(Credit: Kevin Lee)
There's a YouTube clip of Jody Lee Petty covering Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive” in a bar, with the bravura of a frontman born to rock arenas.
Petty doesn't want you to see the footage, though. In fact, the Greensboro country singer would like to have all his existing YouTube footage taken down.
“What we're doing now is completely different,” Petty says. “There's a lot more energy and raw power in the shows now. A scout came out and reviewed our last show and labeled me as the Mick Jagger of country music.”
Petty's two primary musical loves — country and rock — will be on display in varying degrees in a pair of upcoming EPs. The six-song disc “Done My Time” is due for release later this summer. He tracked the songs in Nashville. Former LeAnn Rimes band leader Jamey Perrenot, and Lone Star touring musician Robby Wilson produced the set, which heats up radio-country twang with distorted electric guitars.
“I like to add elements of raw '90s rock, like Stone Temple Pilots or Foo Fighters, into country music,” Petty says. “That's kind of the vibe I'm going for.”
Six more songs, including the possible title track “Get Down in the Dirt,” are already written for another, more rock-oriented EP, which Petty hopes to release around Christmas
When he calls for this interview, Petty is driving his beat-up 1988 Jeep Wrangler to Nashville. As a little kid, he was enamored with the natural showmanship of Jackson 5-era Michael Jackson. Later on, as he got into rock music and became a big fan of STP's Scott Weiland.
Over the years, Petty, who declines to give his age, has bounced around Miami, New York and even Europe. He turned a six-year Los Angeles stint in the early-2000s into a sterling homesick song, “Wake Me in Carolina.”
“During the end of my time there (in L.A.), I really missed North Carolina and the East Coast in general,” Petty says. “I was actually back in North Carolina when I wrote the song, but I was reflecting on those times. I really love this part of the world. No matter where I'm at, I find myself wishing I was back home.”
Petty has shared the stage with Nashville stars, such as Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry, and Southern rockers, including Blackfoot and Little Feat. A slot opening for outlaw-country godfather David Allan Coe was particularly memorable.
“When I saw him sitting on the couch in the green room, it was like seeing Elvis,” Petty says. “He's such an iconic-looking man — the long hair and his long beard with beads in it — it was almost a surreal moment. ‘Wow, that's David Allan Coe.'”
Asked about the pinnacle of Southern rock singers, Petty’s answer comes quickly: Ronnie Van Zant.
“He was a very understated frontman; but at the same time, when he stood there and sung, everybody paid attention to him. He made people take notice without moving around too much. I think he's an underrated songwriter as well. His songs were simple, but they were very poetic.”
As more and more aging rockers migrate, at least temporarily, to the country charts (Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Robert Plant), Petty feels The Rolling Stones could also make that crossover. “The Stones, if you listen to their old stuff, there's lots of honky-tonk piano.”
Since Petty is the cousin of Richard Petty, I'm curious what sort of music the NASCAR legend listens to. Jody Lee isn't quite sure.
“When we were kids growing up, we used to go over there quite a bit. Now that we're older, we don't see each other quite as much. But I bet he likes country music.”
Jody Lee Petty plays Wild Wing Cafe 9:30 p.m. June 23. The show is free. For more information, call 864-242-9453 or visit www.myspace.com/jodyleepetty.
