East Bay Express           Whitney Phaneuf

Bernie Jungle, Greatest Hits

In naming his new album Greatest Hits, singer/songwriter Bernie Jungle is joking around — but also likely alluding to his time in several now-defunct local bands, including quirky rock outfit Warm Wires. Jungle still has an affinity for kooky characters and odd stories. The introspective, guitar-driven songs on Greatest Hits are somewhat forgettable — drawing much from Nineties indie folk and alt-rock — but lyrically they’re phenomenal. The quiet “Josie,” for example, startles with lines such as Josie sits at home in pantyhose/with a sandwich and a beer/she can hardly wait to go to sleep and steer. If Jungle quits music to write books, he could be the next Raymond Carver. (self-released)

on thursday feb 7th i’ll be on 9th Floor Radio as a guest of Michael and Andy on their excellent show Argyll Adventure Tree from 5 – 7pm pacific time. Will be an interview and i  will be singing and playing my tiny acoustic guitar live on the air for you. please tune-in, online that is, it’s streaming on the web so you can hear it anyplace in the world ! …and check out the amazing playlist on the Argyll site linked above !!  if you have a few moments, please do listen in and you can send us texts and emails, requests, some laughs, etc…

this live video of Louie was shot and edited by the amazing Lenny Gonzalez. thought i’d put this up as a first post, and as a nod to the upcoming Studio Quercus show saturday february 9th. tickets are $10 and might be a good idea to get them ahead of time as this could possibly sell out. brown paper tickets is the way to do that. Yes, this show is at an art gallery, that’s at 385 26th in Oakland between Telegraph and Broadway, a very cool place to see a show with an excellent vibe and great sound.

The band that came together for this show is going to be amazing. Adam McCauley on drums (Little My and Warm Wires) Allan Moon on keyboards (Carlos and Slouching Stars) and Scotty Houston on bass (100 Watt Smile) i truly feel like a very lucky guy to have these amazing musicians in this band playing the CD.

there may be be a couple special guest performers too !!

if you want to hear the CD now you can at Bandcamp where you can download a copy or just keep listening at will. I’ll have CD’s at the show so if you’re into the hold-in-your-hand kind of music, pick one up!  it’s also up on CD Baby for your purchasing pleasure.

it’s an early show too, doors open at 6:30 and the most excellent Viola Booth opens up the show at 7pm sharp. i’ll go on around 8pm.

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