Liner Notes for Prayer Befoer Sleeping:
This album is dedicated to my Sweet Loretta
Produced by The Mad Turk @ Mind Smoke Studios Lindenhurst, NY
Mastered by Chris Graham Mastering
Johnny Pierre: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Stand Up Bass, Percussion
Milo Fortunato: Drums
Jeff Goldstein: Bass (tracks 1, 2, 3 & 4)
John aka "Buck" Green: Guitar (track 1)
Luke Beauchamps: Lead Guitar, Pedal Steel (track 4)
Leo Lemaistre & Walter Delaware: Hambone Horns (tracks 2 & 7)
Front Cover Art: Loretta Gelinas
Liner Note Art: Eduardo del Velasco
Special Thanks to Judy Fleenor-Sheets @ Mind Smoke
All songs composed by John Pierre Gelinas
Copyright 2012 Mind Smoke Music (ASCAP)
JOHNNY PIERRE BIO:
I guess you could say that I was born to be a musician. My earliest musical memories began in New Orleans where I lived for several years in the early sixties. I clearly remember being engaged by the earthy sounds of Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. My perceptions of music were never the same after living in New Orleans; the sounds and rhythms of that city have stayed with me my entire life.
After falling under the spell of the British Invasion in the mid-sixties, I started singing in some local rock & roll bands. My first paid gigs took place while I was a teenage Army brat living in France back in 1966. It was during this period of my life that I started writing my own songs as well. As the sixties drew to a close, I returned to the States where I had a brief fling with the folk music coffee house scene in Pennsylvania. From 1970 – 1974, I attended the University of Dayton in Ohio. While there, my friend Billy Cairns and I assembled a seminal rock combo named the Freelance Vandals.
In 1977, I moved to the Long Island area of New York where I became involved in launching a new version of the Freelance Vandals. This band proved to be quite popular on the Long Island music scene and for the next seven years we performed in a wide variety of venues; opening up for such artists as John Hiatt, Dr. John and NRBQ. During this period of my career, my work as the band's lead singer/front man received accolades in such trade publications as Variety, The Hollywood Press and Creem magazine; my onstage antics earned me the nickname “The Jellyroll Joyboy of Rock & Roll”. The band released several vinyl record projects during this period; a double 45 rpm collection known as The Dogpak (Dog Records, 1978) and a live album, Yer Money or Yer Ears (Gunga Din Records, 1984) prior to disbanding in 1985. The band staged a reunion tour in 1996 to promote the release of the studio anthology, Songs That Never Made Us Famous (FV Productions, 1996).
Over the next decade, I ended up playing in numerous bands; the Mighty Young Fish, the Helpless Bovines and the Cornbread Boys. By the late 90’s, I began concentrating on songwriting and doing soundtrack work for various film projects.
In 1995, I started working with bassist Jeff Goldstein in an Americana Blues band named the Biscuit Kings. 2011 saw the release of Hambones & Trombones, the band’s debut album. The album received positive reviews and extensive airplay on blues oriented radio both in the US and in Europe. The band is currently at work in the Mind Smoke studios on a follow-up effort.
Early on in 2012, I released an archival project from 2002 titled The Ghost of Pontchartrain. The album was a bit of an artistic departure for me. In contrast to my normal mode of composition (acoustic guitar and voice), most of these songs were written using Orchestra and String Emulators.
My latest album release is Prayers Before Sleeping, a collection of Americana Blues songs that is best summed up by this quote: “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” (Edgar Allen Poe)
"Say how would you describe your music?"
•My main thing is Americana Blues music (although I do enjoy writing in other musical genres)
•My creative goal is to create modernistic songs that capture the immediacy of old time blues & jazz
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