SEVENDUST's LAJON WITHERSPOON 'Can't Wait' To Play Some Shows In Support Of His Upcoming Solo Album

In a new interview with the "Thunder Underground" podcast, SEVENDUST frontman Lajon Witherspoon spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for his long-in-the-works debut solo album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Me and Sahaj [Daniel Ticotin] from the band RA, we're writing partners. Just recently I went to Nashville and I wrote with the 4 Horsemen [Music], the writing group [including Marti Frederiksen, Zac Maloy, Blair Daly and Scott Stevens]. And also I just got back from Nashville and I wrote with my buddy, country music artist Jimmie Allen. Me and him wrote several songs for my album. So, yeah, I'm having fun, working with a couple of people. I look forward to going back to Nashville. I think I'm gonna be working with my buddy David Ryan Harris, who's a great solo artist from Atlanta, Georgia that's in John Mayer's band. So we're gonna do some writing for it."

Speaking about the musical direction of his solo material, Lajon said: "It's got some heavy stuff, it's got some country twang but soulful. It's a [collection] of just everything that I like to do musically."

Regarding the possibility of doing some solo shows in support of his upcoming album, Lajon said: "Absolutely. I can't wait. People are already talking about it. They're already trying to book me. I was gonna go on a couple of… not ShipRocked solo. Another ship asked me to do my solo thing, and I was gonna go out there on the FOZZY boat too. So hopefully by next year I'll be able to do some of my solo stuff."

This past March, Lajon told the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that he expects his full-length solo debut to arrive "probably this year."

In January 2021, Lajon released a solo single, a cover of British singer Jacob Banks's 2017 song "Chainsmoking".

In September 2020, Lajon told Talking Metal that working on his solo LP has been fun. "I've not had any pressure," he said. "It hasn't been something that, 'Oh, I have to do this.' This is something I've done on my own.

"I've been working with a very close friend of mine, Sahaj, [who] is the lead singer from the band RA, which I think a lot of people out there would know," he continued. "[He's] an incredible friend and artist, and we write well together."

Lajon stated about the sound of his solo album: "It's rock. It's a little bit of heavy, but I think it lends more towards a bluesy, soulful, more radio friendly… I'm not saying SEVENDUST isn't radio friendly, but I think this is more of a radio friendly… I don't know. It's a lot, a lot, a lot of melody. It's cool."

Witherspoon released the standalone solo single "Love Song" in 2017.

SEVENDUST's 13th studio album, "Blood & Stone", was released in October 2020 via Rise Records. The follow-up to 2018's "All I See Is War" was once again tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.