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June 2020: Jeff Kelly – When The World Was Younger

My dear fellow philosophers –

If anything has become clear at this point, it is simply to expect the unexpected. The ground becomes liquid. In the reverberant words of the old Firesign Theater, Everything You Know Is Wrong.

So it’s still June. Before we get to business, I’d like to say this. I don’t know all your politics, I don’t know what you think about anything. What I think? We may finally be at a tipping point. We have been a country where it has been ok for police to kill black men for too long. A country where the rich try to divide the rest and pit them against each other. And they’ve been pretty good at it for a long time. I am pretty heartened to see the young people in the streets, putting pressure on power. I’m not going to pretend that I have magic answers as one more old white guy, but I am going to do what I can to end racial injustice and support social justice in the USA. And make music.

Jeff KellySo …

Last month there was not hint of this but today we stand ready with a brand new Jeff Kelly release, When The World Was Younger. Jeff’s new album is a follow up to last year’s, Beneath The Stars, Above The River. Portugal and Spain are again the inspiration for When The World Was Younger.

 

Jeff: It feels frivolous to release an album at this time or somehow self-indulgent. When The World Was Younger is not exploring heavy political or social themes, but rather is a little bit of something to help momentarily distract the senses, heal the heavy heart and uplift the spirit.  I hope this album gives pleasure and respite from what we are facing today.  As a show of solidarity, we are donating 100% of the album's first month’s sales on bandcamp to Black Lives Matter.

 

Jeff Kelly 2019When The World Was Younger consists of four brand new songs along with fresh recordings of Jeff’s ‘Summer’s Here’ and ‘The Wishing Well,’ both of which were written in 1990 for the cassette release, Portugal. There is an acoustic take of ‘Cristina Dancing,’ Jeff’s tribute to flamenco dancer, Cristina Hoyos and a new recording of ‘Autumn in Lisbon’ originally written in 1997.

 

The collection also includes four previously released  e-singles: ‘Of Missingness’ and the alternate takes of ‘Juliana of the One-Man-Scanner-Station,’ ‘The Lisbon Vampire’ and ‘Moon Over Granada.’ 

 

The new recordings were all created at home during the current pandemic. Jeff states: “Susanne and I had plans to go back to Europe this May. Then the virus hit and we had to cancel everything.  I was very depressed for weeks and couldn’t get inspired to write anything. 

 

Eventually, with much encouragement from Susanne, we set up a mini-studio in our backyard cottage and I started working again.  Once I got started, I realized that distracting myself from this current, horrific situation was the only way to get through it.  So this album is very nostalgic and about ‘missingness’ and of longing for another place and time when the world was younger…”

Jeff has made yet another video for this album - "Black Eyes" - view it here: https://youtu.be/cyR1_0F6VXc

 

Breathe by Raymond C. MobleyIn other news, on July 4 we will be releasing a single that I am most excited about, “Breathe”, by Raymond C. Mobley, his commentary about what going on in the USA. I think it’s great. We will be releasing his full album Breathe on July 17.

 

 

Dante and Eros have sent out their Mirage album to manufacture CDs and we should have them shortly.

 

Tom dyer - Truth or ConsequencesThe Tom Dyer - Truth or Consequences have finally made their pandemic delayed arrival and you can get the pretty things on the bandcamp site!

 

Oh, yes, Rockin' Stevie T and I are back on the radio! FreeForm Northwest airs Weds 1:00-3:00 PM on KAOS 89.3 FM or kaosradio.org/listen. You can stream the show for two weeks after it airs at https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kaos. We are pre-recording the show a day in advance from the GMR studios. This week's special Black Lives Matter show did not air at the right time and will be played again in our proper time slot next week.

Other than that, things are proceeding apace.

td June , 2020

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