Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"The artists who stood out most on Makeshift's first compilation -- Alicja Trout, J.D. Reager, and Postlethwaite -- offer standout tracks the second time around as well. . . Leading off Makeshift #2 is Johnny Romania, led by some-time Flyer contributor Reager. The band's "I Fall" is a subtle, smart, and emotional example of the kind of low-key and tasteful indie-rock style that is most prevalent on the record."
- Chris Herrington - the Memphis Flyer
". . . the disc's highlights are Alicja Trout's "Waste of Breath" and J.D. Reager's "Where He Goes." Reager, also a veteran of several local bands, including Pezz, the Henrys, and, currently, Johnny Romania, opens "Where He Goes" with keyboard and drum pas de deux before launching into a plaintively emotional lo-fi anti-love song that conjures Lou Barlow's stuff from early Sebadoh records."
- Chris Herrington - the Memphis Flyer
"JD Reager, drummer of MoM favorites Glossary, happens to handle vocals, guitar and keys for The Passport Again. In fact, most of the membership here wears several hats in assorted Tennessee bands. Over the seven tracks on the Hold On To The Memory EP, they explore both bubbly and battered lo-fi pop with glints of acoustic guitar, growls of fuzz bass and the occasional bluster of noise. These tunes are also uplifted and distinguished by bright horn accompaniments from co-vocalist/guitarist Tommy Bateman. Shy indie rocker vocals that brood like Sebadoh and well up like Bright Eyes (sans the melodrama, thank you) are powered along by a range of bustling and bottled up grooves. Ben Nichols of Lucero and Joey Kneiser of Glossary appear as guests on this quartet`s debut EP." - Miles of Music
Discography
Glossary
For What I Don't Become (Undertow, 2006) - drums, piano, backing vocals
Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts (Champ, 2003) - drums
Holly
Fearless and Free (Makeshift, 2006) - producer/engineer, guitar, drums, bass, piano, organ, synths
Snowglobe
Oxytocin (Makeshift, 2006) - drums, guitar, backing vocals
Our Land Brains (Makeshift 2002) - backing vocals
the Coach and Four
the Great Escape (Makeshift, 2006) - engineer
2 Way Radio (formerly Walkie Talkie)
Residential Llama (Makeshift, 2006) - engineer
Imagination Head
the Stale and Sparkly Air (Makeshift, 2006) - engineer, drums, guitar, backing vocals
the Noise Choir
Sings Out (2005) - engineer
the Passport Again
Hold on to the Memory E.P. (Migrant/Makeshift, 2004) - producer/engineer, drums, guitar, bass, vocals, piano
Johnny Romania
Popchaser (Extant, 2000) - engineer, guitar, vocals, bass, synths, drums
Pezz
Warmth and Sincerity (Better Youth Organization, 1999) - bass
the Henrys
s/t (Rockingchair, 1997) - drums, guitar, vocals
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
J.D. Reager is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer based in Memphis, TN. In addition to being a new "solo artist" at work on a debut album, he is a former member of several critically acclaimed, touring acts including Glossary, Pezz and the Passport Again. He also currently plays guitar and organ with recording artists Brad Postlethwaite (Snowglobe), Holly and Imagination Head, and a little of this and that with other folks. J.D. is a founder Unclaimed Recordings, the emerging Memphis studio that has produced music from the likes of the Noise Choir, the Coach and Four, 2 Way Radio, Snowglobe, Cory Branan, etc., and is a publicist for Makeshift Music, the label that puts much of that music out.
As a songwriter, J.D. is hard to pigeon-hole. Lyrically, his songs are personal without being overbearing, and brutally honest to the core, with healthy doses of irony and self-deprecation mixed in. Musically, J.D. ranges from solo, acoustic balladry to full-blown, fuzzed-out psychedelic rock (sometimes within the same song), with stops at points in-between. Frequent comparisons to Sebadoh and Elephant 6 are not without their merit.
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