WILLIAM JOERSZ (Run on Sentence, Shoeshine Blue) upright bass
JASON LEONARD vibraphone, percussion, belleplates, ice-cream maker, sheet metal, things lying around the garage
SEAN FLINN (Invisible Rockets) electric guitar and lap steel
SCOTT MAGEE (Loch Lomond) drums and clarinets
JOHN WHALEY (Run on Sentence) trumpet
and sometimes there has also been
ALI IPPOLITO accordion and clarinet
DUSTIN HAMMAN vocals and a set of keys
LAURA GIBSON vocals
KAITLYN NI DONOVAN vocals
Influences
Tom Waits, Paul Simon, Pavement, Radiohead, Belle & Sebastian, Sean Hayashi, REM, John Lennon, Veda Hille, Elliott Smith, The Smiths, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Yo La Tengo, Cake, Loch Lomond, Modest Mouse, Menomena, Myshkin, Blind Willie McTell, Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, Laura Gibson, Horse Feathers, the city of New Orleans, the American River
Sounds Like
Nick Jaina solo releases:
A Narrow Way (2008)
Wool (2008)
The 7 Stations (2006)
The Bluff of All Time (2005)
Snakes & Umbrellas (2000)
The Secret Language (1999)
with Binary Dolls:
Too Much Thinking Sinks Ships (2005)
Seesaw Sunday Nights (2003)
Nick Jaina was born in the fertile golden valley of California. He lived for a time in New Orleans, where he worked as a waiter in the French Quarter and painted people's faces on the streets during big events like Mardi Gras. Since 2001 he has lived in Portland, Oregon.
The new album, A Narrow Way, features aggressively memorable songs recorded in a unique way to capitalize on the energy of the live performance skills of Nick Jaina's band, an energy that has been honed by many performances on the streets of this great country. This album was played entirely by ten musicians in the same room at the same time, all mixed live to 1/4" analog tape. This process was similar to the way that albums were recorded in the fifties and sixties, before the Beatles started taking drugs in '65 and giving everyone a different idea of how people should make albums. On A Narrow Way, every instrument leaps off the tape with immediacy and humanity. Meanwhile, the lyrics of the songs deal with the narrow path that people must take to do right in the world.
This album was recorded and mixed live at Type Foundry Studios in Portland by Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western). It was engineered by Jason Powers and co-produced by Matt Dabrowiak (Dat'r). If the band needed a hand clap or a tambourine hit, they had to bring in an extra person to do it, instead of just over-dubbing it. As modern recording has diminished the importance of actually performing in the moment, they felt that it would create a sense of urgency to remove all safety nets and technological helpers, allowing the band to play together in a room like musicians used to do. Bands want to play music together in a room at the same time. It's their natural habitat. It makes them happy. Like wildebeests in the Serengeti.
A Narrow Way was released this fall on compact disc by HUSH Records and on 180-gram vinyl by Jealous Butcher. It will be available at www.hushrecords.com, www.jealousbutcher.com and www.amazon.com
Will Scott's new album, GNAWBONE is here!!! The CD is available at CDBaby and other online retailers.
Over three years in the making, GNAWBONE, is Scott's fully-produced studio debut and features a crack team of hand-picked musicians as well as guest performances by Jan Bell, Jolie Holland, Samantha Parton, and Preacher Boy (the album's producer).
saw you at roadside the other night. loved it. loved it even more because i am visiting from michigan this week and you happened to set up a show! thanks!
hey nick! i saw tom at 7-11 his car was really dirty and it said POOPY on the side written in the dust hahahahaand wash me on the rear window. thats the latest from sebtown cali...wish i could come up and see a show but i will probably see you at el rio, in s.f. fun times when you and your entourage come to town! love sherilee
I look forward to your show tomorrow. I almost convinced Casey Jarman to let me do a live blog competition with you in which we compete to come up with the best prose to describe the situation in a timed manner. However, it was resolved that you would win, and thus i shouldn't even try.
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