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WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | MARCH 16, 2022
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Last Train to Juarez shares its map to success BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI West Valley View Executive Editor
W
ith a cowboy hat pulled deep to his eyes and a thick beard, Dejan Knezevic fits the red dirt/outlaw country genre well. He has his fans fooled — and that’s not a bad thing. Born in Chicago, Knezevic was raised by parents from Montenegro and Bosnia. Serbian is his first language. The Serbian coat of arms adorns his hat. “My family is from former Yugoslavia,” he said. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of an American Serbian country singer before. There’s a first for everything, I guess.” In late 2018, Knezevic formed Last Train to Juarez, following the lineage of his heroes, Ward Davis, Whitey Morgan, Hank 3 and Jamey Johnson. They released their debut album, “Some Road,” on March 18.
“It was an awakening, so to speak, for me, and I quickly started discovering a whole genre of country music that spoke to me,” Knezevic said. “It was around this time that I started seriously considering starting a project in the red dirt/outlaw genre of country music.” Last Train to Juarez is a departure from previous projects like Pelvic Meatloaf. Last Train to Juarez sees Knezevic singing for the first time, something that even surprised his wife of 23 years. “Sure, I fronted a metal band, but I never really tried singing,” Knezevic said. “What we did back then was death metal and growling, so this whole singing thing was new to me. I wasn’t confident at all. But what I lacked in confidence, I made up with motivation and perseverance.” He had a revolving group of musicians
until April 2021, when the lineup was solidified as vocalist/acoustic guitarist Knezevic; Mark Tomeo, pedal steel, dobro, backing vocals; bassist Jonathan Candler; drummer Brian Teille and lead guitarist Stephen Dietrich. Additionally, fiddler/ mandolin player Austin Brooks joins.
Debut EP released In 2021, Last Train to Juarez released its debut EP, “Dirt and Stone,” which was recorded at Villain Recording Studio with Byron Filson engineering and producing. Prior to the album release, the band dropped the singles “Some Road” and “This Letter.” “Our music blurs the lines a bit and doesn’t fit neatly into any specific country genre,” he said. “I’ve heard people refer to us as outlaw, red dirt, biker country, and rock or metal
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country. Ultimately, what is most important to me as an artist is to write and create music that is pure, honest and authentic, music that comes from the heart and soul, which is why I prefer to stick with originals over cover tunes. “Granted, we do play cover songs out of necessity since we are a newer band and don’t have enough original material to cover a four-hour gig, but that is quickly changing as I continue to write new material.”
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