Jeff German & The Blankety Blanks
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Jeff German & The Blankety Blanks

Granville, Ohio, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | INDIE

Granville, Ohio, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2013
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"Jeff German's Electric Nostalgia"

JEFF GERMAN AT NATALIES. On Saturday, April 15, I went to Natalie’s Pizza for Jeff German’s half-CD release party. Jeff is due to release his second record on Slothtrop Records later this year, and his label was releasing an early five-song “maxi-single.”

I had a chance to listen to the single itself, a song called “Woodshed,” and a few of its supporting pieces on the drive up. Woodshed conjures a time warp between present and past, a place that has still has eight tracks, black and white TVs, and affordable vintage guitars. It might be 2015, it might be 1972, which fits right in with German’s history of writing to a mythic past, where long roads still lead to nowhere and strangers still ride into town and take an inconspicuous seat at the back of the bar.

I had never been to Natalie’s before, and unfortunately I had eaten before I arrived. My boss (who knows about these things) had assured me that it was real deal New York Pizza, and while the pies coming out of the kitchen were a little bit more ornate than, say, John’s Pizza in Greenwich Village, they still looked quite tasty. I also arrived early and without my phone, which led to me being subjected to a tedious drunk at the bar who introduced himself four times. Such is the way of things.

Singer-songwriter Keith Larsen opened. Although the sentimentality got to me after a couple of songs, I was impressed with Larson’s gentle vocals -- a really good singer -- and tasteful guitar playing. I think that I would have appreciated him more if I were less of a cynical troll.

German then came on, looking natty in a plaid sport coat and the first of an ever changing variety of to-die-for guitars. He did songs from the new album, songs from the new maxi-single and a few tunes I had never heard before, like the darker “1,000 times” and the text message inspired “Somewhere Between Now and Not Quite Yet.”

The supporting band was terrific, with Graig Barnett tearing it up on lead Telecaster. My favorite part of the night was when Barnett and German did a harmonized guitar lead on “12 Rounds,” a tune from German’s 2014 release of the same name. Now that’s something you don’t see everyday.

It was a great and loud set, and I walked away with a new appreciation for German’s sincerity. After watching him physically throw himself into songs like “12 Rounds” or “Black and Blue,” you realize just how personally he takes this. - Columbus Free Press


"CD Review-Jeff German's "12 Rounds""

by Ed Forman
MARCH 23, 2014

A couple of months back, I mentioned that longtime central Ohio music veteran Jeff German had signed a three record deal with Slothtrop Records. Last Tuesday, Slothtrop released German’s debut album, “12 R.O.U.N.D.S.”

The impressive thing about German’s record deal is not that it happened, but when it happened – the album is being released just after German’s 50th birthday. A fixture on the Columbus music scene in the 90’s with the Flying Saucers, German shut down his music career, moved with his wife to Granville, raised a family and coached hockey. When his children were old enough, German returned to playing with the Cur Dogs, who self-released the album “Chasing Tales” in 2010. He also put in some time as a side-man, playing lead guitar with several acts, including Lydia Loveless. In 2013 German formed his current band, the Blankety Blanks, and made some recordings which found their way to Slothtrop Records, who contacted German in the fall of 2013.

When he was first approached by the label, German thought that he was the victim of a music industry con. As anyone who has tried promotion knows, the wolves are out there: pay for play internet radio, fake song-shopping, Facebook placement and god knows how many “networking” sites that wage war against e-mail inboxes. When Slothtrop president Eric Hester called, “I actually hung up on him” remembers German. “He called me right back and said ‘hey, I lost you.’ I started telling him that I did not have any money to give him -- I was actually being pretty rude about it. Finally, he said that he was just going to call me back in a few days.”

This time around it was legit. Hester called German back the following Monday, and finally convinced him that they were a real record label who wanted to sign him. Slothtrop’s offer coincided with another development – with children nearly grown, for the first time in nearly two decades German had the ability to extensively tour to promote an album.

German’s new CD, 12 R.O.U.N.D.S., is absolutely freeway music, made for the car stereo. The arrangements are generally simple; guitars through tube combo amps, bass, drums, high harmonies on the choruses and a Hammond B-3 Organ whirring through a Leslie overhead. This set up, give or take a piano player, has been around since Bob Dylan put together a band for the “Like a Rolling Stone” sessions. It’s a classic sound; it has survived five decades for a reason.

“Sit and Think,” the first track on the album, rolls in with a “head full of guilt and pockets full of cash.” With a nod to Ohio Rt. 41 to Aberdeen, beloved by motorcyclists, it slips the line “this town needs a bar, ‘cause I need a drink” straight into the subconscious.

“Kro-Bide,” celebrates the carbide tipped Black and Decker circular saw blade which used to be ubiquitous on construction sites: “[n]othing calms the spirit, like sawdust through the pine.” To me, the title brings back memories of hauling 4’x8’ OSB sheathing onto roofs, college summers, and the taste of Copenhagen. This is something different though -- a craftsman, a trade, a way of life which is ending.

“Fifteen Minutes,” starts with a creepy/goofy acoustic guitar and then warps into a glorious celebration of the Hammond B3 organ, played by Tim McLaughlin. The vocals are far more self-aware than elsewhere on the album, dark but good humored. The track is a needed bit of contrast – I would have liked a few more in this style.

My favorite song on the album is “Before its Gone.” According to German, it’s a song about a conversation he had with his wife several years ago about how long he was going to keep playing music. I hear it more as unstated certainty that he will keep going as long as he can hold a guitar.

On the subject of a record deal at the age of 50, German is still taking it all in: “I honestly feel like my luck has changed -- I don’t know if I deserve it or not, but I really feel like it has.” Indeed, the human concept of luck is a running theme throughout the album. What the Greeks called tyche, the Romans fortuna, karma to fools who think that they can control it. The Kro-Bide carpenter recognizes that his luck has run out, but seems ready to catch it when it invariably returns. Here’s hoping that German’s newfound luck holds.

Jeff German and the Blankety Blanks will be appearing in Columbus in support of the new CD on April 18th at the Tree Bar, and at Broken Records and Beehives on April 19th. - Columbus Free Press


"12 Rounds with Jeff German"

12 Rounds with Jeff German
There’s something honest about the way Jeff German talks about his music. It’s the same way some guys talk about cars, or fishing, or rifles. It’s the honesty of a man who has a wife and kids and “two hours a day to bash out these songs. So here they are, take ‘em or leave ‘em.”

Everything about the new Jeff German and the Blankety Blanks record 12 Rounds feels organic, honest and unpretentious. All the good things that a smash and bang rock ’n roll record used to be are in here. Big mashy drums, loud guitars and a total absence of apologies for being exactly what it is: your favorite band banging out well-written tunes that are as comfortable on the first listen as your favorite jeans or a pair of well-worn leather boots.

Jeff is the consummate sideman having performed with great bands like the Cur Dogs, Flying Saucers, and Diablo 44. Diablo 44 and Flying Saucers both had record deals, but life got in the way and Jeff put music aside when he met his current wife while living in California.

Jeff and his family moved back to Columbus in 2007 and he started getting calls to play as a sideman again, eventually finding himself as a guitarist in the local famous Cur Dogs, along with frontman Tal Lohr, and touring with alt country darling Lydia Loveless as her lead guitarist.

The Cur Dogs cut an album and gigged when they weren’t playing as sidemen for other people. One night after what German describes as a “great gig” he received a text that said, “That’s the way to go out.” And with that the Cur Dogs were done.

Jeff had already penned two songs for the new Cur Dogs record and after much encouragement from Akron singer-songwriter Matt Hoover and recent Liner Notes-featured Todd May, German decided to make a whole album of his own material.

This album is not the most dynamic album I’ve heard this year. It doesn’t have much in the way of wispy ballads and wanderlust. This is rock that gets in your face and stays there, with plenty of old school Jerry Donahue telecaster twang cranked through Jeff’s Matcheless-like Goodsell Solo 33 112, which was built on the same rig as John Fogerty’s. 12 Rounds has plenty of evidence of the years Jeff has spent as a country sideman, but the vintage vibe of a record recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1975.

German smartly doesn’t apologize for it’s nature.

“This record is loud,” he says, “I made it that way on purpose. It was mastered at plus 3db, so it’s supposed to be played loud.”

He’s telling to truth.

“Todd (May) told me to get these songs out there because they’re good songs,” says German. When a singer-songwriter as good as Todd May, who is coming off his own great record Rickenbacker Girls, tells you songs are good you should probably take his word for it.

So German and his trusted bandmates put down the tracks at Rome Recording Studio, then mixed the record at Sonic Lounge Studios under the watchful production of Joe Viers. 12 Rounds features former Cur Dogs bandmate Graig Barret on guitar, along with Oolong Guru bassist Bradley Williams, who also played mandolin and sang background vocals.

19 year-old drummer Brian Mincks helps bring a strong roots rock foundation to the album. The drums were recorded live with the whole band in separate rooms, than various parts were overdubbed later, including the notable organ parts which German says Tim McLaughlin “killed” on the Hammond B3. Also notable is that McLaughlin hadn’t heard any of the songs until he came to the studio and learned them on the fly. His playing has that fly by the seat of your pants feel that made Al Kooper’s organ playing so great.

Cur Dogs frontman Tahl Lohr even came to lend his talents on acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies.

Other album guests included Scott Geyer on drums, Brian Henderson on bass, and Joe Viers on tambourine.

I’ve been listening to 12 Rounds since Jeff gave me a copy a few months ago.

12 Rounds opener “Sit And Think” is the story of late night wandering in a small town in the midst of a life full of nights just the same as the one the narrator is recounting. It’s the repetitive life of a long-suffering sideman dealing with the ins and outs of life as a professional musician.

Musically it’s a great beginning to the album and sets the tone with its up tempo in your face style. That killer organ playing Jeff talked about glues together the bombastic sound the band hits you with after the deceptive acoustic guitar and vocals only opening. But once the chorus kicks in you know you’re home. I can’t help but think T-Bone Burnett would work so well with these guys.

“Kro-Bide” is the tale of a man and his tools and gives you a strong taste of the country background of this band. While not my favorite song on the album overall, I could listen to the chorus on this song by itself on repeat. It’s a hardworking man’s country standard, and is both endearing and better than anything they’re currently playing on country radio.

“Apology With Every Song” kicks your ass from the first chord, telling you exactly what kind of apology this song is going to be. It’s part satire, part sincere, all attitude. This is big thick brash bar rock at its best. “Minor mistakes in a Major key/I start out in A and I end up in G” is a fun line, and shows the playful side Jeff German brings to his lyrics. Also particularly pleasing to me is this band’s use of breaks, which, as an touring band knows, are the hardest thing to pull off well.

“Before It’s Gone” is another of my favorites. I wish the acoustic guitar had been recorded with a little more body, but the rest of the song more than makes up for it. The drums are mashy and live sounding, and the amps are cranked up to that sweet spot where they just start to break up.

Jeff not only used his telecaster on this album, he also worked in a vintage Fender Coranado and a 1964 ES-330. Graig Barret plays Reverend guitars, so the tonal palette is really nice - nothing sounds the same and it all goes together really well. Again in this song are the breaks that you never hear on records anymore. Musicianship isn’t always about showing off your best licks, sometimes it’s just about not playing at all. Breaks are the toughest incarnation of that, but they really bring some attitude when you can pull them off.

“Doghouse Roses” starts off with the great line “Disappointment I know you well/you fit me like worn out jeans/and cover me up like a second skin/ as familiar as an old routine.” After getting over how much I wish I wrote that line, I looked “doghouse roses” up on urban dictionary. You should too, it’s a fun term. This song talks about how easily things can fade, but not the song itself is so catchy that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. Good luck getting it out of your head, I can’t.

“Long Road From Nowhere” is the singalong standout on this album, just begging you to crank it up in your old jeep and drive the backroads. It’s the sound of life getting heavy and getting the hell out of town, of empty bottles and open roads, of a life wide open.

“I’m out of gas/out of fight/one more chance to get it right” seems almost prophetic considering that soon to be 50 Jeff German was just signed to Wisconsin-based Slothrop records. Jeff has been in this game long enough to know how easily things come and go, but after listening to this album almost exclusively for the last couple months I get the feeling his road is going somewhere for sure.

“Spark In the Dark” has a nice build at the beginning, drawing you in with the its opening chords and driving snare. The lead guitar at the beginning of the song is also particularly nice. It’s in “Spark” that Jeff’s 90’s college rock side comes out, except this is a lot better than most of what we listened to in the 90’s. Maybe Jeff doesn’t really have a 90’s college rock side, but the song does. This is also probably the song that’s farthest away from being traditional southern rock or country, which makes it feel like a nice spot of relief in the album, a palette cleanser.

“Something To Keep In Mind” is my favorite song on the album, with its nice mid tempo sparseness relying more heavily on German’s singing and lyrics than any guitar virtuosity. The organ is still there, but it hangs out in the background giving some nice texture to the track. The subtlety of this song is its strongest point, as well as a really well-anchored bass line. If you listen closely, you’ll hear everything that’s great about this band and this style of recording: it’s imperfect, loose, and sounds like all the old analog goodness that people used to gather around record players to share with each other.

“Fifteen Minutes” sounds like old time Elvis gospel as it opens, then gives you a little Jazz Bass and organ Motown moment, then brings it all together. I swear there’s a pompadour in there somewhere. It’s a lot of fun and really stands out on the album because it doesn’t sound even a little bit like anything else. And wait for the “preacher moment” in the middle, begging you to convert to the church of vintage rock ’n roll.

“12 Rounds” is full on southern rock - but better. It’s a little Skynard at the end, a lot of Allman brothers in the middle, and oozes with swampy charm. It’s a great song and a great album closer, especially since Jeff says it’s the “best slide I’ve ever played.” It’s a fun romp with a “leave it all on the stage” attitude.

Authentic American music has long been taken over by the pop machine, but if you look for it real rock ’n roll is still alive. If this album is any indication, it lives in bars and clubs all over and is just waiting for you to come find it.

The great thing about guys like Jeff German and his Blankety Blanks is that you feel like you already know them and this music. They’re hiding out in towns all over the place, scraping up a living as sidemen in bars and writing great songs on the side.

Go out and see Jeff German and the Blankety Blanks live, as I’m sure that’s the only way these songs could get any better.

You can find Jeff German and the Blankety Blanks on Facebook, Reverbnation, or visit their website at jgblanketyblanks.com

12 Rounds will be released on Slothrop Records this year and is available on Itunes now. I’m personally hoping for a vinyl release. - Larry's Music


"Local News"

Local Notes

Now here’s something to spread some hope through the music scene. Long time Columbus musician Jeff German, who had a nice run with the Cur Dogs and has played occasionally with Lydia Loveless among others, is turning 50 this year and has just signed a three record deal with label Slothtrop Music. Slothtrop will be re-releasing his terrific 2013 album Twelve R.O.U.N.D.S on March 18, 2014. I’ll run a separate review when it drops in March, but in the meantime take heart locals, there might still be a payoff for slogging through the bars and working on your songwriting. Jeff will be celebrating with loud music and cheap champagne at Woodlands Backyard on February 21st. - Columbus Free Press


"Slothtrop Music Signs Ohio based Jeff German to 3 album deal"

Slothtrop Music Signs Ohio based Jeff German to 3 album deal
January 7th, 2014
For Immediate Release

Madison, WI, January 7, 2014- Slothtrop Music is proud to announce their recent signing of Ohio based Blue-Collar Rocker Jeff German. Mr. German was introduced to Slothtrop through the Sonicbids website.

“We are excited to have a songwriter of Jeff German’s caliber on our label”, said Slothtrop Music president Eric Hester, “he represents everything we love about music- great songwriting, exceptional musicianship, and a solid work ethic.”

Jeff German grew up listening to his older brother’s record collection: Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Stones, Faces eventually morphed into The Clash, The Damned, The Jam and then into Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. His entire musical pursuit strongly tied to that collection and his southern Michigan roots. “I am the son of a strong union electrician.” says German, “I am a husband, a father and a grandfather. I am a 50- year-old man who, after taxiing teenagers around and coaching High-School Hockey, has a few hours left in a day to cobble together some songs and some tunes.” These influences shine in his amazing musicianship and add depth and sincerity to his songwriting…..all three are qualities much overlooked in todays music scene.

Mr German is the latest artist signed to Slothtrop through their Sonicbids submission system. This system allows Slothtrop to find bands interested in being on their roster with a Sonicbids electronic press kit (EPK). The system is hosted at Sonicbids.com.

“Sonicbids has saved us from storing a ton of paper press kits and CD’s,” says Hester, “it has also allowed us to find some truly great artists we are excited to know and work with.”

Jeff German will re-release his debut album “12 Rounds” for Slothtrop on March 18, 2014 with the first single “Sit and Think” receiving a special Limited Edition vinyl pressing featuring hand numbered original artwork.

For more information on Jeff German, visit:
reverbnation.com/jeffgerman
sonicbids.com/band/jeff-german-the-blankety-blanks
jgblanketyblanks.com - Slothtrop Music


"Q & A Singer songwriter Jeff German"

Q & A
How would you describe the Blankety
Blanks’ musical style?
We’re a rock band with a country problem.
Truth be told, it’s pretty straight
Americana. We pay close attention to
what the song is asking us to do. I hear
references to the Drive-By Truckers and
Jason Isbell as well as Mellencamp and
Springsteen. We have plenty of twang
in everything we do.
In what geographical areas do you
usually tour?
We tour a lot in East Tennessee and
Kentucky, and in the midwest. We take
off on a Friday and head home after
our gigs on Saturday or Sunday. One of
the great things about living in central
Ohio is that you can get to many parts
of the country in a day’s drive.
Tell us about the band’s name.
I named it the Blankety Blanks because
I never knew who would be backing
me on any given night. I put this band
together after my band the Cur Dogs
broke up. I’d spent some time in 2011-
12 playing lead guitar for Lydia Loveless,
and while I was on the road I wrote
a bunch of songs. This lineup was put
together just to make the current record.
It felt so good we’ve stuck with it.
The only person who’s been in this
throughout is Graig Barnett, my friend
and a rock-solid guitar player, lead and
rhythm. To be honest, he’s the only one
who really knows how the songs go.
This lineup also includes bass player
Bradley Williams from the Oolong
Guru’s and Faces for Radio. Both of his
bands are no stranger to the Wheeling
Jamboree. On drums I had Brian
Mincks, a 19-year-old with some of
the best instincts I’ve ever heard. He
recorded the new record with me but
went back to college, so I filled his absence
with Mike Nelson, a journeyman
drummer with pages of experience.
They split the gigs.
I’ve never been in a better band
than the current lineup of the Blankety
Blanks. They’re great to tour and
record with.
Who are some of your influences, and
in what way did they influence you?
Like most guys my age, the Rolling
Stones and Faces were big influences.
But if I’m honest, the Clash had the
biggest influence on me. As a kid, they
epitomized the rock look and sound.
Musically, I took to rockabilly and
then to “outlaw country.” I can hear
little bits of all of them coming out in
my playing. My older brother, Larry, had
an extensive record collection growing
up. Without him, I’m just another kid
stuck on Van Halen and Billy Squier – or,
heaven forbid, Pink Floyd. Players like
Keith and Ronnie Wood are examples
of guys that heard it, learned it and
made it their own. I like to think that’s
what I do.
What recordings have you released?
Well, keeping with this decade, I
released a record with the Cur Dogs in
2010 titled “Chasing Tales.” My current
release, “12 Rounds,” was released
Nov. 19, 2013. You can find it on
Amazon, iTunes and other online
services.
Name five of your favorite albums.
“London Calling,” by The Clash.
“Exile on Main Street,” by the Rolling
Stones.
“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and
the Spiders From Mars,” by David Bowie.
“Grievous Angel,” by Gram Parsons.
The White Album, by the Beatles.
What’s the best compliment anyone
has given you about your music?
I had someone I respected say my
songs were “infinitely listenable.”
I thought that was hard to beat.
Is this your first time playing Wheeling
Island?
This is my first time. We’re really looking
forward to being part of the Jamboree.
It’s a bucket-list checkmark for
sure. Brad is well-connected to Wheeling
because of his bluegrass background.
He’s played on the Jamboree
many times.
by Paul Steber
Community contributor
Singer-Songwriter Jeff German
The leader of a band from central Ohio called the Blankety Blanks, German says
he was drawn to ‘outlaw country’ thanks to his older brother’s record collection. - Wheeling Life Magazine


"Jeff German & The Blankety Blanks "12 Rounds""

Jeff German and the Blankety Blanks -- Twelve Rounds
There are two things I know about Columbus, Ohio:

1) Because its demographics are similar to that of the continental United States, it is the fast food focus testing center of the planet.

2) There must be something in the water, because many of my favorite artists and bands call Columbus home.

And it's looking like Jeff German's about to join their ranks.



Jeff German's the first to say he's not a blue collar rocker. Sure, but he brings an earthy sensibility to his music and lyrics. You've probably heard his guitar work with Lydia Loveless and the Cur Dogs, but this is Jeff's first (or most recent -- I can't tell) crack at solo work. These songs are simple, but that's only because they hit you between the eyes with their earnestness and confidence. German is mature but never sedate.

Overall, I'm honored to conclude 2013 with Twelve Rounds: this was a year with some of the most tumultuous news stories since 2008, and it also brought us some incredible music. Twelve Rounds gives me plenty of optimism for the coming year. Check back on the 2nd for my favorite albums of 2013! - Adobe and Teardrops


"Sensory Overload: Jeff German goes 12 Rounds and Remains Standing"

Sensory Overload: Jeff German goes 12 Rounds and remains standing

By Andy Downing
From the November 28, 2013 edition
22 0 0
Jeff German opened his set at Rumba Café on Friday, Nov. 22, with a pair of apologies.

The first, delivered before a single note had been played, reflected the singer/guitarist’s self-effacing nature. “For what you’re about to encounter,” he sighed, “I’m deeply, deeply sorry.”

He followed with a second, “Apology with Every Song,” a rollicking, roots-inflected rocker off 12 R.O.U.N.D.S., his just-released album with his band The Blankety Blanks.

More often, though, German’s songs were about learning to cope with disappointment rather than making amends. One minute he was sighing, “There’s got to be more … than this miserable existence,” and the next he was comparing life to a brutal boxing match, dropping his guard and taking the punches because he was simply too worn down to avoid them any longer. Instead he tried to dull the pain with alcohol (“This town needs a bar because I need a drink,” he sang on “Sit and Think”) and a woman’s touch (the organ-laced “Fifteen Minutes”). And when that didn’t work he simply cranked the volume to try and drown out the surrounding noise.

On one wrenching new song, “Hang On,” the guitarist, who has also played alongside Lydia Loveless, The Flyin’ Saucers and The Curdogs, raced to Detroit to say goodbye to his dying father, intent on keeping a promise to be with him at the end. Rather than adopting a mournful tone, however, German and his cohorts revved the guitars to keep pace with his car’s climbing RPMs.

So it went for much of the night. While the singer’s words explored downcast subject matter, the music itself often scrapped, clawed and snarled, flirting with roadhouse country (the loping “Kro-Bide”), pub rock (an appropriately sloppy cover of The Replacements “Achin’ to Be”) and backwoods gospel (on one tune German invited everyone to church, briefly throwing his hands in the air as if overcome by the Holy Ghost).

A planned acoustic segment was even scrapped — “This is usually the part of the set where I get all mellow,” German said, “but you don’t want that, do you?” — a wise decision that must have slightly bummed out bandmate Brad Williams, who ended up lugging his heavy-looking standup bass to the venue for no reason. Perhaps a third apology is in order?

Andy Downing photo - Columbus Alive Newspaper


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

"I never set out to write a certain type of song. The songs usually strangle me until I get them right", says Columbus, OH-based singer-songwriter Jeff German. Germans Slothtrop debut, 12 Rounds, is evidence that German had many close calls at the hands of his own songs. While German may be new to many as a solo act, he is a veteran musician. He was a member of quintessential Ohio band The Cur Dogs and works often as a studio musician in the Midwest and as a supporting musician for numerous acts such as Bloodshot Records Lydia Loveless.

Though the album is straight-up blue collar rock, it is built on a variety of influences. This diversity is in part thanks to Germans older brother, whose collection inspired the musician throughout his formative years. Jeff German grew up listening to his older brothers record collection: Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Stones, Faces eventually morphed into The Clash, The Damned, The Jam and then into Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. In addition to drawing on a wide berth of musical influences, German has been enriched by a wealth of life experience. With his trademark humility, German says, "I am the son of a strong union electrician. I am a husband, a father and a grandfather. I am a 50- year-old man who, after taxiing teenagers around and coaching high school hockey, has a few hours left in a day to cobble together some songs and some tunes."

Ten of these tunes comprise 12 Rounds. "12 Rounds was nothing like I thought it would be. I was going for a five guys in a room playing type of feel and wound up with a full on Midwest Rocker. No complaints but thats the truth", says German of the new record. And rock it does, from the album opener and lead single Sit and Think on. That tracks chorus finds German singing This town needs a bar cause I need a drink, over a building drumbeat. This is a song that was inspired by characters in books I read that just come at me and wont leave me alone. Good guys stuck doing wrong things and not knowing how to stop the cycle, German says of the single, which will be available in a special limited edition with original artwork. Other standout tracks include Kro-Bide, a triumphant working-class anthem with a winning guitar solo. On Long Road to Nowhere, German intones a tribute to radio with impeccably timed delivery.

The imagery that dapples Germans lyrics; bars, sweat, and radio stations on long drives might be familiar in Americana music, but its exciting and new to hear someone pull off music, vocals, and lyrics all with equal, outstanding panache.

Jeff German will re-release his debut album 12 Rounds for Slothtrop on March 18, 2014 with the first pressing receiving a special 200 piece Limited Edition vinyl pressing featuring hand numbered original artwork.

Band Members