Jon Macey & Steve Gilligan: Press

JON MACEY & STEVE GILLIGAN
Actuality Records
Everything Under The Sun
12-song CD
I have seen Macey and Gilligan perform live several times. I was very impressed by the shimmering quality of their harmonies and how beautifully one’s instrumentation complements the other, with Macey mostly on acoustic guitar and Gilligan mostly on mandocello. Their premier recording does a fine job of capturing the intimate feeling of their shows. Moreover, this recording is a testament to what compatible collaborators they are lyrically, musically, and vocally. This is a democratic partnership as well. In fact, Macey contributes five compositions and Gilligan contributes five. Two contributions are collaborations-the title track/opener, “Everything Under The Sun” and track four, “You Will Know Them.” Both songs would seem at home on Bob Dylan's collections of public domain songs—As Good As I Been To You (1992) and World Gone Wrong (1993). The hook line of the latter song comes from an even better known work: a teaching by Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. Two of the prettiest songs are Macey's “Pretty Little Lady” and “Someone To Care About You.” Gilligan's “All You Gotta Do” creates a sexy mystique by updating Roy Orbison via Chris Issak. A major highlight of this outstanding endeavor is Macey's symbolist epic, “Emma And The Dance.” (Nancy Neon)

Dear Jon and Steve,
Thank you for a wonderful CD! I should have gone home hours ago, but I had new music to process and yours was at the bottom of the box. I'd been listening to jazz and blues all evening and added some good stuff to the new releases rotation. Then I put "Everything Under the Sun" into the player, intending to preview it. Instead, I sat here and listened to the whole thing.
What a terrific collection of songs, well composed and well performed. You are a pair of fine composers and musicians. The breadth of your styles and content is impressive. A couple of your tunes remind me of the Grateful Dead. Others invoke memories of Dylan. "Emma and the Dance" ranks right up there with Nanci Griffith's and Guy Clark's best work. I could go on and on, but I need to get out of here.
I am confident that some of these songs are going to show up on some "big stars'" CDs. I'm thinking Sam Bush, Tim O'Brien, Alison Kraus, Maura O'Connell, maybe even Reba McEntire. I sure hope so.
I do know that our DJs and listeners are about to be introduced to you. I'm going to recommend your CD to every music host who has a bone in his/her body that resonates to the sound of an acoustic stringed instrument.
I will keep you apprised of how much air play the disc receives.
Thanks again for sending it to us.
Deborah Nichols
KRZA Program Director

#9 CD for February
Steve Gilligan and Jon Macey are two veterans of the
Boston music scene and their debut cd as a duo,
EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN, is a very interesting look
into the respective psyches of singer/songwriters who
spin the "England Dan & John Ford Coley"/"Seals &
Crofts"/"Batdorf & Rodney" formula a different way.
Under the production of Barry Marshall this half of
the modern-day Fox Pass band utilize Gilligan's exotic
instruments (Mandocello, Mandolin, Dobro, Harmonica)
and Macey's sometimes cynical look on life (a kind of
twisted optimism offered to make the listener think)
to come up with a dozen tracks that are pretty evenly
distributed.
Jon and Steve write five songs each and co-write two,
you can't get any more democratic than that. For those
who have seen the pair step out of their FOX PASS gigs
and perform, it is a real treat. Unplugged is so
in-vogue and will continue to be so as the new "older
generation" takes Jonathan Richman's advice and turns
it down. Though Fox Pass tends to explode onstage (and
are one of the finer groups in all of New England),
the intricacies of what these refined musicians are
communicating are not easy to duplicate. It's also
important to note since the release of the "Too Much
Perspective" release from Macey's Parade in the 1990s,
Jon Macey has unleashed a solo disc, a "debut" album
from Fox Pass, and now this unique side-project. Is
"Talking Metaphysical Blues" a laugh at Bob Dylan's
expense or just taking the advice of National
Lampoon's "Deteriorata" parody of "Desiderata" - with
its final line of "Give Up!" With lines like "Soon as
I was released/I went off to find myself a priest. But
they churches they had all been sold, they're condos
now or so I'm told; it's a cruel world." It's music
worth exploring if you can withstand the angst. Is
this the sequel to Mick Jagger's "The Girl With The
Faraway Eyes"?
"Showed me some swine before which to throw my
pearls..." Can't wait for the You Tube hit.

Een duo bestaande uit twee muzikanten die echte bewonderaars zijn van Amerikaanse akoestische folk en countrymuziek. Zie daar een definitie die kan gelden voor de heren singer-songwriters Jon Macey en Steve Gilligan uit Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beide artiesten hebben een muzikale carrière achter de rug van meerdere decennia in diverse genres, gaande van punk en rock - Jon Macey was destijds de ruige zanger van punkband “Fox Pass” uit Boston, waarbij Steve Gilligan een tijdje de basgitaar hanteerde tijdens hun reünieconcerten in 2005 - tot hedendaagse folkmuziek, waar Steve Gilligan zich eigenlijk altijd beter thuis voelde. Nu besloten ze om samen een eigen geluid te creëren met een mix van deze verschillende genres. Beiden zijn begenadigde zangers en hun stemmen vloeien wonderwel in elkaar over op de twaalf songs die te horen zijn op hun eerste cd “Everything Under The Sun”. De instrumenten die telkens weer te horen zijn in hun liedjes zijn de akoestische gitaar ondersteund door ofwel de mandoline of de mandocello. Dit minimale gebruik van instrumenten zorgt ervoor dat de songs meestal heel simpel en subtiel van opbouw zijn. De bezongen onderwerpen gaan van de liefde in al haar facetten tot dromerige overpeinzingen en eigenzinnige visies op diverse gebeurtenissen in de hedendaagse wereld. Jon Macey en Steve Gilligan staan veelvuldig samen op het podium en dan zorgen ze voor een aangename avond plezier in diverse clubs in de Boston-regio. De 12 liedjes op deze cd zijn allemaal van eigen makelij maar tijdens live optredens durven ze ook wel eens originele interpretaties geven van liedjes uit het songboek van hun favoriete zangers zoals Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard en Gram Parsons. Er zitten nergens echte verrassingen tussen de liedjes op deze cd. Ze zijn allemaal tot hetzelfde genre en dezelfde stijl terug te voeren. In “All You Gotta Do” herken ik even de zangstem van Michael J. Sheehy maar dat kan ook alleen maar van mij afhangen. Enkel in “Talkin’ Metaphysical Blues” wordt er naast de eerder vermelde instrumenten ook een mondharmonica bovengehaald. Maar veel inventievere activiteiten dan dat hoef je van deze beide heren niet te verwachten. Een zuivere folksongs-collectie en derhalve voornamelijk geschikt voor de echte fans van dit genre.

Steve Gilligan and Jon Macey are two veterans of the Boston music scene as well as half of the band Fox Pass and their debut cd as a duo, Everything
Under The Sun, features a dozen fine original compositions that are
democratically split - five from each songwriter with two collaborations.The title track is one of those co-writes and it features an uptempo Everly Brothers harmony a la The Beatles on "Two Of Us" from the Let It Be cd, and is one of the more poppier episodes before the singers touch upon
the other musical worlds they fancy. With long-time producer Barry Marshall intentionally keeping the production sparse it allows Gilligans' superb use of Mandocello, Mandolin, Dobro, Harmonica - as well as Jon
Macey's Dulcimer playing - to shine under the perfect guitar strums. Live in concert it is those exotic instruments coupled with the strong
songwriting that helps the pair create a magic their friend and colleague Jonathan Richman sought when he traded the loud underground rock in for
the Flamenco guitar. But where Richman tells his song/stories from the
protagonist's point of view, Macey and Gilligan indulge their passion for the music of Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, The Louvin Brothers and, deliberate or not, Bob Dylan, in a reverent way that keeps their
personalities from overpowering the material. It's a dramatic departure
from Fox Pass where the writing is solely from the pens of Jon Macey and his long-time collaborator, Mike Roy - a pair who toured with Hall & Oates
(they had the same manager), so the major league polish and approach on a simple composition like "You Will Know Them" is crafted from decades of walking the path. Religious overtones abound, former Stompers' bassist Steve Gilligan's solo voice on "Harrison Ave. 2 AM" before the harmonies kick in give the album another sort of definition - this is not a Jon
Macey solo project - and the exciting sounds of the old world
instrumentation that sparkle onstage translate perfectly to cd. Producer Marshall compared old mixes from The Louvin Brothers to keep the sound authentic, or as this trio (duo with their producer) call it..."timeless." It works, especially on the disc's longest track, the eight minute epic
"Emma And The Dance" with its lovely instrumental opening. Less is more here because these minstrels are so proficient at working these stringed instruments and, clearly, are in it for the art, evidenced on "Watchin'
You Go By" and the neo-rockabilly of Roy Orbison-gone-folky that is "All You Gotta Do". Even the packaging reflects the care put into the recordings, the vintage look of the back photo, the color schemes on both the inside panel and the CD face. Picture Aztec Two Step or Batdorf and Rodney exploring new territory by going back to the future, a lot of ground is covered by keeping it simple and touching upon as many of their
influences as possible. Everything Under The Sun" is a pleasant and highly effective departure from what the Fox Pass fan base expects, and for those familiar with Jon Macey and Steve Gilligan's rock & roll efforts, hearing a "Gordon's Daughter" would certainly confuse during a blindfold test, and impress, as this album does from start to finish.