 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
The Trike web site
Order Here: Bandcamp
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 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.
Mail order: $13 ‡
Download or CD at Bandcamp
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 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.
Download or CD at Bandcamp
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 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.
Download at Bandcamp
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 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.
Download at Bandcamp
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 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.
Mail order: $15 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
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 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.
Download at: Bandcamp
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 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.
Mail order: $15 ‡
Download at Bandcamp
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 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.
Mail order: $15 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
Download at iTunes
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 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.
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 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.
Mail order: $15 ‡
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 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.
[out of print]
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 Live In The Heartland Of America
(2011)
Recorded by Bryce Taylor at a house concert in Muncie, Indiana on
Saturday, April 24, 2010 on Fred's first New Moon Midwest Tour with
Catherine Miles. Features 8 Fred Gillen Jr songs, some funny stories,
and covers of songs by Hope Machine, Abbie Gardner, Phil Ochs, Bob
Dylan, Elizabeth Cotten, and June Carter Cash. This CD really puts
the listener in the room for an inspiring night in Bryce and
Caroline's living room.
Mail order: $12 ‡
Buy CD/Download at Bandcamp
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 Match Against A New Moon (2010)
Nine new original songs, one re-write, and finally a version of
Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. With drummer Eric Puente
and guest singers Catherine Miles, Abbie Gardner, and Laurie
MacAllister. "Like the phase of the lunar orb it references,
Match Against A New Moon assures us that the day side we
see sans light is temporary in the ongoing transit of our lives."
-Catherine Michaels, WHUD 100.7FM, Hudson Valley, NY
Mail order: $12 ‡
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 Big Green Hope Machine (2009)
The follow-up to "March." Featuring the audience favorites Sing Sing
Sing and Folksinger. "Through the entire set of songs, a wide variety
of folk styles is employed, making Big Green a smorgasbord of modes
and delights. Hope Machine is going far to preserve the past while
singing to the present?and hopefully the future."
-Mark S. Tucker, Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
out of print, Download at:
Bandcamp
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 Gillen & Turk "Backs To The Wall" (2008)
The debut from the duo Gillen & Turk. Features 3 new Gillen songs,
one spoken-word piece, and some new versions of older songs, along
with some Turk songs. "unvarnished social commentary with folkified
hoot-and-holler melodies" -Sing Out! "Backs to the Wall is a strong,
confident work of folkish-rootsy rock with political and social
consciousness." -Mac MacDonald, Monterey County Herald
Download at Bandcamp
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 Coney Island (2008)
Produced by Koji Mabuchi
Nine "audience favorite" songs, including Devil's
Bluff, Witness, Elliott, and Censor The Wind, produced
with drum loops, samples, beats, and sequencing.
Mail order: $12 ‡
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 Gone Gone Gone (2006)
First full-length CD since 2001. I actually recorded
this CD, threw it out, and recorded it again. I hope
to never take so long with a record again, but I'm
glad I did...
Mail order: $13 ‡
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 Hope Machine "March" (2006)
After over two years of various forms of Hope Machine
performing shows, first as a Woody Guthrie tribute,
then as a loose, wide-open, in-the-moment happening,
we finally recorded 10 songs. 10 songs for peace and
justice... Fred Gillen Jr., Steve Kirkman, and Steve
Chizmadia with special guests Laurie McAllister and
Abbie Gardner from the band Red Molly.
Mail order: $15 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
listen at MySpace
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 Steal This Compilation (Various Artists, 2005)
This is the second chicken coop compilation, featuring
a new version of my song "Censor The Wind," which
first appeared on the CD Grace in solo-acoustic form.
I love this hip-hop, drum-loop version of "Censor The
Wind." There are some new artists here, as well as
some of the people from the "Standing Room"
compilation.
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 We The People (2004)
This is an e.p. I made quickly to release before the
presidential election. It features "Killing Machine"
and "We The People" plus three other social-commentary
songs, one love song, and one spoken-word piece. I
recorded some of it live-in-the-studio with my friend
Chris Black playing guitar and singing, and some solo.
I also had a great guitarist Mark Barden come in for
one song, "Blue Collar."
Download at Bandcamp
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 Standing Room (Various artists, 2004)
The first of two Chicken Coop Records Compilations I
have songs on. My song "Coffee, Cocain, Bed" is on
this, and I recorded Chris Black doing a song of his
called "War Of The Worlds" for this at my studio. It
features fourteen artists of various genres from
northern Westchester. Koji Mabuchi, the producer of
this calls my song CCB an "evil road song."
Mail order: $5 ‡
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 Tumbleweed Mile (2003)
I was in this band with Chris Merola from Rain
Deputies in 2000 & 2001, and the 8 songs I played on
were recorded in 2001, at my studio and Chris's
apartment in Tarrytown. Chris sings lead on and wrote
the 10 songs, and they pick up where the Rain Deputies
left off...
to listen/ get a copy: Tumbleweed Mile
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 Grace (2001)
Ten songs, live-in-the-studio, solo-acoustic. The
cover art by Linda Jean Fisher was criticized by many
because the front cover doesn't even have my name on
it, but I think it is beautiful... This CD received my
favorite review I've ever gotten. Here's an excerpt:
"The slow infiltration of evil in the world.
Alcoholism and drug addiction. He holds everything up
and exposes it to the light. It's a hard truth, but I
just want to keep listening. There's a vulnerability
in his voice and a refusal to step down in the face of
fear. I keep thinking of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.
After a while, I get the feeling of hope that always
emerges when the ugly truth is stared down." -Jennifer
Layton, Indie Music.com
Mail order: $13 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
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 Nervous Laughter (2000)
The third full-length CD... I played all of the
instruments on this one myself. I had just read a
book about the making of Sgt. Peppers and wanted to
see if I could do everything myself on 8-tracks. Plus
I was in a lonely time in my life... the CD has some
happy moments anyway, and is kind of all over the
map...which is understandable with 16 songs...
Emotionally- charged singer/ songwriter material with
deep resonating guitar. This meaty offering from Fred
pokes at some raw soul sores, questions life and love,
and screams in rage. 'Plane Shot Down In A War' is the
high point." - Allan Foster, Songwriters' Monthly
Mail order: $13 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
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 Tales Of The Misplaced (1998)
Most of the songs on this one were written in a block
after my first year on the road, and after reading
"Bound For Glory" by Woody Guthrie. "New York singer/
songwriter Fred Gillen Jr. may have east coast
origins, but his style and intensity reflect a down
home sensibility. Gillen's current release, 'Tales Of
The Misplaced,' offers passionate, issues-oriented
selections, the type of material seldom heard on
commercial radio; his guitar work mixes bluesy
refrains and arresting licks."
-- Ron Wynne, Nashville Scene
Mail order: $13 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
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 Intentions As Big As The Sky remixed and remastered in 2017 for the 20th anniversary (1997)
The first solo CD release. Recorded by my friend Jake
Hess in his grandmother's basement with a 20-bit,
digital 8-track machine, so it was also lo-fi. "Don't
expect the hands-off, antiseptic quality of a big,
slick, 68-track studio album. This CD has an earthy,
straw-like smell for your ears. It has the grazing
touch of a brick wall against the back of your hand.
It has very ball-point- pen-on-blue-lined- paper
written lyrics. It's honest and quirky."
-- Craig Gilbert, New Haven Advocate
Mail order: $12 ‡
Buy CD or Download at Bandcamp
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 A Mind Is A Terrible Thing,
Chris Black & The Dirty
Folk Revolution (1997)
On about half of the songs on the record, and on the
road, I was the band here for a while. Chris heard my
CD "Intentions" and said "I want to do that." so I
loaned him my four-track cassette recordedr and he
laid some stuff down, but most of this CD ended up
being recorded in my living room in my basement in
Verplanck, and I toured with him some, playing trash
percussion and guitar. Black's music is dark, angry,
and brooding yet melodic and full of energy. His
subject matter is manic-depression, alcoholism, God,
love and missed or broken connections.
Mail order: $12 ‡
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 Blame It On My Dead Brother (1995)
cassette only, out of print
My first full-length, solo recording. I sold this
home-recorded tape at coffeehouse shows for a while.
I made it with a 1/2 inch tape machine... "The
recording isn't exactly high-tech, but it's good
enough and Gillen's songs are memorable. Highlights
are the oddball, rap-like 'Impermanence,' the
haunting, folk- tinged title cut and the sparse ''A
Million Holes'
-Mick Skidmore, Relix Magazine
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