jacksmannequin

Saturday morning on the Sunset Strip

I have found that searching for insight is more often than not a path to total darkness. Does this stop me from searching, or anyone of that matter, of course not. That said, the long road of the glass passenger seemed to merge this morning with the famed sunset strip, as a drive from L.A.'s Union Station unexpectedly brought clarity to this little album of mine. It's hard to really explain what making a record is like, or what it has come to represent in my eyes. In short, though, it is everything. With such an expectation I have come to realize that sometimes it is nearly impossible to let go and just let it be, to quote the great Paul McCartney. I'm trying though. And seemingly as winter has quickly become spring, confusion has without notice become insight. And with it, the end has finally revealed itself somewhere not far on the horizon. I haven't written much in this space over the past several months, maybe for fear that what had not yet revealed itself to me would color a page unsure. I would apologize as I have often done, but for once maybe no apology is in order. I have walked cautiously in public while trying to stretch continuously behind closed doors. I suppose this record will be the representation of those guarded sessions where my close friends and I, in noisy rooms, tried our very best to be our very best. Today on that drive that timed itself so well, from the train tracks at E. Cesar Chavez to the corner of Sunset And Doheny and then back through Silverlake, I finally heard this mess of music sound like a record. A sound I have tried so hard to hear for months without accepting that sometimes you just Don't know until the work is done. Whether it is totally there or not will take a little more time I suppose, but thank god for a Morning with no traffic. The roads don't open up too much around here and it couldn't have happened soon enough.

Don't hold me to the following (it always changes)

Annie Use Your Telescope
Suicide Blonde
The Resolution
American Love
Swim
What Gets You Off?
Spinning
Bloodshot
Lullaby
Caves
... Perhaps a bonus track
In Slow Motion (Sleazy Wednesday)

no title for now

There is no world wrapping me up
I've got a view from the valley
And we're alive so lets drive, she says
"We'll bankrupt the blue skies"

Saw the post office from the book
On my way to the westside
Going broke but I'm feeling good
I brought my girl to keep me with it

She's a suicide blonde
Dyed bye her own hand
Suicide Blonde
A part of the big plan

Got a job at the DMV
And a call from my father
Got my news from the CNN
Like sheep to the slaughter

Saw the planes landing from the roof
Of my tree house in Burbank
Had that dream I was taking off
I brought my girl to keep me with

oh to fly

Suddenly it makes sense again. In no haze of mindfulness, staring down at this snow-covered quilt of America, I am the stars exploding. Voice shot down to hell, half sick, half recovered, alive and well and ready. The unknown for now will remain as such and in this moment that feeling is not one of suspension. It is the hopeful unknown. Reaching into the future could only be good now as the past is wrapping itself in ribbons and pleasant packing paper, rarely to be revisited. These years of heaven and hell in the belly of mortality's wait. This fierce time of self-doubt and confidence cracked. The vice/void solutions and dissolution of honor. Tracking along some dirt path to a forest of dead things where clearly I missed the 'no outlet' sign upon entry. All of this and somehow I have returned in a step-retrace for the record books. Fear is failing me now. Hope hides beneath fresh snow somewhere nearer sea level than I, at thirty three thousand feet, Michigan bound, by way of Chicago. But planes land and so do I, and suns rise, melting away the grounds cool protection. I am finally free, if only for this moment. And should that be the case, then know that I am throwing a parade in first class as I speak. Art has again saved my life, my love and me. What next? Who really cares? Certainly a toast will be in order. Make mine a double.

"...even if my voice comes back again..."

Hello world. I know I have spent so much time away from this page, and to those of you who are still checking it regularly, thank you for your patience. It's good to be back. To be honest, the past several months have been spiritually grueling, leaving little time to process much of anything other than music and the subjects that inspire it's creation. It's been a hard fought war for the album I am now referring to as "the glass passenger" and I have been reluctant to share too many details along the way, as it has been in constant evolution. The truth is, this record came with so many possible directions, and while that seems to lend itself to an implied freedom, it has taken me quite some time to find the voice and the words that would artfully portray this particular moment in my life. That said, last night, after a long recording session and a good listen on my rainy drive home I started to feel the finishing on the horizon, and that feeling is carrying me now. I will try and be more regular with my contact. Again, thank you all for your patience.
More soon
a

FINDING YOUR FEET

Things started making sense today. A coming together of sorts. Lately, I've been trying to learn some patience, or been forced to, at least. In the wake of the Everything in Transit record, I have had to become a bit of a journalist. I spend days now sorting through and piecing together the events of recently passed years. Honestly, the transit record became so much a part of me that my life and it might as well have merged entirely. It became so hard to tell where it left off and I began. As amazing as it is to be this wrapped up in the things you create, in this case I have had to pause and wait for transit to work its way from my conscious making way for new words, new sounds, new music. Slowly, I am finding the music. Perhaps it is finding me. These past several months have been about detaching. Detaching from expectations of the world I have built around me. The business of releasing albums for major record companies can be very scary and very threatening. You have to be an Island sometimes, I have found. You have to stand there some days and say I want to make something real. I want to make something that matters to me and hope it matters to everyone else, but Ive got to start in my gut and not on some assembly line. Youve got to forget that you have fans, fans that expect whatever they may expect for your art, because in some ways it's their art, too. You have to forget your past and relearn that feeling of building a song like it was the only thing you might make before you don't make things anymore. Out here, insecurity is the device. It is waking up and realizing that this music I am making will eventually be offered up to be either liked or hated. In that though I find freedom. I realize now that all I can do is write my songs. Write them as well as I possibly can. Try and make something that means something. If only for the inspiration of it at least it will serve a purpose. It's funny that I started jack's knowing that the only way I could satisfy my drive to create was to create without restriction. For a moment there I convinced myself I had my back against a wall, and suddenly the only wall I find my back against is that of a 10 by 10 writing shack in Glendale, where the summer days average between 90 and 100 and each song can be quantified in the sweat it took to write it. There is no ac in hell, and sometimes you've got to get down to get up. The train is gaining speed I should think.

Cellular Phone

I have become increasingly
Overwhelmed but not discouraged
And soon I’ll leave the infirmary
Feeling well
But lacking courage
Courage
And now the rockets fly above
Passing over
Cape Canaveral
There’s the woman with the drugs
In the café
By the launch pad
By the launch pad
And she is ‘gonna
Ring me up
On my Cellular Phone
So I know I’m not alone
In a world full of vampires
Come on darling
Talk me down
On that Cellular Phone
Because I can’t get home
I’m a slave to the wires
I’ve done this before
I will do it more
I have become increasingly
Overwhelmed when
I’m in public
I’m not so patient when they stare
There’s a fighter
Somewhere underneath this skin and bones
And do you know what I mean?
What I mean when I say that this girl
Has got a thing for my machine
And she is ‘gonna
Ring me up
On my Cellular Phone
So I know I’m not a lone
In a world full of Vampires
Come on darling
Talk me down
On that cellular phone
Because I can’t get home
I’m a slave to the wires
I’ve done this before
I’ve done this before
But I have given everything and more
Sometimes convinced I have the world to carry
Every day is war
And rockets fly from dusk ‘til dawn
I won’t be shaken
If ever there’s a time
Where I am gone just know I’m waiting
For you to ring
For you to ring...
Me up on my Cellular Phone
So I know I’m not alone
In a world full of vampires
Come on darling
Talk me down
On that Cellular Phone
Because I can’t get home
I’m a slave to the wires
I’ve done this before
I will do it more

Bikelock
8:30
Safari Sam's

prelude to a change

I know I've been a little inactive here, still I feel pretty good that some of what were working on will serve to hold everyone over as I regroup and start putting new music together. As I said before there will be something of a transition site up soon. I saw the another draft today and we are making some tweaks, but we'll have new Polaroid’s up, as well as some studio videos and interviews very soon. Were doing our best to keep some info out there and keep it fresh, so bear with us. I tend to sneak away a bit when I'm in the studio, so Casper's going to be helping out and keeping you informed. Also there will be updates to the airport tapes and records site as well as a full launch of Dear Jack Foundation online. I'm still in the process of figuring out what were doing with "light the night" (the leukemia and lymphoma society fund raiser). I'll have that info next round. Thanks for the patience.
a

ALSO
Here is a really awesome story some of you might be interested in. When Something Corporate was on tour with Yellowcard a few years back we became friends with a band Called Woodbelly. We had found our way to a bar late night after the Dallas show and there these guys were, ripping it up. Some of you may recall we booked a string of dates right after that tour and we took Woodbelly out on as opener because we were so impressed with their live show. Either way, a few years have passed and I have kept in contact on and off with their singer Cas. Well, the other day he calls to tell me that he has gotten onto that reality show called "America's Got Talent". Truth be told I was a little freaked, for obvious reasons, but I kept an open mind because Cas is by far one of the best singers if not the best singer I have ever seen live, and that list includes some pretty radical names. So I went and checked the youtube link that he sent me and sure enough, his version of "Walking on the Moon" by the police was stellar. I'll throw a link at the end of this for ya'll.

Anyway, you guys should check him out on the show. It airs tomorrow (Tue.) in the evening. Not sure what time, but I doubt that’s too hard to track down if you're interested. It couldn't happen to a sweeter more genuine dude. Not to mention david hasslehoff seems to dig him ;)
Adios

enjoy!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xFZYPeP8k2E

Oh, California in the summer

Not to retread the past, but the west coast is definitely hitting it's stride and I am once again pleased to be home for this my favorite season. I moved in recent months and as things have started to settle just looking around is now a constant state of discovery. Perhaps this is why I am always moving. A poor mans attempt to change his perception of the world. The question is, will changing what I look at really alter my perception or just my address? At the moment, with the sun burning bright, questions like these come and go at an alarming rate.

Thankfully. In all honesty this is issue might not be such a poetic one. I mean the rent was up.
Anyway, everyone get off your computers. The sun is out and it's crocodile mile time.
PS The Instant Karma record is out now. There are a lot of amazing John Lennon Covers on there, and purchasing this record is a way to directly donate to the Amnesty International aid efforts in the Darfur region of Africa. I highly recommend Regina Spektor's cover of "Real Love". She is incredible.

Something of a Prodigal Son

I know it's been a while since I've checked in. Got a little burned out there for a minute and just sort of hid out at home. That being said it was nice to take a moment and come up for air. I think everyone does this sort of thing though. Come up for air, that is. Either way, even in the calm there have been events, events worth discussing, so here I am, out of my hole with some reports from the underground. :) The festivals and college dates have been very cool for the most part. Highlights>>>bamboozle. People for days and the sun going down, what a great time to play on a festival bill. Coachella... arguably the hottest show I have ever played. Upcoming stuff: The Dear Jack foundation page will soon be updated. In the past 6 months we have donated somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 dollars to a short list of charities and hospitals whose aim is to find effective treatments and eventually cures for blood cancers like leukemia as well as other types of cancer. A new site: We' are planning a new transitional site for the next several months as I begin working on new music. It will be a simple and mainly informational site. This way we can more easily fill you in on the albums progress and other info. Instant Karma Record:   Here is the story. To generate financial aid and social awareness for the genocide- plagued Sudan, Yoko Ono, widow of the great John Lennon made his highly guarded catalog available to modern recording artists to do renditions of his legendary songs. I can't explain how honored I am to be able to sing one of Mr. Lennon's songs in such an official manner, but to do it on a record with company like green day and U2 is a milestone for me. To make things even better, Fleetwood Mac drummer, Mick Fleetwood, joined us in the studio. Mick is a brilliant player and a rock icon and to come together with him on a track was a serious privilege. ...And if that weren't enough: At the end of May Jack's has been asked to perform a Benefit for the Heal the Bay charity. A part of that evening's festivities revolve around one of the charities most well known supporters, Beach Boy, Brian Wilson. The music of Brian Wilson has had a huge impact upon me in recent years and I can't believe I will be able to say that I shared a stage with him. Right Now:    I'm in the studio with the first Airport Tapes and Records signing, Treaty of Paris. The music sounds great so far and I can't wait till you can all hear what they've been working on. You can check them in Milwaukee at summerfest the day after we play. NOW PLEASE READ MY SHAMELESS PLUG: THE AUDITION, VERY CLOSE FRIEND'S OF THE JACK'S CAMP, ARE ON TOUR NOW IN A CITY NEAR YOU. GO CHECK THAT SHIT AND TELL EM WE SENT YOU

THE AUDITION TOUR DATES