Albums Gallery
The Background Stories of J. Monroe’s Albums
Recording settings ranged from home studios to converted garage studios, to a large professional studio. Most recordings took place in Eugene, Oregon; a couple of them in Bend, Oregon. You will note that for some songs (Lamplight Lizzy, Thin Things, Fine Lady, and Impetuous Ways), I have included different arrangements, reflecting varied interpretations of the songs by different musicians. Moreover, the “vintage” quality of the songs on these two discs represent a tradition of musical companionships I have valued over time. I have credited the musicians who have contributed to these songs, however, I wish to particularly recognize the many years, in excess of 2.5 decades, of friendship and musicianship I have shared with: Neil Issacson, Tom Boyd, Will Levin (“Levi Wills”), and Rick Thomas. These friends and fellow musicians, also with Lloyd Brass, Don Allen, Ron Wyckoff and myself, comprise our current band, “Total Hip”. I hope we all continue, in one way or another, to share creatively in our respective musical pursuits!
Raw Vintage Studio
1990-2010
This double album is entitled “Raw Vintage Studio”. The choice of the title in part reflects the fact that, whether intended or not, these original songs have ended up in various stages of completion. For example, some songs were recorded with backing vocals, some without. Similarly, not all songs have solo parts; further, some have percussion, some not.* You will hear songs with a full band sound, yet others are quite sparse, with only vocal and acoustic guitar. The title, “Raw Vintage Studio”, also reflects that most of the songs were recorded from 1990 to 1999, the exception being that of “Thin Things” on Disc Two, which was recorded by the band :Total Hip” in February of 2010. For the 90’s songs, the recording formats used were a 10-inch Reel-To-Reel, 4-Track Cassette Recorders, and the ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape). Again, the exception was “Thin Things” (Disc Two), which was recorded by an Olympus LS-10 digital recorder.
This album was produced primarily with two purposes in mind. From a practical standpoint, the songs would have all been lost due to eventual tape degradation, had they not been transferred to discs. To this point, it is probable that the audio clarities of “Fine Lady” and “Impetuous Ways”, both on Disc Two, as well as “Fine Lady II” and “Impetuous Ways II”, both on Disc Two, have been compromised due to long term storage on analog cassette tapes. However, the “vintage” essence” of these recordings remains. Secondly, in a sense, this project was pursued to create a “living legacy” of a significant part of my personal musical history. Of all the directions my life has taken, music has been omnipresent. Even in periods of life when my music ventures were rather dormant, due to competing pursuits, thoughts of discontinuing my active musical passions were never entertained. Fellow musicians will understand when I say that there has always been and will continue to be visceral and emotional needs to create, play, and perform music.
I would also like to share some historical notes on a few of the songs.
“At Last” and “Going The Distance” were written and performed as wedding songs for friends, Maynard/Tracy Brusman and Brent/Diana Wolf, respectively. “Linda Rode On”, sadly, was written in memory to Linda Todd, a compassionate, competent psychologist colleague and, at the time (1998), mother to a young daughter, Katie. Linda met a tragic accidental end to her life as she was participating in a benefit cycle ride for abused children through the Northwest. “Lady and The Lasalle” is a biography of my adoptive parents’ relationship; composed and recorded as my gift to them, commemorating at the time their 50th wedding anniversary. As of this date (12/15/12), my parents have been married 63 years, still living together in a full-assisted care setting in Victoria B.C, Canada. Finally, to complete this
“vintage” album, I have included two children’s songs (end of Disc Two), written and recorded with my daughters, Lindsay and Jayme, when they were 10 years and 7 years old, respectively. Currently (2012), they are 28 and 25 years of age. What a great memory girls!
At this writing, I am one day away from turning 65 but am fully intending to not place myself “out to pasture”. Not even close. I am continuing to write and record music, and fully intend there to be additional albums in the future. As I retire my profession in clinical psychology, I will be afforded the opportunity to advance my guitar skill towards these ends. I am so looking forward to this.
Thank you to all who may give a listen to “Raw Vintage Studio”, and to all my fellow musicians who have contributed to these creations!
J. Monroe 12-15-12
There are certainly others who must be acknowledged. Essential to this album’s journey has been the love of my life, my wife, Julie Williams. I have always relied on Julie to be thoroughly objective and, if called for, brutally honest about my songs. I was so consistently pleased, inspired, and relieved (!) when Julie would listen intently to my songs and often emerge with very positive, supportive assessments of what she heard. Of course, when she didn’t like what she heard, she was transparent about this as well!. Appreciatively, what followed were improved changes. Thank you Julie! My oldest daughter, Lindsay Seifi, has also been such an amazing resource throughout this whole project. I know she has listened with a discriminating ear, very attentively, to each and every song, for which she has consistently provided me with written feedback, in prolific detail, which has been so incredibly useful. Lindsay has also been SO generous of her professional skills and artistic expertise in the design of the album’s beautiful CD graphics. But then Lindsay really surprised me with an absolutely wonderful birthday gift!….a “larger than life” music video of the album’s title song, “Truth Be Known”. I was blown away. What an amazing gift that I will forever cherish. Love and gratitude also to my youngest daughter, Jayme and my daughter-in-law Shannon, who listened to my recordings and effectively multi-tasked in providing supportive feedback in the throes of being new parents to my grandson, Everett.
Truth Be Known Album Release Show
Truth Be Known
2018
In anticipation of the recording of this album, Truth Be Known, my visions and expectations were quite modest, in fact minimal. That is, I wanted to achieve some clear tracks of 10 songs I had written, with no plans, nor illusions of any wider distribution beyond sharing the album with supportive family and friends. This all changed when I met Hank and Bill Shreve of the Hank Shreve Band. After hearing renditions of my songs, Hank and Bill agreed to be hired for their expertise. I was thrilled. Bill and Hank are consummate professional musicians who represent lifetimes of experience. Together with these music professionals, what evolved over the ensuing 13 months were many dedicated recording and producing sessions. This included multi-track sound engineering of recordings in Bill and Hank’s private studio, comprehensive production of the album; and thirdly, fulfilling roles as studio musicians, adding rich tracking throughout the album. Bill and Hank were adept in introducing percussive, rhythmic, vocal and solo parts with crunch and power where needed, while being sensitive to the songs’ dynamic nuances. Their multi-instrumental and vocal talent are diverse, creative, and interesting. I appreciated that Hank and Bill were also very transparent, yet gracious, in offering up helpful suggestions for arrangement and rhythm changes on songs. These significantly elevated the quality of several songs, while retaining the song’s emotion and drive, as originally written. There were also those songs that were written with rhythmic and volume changes that were challenging, not intuitive. I very much appreciated that Bill and Hank persevered on these! I am forever grateful for Hank and Bill’s artistry, their consistently effective collaboration on the album, and of great value, their friendship.
Others along the way who were so generous of their time and efforts in listening to these songs, providing me with valued, candid impressions, include: my long time friends, Mike Martinez, Brent Wolf, Maynard Brusman, and Rich Klotz; my fantastic son-in-law, Joe Seifi, a big time music and concert enthusiast; my friends, Carl Sherwood, Herb Severson, Gayle and Mike Chisholm, David Fryefield, Catherine Kordesch, Bill and Teresa Moshofsky, Holly Krueger, Bob Percy, Andrea Kingsley and Pamela Bilyeu (whose brainstorm inspired the title of the album!). I have also much appreciated and valued the astute perception offered by Marshall Peter, who I consider essentially to be a “scholar and historian” of rock/blues and was the the first to air “Million Years” as the host of the KOCF 92.5 FM live-streamed show, Jumpin’ In and Out of the Blues. Thangs again, Marshall! Finally, my brother, Jeff Westbrook, a dedicated, very talented, very experienced rock/blues drummer in the San Francisco Bay Area, who has always been supportive and encouraging of my music ventures.
Thank you all!!!!
J. Monroe 2018
Shaping this album, there have been a number of new approaches, and a very unexpected personal life experience which have served to define Stroke In Time. The title of the album was inspired by the fact that I actually suffered an ischemic stroke on October 28, 2022. As these things go, I was actually one of the “lucky” ones. Crucial timeliness of first-responder emergency medical services, competent emergency room interventions, outstanding inpatient intensive care and outpatient rehab were central in returning me to pre-stroke functioning, with only a several month delay in the final production and release of the album you have before you. Stroke In Time represents several innovative musical contrasts to the first album. First, there is the introduction of killer horn tracks (Saxophone and Trumpet) played by Bill Shreve on three songs (Lady and Lasalle, Blind Men, Leave It To Chance). Another innovation of the present album are two songs which are derived from the astute, engaging short-story talents of my friend, Alex Daniell. Although Alex is not himself a musician, he enthusiastically encouraged me to incorporate two of his stories in my songwriting, which I “experimentally” did and, as it turns out, I am very happy to have done so for the songs “Sweeping out the Corners” and “Somebody Else’s Train”. Another contrast to the 2018 album was the recruitment of the back up vocals of Laurie Shreve, contributing to a fuller, “sweeter” sound in the album’s rock ballad “Sweet Spot”. Laurie is Hank’s mother, and with Hank’s father, Bill, a tradition unfolded many years ago with Laurie and Bill playing and performing in rock bands since Hank was an infant. This tradition continued throughout Hank’s youthful years; and essentially are the historic beginnings of what became the Hank Shreve Band!
Stroke In Time
2023
In the ensuing years since the 2018 release of the Truth Be Known album, my passion for the art of singing-songwriting has certainly persisted and, as with the first album, it’s been an honor and privilege to again produce another album, Stroke In Time, incorporating the extraordinary musicianship and production talents of Bill and Hank Shreve of the Hank Shreve Band (HSB). As with Truth Be Known, the genre’s of Stroke in Time are largely consistent with blues, rock, and indie, driven by Hank and Bill’s extraordinary multi-instrumental dynamics of percussive, rhythmic, and solo parts. The fullness of Bill’s multi-track, diverse back up vocals are also strongly present throughout the album. The lyrical content of my writing reflects a range of personal interpretations of relationship dynamics, life choices, and some reflective commentary on the political/social/cultural states of the world, seemingly “low-hanging fruit” for lyrical ideas.
In closing, as with art in general, my intentions in songwriting are numerous but include ones of expression of personal views, with corresponding responses of feelings and emotion. It is hoped that the songs’ musically-driven messages might also elicit for the listeners moments of personal meaning, and a range of reflexive feelings, whatever they may be!
As always, my sincere appreciation to all who may be listening to the songs of Stroke In Time.
Thank you all!!!!
J. Monroe 2023
Special Tribute to Hank and Bill Shreve
Hank and Bill Shreve (of the Hank Shreve Band) have been with J. Monroe throughout the entire process of recording, mixing, mastering, production, multi-instrumentation, and back-up vocals* of the last two albums: Truth Be Known (2018) and Stroke In Time (2023). I (J. Monroe) will be forever grateful for Hank and Bill’s musical artistry and friendship in their consistently effective collaboration on these albums. The other very talented musicians of the Hank Shreve Band, who performed for the release shows, include: solo and rhythm guitarist, Ken Luker, keyboardist, Randy Andrieni, and drummers, Tim Seifert and Tim Donahue.
Please refer to the CD liner notes (on this website) for complete details of the production and history of these albums.
*Hank Shreve also was the lead vocalist on the last track of Truth Be Known (“Writer’s Block Blues); Laurie Shreve (Bill’s wife and Hank’s mom!) sang back up vocal for track 3 (“Sweet Spot”) on the Stroke In Time album.