Secret Country

Kearny cowpunk outfit Secret Country has returned with their first release in two years, a 7-inch single titled Seven Days A Week, which is out today (May 22nd) on Killing Horse Records.
The first notes of the title track smack in you in the jaw notifying the listener that Jay Monaco (lead vocals/acoustic guitar) and company are back and sporting distortion-drenched fret-waltzing. However, the series of Riff-Rock eventually gives way to the outfit’s classic acoustic guitar-driven country twang, providing a unique Bob Dylan meets Social Distortion musical amalgamation. The song is a day by day account of the singer’s boozing exploits and the challenges he faces, namely, building the strength to emerge from under the covers after a long night of debaucherous binge-drinking…only to repeat the feat that following evening. The rollickingly fun Country tune is full of foot-stomping fiddle-play and Monaco’s southern-fried croon.
The B-side is fittingly titled “Deep-Fried Delight,” another yarn spun over instrumental accompaniment about the good times of yesteryear Monaco spent with a southern belle he met when he “fell into the chicken coop” while walking home from – where else? – the bar. In this second Country-Punk jaunt, the song opens with fiercely raunchy guitar bends overlaid with prickly banjo plucking while Monaco places his greatest strength, an undeniable ability to convey a great story, on full display. In this case, the musical memoir is riddled with double entendres that compare this woman of interest to delicious golden-fried chicken. Set against an up-tempo beat, lines like “Her biscuit’s always warm/And her biscuit’s always buttered/But I tell you its that chicken/That keeps me coming back” will have you reaching for seconds.
MUST HEAR TRACK: With “Seven Days A Week” Jay Monaco weds Country and Punk over a topic fans of either genre can relate to: A heartfelt love of drinking. - Speak Into My Good Eye

Kearny cowpunk outfit Secret Country has returned with their first release in two years, a 7-inch single titled Seven Days A Week, which is out today (May 22nd) on Killing Horse Records.
The first notes of the title track smack in you in the jaw notifying the listener that Jay Monaco (lead vocals/acoustic guitar) and company are back and sporting distortion-drenched fret-waltzing. However, the series of Riff-Rock eventually gives way to the outfit’s classic acoustic guitar-driven country twang, providing a unique Bob Dylan meets Social Distortion musical amalgamation. The song is a day by day account of the singer’s boozing exploits and the challenges he faces, namely, building the strength to emerge from under the covers after a long night of debaucherous binge-drinking…only to repeat the feat that following evening. The rollickingly fun Country tune is full of foot-stomping fiddle-play and Monaco’s southern-fried croon.
The B-side is fittingly titled “Deep-Fried Delight,” another yarn spun over instrumental accompaniment about the good times of yesteryear Monaco spent with a southern belle he met when he “fell into the chicken coop” while walking home from – where else? – the bar. In this second Country-Punk jaunt, the song opens with fiercely raunchy guitar bends overlaid with prickly banjo plucking while Monaco places his greatest strength, an undeniable ability to convey a great story, on full display. In this case, the musical memoir is riddled with double entendres that compare this woman of interest to delicious golden-fried chicken. Set against an up-tempo beat, lines like “Her biscuit’s always warm/And her biscuit’s always buttered/But I tell you its that chicken/That keeps me coming back” will have you reaching for seconds.
MUST HEAR TRACK: With “Seven Days A Week” Jay Monaco weds Country and Punk over a topic fans of either genre can relate to: A heartfelt love of drinking. - Speak Into My Good Eye

By Anthony J. Machcinski

That closed-door country band is at it again. Secret Country, the Kearny-based country band under the Killing Horse Records label, celebrated the release of its latest album and first vinyl, “7 Days a Week,” at Donegal Saloon on May 18.

“We’re really excited to put it all out,” said Mike Sylvia of Killing Horse Records. “We built the label around them in 2009.”

“7 Days a Week” is a follow-up to the band’s 2009 full-length “Women, Whiskey and Nightlife.” During the years between the two releases, the band has seen some changes to its lineup, with Eric Mason (guitar/ vocals) and Yan Iziquerdo (fiddle/mandolin) replaced by Katelynn Siegle (vocals) and Ryan Gross (guitar).

“It’s a whole different thing with a girl singing,” said Secret Country bass player Tim Siegle, Katelynn’s brother. “At first it was kind of like a boys’ club. Now that we’re older, it’s not the same thing. She brings something we didn’t have.”

Siegle’s statement could not ring truer. While “Women, Whiskey, and Nightlife” was a quality album in its own right, “7 Days a Week” gives Secret Country another step in the right direction.


Photos Courtesy of Secretcountryband.com


In comparison to its predecessor album, “7 Days a Week” and its brilliantly produced product sounds like a real record – something that one can imagine hearing on the radio someday.

This difference can be attributed to the new work ethic of the band.

“With the lineup we have now, it’s a lot easier,” explained Siegle. “We practiced more to kind of hone the sound. We matured. We look at this as we can have something here. We’ve been trying to work this out.”

The ease is a reflection of the streamlined length of time it took to get the record produced.

“The last record almost took us a whole year,” Siegle explained. “The recording process (for “7 Days a Week”) was very painless and took us a little over a weekend.”

What made Secret Country special on “Women, Whiskey, and Nightlife” was the chemistry that members of the band had with each other. Now, despite losing two key elements of its band, Secret Country is still able to maintain the bonds that solidify its music.

With an “in the family” thread of Katelynn, Tim and Matt Siegle, and with the incorporation of Ryan Gross, a producer with Killing Horse Records, the band maintains a continuity that allows its members not to miss a step.

The title track of “7 Days a Week” is a perfect showcase of this chemistry.

A quick start and a solid guitar solo help get the song on a roll and set the pace for the whole track. Jay Monaco’s voice, accented with the voices of Katelynn and Matt Siegle and Joe Hart, provide the fun-loving feel that the lyrics look to convey. With lyrics that say, “Wake up, it’s Monday/I didn’t get to see the sun today/At this rate, I don’t know when I will,” the fun-loving nature of the band’s style certainly comes into play.

The other song on the album, “Deep-Fried Delight,” is another quick start. “Deep- Fried Delight” also is another fun-loving track, with Monaco singing about falling in love with fried chicken as if it were his lover.

Both these tracks fall in line with the band’s reputation.

“(The new album) is probably in the same range where we’ve been the past few years,” said Gross. “Drinking, eating fried foods, and having a good time. (This album is) a little more representative of our sounds and what you get at the live shows.”

The album “7 Days a Week” is only the beginning for Secret Country, as this record is a precursor to a fulllength album to be released sometime in the late summer/ early fall of 2012. While preparing for this record, the band hopes to get out on the road more and travel farther than they have in the past.

“With the lineup we have now, it’s a lot easier to travel,” Siegle explained. “Boston was the farthest we’ve ever been outside of Jersey and we want to continue to grow. We’d like to do more in South Jersey, - The Observer

—by Tim Louie, January 5, 2010

I love getting emails from bands saying, “Hey, Tim! Check us out!” You never know what you’re going to get! In the famous words of Forrest Gump, bands are like a box of chocolates, I guess. Well, I recently received an email from Jay Monaco from the band Secret Country saying, “Hey, Tim! Check us out!” Jay did warn me that the bad is an alternative country band, which raised my curiosity. So, I checked them out and could not believe that there was a band that sounded like this up here in the northern region. I mean, after hearing songs like “Women, Whiskey, And Nightlife,” “Hot Dogs And Cold Beer,” and “Spit On Face,” I was ready to put on my cowboy hat and cowboy boots to start line dancing! This was some pretty cool stuff because it was country music with a twist of punk.

Secret Country is the self-proclaimed greatest country band to ever come out of the Newark, NJ, region. They might not be kidding because I really haven’t heard anything better than these guys in this region. As they say in their bio, they’re a “Brick City blend of skirt-chasing, whiskey-snorting, honkey-tonkin’ barrel of mayhem.” The boys from Secret Country say that their music is pretty much Honky Tonk and Outlaw Country with Southern rock influences, which means if Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Jack Daniels met at the local saloon to jam, they would sound like Secret Country. The band is comprised of Eric Mason on lead vocals/guitar, Jay Monaco on acoustic guitar/lead vocals/harmonica/tambourine/ukulele, Joe Hart on lead guitar/vocals/trumpet, Matt Siegle on drums, Tim Siegle on bass, and Yan Izquierdo on violin/mandolin. Yes, that’s a lot of instrumentation, but it is country music!

Secret Country recently released their debut full-length CD, Women, Whiskey, And Nightlife, which they also celebrated with a couple of CD release party shows in Kearny and North Arlington, NJ. If you want to give Secret Country a listen, you can do so at myspace.com/secretcountry. These guys won’t be a secret too much longer. Not on the country circuit anyway! - The Aquarian

Straight outta Kearny NJ, it’s a rollicking country and western free for all, rife with equally indelible hooks and bathroom-graffiti-worthy lyrics about hot dogs, cold beer and more loose women than you can shake a…. well, you get the idea (the artwork’s not too bad, either).

-Karl Heitmueller - 50 Words or Less Blog