Jay Munly
Encyclopedia
Jay Munly is a banjo
player, guitarist
, singer, and songwriter
based in Denver, Colorado
. He has played a significant role in the development of the "Denver Sound", music that mixes elements of country
, Gothic, folk, and gospel. He is a member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club
and Denver Broncos UK as well as the leader of his own band, Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots. Prior to working with the Harlots, Munly released several solo albums recording with a vast array of musicians. Some of these performers included members of Slim Cessna's Auto Club
, Devotchka
, and future members of Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots. 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.http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_4076160
Munly is also a published author who has received the Southern Heritage Award and the Young North American Playwright Award for his work.
Munly's music has ties to alt-country and Gothic-Americana
. Common themes include religion, violence and dysfunctional relationships; often they are intertwined. His increasingly narrative songs often feature banjo and, since the recording of Jimmy Carter Syndrome, strings.
Munly is currently working on a multi-album set tentatively titled "The Kinnery Of Lupercalia", which will be about the fictional town of Lupercalia and the people who live there. The first of these albums, Petr & the Wulf, the 'true story' of the tale by Sergei Prokofiev, was released on October 5th, 2010.
Munly is now endorsed by Schecter guitars and plays a Corsair model.
Taking interest in ice hockey as a young man in Canada, Munly grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan.
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, singer, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
based in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. He has played a significant role in the development of the "Denver Sound", music that mixes elements of country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Gothic, folk, and gospel. He is a member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Slim Cessna's Auto Club is an alternative country-gothabilly band formed in 1992 in Denver, Colorado. The constant in the band has been Slim Cessna, formerly a member of The Denver Gentlemen along with David Eugene Edwards and Jeffery-Paul of 16 Horsepower. Jay Munly is also a key member of the...
and Denver Broncos UK as well as the leader of his own band, Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots. Prior to working with the Harlots, Munly released several solo albums recording with a vast array of musicians. Some of these performers included members of Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Slim Cessna's Auto Club is an alternative country-gothabilly band formed in 1992 in Denver, Colorado. The constant in the band has been Slim Cessna, formerly a member of The Denver Gentlemen along with David Eugene Edwards and Jeffery-Paul of 16 Horsepower. Jay Munly is also a key member of the...
, Devotchka
DeVotchKa
DeVotchKa is a four-piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble. They take their name from the Russian word devochka , meaning "girl"...
, and future members of Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots. In July 2006, Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots was voted the best band in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
by over 100 music experts in the Denver Post Underground Music Poll.http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_4076160
Munly is also a published author who has received the Southern Heritage Award and the Young North American Playwright Award for his work.
Munly's music has ties to alt-country and Gothic-Americana
Gothabilly
Gothabilly , is one of several music and cultural subgenres of rockabilly. The name is a portmanteau word that combines gothic and rockabilly. The earliest known use of the word gothabilly was by The Cramps in the late 1970s, to describe their blend of somber, rockabilly-influenced punk rock...
. Common themes include religion, violence and dysfunctional relationships; often they are intertwined. His increasingly narrative songs often feature banjo and, since the recording of Jimmy Carter Syndrome, strings.
Munly is currently working on a multi-album set tentatively titled "The Kinnery Of Lupercalia", which will be about the fictional town of Lupercalia and the people who live there. The first of these albums, Petr & the Wulf, the 'true story' of the tale by Sergei Prokofiev, was released on October 5th, 2010.
Munly is now endorsed by Schecter guitars and plays a Corsair model.
Taking interest in ice hockey as a young man in Canada, Munly grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan.
Discography
- Blurry (1996 What Are Records?; 2006 Smooch Records (reissue))
- Munly de Dar He (1997 What Are Records?; 2006 Smooch Records (reissue))
- Galvanized Yankee (1999 What Are Records?; 2006 Smooch Records (reissue))
- Jimmy Carter Syndrome (2002 Smooch Records)
- Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots (2004 Alternative TentaclesAlternative TentaclesAlternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
/Smooch Records) - Petr & the WulfPetr & the WulfMunly's Petr & the Wulf is the sixth studio album by Denver musician Jay Munly. It's a concept album featuring a mythicized retelling of Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev and it is supposedly the first of a planned multi-part series of albums featuring the fictional characters of Munly's...
(2010 Alternative TentaclesAlternative TentaclesAlternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
) (as Munly & the Lupercalians)