DAY 1 “Thoughts on the albums” : ‘JERRY LEGER & THE SITUATION’ (2005)

June 5th Bandcamp will be waiving their revenue share, a good day to buy music from artists you dig. Since my debut album will be turning 15 June 8th, I thought we’d make it available on Bandcamp at a special low price starting on the 5th along with bonus tracks. I also thought I would share some thoughts on each of my albums for any of those interested. Here we go.

The debut album, recorded mostly live off the floor in two days at the now long gone Monumental Studios here in Toronto. We were intending to go in and record a 3-track demo with Tim Bovaconti producing and Joe Dunphy engineering. The first day we got 5 songs down to tape and Tim suggested we book another session and record a full length album. I was easily thrown into the enthusiasm because I’d been wanting to make an album for years ( funny ’cause I was only 19 at the time!). I had only gotten my band “The Situation” together in the fall of 2004, consisting of Kyle Sullivan on drums and Corey Stinson on bass, the album was recorded in spring of 2005. We taped every song of mine that we pretty much had down and a couple of more acoustic numbers on reels that I had the option to buy but chose to have them just bounced to digital. That’s where they were headed anyway. It still has that piss and vinegar, that fire in the belly, the energy of being young and hungry with a few delicate moments thrown in. Rough around the edges but committed and genuine.

I wanted to incorporate Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello with a touch of Joe Strummer. There’s an urgency and some of the songs such as “My Worst Will Have To Do”, “Ratatat”, “Riverside” and the opener “Red City” which would all continue to show up now and then in my setlists and are some fans favourites. The album touches on different genres as I figured out who I wanted be as an artist. I would start to find my artistic identity as a rootsy singer-songwriter on the 2nd album and we’d lose some of the followers in the process. They thought I’d be spitting out the lyrics for years to come but the 1st album is a good blueprint and has the elements and hints of where I wanted this thing to go. The first run of CDs still had an ‘s’ at the end of the band name which we would drop shortly after. When I listen back now I still dig a lot of the words, music and “in the moment” performances. It captures us at the moment and I like to think of my records as documents.

On June 5th the ‘Jerry Leger & The Situation’ CD and download will be available at a special low price with bonus tracks including demos and live recordings. For now, stream the record: https://jerryleger.bandcamp.com/album/jerry-leger-the-situation

Source: Jerry Leger