New EP Out Now

Another gem from the archives has been released with links updated to the website. Back in October 2012 singer/songwriter Tara Tinsley was doing her third tour(?) of Japan, this time with JJV as guitarist/arranger. Between gigs and rehearsals they cut five songs for a collaborative album and filmed JJ's video Maybe I'll Know You.

Within days of flying back to the U.S. Tinsley moved to Nashville where she attempted to cash in on the "New Country" (excuse me while I puke) band wagon. The EP was slated for a Summer 2013 release with at least one video to accompany it. Without so much a word to her collaborator Tinsley dropped the entire album and video shoot to instead put out an excessively commercial album with her new Nashville cohorts. Words were exchanged and then silence ensued.

During the recording of the album a plethora of guest musicians were solicited to contribute. Glenn Rios, best known for his work with Don Leady and who appears on the Premature Evacuation single Meltdown and Ain't Waitin' Anymore from Long Way From Home, contributed drums and percussion to the album including the opening hook for Lovesick and the mood-setting embellishments for She's The One. Sean Tait, a well known pianist among Tokyo's ex-pats, added the lush tinkling of the ivories to Don't Lie To Me and the Billy Powell-esque honky-tonk poundings to the title track. Merlyn Kelley, who played with Willie Nelson prior to moving to Tokyo, plays upright bass on Don't Lie To Me and the bonus track, an alternate version of Lovesick. Miya Kobayashi and Martin Leroux, affectionately known as Cannibal Corpse, sang backing vocals on Lovesick and bassist Yoichiro Tsuneno laid down the bottom for Mr. Bad News.

During the final four months in Japan four albums were finished simultaneously, Long Way From Home and Down Home as well as two still unreleased albums, Live From Japan and a collection of oddities named Idle Pleasures. The rushed schedule of finishing four albums at once while planning an album release and moving back to the U.S. does lend itself to a few chinks in the armor but overall it's a solid piece. Only JJV and Tara Tinsley together, and with the help of Glenn Rios, could make this album. Neither could do it alone and it stands out in both of their catalogs as one of a kind. Too bad that this album, the culmination of a musical friendship, spelled the end. It would be great to hear these songs performed live along with JJ's arrangements of Tinsley's Sweet Music and Western Sky. But, alas, it was not meant to be.

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