Live at Red Clay Theatre in downtown Duluth
Jess Klein says of her new album Learning Faith. "It's edgy and brutal, but it was inspired by a genuine love for this world."
Over a career that spans more than a decade and a half and has won her a devoted worldwide fan base, Klein—who possesses what Mojo magazine calls "one of those voices you want to crawl up close to the speakers to listen to" and a knack for writing songs that the Cape Cod Times has described as "fully realized, finely observed and deeply felt"—has pursued a remarkable creative evolution that's seen her dig ever deeper for resonant emotional insights, while continuing to refine her eloquently melodic, effortlessly accessible songcraft. As the New York Times noted, Klein is an artist who "has country roots, but who pushes her songs toward philosophical thoughts."
Learning Faith —which marks Klein's third collaboration with veteran producer Mark "Professor Feathers" Addison—boasts ten personally-charged new originals that rank with her most compelling and illuminating work. Such bracing tunes as "Surrender," "So Fucking Cool," "Wish," "Long Way Down" and "If There's A God" (which she was inspired to write after protesting in support of State Senator Wendy Davis' pro-choice 2013 filibuster at the Texas state capitol building) embody the complementary mix of personal fearlessness and musical craftsmanship that define Klein's music.
"It felt a little different this time," the artist notes. "It was the first time that I ever went into a record really feeling that I'd paid my dues, and that now I'm just gonna do and say whatever I want. I finally feel like I really don't care what anybody thinks. That felt huge, and it felt really empowering. I felt comfortable going as dark as I could, and not feeling like I had to pull back from that.
"It's also the first time I've started a record with a concept and tried to follow it through," she explains. "After I wrote the song 'Learning Faith,' that started me thinking about writing a whole album of songs about the process of developing faith—faith in people, faith in the universe, faith in a higher power. I wanted each song to be about some kind of struggle with faith, and asking what faith really means to me.
Learning Faith's rich emotional and musical palette is consistent with the level of commitment that Jess Klein has always brought to her music. The Rochester, NY native taught herself to play her father's acoustic guitar in her teens, and began writing songs as a college student in Kingston, Jamaica. After graduation, she relocated to Boston, where she began performing locally and won acclaim for her self-released debut album Wishes Well Disguised. The attention helped to win her a deal with the Rykodisc label, for which she recorded the albums Draw Them Near and Strawberry Lover, which were warmly received by critics as well as Klein's growing audience. Klein's growing notoriety led to such milestones as an appearance on TV's Good Morning America, and a performance for an audience of 70,000 at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.
By 2008, when she relocated to the independent-minded musical mecca of Austin, TX, Klein had parted ways with Rykodisc and returned to her D.I.Y. recording roots. She continued to stake out brave new lyrical and musical territory on such albums as 2006's City Garden, 2009's Bound to Love and 2012's Behind A Veil, while continuing to tour throughout North America, Europe and Japan. She also became a beloved presence on her adopted hometown's music scene, while collaborating with such fellow troubadours as Jon Dee Graham, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jimmy LaFave, Slaid Cleaves, Will Sexton, Ray Bonneville, Radney Foster, Randy Weeks, Matt the Electrician and John Fullbright. Mike June is a singer and songwriter from Austin, TX. Born and raised in New Jersey, in the shadows of New York City, June writes songs about the complexities of modern life with a frank, earnest style befitting a man raised ten miles from the George Washington Bridge. June's grandfather, Vernon, was a country singer in the 40's and 50's, making a name for himself locally by performing the songs of Hank Williams at the weekly Bear Mountain square-dance. Naturally, Mike grew up in a house filled with the sounds of Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen while the local oldies station taught him about the British Invasion, Motown and '50's do-wop. June carried a Kiss lunchbox in grade school and spent his allowance on AC/DC and Rush cassettes. He got his first electric guitar at 13 and began to write songs.
After spending several years singing with bar band Wide Load Joad, June formed Mike June & The Dirty Doves in 2002 and released his first album, CROOKED at the age of 27. Altcountrytab.com gave the record five stars and called it “40 minutes of music without a wasted beat” and said June “played with pure heart.” The Newark Star Ledger praised the band's “uninhibited swagger” and said “the perfectly named Dirty Doves played with grace and grit,” in it's shining 4-star review.
In 2008, June disbanded the Dirty Doves and relocated to Austin, TX. While spending three years in “self-imposed exile," June continued to write prolifically and in 2010, with the encouragement of New Austin Music co-founder Larry Graves and former Dirty Doves Matty Aderhold and Ed Fritz, June formed his new band, The Wilson Street Refugees. June and the band, along with many guests (including 3-time Austin Music Hall of Fame inductee Jon Dee Graham) entered the studio and recorded EXILE ON WILSON STREET. Recorded almost entirely live over two days in April 2010, “Exile” is a life-affirming journey through the ups and downs of June's journey to Texas,the characters he met at the famed Wilson Street apartments and starting life over. Produced by June, Graves and Scott Everett, EXILE ON WILSON STREET was the first release for brand new label NEW AUSTIN MUSIC.
After releasing EXILE ON WILSON STREET, June has tirelessly toured the entire nation and recorded a brand new record, TALKIN' REVOLUTION BLUES. The new record finds June and his band (returning regulars Fritz, Aderhold and Byrne with guitarist Benjamin Todd and guest appreances by Larry Graves, Jon Dee Graham and Jess Klein) channeling the rock and roll muscle of the Rolling Stones, Dylan, Neil Young and The Clash with lyrics about the struggles of working class America in our new decade.
WORD ON THE STREET...
" ...lyrics so sharp it's a wonder June doesn't cut his tongue on them. I swoon over the songs-for-the-working-class sound of this Austin singer-songwriter. Think The Clash meets Johnny Cash. " - Jennifer Savage, North Coast Journal
"Woody Guthrie meets The Rolling Stones." -San Antonio Music Press
"If someone had described Mike June's music as 'heartland rock with a sharp political bent' I would have been sold before I even listened to the album. This album is an instant favorite...Not much to say about this album without sounding cheesy: poignant, humorous, intelligent, incisive. June's powerful sense of melody allows the bitter pills of his lyrics to go down easily. It does not get better than this. Talkin' Revolution Blues is just one of those albums that's part of The Basics." - Adobe and Teardrops
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