Des Moines-based country songwriter Joshua Sinclair didn’t set out to soundtrack the start of summer with his new album White Trash Recipes, but one could be forgiven for thinking so.
The record includes rowdy party anthems like “Summer in a Small Town” and “I Love Jesus (But I Like to Party),” and it’s May 1 release is perfect timing for inclusion in your summer barbecue playlist. But a closer listen reveals Sinclair’s nuanced eye for detail and storytelling that elevates the material above most of the largely disposable feel-good confections labeled “songs of the summer.”
The title track, for instance, closes the album with a flashback to Sinclair’s childhood in Des Moines, when his parents and brothers often stretched their grocery budget with casseroles, pizza rolls and ants on a log (for the uninitiated, this is a snack that combines celery, peanut butter and raisins).
I feel like I come from a place that I didn’t grow up with a lot, but the stuff that I had and shared with my brothers, it made me feel like I was the richest person in the world.Joshua Sinclair
When Sinclair sings that he may have grown up poor but always felt like he was living “high on the hog,” the listener can almost smell the hot dogs sizzling over a fire.
“I want people to be able to relate to it,” Sinclair said when describing the motivation behind writing the song. “I feel like I come from a place that I didn’t grow up with a lot, but the stuff that I had and shared with my brothers, it made me feel like I was the richest person in the world.”
The ten-track album features plenty of summertime rave ups, including “Turn You On” and “I Wanna Get Drunk,” calibrated for maximum party vibes, but a melancholy undercurrent adds depth in strategic spots. “Diamonds in the Dirt” tells the story of a friend’s struggle with addiction while “Makin’ Up Is Fun” details the giddy highs, heartbreaking lows and destructive patterns of a romance.
Sinclair recorded the album by himself at a home studio he built around a decade ago. He'd made a habit of closely watching the producers he worked with at the start of his music career, and picked up a knack for production and engineering along the way, which he applies to his own projects. He added that turning his attention to production offers a rewarding change of pace when he takes a break from his frenetic gigging schedule. And recording his own albums means he can take the time he needs to get the sound just right without having to worry about burning through his budget.
“To be honest, I love it, because I don’t have to look at the clock and think, 'there goes another $150 and I haven’t gotten anything done,'” he said.
I really love writing a story from beginning to end in a three or four minute song, and that’s what drew me to country music... The conundrum between Saturday and Friday nights and Sunday mornings – I live both ways.Joshua Sinclair
Sinclair began pre-production on White Trash Recipes in December and finished most of the tracking by mid-February. He plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals on the album himself, except for some harmonies provided by his brother. He also made use of some samples and loops for drums. He said his search for the perfect percussion sounds led him in some strange directions, at one point discovering that hitting a bag of macaroni with a stick produces a satisfying thwack to supplement rhythm tracks.
Sinclair said he turned toward country music around 2010, drawn in by the genre’s tradition of strong storytelling. Before that, he spent much of a six-year period in New York City playing and touring in a folk-rock duo called Little Mojo with his brother Nick.
The song “I Love Jesus (But I Like to Party),” the third track on the new album, taps into the tension between two of the major forces that have shaped country music: the church and the barroom — a dichotomy has inspired country songwriters for decades. Sinclair adds his own twist to the old formula, following lines about Friday night bar fights with lyrics about sermons and hymns. He explains that the song’s title came from friends who got married while riding on RAGBRAI, solemnly exchanging vows in the middle of a raucous party atmosphere on wheels.
“I really love writing a story from beginning to end in a three or four minute song, and that’s what drew me to country music,” Sinclair said. “The conundrum between Saturday and Friday nights and Sunday mornings – I live both ways.”
White Trash Recipes is available on major streaming services, and Sinclair has vinyl copies for sale at his live performances.