Album Notes

Oil, Grease and Diesel debuts Chris Tulloch as his alter ego, Mandolin Jack, for his first CD to showcase his songwriting.

Mandolin Jack is a story teller whose songs reflect various slices of his life. His style may best be categorised as Americana with a mixture of country, bluegrass, honky-tonk and love ballads. His music is a blend used to capture his moods and define moments in his life. In the title song, Oil, Grease and Diesel, we feel the thrill of riding beside him in his big rig in search of the tastiest truck stop. In Rabbit in the Headlights, we see Jack escaping the clutches of an angry husband only to end up collared by the law. We find him honky-tonking in Texas and relaxing with friends in country tradition in Homespun Country. We see a deep and tender side in his love songs: Fool's World, If I Only, and Driftwood. We see Jack take a stand in the powerful Don't Pray for Me.

Chris Tulloch is a musician and artist from London, England. His music career began in the early '70s as one of the founding members of the popular London folk group, 'Frogmorton' with whom he toured, played live radio and released the album, 'At Last'. After spending some time in the Americas, he returned to London to form 'The Extraordinaires’ with guitarist John Evans. This creative partnership found fruitful song-writing inspiration in the early 80's subculture of rockabilly, Latin-jazz, and roots music. During this period they wrote the hit single, Blue Skies, for ‘The Jets’. The Extraordinaires finally called it a day in 1985 and Chris then turned his energy to other creative endeavours. His work then took him into the film industry as a Special Effects technician and Art Director. This gave him more opportunity to explore the world, taking him to Russia, Ireland, the Slovak Republic, Egypt and Hollywood. Notably, he worked with Michael Caine in 'Bullet To Beijing', served as an effects technician with Stephen Spielberg for 'Saving Private Ryan' and was writer and director for the highly successful children's TV series, 'Tugs'.

The beginning of the new century beckoned Chris back to the world of music - and with it, the discovery of his alter-ego, Mandolin Jack. He is a multi-talented musician playing all of his own instrumentals on the Oil, Grease and Diesel CD. He can be found playing in clubs around London and is often found gigging with 'O Brother Where’s Hank?' and the 'Swamp Bay Company’. He has begun introducing the rest of the world to his songs through YouTube and this summer 2009 he will be found touring in British Columbia and the North-West.

Contact:

http://www.myspace.com/mandolinjack

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MandolinJackFlatt