Quality Americana

The April release Martinis & Dexedrine by California’s Nick Stockton gives us an introspective look into the artist.

Stockton was raised in the Bay Area and moved to Los Angeles looking for an opportunity in music, but just after he arrived the city was shut down for social distancing. 

“I think I’m just breaking in right now,” Stockton said. “I sort of did a hard relaunch of my musical brand, because I actually just started writing new songs for the first time in a long time.”

Martinis & Dexedrine

Martinis & Dexedrine was recorded in San Francisco with Stockton’s former bandmates in the Midnight Sons.

“In many ways it’s like I never left,” Stockton said.

The title track follows an infamous story about Gene Clark, guitarist for the Byrds, who once smashed a guitar on stage at the Troubadour while on psychedelics.

“We tracked everything live except the vocals and guitar overdubs,” Stockton said. “Me, drummer, bass player, piano player… all in a big room together mic’d up. We really just worked out the arrangements on the spot. I was really proud of doing it that way because that’s how the good records were made, especially in this genre.”

Guitar Town

Stockton spent a year working the door at Robert’s Western World in Nashville before settling in Los Angeles. He joked that he was replaced as a door guy by Logan Ledger. 

“My last day I’m pretty sure I was training him on working the door,” Stockton said.

On music row, Stockton was able to watch the cosmic country virtuoso Daniel Donato nightly.

“That was a hugely formative experience actually,” Stockton said. I feel like I didn’t really know what country music was really all about, you know, until I had that experience.”

Bluebird Blues

“Bluebird Blues” was an early song by Stockton that made it onto the EP.

“I was equally inspired by Elvis Presley and like Bright Eyes,” Stockton said. “I was like an indy kid and I heard pedal steel and Emmylou Harris on a Bright Eyes record, and from there on I was pretty much like ‘this is what I’m doing.’”

Stockton then saw Bright Eyes live with the pedal steel and a light bulb went off, but early on Stockton’s focus was on writing for group projects and the track was set aside.  

“I’ve kept it alive for a reason I guess,” Stockton said. “It’s really personal and meaningful to me. When a song gets so old like that you almost feel you lose the ownership over it, or that you wrote it or anything and it just starts to exist.”

Support the Artist

Purchase and Stream Martinis & Dexedrine on Bandcamp.

More information about Nick Stockton can be found here.

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