4 Star Theater and (((folkYEAH))) present:
Simon Joyner
Simon Joyner is a singer-songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska. He's been flying under the radar since 1991, releasing music on various independent labels including: Team Love, Jagjaguwar, Sing Eunuchs!, Catsup Plate, One-Hour, Shrimper, Brinkman, Secretly Canadian, and Unread. He is also the co-founder of Grapefruit Records (grapefruitrecordclub.com) and an occasional producer of other people's albums.
Tony Jay
Headed by Michael Ramos, the former drummer of April Magazine, and current member of Flowertown, Al Harper, and Sad Eyed Beatniks, Tony Jay began recording in 2006 and added a live band in 2017. Perfect Worlds, recorded in Ramos's bedroom and mastered by Mikey Young, features Kelsey Faber, Alexis Harper, and Cameron Baker, with guest vocals by Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown, Sad Eyed Beatniks).
Characterized by subtle observation and wry wit ("If my words disarm, it's just my charm"), Ramos's lyrics embody a restlessness coupled with Tony Jay's signature hopeful resignation. "I wonder if the birds will return this year." Here are the daily ins and outs of heartache, isolation, and yearning. But here too is attention, a will to go on even amidst surrender. Tony Jay will "Walk up that hill without you / for the hundred thousandth time." Ideal company for those days when you're not sure you'll ever make it out the door, Perfect Worlds is a welcome reminder that, "You don't have to make decisions/ the grass will continue to grow."