Jonathan Russell And Tyler Williams From The Head And The Heart

Singer-guitarist Jonathan and drummer Tyler joined Bret via Zoom to discuss their exciting 2026 Red Rocks shows and how they deal with fans who sing out of tune.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back. The Head in the Heart has been supplying
us with earworms for many years. Their new album is Aperture,
and they just announced two nights at Red Rocks July
fifteenth and sixteenth. Joining me this morning from the Head
and the Heart singer guitarist Jonathan Russell and drummer Tyler
Williams on The Brett Sonders Podcast. How are you gents, Well,
thanks for having us.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, thank you, Tyler.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I understand you were doing very well as a drummer
in Virginia and you heard one of John's demo tapes
that was enough to seal the deal, make you pack
up your van and move to Washington. Is that true? Uh?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, yeah. We had actually known each other since high school,
so he had gone out there and met Josiah and
Kenny and they made a bunch of demos down in
the valley. Being one of them sent that my way,
and then we drove out together in like an eighty
four Volvo station wagon. Barely made it across the Rockies.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
That must have been some demo, that's all I can say.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
It's yeah, it's pretty special. We actually just uncovered it,
so it's kind of amazing to hear it again.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Head and the Heart just announced two big shows at
Red Rocks and each night is a special night on
July fifteenth and sixteenth. Yeah, I know that you guys
have played here in Colorado a couple of times in
recent years, but it's tended to have been smaller venues,
although you will easily sell out two nights at Red Rocks.
Why was it so long in its arrival to play

(01:22):
these big venues in Colorado?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Again, I think it's just been kind of trying to
basically just play some more intimate stuff, you know, and
kind of connect with the crowd in a different way.
I think it's always fun to play Red Rocks, and
it's always an amazing time to play the big venues,
but sometimes you just got to get back to the

(01:45):
real connection of you know, one on one.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Sometimes there seems to be a.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Real love and I'm sure this is true in a
lot of markets, but particularly in Colorado. We love the
Head and the Heart. Do you feel a special cannnection
with the mountain people of Colorado? Land?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Absolutely absolutely, It's always been, you know, one of the
stops that we've looked forward to the most. I think
it was, you know, Some of the first shows we
ever played were for our friend Heather Heather and a
I'm Fuel You are Friends blog. I don't know if
you've heard about that, but she was based in Colorado Springs.
You know, we did a bunch of shows with a

(02:24):
Lumineers early on, like Moe's Barbecue I think, and you know,
house show with Heather Brown. So you know, there's always
been this early connection and feeling of just acceptance and
home when we're in Colorado.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
And that's going to extend. On the fifteenth of July.
I understand you'll be performing with the Colorado Symphony. Is
this something that this band commonly does working with the
symphony orchestra?

Speaker 2 (02:52):
This will be the second time. The first will actually
hasn't happened yet either, but we are playing with the
Seattle Symphony in February sixth. That shows sold out, So
we're kind of experimenting a little bit with Yeah, different
ways of performing these songs.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
How does that work? Did you all sit down and
write the charts for the orchestra or is somebody in
the band specifically talented to writing orchestral charts.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
I wish we were.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
In it now.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
We've got friends in Seattle. They're going to help us
out with that.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, there's the guy Andrew Joscelyn up there, who's an
incredible composer arranger, and he's doing all the charts for
both symphonies.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Fans of the Head and the Heart are going to
want to attend both nights because these are two different events.
The first night, like I mentioned, with the Colorado Symphony
Orchestra and a lot of artists love to play with them.
The second night, you're going to play your debut album
in its entirety. Is it an adventure for you guys
to revisit some of these songs, maybe some songs you
haven't played in a long time.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Obviously it's a special record for us, being our debut
album and just holding some of our favorite songs and
some of our fans favorite songs, and we've actually never
played it front to back before. That's going to be
super special, you know. And then obviously we'll play some
favorites after that. But for us, it's I don't know,

(04:19):
it's it's the fifteenth anniversary, so we've got to do
something cool, and I think this is going to be
like a magical night.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
How of each of you guys changed in fifteen years
since the debut album was released.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
We don't have enough time for that, Brett quite a bit,
I would say, Yeah, that's mostly for the good though.
You know, we were little. I mean we were kids, man,
We were like I was twenty four. I think Kenny was.
Kenny's the youngest in the band. I think he was
like twenty one. So quite a bit has changed in
those fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah, the last time you guys came by KBCO, I
think it was early last year you played kb CEO Studios. See.
One of the things I noticed, because I encounter a
lot of traveling acts, you really seem to function like
a family, and there are even small children involved. If
I recalled that specific day, what's the secret to keeping

(05:14):
a familial relationship with the members of your band?

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Lots of therapy? Sure, Now, I think it's really you know,
over the course of you know, fifteen years basically being
in this band, I think, you know, it kind of
harkens back to your last question, like, how have you changed.
I think we've just gotten better at like not pushing
the buttons and understanding each other, and that really helps

(05:41):
create that familial feeling on the road, and you know,
especially now that we have young kids on the road
with us, Matty and Charity bring their two daughters out right.
You know, it's about creating kind of a healthier atmosphere.
And we've all, you know, tried to become healthier in
the last fifteen years with just our relationship to each other.
And you know how we kind of approach touring.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I think I wake up sometimes in the middle of
the night the chorus from Arrow is in my head.
So thanks a lot for that, guys.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, that's well, that's how it began for me too, man.
So I had that chorus for a long time and
then we finally turned it into something. But yeah, that song,
I'll do that.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
You guys have a knack actually for writing earworms. That's
a rare talent.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
I've always I grew up obsessively singing as a kid
and just making sounds. And you know, long before anyone
myself included, thought it was any good, I just loved
how it made me feel. And you know, if you
come to a Head and the Heart Show, I mean
you're surrounded by people like singing every word, which is

(06:45):
I mean, it's literally a dream come true. You know,
it's just people. People enjoying singing as much as I
do is all I can really ask for. So yeah,
so you got to write those hooks.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
You know, when somebody's singing out of tune, do you
want to stop and say, hey, could you maybe dial
it down a notch or two?

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, you know, there's there are moments when you just
try and get a little further away. But you know
that's the safety in numbers. It's like the more people
that seeing it kind of you know it, it supports all.
It supports all you can. You know, you can sing
even if you're not the greatest singer in a large

(07:24):
group of people, and it's not about the notes. So
but yeah, that definitely happens, you know, which is cute.
I mean, not everybody was born a singer. It's all good.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well you were, John, you were born a singer.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Thanks, Brett, appreciate that head.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
In the heart. It's July fifteenth and sixteenth, two very
special nights with different types of performances. Yeah, I've always
said this. You guys are my two favorite guys in
the band. So thanks for your time today.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
That's es of you. Hey, Brett, If I may say
one more thing before we bounce. I just want to
give some love to our openers for both of those shows.
So the fifteenth with the Symphony and we all, we'll
have Evan Hohner, who is an amazing songwriter in his
own right. He's going to be supporting us that night.
On the sixteenth, when we're doing the first album front
to back, we're going to have Will Dorado with us.
So both incredible artists and we're very happy to have them.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Tyler John the Head and the Heart, we'll see you
in twenty twenty six. Thanks for your time.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
Today, sounds good.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Thank you for see the Head in the Heart at
Red Rocks July fifteenth and sixteenth, twenty twenty six. I
have to get used to saying that I'm Brett Sanders.
See you next time on the Brett Sonders Podcast