Fred Gillen Jr
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Fred Gillen Jr

Band Folk Americana

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"Review Of CD "Gone Gone Gone""

Quote: "Like Guthrie, Gillen has the uncanny ability to take you places, take you on a tour of a long-awaited escape, and all the bittersweetness that comes along with that weighted word called leaving."

Filmmakers should pay special attention: You'll want to use one of Fred Gillen, Jr.'s soulful songs to punctuate a poignant moment in your movie now, before he gets super-huge. Or at least that was my first thought on hearing his fifth release, Gone, Gone, Gone - it's cinematic and emotionally evocative, the subtle strains of a landscape born of sound, in the way only a true folk artist can create. "This Town This Time" tells the story of a man desperate to leave a place he's outgrown, and the memories that go along with it. Travel is a major theme of this album, as the title suggests, and these are songs of the road at their best. "Free!" chronicles what seems to be the pinnacle of escape from that oppressive small town ("what's a nice guy like me doing in a dump like this"), while "From the Lobby of a Cheap Motel" tackles nostalgia and regret of love lost in a man's desperate phone call to the one he left behind.

Most impressive is Gillen's cover of "I Ain't Got No Home," a cover of - and homage to - his muse and influence Woody Guthrie. Like Guthrie, Gillen has the uncanny ability to take you places, take you on a tour of a long-awaited escape, and all the bittersweetness that comes along with that weighted word called leaving. With his pensive guitar strumming and quietly powerful voice that envelops the listener from the very first line, it's easy to imagine Gillen's tunes playing on the soundtrack of the next Garden State-style filmic tale of a wandering soul taking a look back - and ahead.

By Liza Monroy, IndieMusic.com
- IndieMusic.com


"Review Of CD Tales Of The Misplaced"

"Fred Gillen Jr. is a singer- songwriter this column has reviewed a few times (he was a member of the fine roots- rockers, Rain Deputies.) 'Tales Of The Misplaced' is his latest and best effort to date. Gillen's songs are passionate, personal tales that have a rugged but engaging feel. This album still has a bluesy folk feel, although there is more urgency and confidence in Gillen's voice and more substance in the songs. In essence, Gillen is a 21st century troubadour who sings the tales of everyman as the wonderfull title cut describes. (It is a song that would have made Woody Guthrie proud.) Some of his tales equate to very fine songs. Best cuts here are the somber yet eloquent 'Redemption,' which features some nice guitar work from former bandmate Chris Merola, and the wonderfully melodic 'Flicker,' with its dreamy lyrics. The latter also features the beautiful harmonies of Anne O'Meara Heaton, which perfectly compliment Gillen's fine vocals."
-- Mick Skidmore, Relix Magazine - Relix Magazine


"Review Of CD Grace"

If you're scared just take a look at this nut with a guitar
singing of his sins and opening his scars
packing all his cares into a battered old car and just driving
Just driving, and driving and going nowhere
And sometimes I get tired of singing these same songs
sometimes after all this time they still sound wrong
you'd think that I could get it right and finally move on
so I keep trying and trying and trying but still I fail
Fred Gillian Jr. is a power folk poet. Armed with a guitar and harmonica, he deals with everything he's seen and done by singing about it. It's not always easy to hear. Cancer wards where doctors learn to lie and oncologists drink themselves sick because they couldn't save a couple of lives. The slow infiltration of evil in the world. Alcoholism and drug addiction. He holds everything up and exposes it to the light. It's a hard truth, but I just want to keep listening.
There's a vulnerability in his voice and a refusal to step down in the face of fear. I keep thinking of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. After a while, I get the feeling of hope that always emerges when the ugly truth is stared down. "Famous" is a good example - a much-needed, realistic voice crying out in a wilderness of celebrity worship. A quiet sense of perspective in the face of glamorama.
It's not easy to be famous in this world
nearly impossible to be rich and still find freedom.
Happiness comes easy when there's nothing left to lose
but it doesn't come when there's nothing left to gain.
"Mrs. Waters," sad as it is, is another example. This is an affectionate look at a widow, seeing the woman who is out of reach because of the way she mourns:
No one else could be as holy as you were to me
though you're probably just like every widow, waiting patiently
for the angels with their wings aflame
flying through your window pane
answering your calls and finally taking you back to Mr. Waters
His fingers fly on the guitar as he tells his stories. This is pure, honest, acoustic folk storytelling with a gritty edge. It stays with you. Jennifer Layton, Indiemusic.com - Indie Music.com


"Review Of CD Intentions As Big As The Sky"

Reviews:
"Don't expect the hands-off, antiseptic quality of a big, slick, 68-track studio album. This CD has an earthy, straw-like smell for your ears. It has the grazing touch of a brick wall against the back of your hand. It has very ball-point-pen-on-blue-lined-paper written lyrics. It's honest and quirky."
-- Craig Gilbert, New Haven Advocate
- New Haven Advocate


Discography

solo CD's:
Intentions As Big As The Sky (1997)
Tales Of The Misplaced (1998)
Nervous Laughter (2000)
Grace (2001)
We The People (2004 e.p.)
Gone Gone Gone (2006)
Cost Of Freedom (2006 e.p.)

compilations:
Standing Room (2004)
Steal This Comp (2005)

as a band member:
Tumbleweed Mile: Paint The Morning Gone (2003)
Hope Machine: March (2006)

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Hudson Valley, New York- based NYFA (New York Foundation For The Arts)
grant recipient Fred Gillen Jr. writes and sings songs with messages of hope,
love, and spiritual transformation wrapped up in stories of the struggles and
triumphs of the human condition. Perhaps his musical artistry is best describes by New York Times writer Tom Staudter: "Gillen understands that his musical artistry isn't cookie-cutter stuff, but in the purest sense of the folk tradition he forges ahead, idiosyncrasies and all, a storyteller with rough truths to impart."
An extremely prolific songwriter, Gillen has released five full-length CD's and two e.p.’s independently in the past nine years to great critical acclaim, including his latest full-length release "Gone Gone Gone." His inspired and spontaneous live performances have built him an extensive following on the east coast and beyond. Having toured in most of the U.S.A., as well as Germany, Czech Republic, and Ireland, Gillen is equally comfortable on a huge festival stage, in an intimate house concert, or at almost any venue in between. For three straight years Gillen was voted "Best Folk Artist" by the readers of Westchester Weekly in that publication's readers' poll, and is well-respected by his peers in the folk music community.
Besides performing solo/ acoustic shows, Gillen is a member of Hope Machine. Hope Machine performs "rabble-rousing, folk-rock, native-americana, industrial-rockabilly, foot-stompin'-songs for peace and justice," in a style that can only be described as a "Traveling Hootenanny." The group began as a Woody Guthrie tribute, and is still endorsed by the Woody Guthrie Foundation, though they now incorporate some of their own songs, along with Woody, Pete Seeger, traditional, and any other songs which fit the moment. The group recently released its first CD "March." Gillen has also recently joined the Matt Turk band as bassist, and is performing some acoustic shows as the duo "Gillen & Turk" with Matt.
Having served as president of non-profit organization Tribes Hill for two and a half years, and currently serving on the organization's board, Gillen has also done a great deal to promote and encourage other artists in the Hudson Valley and build up a thriving music scene there.
A long-time engineer and producer of independent recordings, Gillen recently renovated his studio "Woody's House," and has recently worked on CD's by James Durst, Steve Kirkman, Scott Urgola, Work 'O The Weavers, Anthony DaCosta, and Steve Chizmadia there.