Jack Chernos on banjo and guitars. JP Bowersock on guitars and bass. David Daniels on drums. Bud Hudgins on bass on "Roads." Alex Walsh on percussion. Bobby Black on pedal steel on "Train." Produced by JP Bowersock.
Sounds Like
punk/folk banjo (... plus some rock, gospel, the Bill of Rights, ...)
I'm currently completing my third cd, produced by JP Bowersock (The Strokes, Ryan Adams). These songs tend to have banjo, be folky in their populist lyrics, and have a punky, rocky musical aesthetic. The songs on this album are social/political, ranging from more overt stuff like "My People are Rising" to more metaphorical tunes like "Dig Roads" and "Just Needed to Borrow Your Saw."
A few of the songs I've written have actually been of historical significance. "Sold Down the River" was the song played in continuous-loop from the Steelworkers' billboard truck on the tear gas-hazed streets of Seattle during the WTO protests. "The Union Grand" was the theme song of the Million Worker March on Washington. "Walk out of Jerusalem" will be sung as a sing-along in three languages at the 5 Million Peace March on Jerusalem. And "The Silence of Good People" was inducted into the National Civil Rights Museum in 2003.
Over the last couple years I've been playing mainly on the streets, at picket lines, protests, rallies and such. But after I get this album out I'll also be back playing cafes and clubs. I've played pretty much every type of venue: music festivals, rock clubs, police barricades, churches, subways, from flatbed and billboard trucks, community centers, auditoriums, trade union meetings, the steps of government buildings, and in corporate radio stations and pirate radio stations. I've been booed off a stage in Nashville, been arrested at machine gun-point for attempting to perform for a particularly unreceptive audience, and played for crowds of tens of thousands.
I've got more sound clips and some essays at www.department-of-justice.org if you're interested. I'd love to hear from you if you would like to have me play at your rally, protest or picket, have any music to recommend, or would like to keep me informed about some current issue.
Sweet words are easy to say, Sweet things are easy 2 buy, But sweet people are difficult to find Life ends when U stop dreaming, Hope ends when U stop believing, Love ends when U stop caring, Friendship ends when U stop sharing. So share this with whom ever U consider a friend. To love without condition, To talk without intention, To give without reason, And to care without expectation is the heart of a true friend... Forward this to all the people whom U consider as your true friend. Dont forget to send it back to ME ..... If U Care........ Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.
Howzit Jack ~ I have not yet read "On The Road with the Ramones" but I'd enjoy it I'm sure. Tommy was the original drummer and he swapped off with Joey for a time. Tommy later stopped performing and became Ramones manager after Danny Fields left. Tommy's voice still sounds just like it did back in 1975, but his looks have changed a lot.
Tommy now has a beard and a little bald spot and he plays the banjo in "Uncle Monk" with a lady named Kiernan. We have been in touch here on MySpace and have shared our memories of working together when Ramones came to Boston and played with my band Third Rail.
Speaking of punk bluegrass, our legendary friend Tommy Ramone has a punk duo named Uncle Monk and they are touring around USA now. Tommy is the last living member of the original Ramones. He plays a mean banjo now. Do you guys know each other...yet?
Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. (Vaclav Havel)
About this page: I have been very active in Domestic Violence causes all of my adult life. I noticed a need in the world pertaining to Same Sex Domestic Violence. It happens more than people know. Unfortunately there are a number of gay people who barely consider themselves worthy or valued as a gay person much less a Domestic Violence Victim. There are also very limited resources, statistics, or information, for Same Sex Domestic Violence. Hopefully through empowerment and education we can change some of this. :D
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