Gary Jeffries Band

Gary Lee Jeffries talks with Morning Show host, Joe LePage, about his career, new album, MIDDLE CLASS MAN, and upcoming band performance a the Monticello Main Street Music Festival, Friday - July 29, 2011 . Gary performs his acoustic version of MIDDLE CLASS MAN! - WLFI Channel 18, Morning Show with Joe LePage

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Shemrah Fallon, 30 Morse Place, New Haven, CT 06512
Mobile: 203/444-2356
Email: nsfallon@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MIDDLE CLASS MAN MUSIC REVIVAL
Southern rocker and former Virgin Records recording artist, Gary Jeffries, headlines the Monticello Main Street Music Festival, July 29
and delivers a set of true working man’s rock from new CD
All raw, all live, all real

MONTICELLO, INDIANA, July 19, 2011:
From the MTV Wall of Fame to The Whiskey and Roxy shores of the Sunset Strip, riding on his V-Twin pony with saddle bags packed with newly released CDs ‘Middle Class Man’ comes that hard-edged Southern rocker, Gary Jeffries, proudly claiming his Indy roots in true American style. Riding with him to kick off the Monticello Main Street Music Festival are music rebels, Brett Mullins, lead guitar; Steve Fletcher, bass guitar; and Randy Travis on drums.

Monticello is still his favorite place to play, after all its his hometown, and Jeffries and band are cooking up great batch of musical stew for his well loved home-based fans, seasoned with best tastes from his musical past along with a brand new set of true grit Jeffries songs, all flavored with a spicy, hard edged southern rock and down home country blend. Radio personality, Alligator Jackson reviews Jeffries’ new CD ‘Middle Class Man’ as “one of the best southern rock albums to emerge since the southern glory days of the seventies!” This musical collection features a medley all time Jeffries favorites with interplays of new songs, including Mississippi Girl that is sure to rank on radio waves, according to Jackson. As a special addition, Jeffries pays special tribute to the four Monticello children who died in the tragic school bus accident of 2009 on the final track, Free in Heaven.

What else is it about this Monticello son that makes his musical story so compelling? When asked this question by J.J. Tebbe of Arizona’s Rock Today magazine (Rocktober ’91 issue), Jeffries former band mate, Julius Ulrich (guitarist-Asphalt Ballet), put it this way, “When we first met him, it’s like this guy’s got a straw hat on and we thought…are people gonna love him or hate him, but all that mattered was that he sang from the heart. And that’s what we wanted, a singer that would hit you in the heart. He does that to me.” Well, Jeffries traded in that straw hat for a feathered cowboy one with an alligator foot, his trademark, and he continues to win our hearts.

Jeffries high-spirited music has made headline news around town ever since the 70’s when he launched his career as lead vocalist with popular grassroots, top-40 local band, H.O. Brown. We followed him to the swamp lands of Louisiana where he fell in love with the delta blues vibe and on
to the big time urban jungles of Los Angeles (from LA to L.A). We were glued to our TV sets when our very own hometown American idol gave a virtuoso performance on Star Search, almost winning first place. But that didn’t prevent Jeffries from signing with major label, Virgin Records America, in the early 90’s as powerful front man for hard rock band, Asphalt Ballet. We proudly celebrated their debut CD and national tour and cast huge waves of votes for Asphalt’s top video, Soul Survive, making it the undefeated 7 time winner of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. We may have caught Jeffries’ act when he performed with members of Guns N’ Roses at Soberfest, Malibu, CA to a crowd of thousands. Our local headlines proclaimed more dreams come true when Jeffries and his prized Southern rock band, Alligator Stew, opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd in Reno, Nevada in the summer of 2002. Let’s not forget Alligator Stew’s award winning video Blood Money (All Access Magazine 2006), aired on Great American Country (GAC) TV in 2006.

We heard Jeffries vocals and songs featured in the Charlie Sheen movie, Beyond the Law, on the Life Time Channel, The Hallmark Movie Channel, The Metal Years, Vol. 17, and HBO series ‘True Blood’ and ‘Weeds’. In addition to Lynyrd Skynyd, we boast among ourselves that his bands have opened for artists Ted Nugent, 38 Special, Marshall Tucker, The Guess Who, Rare Earth, John Lee Hooker, Billie Idol, Eric Clapton, and many more.

And the rock star story goes on. Huge billboards of Jeffries standing tall on a junk yard car, symbolizing the resilient strength of the middle class man, have been raised all around Monticello to draw fun loving crowds to the Main Street Music Festival. Join the middle class revival and get out to The Monticello Main Street Music Festival on July 29, for the 5PM show (Gary Jeffries Band at 10:30PM) in order to catch the best of this Monticello born-and-bred, highly celebrated artist.

###

STORY PREP INFORMATION
• Gary Jeffries – comfortable on camera; offers concise, straight-talk responses to questions about his career. Electronic press kit at Gary Jeffries Band at Sonic Bids (http://www.sonicbids.com/2/artist/default.aspx?artist_id=1981 - Press Release

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Shemrah Fallon, 30 Morse Place, New Haven, CT 06512
Mobile: 203/444-2356
Email: nsfallon@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MIDDLE CLASS MAN MUSIC REVIVAL
Southern rocker and former Virgin Records recording artist, Gary Jeffries, headlines the Monticello Main Street Music Festival, July 29
and delivers a set of true working man’s rock from new CD
All raw, all live, all real

MONTICELLO, INDIANA, July 19, 2011:
From the MTV Wall of Fame to The Whiskey and Roxy shores of the Sunset Strip, riding on his V-Twin pony with saddle bags packed with newly released CDs ‘Middle Class Man’ comes that hard-edged Southern rocker, Gary Jeffries, proudly claiming his Indy roots in true American style. Riding with him to kick off the Monticello Main Street Music Festival are music rebels, Brett Mullins, lead guitar; Steve Fletcher, bass guitar; and Randy Travis on drums.

Monticello is still his favorite place to play, after all its his hometown, and Jeffries and band are cooking up great batch of musical stew for his well loved home-based fans, seasoned with best tastes from his musical past along with a brand new set of true grit Jeffries songs, all flavored with a spicy, hard edged southern rock and down home country blend. Radio personality, Alligator Jackson reviews Jeffries’ new CD ‘Middle Class Man’ as “one of the best southern rock albums to emerge since the southern glory days of the seventies!” This musical collection features a medley all time Jeffries favorites with interplays of new songs, including Mississippi Girl that is sure to rank on radio waves, according to Jackson. As a special addition, Jeffries pays special tribute to the four Monticello children who died in the tragic school bus accident of 2009 on the final track, Free in Heaven.

What else is it about this Monticello son that makes his musical story so compelling? When asked this question by J.J. Tebbe of Arizona’s Rock Today magazine (Rocktober ’91 issue), Jeffries former band mate, Julius Ulrich (guitarist-Asphalt Ballet), put it this way, “When we first met him, it’s like this guy’s got a straw hat on and we thought…are people gonna love him or hate him, but all that mattered was that he sang from the heart. And that’s what we wanted, a singer that would hit you in the heart. He does that to me.” Well, Jeffries traded in that straw hat for a feathered cowboy one with an alligator foot, his trademark, and he continues to win our hearts.

Jeffries high-spirited music has made headline news around town ever since the 70’s when he launched his career as lead vocalist with popular grassroots, top-40 local band, H.O. Brown. We followed him to the swamp lands of Louisiana where he fell in love with the delta blues vibe and on
to the big time urban jungles of Los Angeles (from LA to L.A). We were glued to our TV sets when our very own hometown American idol gave a virtuoso performance on Star Search, almost winning first place. But that didn’t prevent Jeffries from signing with major label, Virgin Records America, in the early 90’s as powerful front man for hard rock band, Asphalt Ballet. We proudly celebrated their debut CD and national tour and cast huge waves of votes for Asphalt’s top video, Soul Survive, making it the undefeated 7 time winner of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. We may have caught Jeffries’ act when he performed with members of Guns N’ Roses at Soberfest, Malibu, CA to a crowd of thousands. Our local headlines proclaimed more dreams come true when Jeffries and his prized Southern rock band, Alligator Stew, opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd in Reno, Nevada in the summer of 2002. Let’s not forget Alligator Stew’s award winning video Blood Money (All Access Magazine 2006), aired on Great American Country (GAC) TV in 2006.

We heard Jeffries vocals and songs featured in the Charlie Sheen movie, Beyond the Law, on the Life Time Channel, The Hallmark Movie Channel, The Metal Years, Vol. 17, and HBO series ‘True Blood’ and ‘Weeds’. In addition to Lynyrd Skynyd, we boast among ourselves that his bands have opened for artists Ted Nugent, 38 Special, Marshall Tucker, The Guess Who, Rare Earth, John Lee Hooker, Billie Idol, Eric Clapton, and many more.

And the rock star story goes on. Huge billboards of Jeffries standing tall on a junk yard car, symbolizing the resilient strength of the middle class man, have been raised all around Monticello to draw fun loving crowds to the Main Street Music Festival. Join the middle class revival and get out to The Monticello Main Street Music Festival on July 29, for the 5PM show (Gary Jeffries Band at 10:30PM) in order to catch the best of this Monticello born-and-bred, highly celebrated artist.

###

STORY PREP INFORMATION
• Gary Jeffries – comfortable on camera; offers concise, straight-talk responses to questions about his career. Electronic press kit at Gary Jeffries Band at Sonic Bids (http://www.sonicbids.com/2/artist/default.aspx?artist_id=1981 - Press Release

On his first solo CD, Gary Jeffries delivers a set of true working man's rock. Loaded with grit and southern pride, Jeffries may be a 'middle-class man', but he is far from average. While the screaming lead guitars, the tasty slide guitar, and occasional harmonica give the CD a cohesive southern feel, Gary shows unparalleled vocal range on songs that range from anthemic southern rock ("Ashes to Ashes" and "Middle Class Man"), radio ready country rock ("Mississippi Girl"), cajun rock ("Southern Pride"), classic rock ("Blood On The Highway"), Great White and Mott The Hoople style boogie rock ("Know You Too Well"), a touch of modern rock ("Free My Soul") and even southern grunge ("Flowers on My Grave"). The CCR classic "Bad Moon Rising" is countrified with a slight party vibe thrown in to give the song a modern edge. "Free" kicks the album off with the sense of urgency of a man breaking through the chains that have restrained him for years. "Free In Heaven" ends the album with a heartfelt tribute to children from Gary's hometown who died in a school bus crash.

He has the swagger of a grizzled rock 'n roll warrior but also the freshness and energy of a new voice ready to make his name known. Gary Jeffries is a music veteran who has performed on MTV's Headbanger's Ball with his band Asphalt Ballet, appeared in videos on Country Music Television (CMT) and Great American Country Television (GAC) with his southern rock band, Alligator Stew, performed on stage with Guns N’ Roses in Axl Rose's absence, and auditioned for Quiet Riot. He has the swagger of a grizzled rock 'n roll warrior but also the freshness and energy of a new voice ready to make his name known.

"Middle Class Man" is one of the best southern rock albums to emerge since the southern glory days of the seventies. It is also much more than just a southern rock record. Gary walks the tightrope of several genres in creating a blend of rock and country that should be blasting from car stereos this summer in not only the South, but the North, East, and West, as well.
- alligatorjackson.com

MONTICELLO -- Upon hearing about a school bus crash that took the lives of four Monticello children on Sept. 26, Gary Jeffries knew he had to do something.

A longtime musician originally from Monticello, Jeffries wrote and recorded a song. Weeks later, his spur-of-the-moment recording, "Free in Heaven," has become a hit in the city and is racking up numbers on his MySpace page.

Twin Lakes School Corp. Superintendent Thomas Fletcher has heard it. "I love it," he said. "It's a beautiful song."

Local radio station WMRS plays the song at least three times a day. "It's our No. 1 requested song," deejay Jaime Valle said.
The radio station is going to start selling the song, with all proceeds going to the TLKT Tragedy Fund, a local fund established to aid the families of the four children.
Jeffries said he is truly amazed at the reaction to the song, which he calls an effort to help heal everyone involved. "It made me realize why I do music," he said, nearly at a loss for words. "It isn't about the money at all. It's just, wow."

Jeffries, who has performed with rock bands Asphalt Ballet and Alligator Stew, now fronts the Gary Jeffries Band and calls Dayton, Ohio, his home.

Jeffries first heard about the crash on Sept. 27, during a phone call with his dad, who lives in Monticello. After he got off the phone, Jeffries went to his computer to look up as much information as he could about the crash. He read several stories, some that included pictures of Lauren Melin, 5; Kale Seabolt, 9; Tyler Geiger, 10; and Trevor Ingram, 10.

Once he saw the pictures, "it hit me real hard," Jeffries said. Moments later, he went to the room where he keeps his recording equipment, turned it on, picked up his acoustic guitar and just started to play.
The notes and words started to flow, he said. The soulful song mentions all four kids by name, "Lauren, Trevor, Tyler and Kale, they'll not be forgotten, fly free and sail," he sings.

After some tweaking, he burned five copies of the song on CDs and mailed them to WMRS anonymously. One was for the station, he said. The other four were for the families.

He chose to remain anonymous "because it was about the kids," he said. "This is something that's a tribute to them."

Staff members at the station listened to the song. "We knew right away it was him," Valle said. The station had interviewed Jeffries on several occasions.

After the song aired, it wasn't long before the station received a first phone call, then another one, then another. From there it snowballed, said Kevin Page, the station's co-owner.

So many people called asking about the song that station personnel contacted Jeffries, asking if they could let people know who sings it.

"It was a very spiritual song for me," he said. "It's one of the closest tunes to my heart that I've ever written. Somehow, that song was meant to come out."

BY CURT SLYDER • CSLYDER@JOURNALANDCOURIER.COM • OCTOBER 17, 2008
- Curt Slyder

"...the most versatile singer I have ever heard. He does Motley Crue styled metal with Asphalt Ballet, southern rock with Alligator Stew, and rootsy blues with Grouchy Rooster, among others." ~ Alligator Jackson, All Southern Rock - Alligator Jackson

Nominated for best Los Angeles male vocalist by Rock City News Magazine in 2000 - Rock City News Magazine

"I have to say this--that Gary Jeffries really puts his all into his music and in these days and times of sharks and rip off artists he is one of the best trusted men in the music profession bar none." -John Capps/Joncap Publishing - Jon Capps

Nominated for best Los Angeles male vocalist by Rock City News Magazine in 2000 - Rock City News Magazine

First, in June 08 it was Saliva and now its HBO's trendy new series, TRUE BLOOD that has just featured the Southern swampy-bluesy music of songwriter and vocalist, Gary Jeffries.

The show details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional small Louisiana town, after Japanese-made synthetic blood –"TruBlood" – becomes available for purchase. It follows Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a diner, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

The show has become so popular that "On September 17, 2008, HBO announced it renewed True Blood for a second season after airing only two episodes. Production will begin early 2009, with new episodes slated to air during June-August 2009.
- Nancy Fallon

First, in June 08 it was Saliva and now its HBO's trendy new series, TRUE BLOOD that has just featured the Southern swampy-bluesy music of songwriter and vocalist, Gary Jeffries.

The show details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional small Louisiana town, after Japanese-made synthetic blood –"TruBlood" – becomes available for purchase. It follows Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a diner, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

The show has become so popular that "On September 17, 2008, HBO announced it renewed True Blood for a second season after airing only two episodes. Production will begin early 2009, with new episodes slated to air during June-August 2009.
- Nancy Fallon