Multitalented Mulroney brothers bringing Cali-county band ‘jackrabbit.’ to The Rock

Dermot Mulroney told his brother, Kieran Mulroney, that he would only be able to stay on the call for about 30 minutes, as he had to take one of his daughters to an orthodontist appointment in Los Angeles.

It might sound pretty ordinary to find out the actor behind many popular television shows (Hunting Wives) and movies (everything from Young Guns to My Best Friend’s Wedding and more), does everyday things like taking his children to orthodontist appointments.

“It’s really just regular parenting,” he said good-naturedly.

During comfortable chit chat, little brother Kieran, reminds Dermot that he is, in fact, two years younger than Dermot – and then teasingly claims to be in charge of the Mulroney brothers’ latest collaboration: the birth of the band “jackrabbit.” two short years ago.

“Dermot’s two years older than I am. He’s the big brother. He’s the older brother, but just to be clear, I’m the taller brother,” Kieran teases.

However, this is not the beginning of the brothers’ ventures into music together – not at all. 

But it is their first time traveling to Glenrock, where the town has booked the harmonizing Mulroney brothers and their band mates, Sebastian Sheehan, Matt McFadden and Henry Quirion to play at the annual summer appreciation get-together this weekend.

FROM VIRGINIA TO LA

The Mulroney brothers were raised in Virginia. When asked how old they were when they started playing music together, they both laughed, and Dermot said,“Truth be told, we’ve been playing together since we both joined orchestras at the age of nine and seven, through the public school system. Since then we’ve gathered our own influences and put them together here, in a traditional style / new song country combo.”

The men have been playing music their whole lives, and in various bands based out of LA for the last 20 years together. 

jackrabbit. is relatively new, a mere two years old – just about, they agreed.

“It’s kind of a new venture for us, or . . . a new version of us,” Dermot noted.

“It’s probably,” Kieran piped in, “As Dermot said, the one endeavor that’s closest to who we are, what we wanna do, and what we sound like when we’re left to our own devices. You know? This is the one that we like.”

Finding the time to be in a partnership with each other was hit or miss over the years, as both Kieran and Dermot have been busy with their individual acting and screenwriting careers.

Kieran started out in acting and followed that profession for a good two decades before he realized being a writer was what he wanted to do – and what people wanted from him. He was very good at storytelling – that and it pays better than acting, he said. He’s part of a writing team with his wife, Michele Mulroney.

“She is wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,” he exclaimed, and it seemed that a smile could actually be heard as he spoke of his lady.

“When I first started out in show business, I was an actor. I had a decent little career. None of the environments was better than mine. I’d always done it (writing) . . . but I sort of fell into becoming a screenwriter with my wife,” Kieran explained.

Folks may have heard of or even watched a few of the movies Kieran and Michele have written.

“The biggest ones that your readers may have seen . . . we wrote the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows movie with Robert Downey, Jr. in it. We also wrote the (2017) Power Rangers movie, we wrote and directed an independent film called Paperman, which starred Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Daniels and Kieran Culkin,” he said.

He said there are others, but those are the ones people know.

Kieran is also the songwriter in jackrabbit. He does, however, give the entire band credit for the music they make. 

“The way it works is that I will sort of bang out a thing over a few chords. Then I write the lyrics. Then the magic of playing in a band with people that you love and respect is that I’ll bring in these little wisps of song ideas and take them in with Dermot and the rest of the band. They turn into jackrabbit. songs. Technically I write them but I don’t feel like I’m the author of them. I feel like the band is the writer of these songs.”

Dermot, however, points out that Kieran’s name is all over as songwriter, each and every song.

Their brotherly bond is apparent throughout the conversation, as they tease and play off of each other like they’ve been doing it for a good 50-plus years.

SOUND & STYLE

Their unique Cali-country music may sound somewhat familiar. It’s comfortable, full of beautiful harmonies from the brothers and the band, yet seamlessly blending into storytelling lyrics that you’ve never heard told quite like this before. It could be the influences they grew up with in Virginia and, later, in Los Angeles.

However, one thing’s for certain – jackrabbit. songs will stay with you for days, until you’ve downloaded their somewhat sparse online collection on Spotify or another platform, followed their band on social media, and researched how to obtain more songs.

“That’s what we’re open for in a way. We’re kind of wearing our influences on our sleeve a little bit. It’s the sound and the songs that have a lot of the stuff that we grew up on in them . . . we hope, anyway,” Kieran admitted. 

“There’s great country,” Dermot added, “And sometimes the part that we wanna emphasize that gets forgotten – is the ‘western’ part of Country and Western. There was a great California sound off the Sunset Strip in the 70s and 80s, Jackson Brown, the Eagles. The Bakersfield sound is old country. So that’s what we’re tipping our hat to. We dropped that little phrase, Cali-country, and it really felt like the right fit. And guess what? It stuck. So we’re sticking with it.”

Kieran said their sound is what it is because the way they play is harmony based, “Sort of first vocals and harmonies. Dermot and I sing the harmony vocals together on almost every note. So it doesn’t sound like the Everly Brothers, but it’s got that kind feel to it. To us, that feels somehow built into the California sound that Dermot talks about with the Eagles, and sort of 70s and 80s. Great LA-based country. I mean, this is country adjacent. (Our music) is a little bit of an homage to the town that we live in and the sound that sort of grew up out of this in those early rock and roll days.”

EVOLUTION

In their pursuit of showbiz, the brothers have – without question – shared a lot, but evolution as a band is generally accepted as necessary if there is to be progression. 

Dermot said he and Kieran have always collaborated for numerous different reasons throughout their lives, and that is based on their life experiences together.

“This is the easiest collaboration together so far. It’s really rewarding to wind up here,” he said. 

However, according to taller-yet-younger brother Kieran, he thinks the best answer to how they have evolved together through the years is that, “Dermot has finally agreed to do as he’s told. He’s finally surrendered to his younger brother who knows better.”

Dermot agreed, admitting his brother was right.

“Absolutely. That’s part of the giving over process, right? It’s a great assignment. It’s like some parts of it are hands-free operations. I don’t have to think about where the song came from. I just gotta get busy learning all the chords and all the words, and landing the best harmony that comes to our ears,” he stated. “Some of that duality plays out in our music and in our songs. 

“There’s a loving tension in each of the songs that Kieran wrote. He came up with lyrics that pull you in both directions. That’s the true heart of our music. We have two levels of the same experience,” he said.

Some may wonder if their fame as musicians has been overshadowed by their fame as actors?

Kieran said the easy answer is no, because everything they have done and are doing, are creative endeavors.

“It’s balancing the time that you have in your life to pursue music and acting, filmmaking. (It’s) a challenge. There’s only so many hours in the day. There’s a lot of moving around . . . acting and filmmaking life is a gypsy life. You’re in different cities all the time. So it’s not the overshadowing. It’s hard to find time to do both or to prioritize both. 

“The nice thing about doing this now is that, you know, Dermot’s been at it for decades and is established, and always works when he wants to work. I have the same thing on the writing side. So we actually can make time now in a way that we never could in the past to play music and bring that joy out into the world. It’s been a challenge for years to do both, but it feels like now is the time that we can.”

WHY GLENROCK?

They’re not on a heavily-booked tour at this point, as Dermot and Kieran both have multiple projects in play between gigs.

Dermot is working on a new season of Chicago Fire, as well as Netflix’s Hunting Wives simultaneously. There are also murmurings of an upcoming movie. Kieran and Michele have ongoing projects in the works as well, but nothing he can talk about publicly at this point in time.

The real question is – why go on the road now, with so much going on in their lives?

“We had a conversation through our manager regarding Glenrock. He sent out our materials. It felt like we were matched up for what they wanted to do this summer. It was as simple as that. It felt like this is a part of the country that we haven’t stopped (to play music in), yet. We’re glad to be making Glenrock our first stop in Wyoming,” Dermot said.

Kieran believes jackrabbit. has some songs that the Glenrock crowd are really going to like.

“If it all goes well, I think we’re all gonna come out of this feeling good. What we’re bringing to town is a heartfelt family expression through music.

“What we want, is for folks to come out and hear us with the same sort of open heart that we’re bringing in. The songs are for the folks. You know? There’s a generosity that goes both ways from the musicians to the audience. Right? Glenrock being in on the early days of supporting what we’re doing means the world to us. We’re so looking forward to coming in and spending time with the with everyone and just having good times. We hope people come out and join us,” he said.

jackrabbit. will take the stage at Town Square at 8 p.m. Aug. 23.

Prior to that, musician Peyton Phillips will open for jackrabbit. at 7 p.m. Peyton’s roots are in Glenrock, and she is excited to return for the Saturday night concert, she said.

“This is an amazing experience to get to open for jackrabbit. Every new opportunity helps me grow. I appreciate the opportunity to come back to Glenrock and play again. The love and support I’ve always received from my hometown means (everything) to me,” she said.