Album Notes

On the cutting edge of 21st century J-Pop, Fatblueman is essentially John Janzen and any friends he can get to play with him on a given day. Hiroko Iwase has been a consistent band member since the band started. Trapped in the world of classical violin music, she was rescued by FBM, which introduced her to a paradise of noisy, smoke-filled bar gigs, and the word "fiddle". Then there are the "gaijin"- non-Japanese folk living in Japan who escape the drudgery of life in their English-teaching cell by banding together to sing of their pain. Coleen and Leslie, an Aussie, and a Winnipegger (like John) provide the alt-country influence. The Yankees, Hiro and Tom bring that brash "me-first" sort of confidence that one would expect from a couple of New Yorkers.

Back To Winnipeg is a CD dedicated to life lived as a stranger in a strange land. The songs are a compilation of John's experience in his adopted home, as evidenced in songs like the country-rocker "Which Road Takes Me Home" and the title track, Back to Winnipeg, which moves in for a close-up on the shock and awe of being a foreigner living in Japan.

私の名前はジョンジャンゼンと申します。私はカナダから来て、日本に６年間滞在しています。私はファットブルーマンと言うバンドのリーダーをしており、最近名古屋近郊でライブ活動をしております。

CD の中で特におすすめしたい曲があります。バラードが好きな方にはトラック１の"Hope"と言う少し悲しそうな曲です。ロックが好きな方には、トラック４の"Loveletter"をおすすめします。カントリー／フォークが好きな方にはトラック３のにぎやかな"Which Road Takes Me Home"と言う曲を聞いて下さい。最後に私が日本に来て経験したライフについて歌った"Back to Winnipeg"をぜひ皆さんに聞いていただきたいと思います。このCDはすべて英語の歌詞ですが現在日本語の曲を作成中です！

よろしくおねがいします！

"I am listening to "Back To Winnipeg " for the 2nd time in a row, and it just keeps getting better! This is really good! The recording quality is the best from a self-released that I have heard in a long time!

"Which Road Takes Me Home", personal fave. Genius. Please let all of FBM know how happy they have made me today."

- DJ dij