Jack McCoy

Jack McCoy Bio:

Jack McCoy is a character, but that's really not saying much. You either love him or hate him, but you'll never forget him. His music, a colorful montage of heartfelt experiences, sordid tales of lust and murder, bible belt recollections and barefoot sentimentality, is at times baren and rural, then suddenly cosmopolitan. There is no denying it, even a casual listen reveals something deeper than what lies on the surface. Jack McCoy is a truly talented songwriter, a colorful performer and a soulful of genuine honesty. More poet than singer, McCoy has the ability to engender in the listener a feeling that's difficult to dismiss. Your ears will be delighted by the colors he gleans from the wide pallete of string instruments he plays.

On "Backwoods Shakespeare", his first release for Loose Atom Records, Jack Mc Coy uses mixed media to paint 12 different pictures from his life. He tells a tale of love lost in "Her Part of Town", a haunting tune in the spirit of The Band, Bob Dylan, and more recently even the late Elliot Smith. The distinguished Kenny Klein lends a hand with a violin performance that elevates this ghostly tale to vapor trail heights. It's a thick and bold brushstroke that McCoy uses here, and he uses real ashes to tint his paints. Like McCoy himself, this track is unforgettable.

With the simple "Best Feeling" McCoy wanders through a happy world of love and peace, a place where doing chores is healthy living and the green meadows are home to the family cow. Where love is barefoot on a sunny day in Mississippi and it's the best feeling he's ever known. His performance on all instruments adds to the authenticity of the sentiment, its quirky delivery bursting in like the sun in your window on Sunday morning. You can smell the bacon sizzling ....

In "Cahoots in a Small Town" Klein appears again as this languid story unfolds. His fiddle playing is liquid and flows thoughout the vocal like a lazy stream full of dark secrets. But it's McCoy's mandolin and slide guitar, his rugged voice and honest, dangerously revealing lyrics that capture the listener. Due to the shocking nature of this story, we ask that you not reveal the ending to your friends. A true tour de force, this is one of McCoy's strongest songs.

The sound of Jack McCoy, tracked during spurts spanning a whole year, is unique and highly listenable. It grows on you like moss on a valley of oak trees. It's a recipe that mixes a hard core of country with a soft center of folk and a lot of other cool stuff mixed in between, gathers around McCoy like a raging wind of change and flows out your speakers to your ears and into your soul. You'll be touched and entranced, transported and entertained. You'll want more and you'll get it. there's a lot in this music, a lot of layering - not all of it intended and sometimes serendipitous, but that's the magic of it all.

If you like what you hear, you can buy Jack Mc Coy's CD, "Backwoods Shakespeare", by clicking on STORE above. The album is only $10 US and features 12 great songs. We'll ship it out pre release before Aug 1 2005 and you'll get bonus tracks that won't be available on the retail CD. Orders after Aug 1 will be the retail package only.Thanks for your support, and please check the news for Jack McCoy appearances.