Filling out his 2006-2007 tax return will be difficult task for one Jeff Strong. Those twelve months saw the purveyor of ‘city and western’ take his music to most of Australia in one form or another. Slung his guitar , took off and did spots nationally with The Panda Band, travelled up to the north-west with Birds of Tokyo, played week night solo spots in Perth, toured sold out south west shows with Little Birdy, played as a duo for 3 hours in swanky restaurants and even held a 500 plus crowd silent opening up for M.Ward.
But his most notable acheivement so far is via his just released self titled debut album which has been praised by all who’ve dared spin it and even been named Album Of The Week by The Drum Media Perth .The album features 10 songs recorded, mixed and mastered entirely on an 8-track in a musty old study in the Perth suburb of Yokine. The record features Jimmy Rogers' (The Fault, Harlequin League) ambient surf-guitar licks and Jarrad Carr's (The Slaughterhouse Five) solid-like-a-train brushstrokes and although it was recorded in true garage style, the album captures Strong's raw and spontaneous country sound without any bells and whistles to obscure the feeling.
Tracks highlights on the new album include the incredibly catchy "Hangin' Round", laced with Rogers' Cash-style guitar hooks and some of the most solid lyrics you're likely to come across these days, as well as "Eternal Darkness", a short but sweet ballad, co-written with Carr about the bitter ironies of life and death. "If I Were Treated Like An Alien", co-written with his father, Les, is another standout, and perhaps the closest Strong gets to being political with its subtle comment on immigration in this country.
Overall, it's a great listen with a surprising range of textures for such a simple recording. As a debut, the record definitely does justice to Strong's extraordinary songwriting and presents his unique and eccentric style without overdoing it and clearly proves that independent musicians can produce fantastic records.
brother wont you play again! im east at the moment and i've heard talk of a mythical creature in possession of a long golden man beard and the silver tongue of satan... the jefro strongo... folks here there and everywhere yearning for the sound of the beast... why would i lie why would i lie why would i lie. if you dont play soon im gonna have to turn to jesus....
Jeff, was good to have a chat the other night. If you're interested this is where I am located on the intrawebs - www.daveycraddock.com . Hope to see you round soon. Davey
Hi Guys, if you're thinking of recording or getting some tracks that never quite sounded right properly mixed or getting some new tracks mastered then please come by & check out some new tracks that I've posted. Rock, Pop, electro, Dance, Acoustic, I'll make them sound so that you'll be proud to hear them on the radio. Recent & current bands include..... Resort, Rainy day women, Dylan Ollivierre, Jane Coby & the Kil Names, Matt Larsen, Leigh Southerland & lots more. I think you'll like my daily rate as well.
Hello Faithful followers!! Sorry for the disappearing act. Maggie cracked her head open during a basement show, so we’ve been out(no pun intended) for awhile. She is almost better so when that happens we’ll be back in the recording studio. In the meantime, we did manage to convince our buddies at myspace.com/onryeproductions to let us do the video game SFX that are on their newest episode.
If you are interested in having a song or songs of yours featured in future episodes please send mp3s toonryecontact@gmail.com
Our friends at onrye are still looking for music for their web ‘series’ and other films they make. If you are interested in them using your music send your song(s) in mp3 format to onryecontact@gmail.com This is the trailer for their new short that will be out Friday March 27th and features bands that they found here.
jeff. been too long. you are still brilliant. as expected. tried to learn a song of yours today for What i have is gold show at hydey ... not sure if im doing it justice...hehe
Just a heads up to say that Hidden Shoal Recordings have just released volume 4 in their free label sampler album series, East-West Section. The album features the Fall Electric track 'Sir sun shines strong'.
going to be recording my new ep from 1 ..o 15th down in bridgetown, if your free please pop in to play, meditate, paint, philoshise and spread some love
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