They say the clothes make the man, and for Joe Garner, it was a red polyester suit that he found in the attic of his family home. The suit belonged to his father Charlie who played bass at the Grand Ole Opry for thirty years, backing country legend Del Reeves.
The idea to don his father’s western-style suit coincided with his desire to explore the country music he grew up around. Garner was also inspired to dig up the suit when he was working as a recruiter at his University. A co-worker who claimed to have synesthesia and see people as colors told Garner that he was a bright red.
“I immediately thought about that suit being bright red,” recalled Garner. “That conversation led me to go into the attic and find the suit. Everything worked together, me trying to piece together what I was going to do musically, losing my dad, and some of those things that were kind of loaded. It all fit together and I put the suit on to see what I get out of this.”
Thus the Kernal was born, and a three album conceptual arc followed, culminating with his latest release, "Listen to the Blood."
Credit: Photo provided
Credit: Photo provided
The name combined with the garish red suit creates a tension between the persona and the music.
“The whole thing with the Kernal is that it’s a cheeky spelling, but when you hear ‘The Kernal’ you think, ‘Wow, this person must be important,’ but then you see it spelled,” explained Garner.
Garner humorously calls The Kernal’s music “diet country.” (The second album of his trilogy is even called Light Country.) The songs on "Listen to the Blood" capture the nostalgic country sound your grandparents listened to in the 60’s and 70’s without being overly reverent and self-serious, all while sounding punchy and modern. The songs swing, stomp, and bounce with honky tonk glee, and pedal steel and haunting organs create loads of atmosphere.
“When I started writing songs I was really into confessional folk like Iron & Wine or Nick Drake,” said Garner. “I was into writing poetry and it was an easy extension. I eventually moved into this project, doing more country sounding stuff. I’ve tried to put country before myself and fit what I was doing into country.”
As fun as the music is, the Kernal still represents Garner’s attempt to work out issues with his father that were left unresolved after his passing.
“When you lose someone and you don’t have a way to address those things anymore it doesn’t just go away and I think you need to actively do something to try to make the best of it,” said Garner. “I think it’s helped me tremendously, working it out in that way. You never get exactly to where you want to be, but I think it’s help me put a little bit of language to working through that stuff.”
The suit has been through a lot since the beginning of the Kernal project. Garner would sport it at every show and it saw some wear and tear. “Representationally it influenced the music, but actually wearing it every night and saying this suit graced the stage of the Opry,” said Garner. “It represented the tradition that I was handed and all the music I saw growing up.
“I had a lot of stage fright, as a lot of people do, when I first started performing music,” added Garner. “I needed something to communicate calmness to myself. Putting this suit on gave me a barrier between myself and the people I was singing for. Ironically, I’ve had to get it resewn twice, because I ripped it.”
Credit: Photo provided
Credit: Photo provided
Since each album has a different color as part of its theme, with "Light Country" being white, Garner attempted to bleach the polyester suit. The resulting color was more of a burnt orange and the process destroyed all of the cotton thread that held the suit together. Garner had it repaired and just chalked it up to being part of the creative process.
The evocative album cover that accompanies Listen to the Blood features Garner in his red suit, laying face down in a shallow pool of blood, signaling the end of the Kernal project.
“I’m not wearing the suit anymore,” explained Garner. “It’s effectively retired. That’s another aspect of being face down in blood is the inevitable death of things and the death of the suit. There’s a lot that goes into it. I enjoy the conceptual side of album artwork.”
This Spring Garner plans to bury the suit in a sort of shamanistic ritual in his mother’s hometown in Iowa.
“That’s just another wrinkle to the story,” said Garner.
The Kernal will be performing at Over Yonder by Moodright’s in the Starland District on Feb. 10 with his four-piece band. The suit may be retired, but the spirit of the Grand Ole Opry and country music will be there.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: The red suit may be retired but The Kernal is riding into Savannah this week with his new album
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