Post by Rodney Blazershorts on Sept 22, 2019 21:20:42 GMT
Associated Acts: Slim Cessna's Auto Club (1999-present), Denver Broncos UK (2013-present), Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots (2003-2012), Munly & the Lupercalians (2007-present), The Road Home (2015-present)
Voice Type: A Baritone Walking Over My Grave
Vocal Range: A1-F5
{Mini Bio}Munly Munly - often referred to as Jay Munly or simply Munly - is one of the central figures of the Denver gothic country movement, along with frequent collaborator Slim Cessna. When talking about Munly's brand of gothic country, you are best to remove any notions of what "country music" is from your mind, as he has taken the foundations of alternative and gothic country and pushed them to an extreme, frequently borrowing from folk music, bluegrass, art rock, neofolk, and the avant-garde as the mood strikes him. As a result, his output is often referred to as "gothic folk" or "Southern gothic" as if to divorce it further from typical notions of "country." The music itself has evolved tremendously, and it is practically impossible to recognize his earliest output as being from the same artist. After becoming immersed in the Denver movement in the late 90s and joining Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Munly transitioned his music further from the "alternative" sound and toward a more rootsy, backwoods sound, often driven by his own banjo and guitar playing (interestingly on his more electric first album, a definite Jeff Buckley-esque style can be heard in his playing). It wasn't until 2002's Jimmy Carter Syndrome that Munly found his sound, more fully realized on the follow-up The Lee Lewis Harlots: stripped down, dark acoustic textures with minimalist percussion accentuated liberally with chamber-esque strings. His last solo release, Petr & the Wulf saw an additional pivot away from country, experimenting with texture and melody in a wildly idiosyncratic manner.
{Vocal Summary}Munly possesses a haunting, flagrantly unpolished deep baritone perfectly suited to the maudlin subject matter of his songs. In 1996, however, he sounded anything but a baritone, displaying a very indie-influenced timbre and phrasing style, matching the quirkier, more energetic music from his early releases. Truly, at that time the second octave was clearly not his favorite register, and over the next several years his voice deepened until that is where he could most frequently be found. As will be very clear from the following post however, he is not afraid to go all over the place with his voice. His early material is rife with twangy hooting and hollering and some screamy notes, and it is clear plenty of the time that Munly is not concerned with pleasant tone as much as creating an aura of raucous (or even tribal) backwoods chaos. Surprisingly though, many of these utterances appear to a degree controlled, frequently repeated throughout a song; this is to say nothing of his proclivity for yodeling, which can sometimes present in unorthodox manners. By the 2000s though he put more effort into his vocal performances meeting the fine line between melodicism and experimentation, with powerful lows, and higher notes that can be desperate and raw or clean as he wants it.
Significant High Notes
F5: "I Hid and Seeked the Funnel", "Mattie", "My Erziehung"
E5: "Ain't My Problem Baby", "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down", "My Erziehung", "Stupid Is Forever"
E♭5: "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down" Mississippi Studios 2011 + Levitt 2018, "My Erziehung"
D5: "Big Black Bull Comes Like a Caesar", "Bird", "Goddamn Blue Yodel #7" Chicago 2007, "Hallelujah Anyway", "Jehu", "Mahout", "Once Again"
C♯5: "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Dar He Drone", "Hallelujah Anyway", "He, Roger Williams" various live performances, "Once Again", "Pine Box", "Tonto", "Too Fat to Walk"
C5: "Ain't My Problem Baby", "Amen Corner", "Austria's First Fever", "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Commandment 2" OpenAir 2015, "Döder", "Hallelujah Anyway", "Heater", "Goddamn Blue Yodel #7", "Kidneys Running Dry"
B4: "Big Black Bull Comes Like a Caesar", "Eternal Midnight" live performances, "Floating on Huron", "Goose Walking Over My Grave", "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down" Live @ Levitt 2018, "Shame", "Stupid Is Forever"
B♭4: "Bird", "A Gentle Man's Jihad", "Hallelujah Anyway", "Tonto", "Wulf"
A4: "Commandment 2", "Goose Walking Over My Grave" Los Angeles 2011, "In San Francisco Bay", "Sasquatch", "Shame", "Wulf"
G♯4: "All Men Are Divine", "Cluck Old Hen", "Commandment 3", "Cranston" original album version, "Death Ain't You Got No Shame", "Grandfater", "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down" Roots and Roses Festival 2010, "Ladies in the Know", "Marching Along", "No Dead Fuel", "No Doubt About It", "Once Again", "Petr", "Pine Box", "Scarewulf", "Sour Patch Kids", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasileiro", "Too Fat to Walk", "Unto the Day"
G4: "Austria's First Fever", "Baptists & Barbiturates", "Big Black Bull Comes Like a Caesar", "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Censer from the Footlights", "Cold Cold Eyes", "Commandment 2", "The Denver Boot Redux", "Döder" Demo, "Floating on Huron", "A Gentle Man's Jihad", "He, Roger Williams", "Heater", "Jehu", "Kidneys Running Dry", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom" Live @ Levitt 2017, "Munly", "No Dead Fuel", "Petr", "Polly", "Polpot", "Safety Dance" Wheeler Fest 2020, "Stupid Is Forever", "Too Fat to Walk", "Tried and True Against the Law", "Unto the Day"
F♯4: "Ahmen", "Baptists & Barbiturates", "Big Black Bull Comes Like a Caesar", "Cat", "Commandment 1", "Commandment 5" OpenAir 2015, "Cooney vs. Munly", "Cranston" original album version, "Dar He Drone", "Hang on With Eskimos", "He, Roger Williams" Jesus Let Me Down, "Heater", "Jehu" The Sunset, Seattle 2007, "Leavening of the Spit-Bread Girls", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom" Lions Lair 2012, "Mark of Vaccination", "Mother's Daughter", "Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness to Influence the Panel", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "SCAC 101", "Stupid Is Forever", "This Is How We Do Things in the Country", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia", "Three Wise Hunters", "Tonto", "Tried and True Against the Law", "Virgin of Manhattan" Galvanized Yankee version, "Wulf"
F4: "32 Mouths Gone Dry", "All About the Bullfrog in Three Verses", "Americadio" Live @ Levitt 2018, "Another Song About Jesus, A Wedding Sheet, And a Bowie Knife", "Ben Asher", "Bird", "Censer from the Footlights", "Chutzpah", "Commandment 3", "Commandment 8", "Cooney vs. Munly", "Country Train", "Dar He Drone", "Döder", "Duk", "Earthquake", "The Fabulous History of the Churchill Falls Barrel Races", "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", "He, Roger Williams", "In San Francisco Bay", "Jehu", "Jim Nabors, from Bass to Mezzo-Soprano", "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down", "Karp", "Kidneys Running Dry", "Ladies in the Know", "Mahout", "Mattie", "Munly", "My Last Black Scarf", "My Second Salvation Army Choir", "No Doubt About It", "Old Service Road", "Polly", "Port Authority Band", "Ragin' Cajun", "Red Pirate of the Prairie" Lions Lair 2012, "Scarebeast", "Scarewulf", "Seven Warts on Pa's Back", "Shoot Her With the Good Handgun", "Sour Patch Kids", "That Birdcage Song", "That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense in a Country Dress", "There Is None Like Me Like Me Like Me", "This Land Is Our Land Redux", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia", "Weegee: The Uninvited Blues #2"
E4: "Ahmen", "Amen Corner", "Americadio", "Baptists & Barbiturates, "Broncos Fight Song" live OpenAir 2014,"Commandment 7" various live performances, "The Denver Boot Redux", "Do You Know Thee Enemy?", "Everyone Is Guilty #2", "Floating on Huron", "Hallelujah Reprise" Bluebird Theater 2006, "Immaculately Warded Children", "Jackson", "Jacob Dumb", "Ladies in the Know", "Leavening of the Spit-Bread Girls", "Mahout", "Mark of Vaccination", "The Misrepresentation of the Thompson Gun", "My Erziehung", "My Second Salvation Army Choir", "Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness to Influence the Panel," "Old Service Road", "Pine Box", "Polly", "Ragin' Cajun", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "Sasquatch", "SCAC 101", "Shame", "Saucy Wench", "Shoot Her With the Good Handgun", "Spill the Wine", "Three Wise Hunters", "Tonto", "Tried and True Against the Law", "The Unballed Ballad of the New Folksinger", "Virgin of Manhattan"
E♭4: "Ain't My Problem Baby", "Amen Corner", "Baptists & Barbiturates", "Karp", "Censer from the Footlights", "The Columbia Girl", "Commandment 3", "Commandment 4", "Cooney vs Munly", "The Denver Boot", "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", "Goddamn Blue Yodel #7" Bluebird Theater 2001, "Goose Walking Over My Grave", "Ichabod", "Immaculately Warded Children", "It's Killing Me", "Ladies in the Know", "Marching Along", "Polpot", "Shady Lane" original album version, "Shame", "Spill the Wine", "This Is How We Do Things in the Country", "Top Yourself", "Tosspa", "Virgin of Manhattan Galvanized Yankee version
D4: "32 Mouths Gone Dry", "Ahmen", "Big Black Bull Comes Like a Caesar", "Bird", "Broncos Fight Song" OpenAir 2014, "Cattle, I Will Hang", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Commandment 5", "Commandment 6", "Dar He Drone", "The Denver Boot", "Everyone Is Guilty #2", "The Fabulous History of the Churchill Falls Barrel Races", "Floating on Huron", "I Hid and Seeked the Funnel", "It's Killing Me", "Jacob Dumb", "Jesus Christ" Jesus Let Me Down, "Jim Nabors, from Bass to Mezzo-Soprano", "A Long Time Ago", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom", "Marching Along", "My Darling Sambo," "Parting Glass", "Pine Box", "Ragin' Cajun", "Saucy Wench", "Seven Warts on Pa's Back", "That Birdcage Song", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia", "Tried and True Against the Law", "The Unballed Ballad of the New Folksinger"
Significant Low Notes
A2: "Ain't My Problem Baby", "Funeral Blues", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Commandment 7", "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", "Hang on With Eskimos", "Jehu", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom", "My Sister's Husband", "Parting Glass", "The Red Cross Is Giving Out Misinformation", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "A Smashing Indictment of Character", "Spill the Wine", "Stupid Is Forever", "That Birdcage Song", "Uncle John's Boat", "Weegee: The Uninvited Blues #2"
G♯2: "Amen Corner", "Country Train", "Death Ain't You Got No Shame", "The Denver Boot", "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", "Goddamn Blue Yodel #7" live solo performances, "Haggie Hennies Almost Dirty Dress", "I Hid and Seeked the Funnel", "Jacob Dumb", "Jehu", "Karp", "My Darling Sambo", "Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness to Influence the Panel", "Petr", "Port Authority Band", "Spill the Wine", "Teach Pachyderms to Swim", "Virgin of Manhattan"
G2: "Ahmen", "Ain't My Problem Baby", "Austria's First Fever", "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Chant Down Cap'n", "The Columbia Girl", "Commandment 10", "Country Train", "Dar He Drone", "The Denver Boot", "Döder", "The Forgiven Ghost in Me", "Funeral Blues", "Haggie Hennies Almost Dirty Dress", "Hold My Head", "Jehu" Demo, "Jesus Christ", "Kidneys Running Dry", "Ladies in the Know", "Mahout", "Parting Glass", "Port Authority Band", "Ragin' Cajun", "Safety Dance" Wheeler Fest 2020, "Shady Lane", "That Birdcage Song", "That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense in a Country Dress", "There Is No Charity", "There Is No Homeless Guard", "There Is No Hum of _", "There Is No Middle Road", "There Is No Road Home According to Wikipedia", "This Land Is Our Land Redux", "Uncle John's Boat", "United Brethren", "Virgin of Manhattan", "Water to Wine", "The Why and the Wherefore"
F♯2: "Austria's First Fever", "Cassius Castrato the She-Male of the Men's Prison", "Censer from the Footlights", "Commandment 9", "Cranston", "The Fabulous History of the Churchill Falls Barrel Races", "From the Estate of John Denver", "Jesus Christ", "Kidneys Running Dry", "Ladies in the Know", "Leavening of the Spit-Bread Girls", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom", "Munly", "My Second Salvation Army Choir", "My Sister's Husband", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "San Francisco Bay", "Shady Lane", "Shame", "Shoot Her With the Good Handgun", "Spill the Wine", "There Is No Dancing in the Road", "There Is No Hum of _", "This Land Is Our Land Redux", "Thy Will Be Done", "Tosspa", "Who Will Care for Mother Now?", "The Why and the Wherefore"
F2: "All About the Bullfrog in Three Verses", "All Men Are Divine", "Americadio", "And God Bless You", "Ben Asher", "Bonnie Clyde, the Big-Bull-Hen of the Women's Prison", "Broncos Fight Song", "Chant Down Cap'n", "Children of the Lord", "Coca-Colonialism", "Country Train", "Death Ain't You Got No Shame", "The Denver Boot Redux", "Funeral Blues", "Goose Walking Over My Grave", "Haggie Hennies Almost Dirty Dress", "Immaculately Warded Children", "It's Killing Me", "Jacob Dumb", "Jim Nabors, from Bass to Mezzo-Soprano", "Last Song About Satan", "Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom", "Mattie", "My Darling Sambo", "Old Service Road", "Parting Glass", "Petr", "Poor Saro", "Port Authority Band" various live performances, "Providence, New Jerusalem", "San Francisco Bay", "Scarebeast", "Spill the Wine", "There Is No Dancing in the Road", "There Is None Like Me Like Me Like Me", "Top Yourself", "Uncle John's Boat", "Viceroy Filter King ", "Who Will Care for Mother Now?"
E2: "Ahmen" Demo, "Bonnie Clyde, the Big-Bull-Hen of the Women's Prison", "Broncos Fight Song", "Cat", "Censer from the Footlights", "Coca-Colonialism", "Commandment 3", "Döder" Demo, "From the Estate of John Denver", "A Gentle Man's Jihad", "Hold My Head", "An Introduction to the Power of Braces", "It's Killing Me", "Jehu" Demo, "Jesus Christ" various live performances, "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down", "In My Arms Once Again", "The Misrepresentation of the Thompson Gun", "My Second Salvation Army Choir", "My Sister's Husband", "Old Service Road", "Poor Saro", "Scarebeast", "Shady Lane" Buried Behind the Barn version, "There Is No Hum of _", "Tosspa", "The Unballed Ballad of the New Folksinger", "Viceroy Filter King"
E♭2: "Ahmen" Demo, "32 Mouths Gone Dry", "Americadio" Lions Lair 2012, "Another Song About Jesus, A Wedding Sheet, And a Bowie Knife", "Ben Asher" Demo, "Cat", "Censer from the Footlights", "Chant Down Cap'n", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Coca-Colonialism", "Cold Cold Eyes", "Commandment 7", "Goddamn Blue Yodel #7" Jesus Let Me Down, "Goose Walking Over My Grave", "Hallelujah Anyway", "He, Roger Williams", "Hold My Head", "Immaculately Warded Children", "In San Francisco Bay", "It's Killing Me" Austin Public Library 2016, "Jackson", "Jacob Dumb", "Jesus Christ" various live performances, "Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down", "Mattie" Demo, "My Second Salvation Army Choir", "Providence, New Jerusalem", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "That Birdcage Song", "That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense in a Country Dress", "There Is No Charity", "There Is No Homeless Guard", "There Is No Road Home According to Wikipedia", "There Is None Like Me Like Me Like Me", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasileiro", "Who Will Care for Mother Now?", "The Why and the Wherefore"
D2: "Ahmen", "Angel", "Broncos Fight Song", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Dar He Drone", "The Denver Boot Redux", "Everyone Is Guilty #2", "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", "A Gentle Man's Jihad", "Ichabod", "Jacob Dumb", "Pine Box", "That Birdcage Song", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "The Unballed Ballad of the New Folksinger", "Wulf"
C♯2: "Broncos Fight Song", "Cat", "Circle Round My Bedside", "Cold Cold Eyes", "Immaculately Warded Children", "The Red Cross Is Giving Out Misinformation", "SCAC 101", "Wulf"
C2: "Amen Corner", "And God Bless You", "The Denver Boot Redux", "The Misrepresentation of the Thompson Gun", "River Forktine Tippecanoe", "Rufus Wainwright, I'm Coming for You", "SCAC 101", "There Is No Homeless Guard", "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia"
B1: "Mattie" Demo, "That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense in a Country Dress" Live @ Levitt 2018
A1: "Dar He Drone", "SCAC 101"
.......................................................
*Blue marks soft falsetto.
*Gray marks fried notes.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.
*Underlines may mark notes in backing vocals or notes obscured in the song mix.
{Questionable Notes}G5: "My Erziehung" [1][5]*
B♭4: "Cat" [2]
B1: "Commandment 7" [1]
B♭1: "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia" [1]
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
* there are utterances like this throughout the song at lower pitches that are consistent and fit the melody, but this seems like an overshoot that may be intentional, but nevertheless doesn't fit in
B♭4: "Cat" [2]
B1: "Commandment 7" [1]
B♭1: "Three Bloodhounds, Two Shepherds, One Fila Brasilia" [1]
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
* there are utterances like this throughout the song at lower pitches that are consistent and fit the melody, but this seems like an overshoot that may be intentional, but nevertheless doesn't fit in
{Discography}Solo
1996: Blurry - (F♯2-E5)
1997: Munly De Dar He - (F2-F5)
1999: Galvanized Yankee - (E♭2-G♯4)
2002: Jimmy Carter Syndrome - (A1-C♯2-G4-C♯5)
2004: Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots - (C2-D5-E♭5)
2010: Petr & the Wulf - (C♯2-B♭4-D5)
2022: The Kinnery of Lupercalia; Undelivered Legion - (D2-E2-F5)
2023" There Is No Road Home - C2-F4
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
2000: Always Say Please and Thank You - (C♯2-C♯5)
2002: Buried Behind the Barn - (D2-F4)
2004: The Bloudy Tenent Truth Peace - (E♭2-G♯4)
2008: Cipher - (A1-C2-G♯4-E5)
2011: Unentitled - (D2-C♯5-D5)
2016: The Commandments According to SCAC - (E♭2-A4)
DBUK
2015: Songs One Through Eight - (C2-F♯4)
2019: Songs Nine Through Sixteen - (C2-A4)
1996: Blurry - (F♯2-E5)
1997: Munly De Dar He - (F2-F5)
1999: Galvanized Yankee - (E♭2-G♯4)
2002: Jimmy Carter Syndrome - (A1-C♯2-G4-C♯5)
2004: Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots - (C2-D5-E♭5)
2010: Petr & the Wulf - (C♯2-B♭4-D5)
2022: The Kinnery of Lupercalia; Undelivered Legion - (D2-E2-F5)
2023" There Is No Road Home - C2-F4
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
2000: Always Say Please and Thank You - (C♯2-C♯5)
2002: Buried Behind the Barn - (D2-F4)
2004: The Bloudy Tenent Truth Peace - (E♭2-G♯4)
2008: Cipher - (A1-C2-G♯4-E5)
2011: Unentitled - (D2-C♯5-D5)
2016: The Commandments According to SCAC - (E♭2-A4)
DBUK
2015: Songs One Through Eight - (C2-F♯4)
2019: Songs Nine Through Sixteen - (C2-A4)
{Range Video}