Dark Irish Blood of a Liberty, Missouri Native
Jeff Black is featured in the Chatanoogan in a nice article by Melinda Whiteman.
Lazily we usually call what Black does as Americana. I suppose if I try harder I’d place Black’s music somewhere closer to a folked up social rock, and now I don’t even know what I mean.
The biography on his official website describes him as:
a burly, bare-knuckled, blue-collar son of the Missouri plains with dark Irish blood who digs into tough topics with a gentle heart.
And whatever that means it’s enough to get him into Irish KC - well with the Liberty connection too of course. I don’t think his blood is that dark though because the same biography claims that his lyrics will always “head towards hope instead of dwell on despair”. Sometimes I think there’s too much hope in the world.
Regardless, the man oozes pedigree and class. His voice and music resonates richly and warmly, and engages you from the off, like a conversation. Pedigree? Black has collaborated with Wilco, Iris Dement, Sam Bush, former Johnny Cash bassist Dave Roe, former Steve Earle drummer Craig Wright, and on impressively goes the list.
Black describes himself as a “social romantic” who wrote his first song, The Sunshine Train, after reading Woody Guthrie’s Bound for Glory in Kansas City, though he hails from the infamous town of Liberty, home of the first successful daylight bank robbery!
More on Jeff Black:
• MySpace
• Official Website
See Also:
• Kila & Oki
• District and Circle by Seamus Heaney
• Dirty Old Rod Stewart
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