The Sit Down with Joe Hermes
Rock country artist Joe Hermes recently released his latest single, A Real Good Bad One, at the end of October, offering his signature gritty vocals over driving guitar riffs and punchy, hard-hitting rhythms. Hot off the release, Joe is also heading across the Atlantic for a 9-date UK tour, with stops from the north in Newcastle all the way south to Brighton, including 3 London dates. We caught up with Joe as he was on route to the airport to find out more about the release and what to expect from his upcoming string of dates.
Hey Joe, how are you?
We are just in an Uber here on our way to the airport and flying out here this evening. Coming over your way and I think we're supposed to be in about eight o'clock or so tomorrow morning.
How are you normally with the jet lag?
We just did a trip over in Finland in September and I don't know that I ever got really adjusted because we hit the ground running and it was one of those things where I don't know that we ever got caught up!
So how did the Finland trip come about?
A buddy of mine uses the same producer in Nashville and he's from Finland. We've known each other for a couple years and we're just buddies and he's like, man, we've got to come over and play Finland and he started setting some shows up for us and just made it happen here in September.
Is that quite a cool experience because it's not somewhere you hear of too many artists heading?
Right, it was special because I think we were totally appreciated for coming over and it's a beautiful country. I'm glad we did. The food was fantastic and it wasn't really crowded. Tons of nature and it was quite pleasant. We had a couple of acoustic shows over there and we were received pretty well and it felt very family friendly.
And then you're obviously clocking up the air miles by heading back this way so soon after.
Oh yeah, yeah, we're clocking airline miles and hotel points. I'll be honest with you, I'm not all too familiar with the lay of the land yet, but it looks like it's kind of starting and ending in London and then make our way all the way south.
Is this going to be an acoustic tour as well?
Actually, we're going to have a couple of acoustic shows, but for the most part, we've got a full band coming in. My guitarist and I coming from America and then two of the Finnish guys that we played with on that trip are actually jumping in on bass and drums to make a kind of a hybrid band, if you will. We rehearsed a little bit over there, so we're bringing full band.
I guess the kind of the sound you give, being the more rock element, must be a totally different show going full band compared to an acoustic set.
It is. I'm pretty animated with the full band and then I try to dial it back on the acoustic stuff. I'm a pretty emotional singer when I get into it, and some of it you can't dial it all the way back without losing some of the flair. Either way, I love playing so I’m happy to do either
Hey Joe, how are you?
We are just in an Uber here on our way to the airport and flying out here this evening. Coming over your way and I think we're supposed to be in about eight o'clock or so tomorrow morning.
How are you normally with the jet lag?
We just did a trip over in Finland in September and I don't know that I ever got really adjusted because we hit the ground running and it was one of those things where I don't know that we ever got caught up!
So how did the Finland trip come about?
A buddy of mine uses the same producer in Nashville and he's from Finland. We've known each other for a couple years and we're just buddies and he's like, man, we've got to come over and play Finland and he started setting some shows up for us and just made it happen here in September.
Is that quite a cool experience because it's not somewhere you hear of too many artists heading?
Right, it was special because I think we were totally appreciated for coming over and it's a beautiful country. I'm glad we did. The food was fantastic and it wasn't really crowded. Tons of nature and it was quite pleasant. We had a couple of acoustic shows over there and we were received pretty well and it felt very family friendly.
And then you're obviously clocking up the air miles by heading back this way so soon after.
Oh yeah, yeah, we're clocking airline miles and hotel points. I'll be honest with you, I'm not all too familiar with the lay of the land yet, but it looks like it's kind of starting and ending in London and then make our way all the way south.
Is this going to be an acoustic tour as well?
Actually, we're going to have a couple of acoustic shows, but for the most part, we've got a full band coming in. My guitarist and I coming from America and then two of the Finnish guys that we played with on that trip are actually jumping in on bass and drums to make a kind of a hybrid band, if you will. We rehearsed a little bit over there, so we're bringing full band.
I guess the kind of the sound you give, being the more rock element, must be a totally different show going full band compared to an acoustic set.
It is. I'm pretty animated with the full band and then I try to dial it back on the acoustic stuff. I'm a pretty emotional singer when I get into it, and some of it you can't dial it all the way back without losing some of the flair. Either way, I love playing so I’m happy to do either
You've got plenty of new music to bring along with you. Is it exciting to have so many new tracks in your armour for these shows?
Oh yeah. It's been a lot of fun playing different shows and kind of catering. We've been putting a lot of variety out as well with all these new singles this last year. We'll try to tailor the shows to fit the vibe of where we're going. If they're more country, I'll probably lay off some of the harder stuff, and if it's more of a rock style in a bar, then we've got some songs that fit right in that lane too.
With the release of A Real Good Bad One, is this going to be one of the first times you've got to play it live? Or is it a tune you've been playing for a while?
We just started playing it, maybe about a month ago. We started layering it in, it's definitely not old hat yet, but I think it's got some legs to it.
Are you still at that point of trying to make sure you remember the words!
Well, if I could write anything difficult that might be a problem. Thankfully it’s pretty straightforward.
You have had kind of multiple releases across 2025. Is it good to have got so many releases going this year and getting some momentum with these releases?
You know, I just we got on a string of writing and everything we were writing I just wanted to put it out. I just loved it. I'm kind of an impatient dude at times and I just wanted to shove it all out into the universe. I was like, we'll play it out later - let's just get it out there! We've been setting stuff up for this trip and all the behind the scenes to get aggressive on the touring. Once we push out a bunch of music, it just seemed to make sense in my mind for an unknown artist.
Oh yeah. It's been a lot of fun playing different shows and kind of catering. We've been putting a lot of variety out as well with all these new singles this last year. We'll try to tailor the shows to fit the vibe of where we're going. If they're more country, I'll probably lay off some of the harder stuff, and if it's more of a rock style in a bar, then we've got some songs that fit right in that lane too.
With the release of A Real Good Bad One, is this going to be one of the first times you've got to play it live? Or is it a tune you've been playing for a while?
We just started playing it, maybe about a month ago. We started layering it in, it's definitely not old hat yet, but I think it's got some legs to it.
Are you still at that point of trying to make sure you remember the words!
Well, if I could write anything difficult that might be a problem. Thankfully it’s pretty straightforward.
You have had kind of multiple releases across 2025. Is it good to have got so many releases going this year and getting some momentum with these releases?
You know, I just we got on a string of writing and everything we were writing I just wanted to put it out. I just loved it. I'm kind of an impatient dude at times and I just wanted to shove it all out into the universe. I was like, we'll play it out later - let's just get it out there! We've been setting stuff up for this trip and all the behind the scenes to get aggressive on the touring. Once we push out a bunch of music, it just seemed to make sense in my mind for an unknown artist.
Do you think it will eventually get into an album? As you’ve probably almost released a whole album's worth of singles in the last kind of 18 months?
I guess the whole point of the singles was so that we weren't boxed into one particular thing. There’s such a diverse grouping that I think it's probably more realistic we do more of an EP type of thing as we're having a ton of fun with it. It all seems to be resonating well with people, so I'm thinking that we may leave the singles that came out as they are and just maybe lump these guys into an EP here in the future. But again, with digital, I don't know if it matters all that much that they're all sitting on an album or not; that's just one of those debates, I guess. I like the freedom of being able to just go in and write and be like, yep, we dig this and throw it out.
As you said, you can kind of do it on your own terms when you're just doing singles rather than feeling like you need to promote a whole release and you can drop it when you feel like.
Exactly. I mean, there's a ton that goes into those singles, and then you got to do double work when you're sticking them all into an album because you still want to get the music videos and the lyric videos and do some promotion on all of them. I think it's just a time, money and energy thing, really. It's kind of nice to focus on one thing and get your head around it and develop it and shove it out there versus trying to do eight or ten of them all at once.
But then the music videos do look quite good fun that you've been putting out over the last 18 months.
Well, we just shot one on Monday here and it's for A Real Good Bad One. I think it's going to be probably the best one yet. We've been working hard. My buddy Andy down in Nashville, he's shot most of these videos and he's in it to win it. He loves what we're doing and I think it's a lot of fun when you can work with a videographer in a sequence like that because he's helped me grow a lot. I think it's just showing more and more with what we're doing, even what we did Monday. I appreciate the compliment. Thank you.
I guess the whole point of the singles was so that we weren't boxed into one particular thing. There’s such a diverse grouping that I think it's probably more realistic we do more of an EP type of thing as we're having a ton of fun with it. It all seems to be resonating well with people, so I'm thinking that we may leave the singles that came out as they are and just maybe lump these guys into an EP here in the future. But again, with digital, I don't know if it matters all that much that they're all sitting on an album or not; that's just one of those debates, I guess. I like the freedom of being able to just go in and write and be like, yep, we dig this and throw it out.
As you said, you can kind of do it on your own terms when you're just doing singles rather than feeling like you need to promote a whole release and you can drop it when you feel like.
Exactly. I mean, there's a ton that goes into those singles, and then you got to do double work when you're sticking them all into an album because you still want to get the music videos and the lyric videos and do some promotion on all of them. I think it's just a time, money and energy thing, really. It's kind of nice to focus on one thing and get your head around it and develop it and shove it out there versus trying to do eight or ten of them all at once.
But then the music videos do look quite good fun that you've been putting out over the last 18 months.
Well, we just shot one on Monday here and it's for A Real Good Bad One. I think it's going to be probably the best one yet. We've been working hard. My buddy Andy down in Nashville, he's shot most of these videos and he's in it to win it. He loves what we're doing and I think it's a lot of fun when you can work with a videographer in a sequence like that because he's helped me grow a lot. I think it's just showing more and more with what we're doing, even what we did Monday. I appreciate the compliment. Thank you.
Do you feel it's good to have that extra creative freedom in those videos?
Yeah, I love it. I mean, to me, it's really about the song and about the story and what I can do to kind of bring that out visually versus a separate independent idea of, oh, let's just shoot a video for the sake of shooting a video. I always look at it as an extension of the song. I probably spend just as much time thinking about those as I do writing the song itself.
You’re more on the country rock end of this wide spanning genre, how do make sure with these releases that you don't go either too far rock or too far country to keep that crowd that you've built happy with it?
Well, that's a good question. I don't know that I have a good answer. I'll try and give you an answer! I did wash my hands of it and let Dale Oliver, my producer, handle that part because for every song we put out, we probably got at least two we've written that we haven't put out. I think when we sit down and write, we get those cluster, we usually pick the ones that seem to fit the direction, if you will. Not that the other songs that we write aren't good, they just maybe have a different time and place to get brought out. I think that's how we're doing it, trying to stay within the lines somewhat, but not try to run it; just run of the mill right down the middle.
Do you feel like you've kind of got a few more releases ready to go heading into new year?
Yeah, I've got a handful in the chamber. With this tour and the lead time to get a single out and then with the shutdown around the holidays, they’ve advised me to just maybe focus on the tour, getting behind A Real Good Bad One, but we've got a couple we're chewing on, trying to decide what that next one is, but we've got them.
We can’t wait to hear more and I’m looking forward to catching a show and a beer while you’re over. I hope you have a good flight.
Thanks buddy, I sure do appreciate it.
Yeah, I love it. I mean, to me, it's really about the song and about the story and what I can do to kind of bring that out visually versus a separate independent idea of, oh, let's just shoot a video for the sake of shooting a video. I always look at it as an extension of the song. I probably spend just as much time thinking about those as I do writing the song itself.
You’re more on the country rock end of this wide spanning genre, how do make sure with these releases that you don't go either too far rock or too far country to keep that crowd that you've built happy with it?
Well, that's a good question. I don't know that I have a good answer. I'll try and give you an answer! I did wash my hands of it and let Dale Oliver, my producer, handle that part because for every song we put out, we probably got at least two we've written that we haven't put out. I think when we sit down and write, we get those cluster, we usually pick the ones that seem to fit the direction, if you will. Not that the other songs that we write aren't good, they just maybe have a different time and place to get brought out. I think that's how we're doing it, trying to stay within the lines somewhat, but not try to run it; just run of the mill right down the middle.
Do you feel like you've kind of got a few more releases ready to go heading into new year?
Yeah, I've got a handful in the chamber. With this tour and the lead time to get a single out and then with the shutdown around the holidays, they’ve advised me to just maybe focus on the tour, getting behind A Real Good Bad One, but we've got a couple we're chewing on, trying to decide what that next one is, but we've got them.
We can’t wait to hear more and I’m looking forward to catching a show and a beer while you’re over. I hope you have a good flight.
Thanks buddy, I sure do appreciate it.
