jason and the Scorchers, Ringenberg went out on his own towards the end of the millennium and created a minor but busy solo career.

That career led to tours of Europe, including Ireland, of which he has very fond memories. He recalls that during the build-up to the war he spent about 10 months, on and off, touring and travelling throughout Europe. "And there was Jason Ringenberg walking around in a Stetson hat. Just like an open target."

People apparently had no compunction about letting off steam about US plans and policies. "It was like strangers on subways they lost their jobs because of me, they got the common cold because of me - it was all my fault. It was quite a time for me.

"I was in Europe in 1984 when Reagan was trying to install the Cruise missiles there. That was bad but not nearly as bad as this. This was so dramatic and so universal. No one believed in this war, no one. I didn't meet a single European who said, 'Hey this is a really good idea'."

And so on a train travelling from Denmark to Norway he penned American Question, which includes these lines:

Yes we can bomb most any land/ Then send their kids to Disneyland

Give them a Big Mac and a prayer/ Then forget that they are there

It's all there inside of me/ All that guilt for all to see

Yes I am American/ From Normandy to Vietnam

"This record just questions American long-term economic and foreign policies," he says. "I try to do it with balance - I'm not one of those sloganeering guys - but I do think there is a load of things that do need to be analysed and looked at hard."

He did find that some people in Europe tended to see all Americans as the same. "I think because Europeans see Americans at their worst. You only see the tourists and all tourists are stupid, even the most intellectual and urbane are stupid. And then, of course, there is a vast divide that exists between American conservatism and European liberalism - it really is hard to bridge that huge gulf, and of course George Bush has completely failed now."

So much for Europe. How has the album gone down in his native country?

"There are a lot of conservative elements in my audience, guys with cowboy hats who vote for W. and I've lost them, no question about that. I've taken a lot of heat and had a lot of arguments. However, there are a lot who have supported me. But I'm not going to benefit from this. Taking a political stand has hurt me in the States. It has hurt me quite a bit.

"There's a sort of glib idea out there, which you heard on conservative talk radio, that people like Steve Earle and me are doing this to help a sagging career. But in almost all cases it hurts a career when you get political in the US. That's just the way it is."

Ringenberg cites the case of the Dixie Chicks. Making political statements "essentially destroyed" them. "They were a smash hit act and they came out against Bush and said those things, and while it didn't hurt them in Europe, they don't get on US country radio now."

Ringenberg has never had to worry about being a smash hit act, but his career, first with the Scorchers and then solo, has produced a loyal and fervent following in the Americana genre. "Yes, the numbers are small but the numbers are always consistent. Like, I'm now 22 years in this business and I'm still playing and I'm happy about that."

He adds that while he is content to be an independent artist, "Independent is really independent. That means you are selling your records at the side of the stage, that means you are going to have to do 200 dates a year. That's the reality of it. It helps that I'm a natural performer. I really enjoy doing it and that helps a bunch and I've got a young family and the little dears need to be fed, so that drives you on to do what you have to do."

This now includes Farmer Jason shows and CDs for children, a character he concocted to amuse his kids in Dixon, Tennessee, but which now accounts for a lot of his time on stage.

In a way this completes a circle of sorts. Ringenberg was reared on his family's small farm in Illinois, where he first heard country music on the farming stations his father listened to ("I always loved hillbilly music, it was just something that worked with me"). He now looks back on his father and his ancestors with deep pride.

"I reckon there are two types of empire builders: those who build empires of material wealth and power and those who build empires of heart, spirit an dignity." No prizes for guessing which one Jason Ringenberg favours.

Empire Builders is available on Spit and Polish records. Jason Ringenberg will be in the Errigle Inn, Belfast on Saturday; Whelan's, Dublin on Sunday; Cleeres Theatre, Kilkenny on Monday; Lobby Bar, Cork on Tuesday; and Cuba, Galway on Wednesday