Album Notes

Humorous Arkansas singer-songwriter Emily Kaitz began performing with Texas-based Bruce Jones & the Monotones in early 2006, after she discovered that Bruce had written a song that mentioned her by name. This song, "My Bass Playing Career," included a statement that Emily was known for, that being "Eighty percent of being a bass player is having a bass." Although Emily had heard a few of Bruce's other songs previous to this time, she did not remember ever having met Bruce, though he later claimed they once rode somewhere in a car together.

What started as a one-time experimental collaboration turned into an actual band, with the addition of the East Side Flash, dobro player, longtime friend of Emily's and Austin Texas recording engineer extraordinaire who had worked on several of Emily's previous CD projects as well as producing Bruce Jones' debut CD "The Flashpoint Sessions," named after Flash's studio. Jeanne Kyser (fiddle & vocals) and Melinda Brooks (mandolin & vocals) were already performing regularly with Bruce Jones, and Emily fell in love with the sound of this 5-piece band and started booking other gigs for them, mostly around Texas.

The next step was doing a CD together, and it took a while but the end result is "Monotoneland," with 5 songs of Emily's, 5 of Bruce's (including "My Bass Playing Career") and one written and sung by Melinda Brooks ("Me & The Cat Are On A Diet"). Emily wrote the title track specifically for the Monotones. This CD has humorous and serious songs alike, and a tasty acoustic sound. Fans of Emily or Bruce should be pleased with this new collaborative work.