Jay Munly
Jayson Thompson, who goes by the stage name Jay Munly or Munly, is an American singer, songwriter and musician based in Denver, Colorado. He is known for his role in the development of the Denver Sound, which is music that mixes elements of country, gothic, folk and gospel native to that city. He is a member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Munly and the Lupercalians, and The Denver Broncos UK. He was a founding member of Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots, active from 2000 to 2007. He was also a member of The Road Home in 2015.
Early life
Munly was born to Ohio natives Bruce A. Thompson and Geraldine Ann Manley. His father was an exploration geologist and the founder of Skull Creek Oil. He describes his childhood as being raised in a "stereotypical Catholic" upper-middle class household. He spent parts of his childhood in Quebec, Canada, Colorado, and Ohio. His family had summer retreats in Ellsworth, Ohio. He also played ice hockey.Munly's interest in music began in childhood, while he was recovering from an ice hockey injury. He also had some familial ties: his father and grandfather owned and played banjos, and his father also made a dulcimer for his mother as a gift, although she did not play it. While recuperating from said injury, Munly taught himself how to play his father's 19th century-era banjo, which was technically off-limits to handle, although his mother knew what was going on. She eventually bought him a guitar which he taught himself to play as well. He played both instruments in the same fashion and only played his own songs.
When he was older, presumably in his 20s, he moved to Boulder, Colorado before eventually moving to Denver. In a 2009 interview, he said that he identifies more with being an American from Denver than with being a Canadian from Quebec. Prior to becoming a musician, it has been rumored that Munly worked as a summer camp counselor and as a record store clerk. According to an interview with good friend Andrew Murphy of Smooch Records, he may have worked at "Albums on the Hill" in Boulder, Colorado, since that is where Murphy and Munly first met and where Munly helped him get a job.
In the late 1990s, he attended Columbia University in Manhattan, New York, where he earned a Master's degree in Modern English Literature.
Solo career
Munly started out his music career in the 1990s. He had toured with The Reejers before releasing his first album. He also shared a 7-inch vinyl album with Roger Manning, though the song featured on the record is unknown. However, he does appear on a 1998 cassette by Joe Folk & the Soho Valley Boys, a Manning side-project, titled "Chyeah". He performed a spoken-word piece on Side 2, Track 11: "Bohemia Blues/ Poetic Hwy Vision #63/ Starry Eyed Blues".He has worked with several musicians that are featured on his albums, such as John Ellison of The Reejers and Chris Mars of The Replacements. However, he makes a point of not listing the exact musical contributions of each member in liner notes, preferring the simplicity of the 'Modern Library book' aesthetic.
Although Munly is the primary vocalist and lyricist on each of his albums, he hesitated to call himself a "singer-songwriter":
He was signed to What Are Records? and released his debut solo album, Blurry, in 1996 through Top Notch, an imprint of W.A.R. Munly de Dar He and Galvanized Yankee were also released through Top Notch in 1997 and 1999, respectively. His fourth and final solo album, Jimmy Carter Syndrome, was released through Smooch Records in 2002.
''Blurry''
Blurry is Munly's debut studio album. It was released through Top Notch, an imprint of W.A.R., on February 6, 1996. It is the only album of his which incorporates elements of pop music rather than the sounds and lyrics of gothic country that he is mainly known for.The album was originally titled "Blurry Polaroids", but Munly was forced to shorten the name by the Polaroid Corporation.
John Ellison, Rob Dread, and Craig Winzelberg performed on this album. Munly provided vocals and guitar and Ellison performed on bass. The exact contributions of Dread and Winzelberg are unknown.
The album was re-mastered by producer Bob Ferbrache at Absinthe Studios in Denver. It was given a limited-edition re-release, with new cover art and an updated track listing, through Smooch Records on June 27, 2006. Only 1,000 copies were printed due to "licensing restrictions."
Little is known about how the album was received by critics. However, there were apparently a few songs that reached popularity in Perth, Australia.
The first track, "Virgin of Manhattan", was used during a sex scene on an episode of the television series Melrose Place.
The second track, "Baptists & Barbiturates", was featured on a 1996 compilation album titled More Than Mountains: A Benefit For Colorado Conservation, released by W.A.R.
''Munly de Dar He''
Munly de Dar He is his second studio album, released on November 15, 1997. It was distributed through Top Notch Records, an imprint of W.A.R. Musically, this album features a more robust instrumental backing than his previous effort, Blurry. A variety of instruments are used: strings such as the banjo, cello, and violin, horns such as the tuba and trumpet, as well as others, such as the accordion and various forms of percussion.Munly collaborated with musicians Nick Urata, Matthew Brown, Michael Crow, Tom Echols, and Channing Lewis to form the 'de Dar He' band. However, the exact contributions of each member are unknown. The album was recorded "in an abandoned semi-trailer" in Denver, Colorado.
Following a move from Denver, Colorado to Austin, Texas in 1997, the band appeared on the MTV sitcom "Austin Stories". Members Crow and Lewis quit shortly thereafter, leading the band to split up permanently.
The album was re-mastered by Bob Ferbrache at Absinthe Studios in Denver. It was given a limited-edition re-release through Smooch Records on July 18, 2006. Only 1,000 copies were printed due to "licensing restrictions."
Little is known about how the album was received by critics. However, in 1998, Michael Roberts of Westword rated the album as one of the best to be released by Colorado locals in 1997:
''Galvanized Yankee''
Galvanized Yankee is Munly's third studio album, released on January 5, 1999. It was distributed by Top Notch Records, an imprint of W.A.R. This is the first album that leans into the gothic country genre that he is known for. Reviewer Jeremy Salmon of AllMusic looks at the album as a "compendium of tales" – a concept album loosely held together by the theme of war. In fact, the album title "Galvanized Yankee" is a historical term that dates to the American Civil War era. Many of the songs deal with life, death, and religion and are laden with images of "desolate farmlands, of Hollywood ghost towns, of deserted battlefields, filled with corpses and the detritus of war."The album mostly contains covers of traditional American songs, many from the Civil War era. It also contains a live version of "Virgin of Manhattan" featuring actor Patrick Stewart and a recorded radio advertisement for "Math Made Easy", a math tutoring program for children.
The album was recorded in New York, between 1998 and 1999, while Munly was attending Columbia University. Performance credits include: W.H. Auden, William Bowen, Monica Dreidemie, Dan Joeright, Joseph Lesage, M. Outland, Patrick Stewart, and Rob Wilson. The guitar, mandolin, and fiddle are the most prominent instruments on the album.
The album was re-mastered by Bob Ferbrache and re-released by Smooch Records on February 13, 2007.
''Jimmy Carter Syndrome''
Jimmy Carter Syndrome is Munly's fourth and final solo studio album, released in 2002. This was the first album to be distributed through Smooch Records.He asserts that prizefighter Gerry Cooney was his babysitter as a child. The song "Cooney vs. Munly" on Jimmy Carter Syndrome was written as a tribute to him. In fact, the Jimmy Carter Syndrome album may have been named as such due to the way both he and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter were brought up: "We grew up similarly...he had a nanny who sort of raised him. I was in that situation, more than my parents raising me. So there are some similarities."
The song "Spill the Wine" was featured on Tyr: Myth-Culture-Tradition, Vol. 2 in 2004.
Bands
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Munly joined Slim Cessna's Auto Club in 1998, around the same time as Lord Dwight Pentecost, after being friends with Slim Cessna for a few years. This was during the time that Munly was recording Galvanized Yankee in New York. Part of the reason he agreed to join was that he liked how the band was operated by existing members. Since then, he has been the band's primary songwriter and shares frontman/vocalist duties with Cessna. Always Say Please and Thank You is the first SCAC album that Munly appears on.The satirical song "SCAC 101" on Cipher alludes to how Munly came to join the band.
Munly and Slim Cessna were featured in a segment of "Seven Signs: Music, Myth, and the American South", a film by JD Wilkes of Th' Legendary Shack Shakers. Munly recited the original story titled "Döder Made Me Do It" and joined Slim in performing "Children of the Lord" by Slim Cessna's Auto Club.
Munly and The Lee Lewis Harlots
'Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots' was a six-piece gothic country band with mostly stringed instruments. According to a Munly fansite, the band was active between 2000 and 2006. However, there are concert videos on YouTube that were recorded in February 2007. They also made an appearance at Westword's Denver Music Showcase in June 2007.Besides Munly, the original 'Lee Lewis Harlots' were: Elin Palmer, Frieda Stalheim, and Rebecca Vera. Paul Bradley, and Jeff Linsenmaier were later additions. Jay Shewman replaced Paul Bradley on bass some time in 2007. Some members have also contributed backing vocals.
According to the band's former MySpace page, Munly and Vera met Palmer in 2000, on the set of the "Clogger" music video by 16 Horsepower. Palmer brought in violinist Stalheim, her best friend at the time, then brought in drummer Linsenmaier after meeting him on a European tour with 16 Horsepower and The Czars. Bassist Bradley randomly showed up to a practice with his instrument, ready to play.
In July 2006, Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots was voted the best band in Colorado by over 100 music experts in the Denver Post Underground Music Poll.
Their only album, Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots, has received much critical acclaim. The original album was initially released in August 2004 through Alternative Tentacles. A combined CD/DVD double-album was released in October 2004 as a joint release between Alternative Tentacles and Smooch Records. It came with additional features such as: the original album in surround sound, three additional bonus tracks, lyrics read by Munly, and photos of the band. Of the three bonus tracks, only one is a previously unreleased Harlots track: "Rufus Wainwright, I'm Coming After You". The album was re-released on vinyl in August 2013 through the label Pesanta Urfolk. It contained a booklet of lyrics and updated cover art by Benjamin A. Vierling.
They recorded a version of "Everyone Is Guilty #2" for the Smooch Records compilation album, Crossbreeding Begins At Home. It would later become an 'Auto Club' song, released on Cipher in 2008.
"Amen Corner", from their self-titled record, was featured on another Smooch Records compilation, Radio 1190: Local Shakedown, Vol. 2, and "Old Service Road" was featured on the Alternative Tentacles compilation album, Sonic Terror Surge 2007.