“Down North.” In the traditional sense these directions will get you nowhere, but ask anyone from Cape Breton, and they’ll point you in the direction of the Highlands; a place of unparalleled, rugged beauty. Every inch of the highlands speaks a truth, so it only stands to reason that Jesse Cox, a native of Bay St Lawrence follows suit. These days Cox splits his time between Cape Breton, and Rexton, New Brunswick, but his heart never left the place he was born.
His debut release, Threshing Floor, is built on this truth, and over the course of its eight tracks, you get a glimpse of a man who couldn’t escape it even if he wanted to.
Cox was born into music. His parents, Dennis and Lori Cox were touring musicians who in 1979 released The Welcome Table and played their way across the country; often with some well-known Canadian artists. The seed for much of this was planted when his father Dennis worked at a place called Lena’s Cafe in upstate NY. It was here that the elder Cox met and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, and a fella named Bob Dylan. These were some of the influences passed down to Jesse who remembers bouncing on Rita MacNeil’s knee as a child while his parents played their sets.
With a pedigree like this and a voice that grabs you from the first note, it was little surprise that Cox would follow his folks into the music world. With a nod to their record collection and a heavy dose of Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson, he set out to make a record that stayed true to who he was and where he came from.
It was actually Big Sugar’s 1993 release, 500 Lbs that Cox credits for pushing him closest to where he sits musically today.
“That record changed everything for me,” says Cox, who, years ago, and armed with a fake ID, got to see his heroes in action. “I went to see them with my brother and some of his friends, and was such a big fan that I knew what they would play before they even played it.”
This kind of passion would inform Cox over the years and shape his playing into what you hear today.
It was a leap of faith making this record; an exercise in letting go. Cox had most of these songs to the point where they would benefit from a second set of ears. Enter producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Keith Mullins. The two had met on previous occasions and spoke of their desire to work together. Mullins was a fan of a particular song Cox had written and so they made plans to collaborate. Cox remembers this first meeting fondly although nothing much came from it. When the two met again some things had changed for both of them. Mullins had started up Barn Bhreagh Studios and was recording and producing records for clients and friends, and Cox had learned to let go.
“It’s hard letting someone else work on your songs,” says Cox. “It was hard at first with Keith, but I had to learn to trust his ideas.”
Fortunately for Cox, Mullins is no slouch.
“Keith put so much into this record,” Cox says, the thanks and admiration evident in his voice. “All those sounds you hear outside of my guitar and vocal are Keith. He plays everything and works really hard to find the sounds you have in your head.”
Mullins didn’t stop there, however. He enlisted a couple of heavy hitters to help out. Wide Mouth Mason’s Shaun Verreault, and the aforementioned Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, both added their touch, and the result is a thoughtful, reflective, gritty, and groovy record that will sit comfortably in anyone’s collection.
The album’s opener, “Good Times,” takes you off the coast of Bay St Lawrence to a place called St Paul’s Island where Cox’s uncle Otis Thomas, a local violin maker of great renown, would gather with friends at a lighthouse for music, stories, and laughter. Cox looks back at these times warmly while he mourns the fact that those days are all but gone. “We barely look up from our phones, and it’s sad. It makes me wonder where we’re going.”
The next track harkens back to San Quentin-era Johnny Cash with its foot-stomping acoustic guitar riff opening. “Oh Mollykins where you been,” asks Cox on the appropriately named “Mollykins” as the fiddle takes on a cajun feel that drives the upbeat number, and lets you know to buckle up. Jesse Cox is at the wheel. Although the song on its surface speaks about a past relationship, it was inspired by countless searches for a beagle named Molly who fancied herself quite the escape artist!
“Whipping Post” is the next stop. Here we see a small crack in Cox’s armour as he deals with how he feels about racism. As a child, his best friend was a black girl who had a twin sister, and in spending time with them he got his first taste of racist behaviour and language.
“I couldn’t believe what some of the adults said and felt,” Cox recounts.
He’s quick to point out that not everyone felt this way, but he has dealt with these feelings through his music his whole life, and never better than on this track. His voice is raw with emotion and his message is backed by the slide guitar work of Verreault. The chorus has the sort of ‘stomp-clap’ feel you’d expect from a gospel choir, and you could easily hear one backing up Cox on this catchy and memorable tune.
Speaking of memorable, how many of us could say that we remember sleeping in the same building as our livestock as a kid? Jesse Cox can. He remembers knowing it was time to go to sleep when he heard the animals laying down for the night in the barn house he shared with them. It’s this kind of purity that will draw you into Cox’s world. This same building years later would play host to different sorts of activities; the ones that experimenting teenagers find themselves tangled up in.
Some walk away unscathed with memories of these times, and others will wrestle with the ghosts of those years forever. On “Threshing Floor” he pays tribute to a friend who lost such a battle in 2019. “I saw a lot of people get involved with drugs and booze who really never came back.” Cox has a soft spot for these struggles and for the mental health issues that always come along with them. It’s this line of thinking that led him to become involved with outdoor leadership and music for youth at risk in Elsipogtog, New Brunswick, and also informs the topic of his next song.
“Tough Love” was written after multiple visits to facilities to visit friends who were struggling with addictions and mental health. Cox was struck by how forgotten a lot of these people were by the very system that claimed it was helping them. “The broken don’t stand a chance,” says Cox, who is obviously deeply affected by what he sees as a failed attempt to help those who need it most.
As has been the case throughout his life, Jesse Cox leaned into his music and his heritage when things got tough. The last two songs on the album see him singing of home. “These Old Streets”, and “Black Angus” drag their heels along a dusty backroad and find Cox grinning from ear to ear. “I love Cape Breton. The tradition and the people. It’s the home of my heart”.
“Black Angus” is an obvious tribute to Giant Macaskill, the Scottish-born Englishtown settler who stood at seven feet; ten inches, and became a living legend. Macaskill’s sheer size and feats of strength made him a hero in the eyes of the local people for generations, so it’s only right that Keith Mullins brought in another hero of Jesse’s. Gordie Johnson, who has been a champion of Canadian artists, plays a strutting, red hot guitar line under Cox’s storytelling. It proves to be a perfect ending to a record that Cox has poured his heart and soul into.
This is a record that can snuggle into your playlist, elbow its way into a packed blues club, or be the perfect companion on the pre-dawn ocean off the coast of Cape Breton where Jesse Cox fishes lobster, thinks about his friends, and hopes for a brighter future.