CD, Download, and stream at: Bandcamp |
Download and stream at : Bandcamp |
The Trike web site |
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Download or CD at Bandcamp |
Download at Bandcamp |
Download at Bandcamp |
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Download at: Bandcamp |
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Canyon of Light (2024)
First full-length Fred Gillen Jr solo album since 2019. (There were the four e.p.'s in 2020.)
After a period of writer's block probably caused by losing my voice due to an endoscopic
procedure and struggling back from that with PT and exercises, I wrote most of
these songs in a very brief period of time. Being in three bands at the time kind
of freed me up to play all of the instruments on this one, including the upright
bass for the first time. The songs cover a wide range of topics from losing my voice
to mortality to the war economy to nature and traveling light through life.
Lots of droning drop-D guitars!
Kaaterskill—Winter Instrumentals (2024)
Written right after our move north and recorded in our extra bedroom in Athens
in January/ February 2021 while the new Esperanza Studio was under construction,
using two $20 Karma K-micro microphones on a 15 year old Mac Book.
(Woody's House was still in operation down in Croton, so most of the
recording gear was down there.) These instrumental pieces were inspired
by hikes along the Hudson in Greene County, and my early forays into the
Catskills, following the footsteps of Thomas Cole. Hopefully not my
only/last all-instrumental album!
The Trike (2023)
The Trike is a rock trio consisting of Fred Gillen Jr: electric guitars, harmonica,
and lead vocals; John Banrock: bass guitar, synthesizer, and vocals; and
Paul JM: drums and vocals. All three contribute to the songwriting.
Here's a quote about the debut e.p.: "Peekskill trio the Trike play punchy,
unvarnished rock 'n' roll with touches of punk, prog, reggae, and a whole
lotta late-'80s/early-'90s college radio: Think Fables of the Reconstruction-era
R.E.M. with more crunch, Camper Van Beethoven with less wiseassery, or Matthew Sweet
with Hudson Valley dirt under his fingernails."—Dan Epstein, Chronogram
Turn Off The Lights (2020) "Covid e.p. #4"
One of the most comforting activities for me during the Covid "stay home" time has been playing my first instrument, the bass guitar. Every day I put on a record and play along, like I did in high school when I was first learning. I wrote all of the songs on this e.p. on a 1966 Fender Jazz bass I recently wound up with. I had not written a song while holding a bass guitar since probably 1995. It kind of liberated me from thinking about chords, and made it more about rhythm and melody. I enlisted my friend John Banrock to play some synthesizer, piano, and organ and Laura Bowman to sing. I sent them songs and they sent me back their overdub tracks. There's a weird magic in somebody being in the band and yet not seeing them in real life. The lyrics reflect my own experience of the Pandemic, the election, being with my partner almost all the time, and at 51 finally leaving the area around my home town. Right after I finished this e.p. I moved 80 miles north, and now I'm really in "the country." I suspect whatever I do next will be more acoustic and woodsy.
Birds (2020) "Covid e.p. #3"
One of my favorite albums of all time is Pink Floyd's "Animals." All of the songs on Animals are social commentary with domesticated animals as metaphors. I kind of did the same thing here with bird metaphors. This is e.p. # 3 during the Covid Pandemic, so I played all the instruments and did everything myself. Some new musical directions happen here, chord-wise and melody-wise. A spoken-word piece is included, and the instrumental on this e.p., "Nest Building Wrens," is a "fiddle tune," but the melody is played on a Banduria which was a gift from my friend Pat from the Philippines.
See The Light (2020) "Covid e.p. #2"
This e.p. features the song "Going to the Supermarket," which many people seemed to really identify with. All three Covid e.p.'s include instrumentals, and the instrumental here, "Frogs," is fun! This is a much "lighter collection of songs than "Into the Darkness," but they do compliment each other.
Into The Darkness (2020) "Covid e.p. #1"
I wrote most of these songs during the first month of the "shelter in place" time during the Covid 19 Pandemic. ("Post Apocalyptic Love Song" I had written beforehand, but it needed a lot of revision.) I decided to just put this out there as soon as possible. Obviously I had to play all of the instruments but I really dug into the production and I'm very proud of it. There is a lot of social commentary here. Some of it isn't pretty. I assume that by now most people listening to this know that that is really what I do. There is a music video for the title song on YouTube, featuring footage and Jim Metzger's photographs from the Greenheart's tours in Nepal.
If I Woke Up This Morning and Died (2019)
Eleventh Fred Gillen Jr album. Ten new songs with lyrics and two new instrumentals. Classic
Fred Gillen Jr song topics such as mortality, tree-hugging, horrible Presidents of the
United States, drug addiction, God, Buddha, Kathmandu, activism, and more! Very nice
guest vocals by Laura Bowman, Sarah Browne, and Brigit Moynihan and the great Tony
Jefferson and Paul J Magliari playing drums.
All In (2017)
A bridge is built here of words, ideas and cultures. In the footsteps of Buddha,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Pete Seeger, and so many other leaders of spirit,
mind, planet, and body, The Greenheart's mission is made plain in song and action:
CREATE, COMMUNICATE, CELEBRATE. Performers: Fred Gillen Jr., Laura Bowman,
Julie Corbalis, Andrew Mattina and james dean conklin.
What She Said (2017)
Full-length, solo, studio album #10, released on the 20th anniversary of album #1.
8 new Fred Gillen Jr original songs, and 4 co-writes with Abbie Gardner, Steve Kirkman, and Matt Turk.
A blurring of the perceived lines between the political and personal. The first album to really highlight
Gillen's electric guitar style.
Wage Love (2015)
The ninth full-length, studio, Fred Gillen Jr album. Featuring Walking Down That Freedom Highway, Killing Machine, and nine other songs. "Reaching back to those first definitive union anthems, Wage Love bridges the generations and eras of our shared culture to find profound truths both new and old in the quietness of poverty — either fiscal or philosophical." -Rust Magazine.
Pete Seeger: Pete Remembers Woody
(2012)
Fred's version of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home" is included on
this two CD set, a collection of Pete Seeger's spoken-word stories
about Woody Guthrie, interspersed with various artists' versions of
Woody's songs. This collection was produced by David Bernz, producer
of "Pete at 89," and released to coincide with Woody Guthrie's
100th birthday.
Silence Of The Night
(2012)
The 8th full-length, studio Fred Gillen Jr album. A sprawling record which
covers a lot of genre territory, from folk to rock to Americana to even a
little bit of funk. Features This Old Car, which was heard on NPR's
Car Talk, Silence of The Night, This Town Is Our Song
(as a duet with Carolann Solebello,) one instrumental, one spoken-word piece,
and eleven other songs.
Backwoods Jupiter Presents Bob Dylan's Desire
(2011)
A group of 12 Hudson Valley musicians got together and formed this band really as a tribute to the Rolling Thunder Review. Fred sings Isis, Joey, and Mozambique and plays electric guitar, washboard, conga, and bass.
Live In The Heartland Of America
(2011)
Match Against A New Moon (2010)
Big Green Hope Machine (2009)
Gillen & Turk "Backs To The Wall" (2008)
Coney Island (2008)
Gone Gone Gone (2006)
Hope Machine "March" (2006)
Steal This Compilation (Various Artists, 2005)
We The People (2004)
Standing Room (Various artists, 2004)
Tumbleweed Mile (2003)
Grace (2001)
Nervous Laughter (2000)
Tales Of The Misplaced (1998)
Intentions As Big As The Sky remixed and remastered in 2017 for the 20th anniversary (1997)
A Mind Is A Terrible Thing,
Chris Black & The Dirty
Folk Revolution (1997)
Blame It On My Dead Brother (1995)