JEFFREY GAINES - Life in the slow lane

Jeffrey Gaines likes visiting the big city, but he doesn’t like staying too long. While the singer-songwriter needs to be in New York and Los Angeles when he’s working on various projects, he sees no need to set down roots in either of the entertainment capitals. “L.A. is a cool influence, in a way,” Gaines says, and, for him, it starts the minute he walks off the plane. “I start to carry myself better.” But too much time spent in Hollywood would turn him into a different kind of entertainer – courting slash status and becoming something like a singer/actor/game-show host. “I have to come home and shovel people out of the snow.”

So home base is Haverford Township in Delaware County. Being able to return to the suburbs of Philadelphia allows Gaines to connect to nature, winding country roads and even his youth: “I come home and can easily assign the smells, the scenery and even the sky to moments from my childhood.”

He labels his parents as his earliest influences. “I would look to what my mother was listening to and think, ‘Look what’s bringing mom joy,’” Gaines remembers. So he started listening to Ike and Tina Turner. Then there was Kiss and Cheap Trick in his teen years. Elvis Costello and the Cars worked overtime on his stereo after getting his first guitar. And in culling sounds from various genres and eras and learning his craft, Gaines discovered his sound. In the ‘90s, he landed first record deal.

From his eponymous debut, Gaines achieved radio success with the single “Hero In Me,” followed by his cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” which quickly became a fan favorite. But it wasn’t until almost a decade later, in 2001, when he recorded the song for his fourth album, “Always Be,” everyone else caught on. The song stayed on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart for 22 weeks.

But while Gaines doesn’t like living large, he sure likes playing that way. When asked whether he prefers big venues or more intimate locales, Gaines doesn’t hesitate. “A person like me – I like the big shows. It reminds me that I’m living a fantasy,” he says. “Those shows are a dream come true.” He loves the laminates, the backstage passes and the tour buses. Although Gaines is typically the first to take the stage – he’s opened for Tom Petty, Sting and Melissa Etheridge, to name a few heavyweights – for 40 minutes, the fans are all his. “You have to embrace the truth of the moment,” Gaines says. But at the more intimate venues, he gets to embrace the audience: “Last time I played the [New Hope] winery, I think I hugged every person in that place.”

What Gaines does not favor, however, is playing to a bar crowd. “Going on at 11 p.m. – that’s not my scene anymore,” he says. Instead, Gaines prefers performing in theaters and art houses, where the shows end about that time. Then he likes go back to his hotel, read the paper and get a good night’s sleep before his noon check-out and the drive to his next date.

A self-proclaimed “lollygagger,” Gaines doesn’t like to do anything that feels rushed. He likes to drink in every moment, stopping along the way to see the sights, enjoying the life he feels so fortunate to be living. “I feel lucky and a little bit bad, because it wasn’t too hard for me,” he says. “Damn if it isn’t happening just as I had imagined it would.”

What’s up next for Gaines? He’ll be touring with Joe Jackson in Europe come fall, but says, “I’ve been ignoring my productivity.” He’ll likely re-enter the studio before and after the tour: “The whole thing is wide open for me.”

Jeffrey Gaines will play the New Hope Winery on Saturday, July 17 at 8 p.m. Go online at jeffreygaines.com.