Starting out as a Neil Young-esque gentle country-tinged song on which he acts as his own backing vocalist, he goes all out with a lengthy progressive folk instrumental part – for which he goes electric, introduced in the video by inserting a bit footage of the fake towns that were built in the 50s to learn more about nuclear bomb tests in Nevada.
The second single from “Turned Around” is out now and available for download with pre-orders at both Bandcamp and AmpWall. The album comes out on 16 September on cassette, CD, and digital download.
“Slips, Trips, & Falls” my second full album, is out now!
Featuring seven original songs, “Slips Trips, & Falls” was also home recorded with a bit of remote assistance from friends. It is available digitally from most major streaming & purchase platforms as well as on my Bandcamp page (jmhart.bandcamp.com) where you will also find CDs.
I’ve even seen some favorable reviews this time around from Record Crates United: “striking a fine balance between pleasant country-tinged singer-songwriter fare and cosmic Americana,”
and Here Comes The Flood: “Hart is never in a hurry with his music, carefully choosing his words, and wrapping his lyrics in cosy layers of various string instruments.“
“Slips, Trips, & Falls” is a collection, sifted from the past few years of songs, that seems to hang together in some sort of way. An awful lot of them begin with the letter ’s’. This is not by design. In fact the design is generally tertiary behind vibe and pleasure (although those may be the same thing.)
The name comes from a night some time ago. A full and proper quorum sat vigil near the fire as the chiller did its business ripping heat from the wort in the tank in the back. Conversation rolled about and we told our tales, cataloging various collisions, incisions, and the vast array of decisions both wise and otherwise that had preceded the moment. My mind strayed often to the task of updating the record. The importance of a historical document is widely understood because, without such a thing we’d have nothing to look back upon, leaving one standing atop a pillar in the void. This, of course, is a fine condition for a few idle hours on the weekend but not an ideal fashion in which to be going forward through life. Keeping the document, tracking the steps, has fallen to me because I’m meticulous enough to remember to put pen to paper, besides which, I bought the paper. Though I’m not sure of the provenance of the pen. All I know is that the ink flows at need. So there we were, sitting near the fire and Taylor just drops this phrase and its meaning and I took to it, discarding the meaning and original purpose, seeing in it the various properties purposes and actions of this set of songs. Most any set, really, but, title in hand, this set formed up and made itself a whole.
The seven songs range from personal to political, fictional to factual, and some just settle right in between. Even the fiction has some fact about it and the realest of lines nestle into the most fantastic settings. A friend called me a story teller. I just think of myself as a songwriter; stories are just part of the thing.
“Wednesdays”, the first single (set for release in time for May Day), is a song for and about the working people and its arrangement is akin to the starting point for each of these songs. A little acoustic guitar & vocal. Maybe another guitar. Other songs asked for a bit more. I play a little rudimentary bass now. But when it came time for the real thing, longtime friend and collaborator Ben Taylor (ex- Bloodshot Records’ JC Brooks & Uptown Sound) ably took the call and delivered. Field recordings? Friend & neighbor, Will Thornton (Francis Thornton, Programmed Cell Death) had just the thing in his stash. On the closing track, “Ship of Dreams”, I knew I needed more than I could deliver. The ambient country vibes of pedal steel player Howard Hughes Suite precisely matched the prescription.
Enjoy.
credits
released June 3, 2022
Produced by J.M. Hart at Sunken Road Studios, Fredericksburg, VA
Mixed & Mastered by Rob Dobson Cover illustration by Shanski Design by J.M. Hart & Sean Bonney Layout by Sean Bonney
All vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, bass, mountain dulcimer, banjo, programming, & recording by J.M. Hart except:
The Howard Hughes Suite – pedal steel (7) Ben Taylor – bass (2, 4) Will Thornton – Field Recording (1)
Thanks to: Will Thornton for the loan of a bass guitar & use of his field recording. Brian Mosley (Electric Catnip) for listening. My family for their patience and support.
