Jason Haywood's new album Folklore began with the idea of a man walking across a frozen lake in heavy snow, not sure if the sounds he hears are the howling wind, the ghost of his murdered lover or the Devil himself. The song, The Ballad of Clara Leigh eventually emerged from this basic concept. Naturally, when Jason settled on the notion of writing songs about murder, disaster, and doomed love, he knew his songwriting partner of the past 8 years, Trish MacMillan, would be the ideal collaborator. With The Ballad of Clara Leigh as a strong starting point, Jason decided to explore other possibilities ranging from the spiritual realm, both good and evil, to songs about obsession, delusion, heartbreak and vengeance. Coming from a more traditional country music and Americana background, this album is quite a large step into the unknown for Jason, both lyrically and musically speaking. Where his last album leaned more on a confessional style of songwriting, this album employs a more narrative "storyteller" approach. This collection of dark Americana songs has been in the works for nearly three years. Even though the road was a long and sometimes arduous one, the journey was well worth taking.