Yeah I know he’s been a good friend of mine.
I’m talking about Jesse Malin, of course. (Shame on you for conjuring up Rick Springfield… actually shame on me.)
Jesse Malin is a rock star, or would be if most of the world weren’t too busy watching American Pop Idol Star Voice crap. Over the course of his long career, he’s put out albums that have been critically acclaimed yet commercially ignored. I’ve seen him in concert a few times, as a solo artist and with a band, and even when the crowd was rather sparse, Jesse gave his all. A recent interview on Bearded.com sums up his attitude:
‘There’s a lot of hard work; long hours, bad food, soundchecks, so much waiting around but the benefits are getting to play your songs for people and having your outlet. You do it all for that hour or so on stage… you get to do things that other people dream of’.
‘Some nights you’re staying in a five star hotel playing to a sold-out house or sometimes you’re playing a Monday night in the middle of nowhere for 40 people and you’ve got to give it to them. You’re staying at the worst hotel, it’s freezing and the van breaks down’ He pauses for a second, ‘But every job has its Mondays’.
You can check out a stream of his new album New York Before The War here: http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2015/03/album-stream-jesse-malin—new-york-before-the-war.html?utm_source=PMNL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=150326
And here’s a great article from TeamRock.com that gives a nice overview of Jesse’s career arc: http://www.teamrock.com/features/2015-03-29/the-five-ages-of-jesse-malin
Even the Wall Street Journal is singing his praises: http://www.wsj.com/articles/jesse-malin-a-punk-prodigy-keeps-on-playing-1427754050
Jesse Malin is on tour – if he comes anywhere near you, please go see him. If you’re not completely blown away by his talent, I’ll give you a full refund of your ticket price. But don’t just take my word for it, take it from Mr. Green Day:
Here’s the video for a song from the new album:
And now two more of my favorite Jesse tunes…
(One of the best lines ever written: “I sometimes lie awake until sunrise, wondering how we become what we despise.”)
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