Jackyl’s Jesse James Dupree talks bourbon and finding success with Jesse James Spirits

Jackyl singer Jesse James Dupree has found success as a bourbon-maker

Widely known as the frontman of the multi-platinum rock and roll band Jackyl, Jesse James Dupree first found commercial success in the early 1990s. Jackyl’s platinum-selling debut album featured the charting singles “The Lumberjack,” “I Stand Alone,” “Down On Me,” “Dirty Little Mind” and “When Will It Rain.”

Jackyl remains in tact and subsequent accomplished included playing Woodstock ’94, recording with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, and setting two Guinness World Records; those records, for playing 100 concerts in 50 days and for performing 21 concerts in a 24-hour period, remain in tact.

Jesse James Dupree is also the CEO of the multi-faceted Mighty Loud Enterprises which consists of a record label, music and television production company, event management, and a marketing and consulting division.

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Within the Mighty Loud umbrella, Dupree has consulted with the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company and is a spokesman for the VFW’s Unmet Needs Program.  He has also acted as the creator and executive producer of the smash TruTV series, Full Throttle Saloon, which provided a behind the scenes look at what it takes to run the world’s largest biker bar in Sturgis, South Dakota.

More specific to the Guilty Eats world, Jesse James Dupree founded Jesse James Spirits. Started up in 2011, Dupree’s bourbon is now being sold in 40 states as well as Australia, Germany and Uruguay. In less than 5 years, the brand sold over 100,000 cases. The Full Throttle Distillery helped revitalize the previously-sleepy town of Trimble, Tennessee, which reportedly has a population of less than 700 people.

On May 26, 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jesse James Dupree via Zoom, and below are transcribed highlights from our conversation. More on Dupree and his various ventures can be found online.

On when he made the decision to be more than just a singer in a rock band:

Jesse James Dupree: It’s all synergetic, and it’s all things I have a passion for, whether it be Sturgis and the motorcycle rally, or working with Harley Davidson, we’ve been producing events with them and consulting for them… Jesse James Bourbon is celebrating over 150,000 cases sold. The bands and all the other things we do is synergetic.

It’s a blast and we’re excited to do all of it. It’s not like waking up and going to work. I’m fortunate enough to be able to love what I do. Lord knows I’ve sold enough liquor for other people over the years, I might as well be selling some of my own.

On his price-point being lower but the quality being high on the bourbon:

Jesse James Dupree: You don’t have to take out a second mortgage to buy some Jesse James Bourbon. It’s priced for blue-collar America, people who bust their knuckles 40, 50 hours a week. I’m just another a****** that got named “Jesse James.” We all celebrate the outlaw in each one of us that likes to go to NASCAR and country shows, rock shows, bike rallies. We put it out loud, proud, hard and honest in everything we do.

On whether he’s a singer who’s an entrepreneur, or an entrepreneur who’s a singer:

Jesse James Dupree: I’m a singer that probably and technically is only qualified to pour concrete, which is what I did before. I’ve been very fortunate over the years to be able to get into other things, and it’s not rocket science. All the things that I do are relationship-based. My relationships with the people who have supported us over the years are the same people who support Jesse James Bourbon.

On whether there are similarities between his music and spirit businesses:

Jesse James Dupree: It’s really crazy how the liquor business is going through everything the music business went through 25 years ago. When Jackyl’s first album came out, nobody wanted to be on a major label, everyone wanted to be independent, alternative music and the grunge music and that kinda thing and the shoegazers…

But we came out right in the middle of that and we broke through. Now, the liquor business, people don’t just wanna drink their grandfather’s liquor. They want to find their own craft spirits. But the big boys still rule.

We’ll start making headway in a town, in a store or whatever. Then we’ll find that the distributor’s kinda burying us, and it’s because the big boys are telling them, “Look, pull them back.” So we’re constantly fighting that fight, because it’s political. If you start making any noise at all, they want to squash you.

So we’ve been fighting that fight and holding out own. But it helps to have the people supporting us like they have, and they get on social media and say, “They don’t have your Honey [Bourbon] anymore”… It’s that communication and support from the fans that’s been a blessing.

Which of the Jesse James Spirits will you be trying first?