Here is a list of things that have happened on the JBJ/BPV tour dates so far:

Everyone but Jake R. ate tacos in Knoxville

Jake R. yelled at the band for being late for load out and then apologized

Jake R drove everyone back to Memphis after the Nashville show and then pulled over 15 minutes outside Memphis so Greg could piss

We decided never to play “I Can’t Stand the Rain” ever again

The band left Jake R. for dead in a sleeping bag on the floor of an empty apartment in Jackson Mississippi on Saturday morning

Our tell-all book will sell so many more copies than Motley Crue’s  “The Dirt”

xoxo – JBJ

Here are the first officially released teasers for the upcoming feature film “Open Five” directed by Kentucker Audley and written by Kentucker and myself. The film stars Shannon Esper, Genevieve Angelson, Kentucker Audley, Amy Seimetz and myself, and was photographed by Joe Swanberg with additional help from David Lowery. The film contains performances by the band and will premiere in Spring 2010. If you have a blog, feel free to post one or all of them if it feels right. Email them to your friends. Share them with the world.

- Jake

Willie Mitchell’s effect on American popular music has been enormous and his direct influence on my music is so obvious that upon listening to our first E.P, the man himself jokingly told me I owed him money. When Jump Back Jake started, the idea was to sound as much like the Hi-Rhythm section as possible with no apologies. The horn lines on the tag of “Treasure” were directly inspired by the arrangement he did on O.V. Wright’s “Nickel and a Nail,” and we remain to this day obsessed with the drum sounds he got on Al Green and Ann Peeble’s records among others. I once had occasion to see Willie leading a band who was backing up one of his new artists. Already in his 80s, he waved his cane in the air threatening that if the guitarist couldn’t stay in tune he’d come up there and keep him in tune. He was a force of nature and will be missed by everyone who cares about the art of recorded music. Another Memphis Trumpet player, Mickey Gregory, once told me that when Willie played, you felt him rather than heard him. Luckily we can all still listen to Soul Serenade and feel Willie Mitchell when we need him.

January 8th Knoxville
January 9th Memphis
January 14th Nashville (JBJ only)
January 15th Jackson, MS
January 16th New Orleans
February 2nd Little Rock

1) Reigning Sound: Too Much Guitar

This record was released in 2004, shortly before I arrived in Memphis for the very first time. Recorded with the original Memphis based line-up, mostly in the back of what is now Goner records and partly at the now defunct Easley/McCain studios, the record sounds like the city that I fell in love with that summer. I can hear the heat, the sweat, and the grit that could all be washed away by a late night swim in harbor town.
This record does what few punk rock bands have ever done which is merge irreverent production and arrangements with perfect songwriting. I would put this up there with records like ‘Exile on Main on Main Street’ or ‘Nevermind’ as a genre defining statement of what Rock and Roll should be.

Best track: ‘Drowning.’

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• Reigning Sound – new albums out & Tour Dates announced! (brooklynvegan.com)

We wanted to let you know about some free Jump Back Jake downloads that are currently available and that we’re having a sale on Jump Back Jake CD’s, Vinyl, T-Shirts and Combo Packages…

FREE JBJ Downloads…

- Download “X-Mas Time,” “The Flood,” and “Treasure” from JBJ’s debut album “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” FREE by clicking HERE

- Download “The World of Pity and Shame (live)” and “The Flood (live)” FREE by clicking HERE

- Download live JBJ covers of Dr. John, The Supremes, Lee Hazlewood, Eddie Floyd and 13^th Floor Elevators FREE by clicking HERE

Holiday Sale on JBJ CD’s, VINYL, T-Shirts and Combo Options (ALL PRICES INCLUDE US S/H!!!)…

- “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” CD – $10 (includes US s/h)

- “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” VINYL album – $13 (includes US s/h)

- JBJ Men’s Black Hanes Heavyweight 50/50 T-Shirts – $15 (includes US s/h)

- JBJ Women’s Blue Fitted 100% Organic Bella T-Shirts – $15 (includes US s/h)

- Combo: CD + Men’s or Women’s T-Shirts – $20 (includes US s/h)

- Combo: VINYL + Men’s or Women’s T-Shirts – $23 (includes US s/h)

- To view all options and product images, go to the store page

Or download “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” digitally in hi-res formats for just $3.99 by clicking HERE

Upcoming January and February  show dates…
Knoxville, TN – Barley’s Taproom – 01/08/10 – 9:00pm
Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Cafe – 01/09/10 – 9:00pm
Nashville, TN – The Basement – 01/14/10 – 8:00pm
Jackson, MS – Ole Tavern – 01/15/10 – 8:00pm
New Orleans, LA – Allways Lounge – 01/16/10 – 10:00pm
Little Rock, AR – White Water Tavern – 02/02/10 – 9:00pm

Happy Holidays!!!

2) The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday

This is a real Rock and Roll record, the way that ‘Appetite For Destruction’ is a real Rock and Roll record. You can’t take it away from them. It also presents a narrative voice as unique and wise as it is fun and clever, somehow balancing a somewhat ironic distance with a sincere declaration about the 90’s drug hangover that permeated much of the music of the early to mid ‘00s. The narrative is sprawling and messy to match its subject matter of cross-country drug binges and the struggle between salvation and religion. A true song-cycle that is as unpretentious as it is sophisticated. It doesn’t so much romanticize these adventures so much as suggest a world where the popular culture is less dominated by capitalist bravado and more by a dark and desperate need for transcendence by any means possible.

Best Track: Multitude of Casualties