Justin Amaral first made a name for himself touring the country in the jam band scene, leading to shows with Mike Gordon of Phish and a profile in Modern Drummer’s (April, 2004) “On The Move” column. After world tours with alt-country guit-steel legend Junior Brown, Justin relocated to Nashville and quickly became first call for many of Nashville’s finest players and songwriters including Paul Burch, Tim Carroll, Fats Kaplin, Jon Byrd, Charles Butler and the late, great David Olney. In addition, Justin has performed and recorded with Jim Lauderdale (Late Night with Conan O’Brien), Laura Cantrell, Michelle Wright, The Wild Iris Brass Band feat. Jeff Coffin, Dennis Crouch, Milan Miller, Mike Farris, Layton Howerton, Tommy Womack, Chris West and many more. Justin maintains an active performing and recording schedule working at some of Nashville’s most prestigious studios like Blackbird, Creative Workshop and the Hen House as well as venues like The Bluebird, The 5Spot, The Exit/In and Roberts Western World.
In 2024 Justin released a collection of traditional hymns re-imagined as world beat instrumental duets called LIFE IN GROOVELAND – The Hymnal. Each track features a different instrumentalist.
In this episode, Justin talks about:
- Heeding the call to do your own thing
- The origin of his new record: LIFE IN GROOVELAND – The Hymnal
- Creating your own opportunities
- Jump starting the creative process
- The inspiration of Drum and Fife
- Practicing movement and visualization as a technique
