Jack Van Cleaf’s new album JVC is out now via Dualtone Records, marking a major step forward for the Nashville-based songwriter. Released on May 9, the record finds Van Cleaf sharpening his blend of folk, indie rock, and Americana while digging deep into themes of isolation, climate anxiety, and the uncertainty of early adulthood.
Comprised of 14 tracks, the aptly-titled JVC is a true masterpiece as well as Van Cleaf’s most personal and fully realized project to date. It also has a notable co-sign from Zach Bryan, who joined Van Cleaf on a new version of the song “Rattlesnake.” But that’s not the first time Van Cleaf has worked with a major artist — he previously toured with Noah Kahan as direct support for his “Stick Season” tour.
I caught up with Van Cleaf mid-tour to talk about the album’s long creative runway, what it was like recording with Bryan, and how a dental X-ray ended up on the cover.
LL:
How’s it been playing these new songs live?
JVC:
It’s been good. I don’t have a ton of experience playing them out yet. With the songs from my first record, performing them live was kind of the final step of the writing process — I road-tested them a lot before recording. But this album was different. Some of the songs were still being finalized in the studio. So now, on the road, they’re kind of brand new. I can feel that especially when I play one of the new ones right next to an old one. They bring something fresh to the set, and sometimes they rock a lot harder.
LL:
When did you start writing these songs?
JVC:
Some of them go pretty far back. The oldest one, “Teenage Vampire,” has parts I wrote during my freshman year of college. But the real heart of the album started taking shape in the year or two after I graduated college in 2019. That’s when I started writing songs that felt thematically consistent — ones that captured what was going on in my life.
LL:
What was different about that time?
JVC:
Two years after graduating I moved back to Encinitas [California], where I grew up. I just needed a reset. I was struggling to take control of my life and felt like I needed to rethink some things. Not that my goals changed, but I needed that time to recalibrate.
LL:
How did you and Zach Bryan connect? He posted a short cover of your song, “Rattlesnake,” to social media last year – is that when it started?
JVC:
We actually connected earlier — probably over a year before that. It was the first day of the Noah Kahan tour, we were headed to Texas, and someone told me Zach had tweeted lyrics to my song “Rattlesnake.” That was the first sign he was a fan. Then, when he reached out about doing a version together, it all happened really fast.
LL:
That’s so cool. And you guys were in the studio together — what was that experience like?
JVC:
Amazing. Having him there totally shaped how it went. I tend to be a perfectionist in the studio, but he makes it more fun and instinctive. We were setting up to record, like, acoustic guitar, then vocals, layering — and Zach came in and said, “No, let’s do it live.” So we did. Him, me, and Ethan Fortenberry just sat around and played it through live. He was calling audibles mid-take — deciding who would sing what lines as we went. Some of those decisions made it into the final take. It was spontaneous and special.
LL:
How many takes did you do?
JVC:
The one we used was the last one we did — I think it was three to five takes total. Zach said he doesn’t believe in doing more than five takes, and I think he stuck to that.
LL:
Do you have a typical songwriting process, or is it different every time?
JVC:
It varies, but a lot of times it starts with just strumming the guitar until something is musically consistent with what I’m feeling. Then I start mumbling melodies and lyrics from there. Those usually turn into my favorite songs. But I’ve also started with lyrics first and found music to match — especially with more story-driven things like the murder ballads. That can be more structured and calculated.
LL:
About the album title — your initials. Is there significance behind that?
JVC:
Yeah, I think of it as a reintroduction. It’s my first release with Dualtone, and it includes a re-release of my most successful songs. It’s kind of like a new chapter. And actually, the album art helped lead me to the title.
I found this X ray from a dentist appointment, and I was like, “Well, I guess this record does kind of feel like a peek inside my head,” or, like a look at my life as it is now and why it is now. The idea of packaging everything together under my initials just felt right after that.
LL:
The album has a very cohesive sound, but it’s also pretty free and instrumentally diverse — brass, banjo, guitar. Were you hands-on with production?
JVC:
I’d say so. I don’t consider myself a producer exactly, but if you ask Alberto [Sewald], who produced the album, he I’m sure he would tell you that I’ve got my opinions. He’s very gracious to entertain those while still, you know, giving me the creative input that is needed. But yeah, I certainly had a vision that I wanted, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Listen to JVC below – and be sure to catch Van Cleaf if he visits your town on his tour!